AviationTV

[Phil Stevens]

First episode was interesting, but commentator’s voice was annoying. Worth a watch if you can see it. Best part was a visit by a retired pilot who had 125 hours on the C130K XV200 that they were breaking.

[Greg Hyde]

Mega Mechanics

'Grounded'

10 Bold, 1:00pm, Mon, 8 Jun 2020, 60 minutes


Mega Mechanics are tasked with maintaining the safety and efficiency of Mega Machines. And sometimes it's something as simple as a landing gear pin in an A330.

Each episode includes work within the Brisbane QF/JQ Heavy Maintenance Hangar

[Brenden S]

It has not come up on 10play yet.

[Greg Hyde]

4 Corners next Monday has an COVID Aviation Special

Grounded

Just as Qantas announces major job losses, Four Corners‘ Michael Brissenden reports on Grounded, Australia’s aviation crisis and the future of flying.

“It is the biggest crisis the airline industry’s ever seen.” Airline CEO

All around the globe, airports that were once thriving busy places are lying virtually dormant. The previously crowded terminals are silent, the planes are parked in neat rows and no-one knows if air travel will ever be the same.

“We’ve had flights with more dogs on them than passengers in the last couple of weeks.” Airport Manager

Aviation is arguably the highest profile casualty of the coronavirus pandemic and the impact has been enormous.

“Aviation is the lifeblood of the economy. It’s the arteries of the economy that facilitates the carrying on of business and the transport of people for work and for leisure, and of all of our goods. It’s an extraordinary thing to now have that shut down.” Airport Manager

The aviation crisis has driven Australia’s second major carrier, Virgin, to the point of collapse. On Monday, the key players explain how things went so wrong so quickly.

“You have a big capital-intensive industry with a lot of people, and you have no revenue. Our revenue went down to a very, very low number very, very quickly.” Former airline Chair

The program details the battle to keep the airline going, examining why it was vulnerable in the first place and what was driving the refusal of the federal government to step in and directly support Virgin.

“We were all tired. We’d all been working around the clock, seven days a week, 15 to 18-hour days, trying to avoid going into voluntary administration…I knew at that point that we were on our own.” Airline CEO

Airlines all over the world are struggling to work out how to put passengers back in the skies safely, and affordably.

“Social distancing on an aircraft is not practical anyway…you’d have 22 people on 180 seat aircraft. And that would make the economics non-viable or the airfares would have to be nine times what they are today.” Airline CEO

The crisis for the aviation industry is so profound that it’s forcing airlines to confront the question – what is the future of flying and will they still have a viable business?

“I actually think our biggest competitor is going to be Zoom and Teams and WebEx and Skype…people in business have discovered that you can actually hold a pretty good business meeting digitally over the screen on your computer or your laptop.” Airline CEO

Monday 29th June at 8.30pm on ABC.

[Greg Hyde]

4Corners - Grounded.

Well worth a watch if you are interested in Australian Aviation History.

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners

[Greg Hyde]

Been watching Plane Reclaimers from UK. It's last episode will air this week.

Would not recommend as it follows the same premise each week.

* Plane Lands
* Remove engines
* Gut
* Breakup

Bur their are interesting tidbits.

Scrapping a SWISS A319 that landed from Zurich, had to remove engines, shrink-wrap and return engines to Zurich via road so that they could be re-installed on another Swiss aircraft in 7 later.

Pretty tight turn-around.

Second most expensive spare, undercarriage

[Greg Hyde]

More from Plane Reclaimers

80% value of a scrapped aircraft is its engines.

[Greg Hyde]

A new season of BRITAIN'S BUSIEST AIRPORT: HEATHROW has started in the UK.

Filmed, pre-COVID, so it isn't an empty airport.

Available via you favorite search engine

[Greg Hyde]

Ghost Planes And The Mystery Of Flight 370

This documentary explores the potential causes of the disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370. Expert testimonials, computer simulations, news clips, and recreations illustrate what happened on March 8th, 2014.

Together they compare this disappearance to other aircraft vanishings of the past. Was it an act of terror, mechanical failure, pilot suicide, or something more sinister? Multiple theories and conspiracies are explored.

Sunday, 13 September at 10.40pm on SBS VICELAND

[Greg Hyde]

Australia Come Fly with Me


SBS aviation series Australia Come Fly with Me, presented by Justine Clarke will screen for three weeks in October.

Produced by WildBear Entertainment, this spans our history in the skies and surrounding social issues.

Justine Clarke said: “Australia Come Fly With Me has been an eye-opening, exhilarating series to be part of. I loved learning about the daredevils and dreamers who made flying possible – pilots who risked their lives, women who refused to accept the status quo and migrants who were making this country home. I hope this series informs and inspires Australians in equal measure.”

SBS Director of Television and Online Content, Marshall Heald, said: “Australia Come Fly With Me is a landmark television moment, celebrating the centenary of civil aviation. Social justice issues like gender equality, Indigenous representation, LGBTIQ+ rights and migration have all played out across history in the skies. Flying connected us with each other and the world and this series will remind Australians how it has shaped our nation.”

Coincidentally, Clarke is also an actor in RFDS which has been filming for Seven in Broken Hill.

The history of flight is filled with danger and glamour, social injustice and opportunity. Just as it brought people together, air travel also revealed the cracks in our society. Over three weeks, Australia Come Fly With Me will celebrate the turbulent history of Australians in the air. 2020 marks 100 years of civil aviation in this country at a time when the industry is facing its biggest challenge.

Hosted by much loved actor Justine Clarke, the three-part series is a collision of pop culture, the history of flight and the great shifts in Australian life that flying enabled. The opportunities and tensions created by air travel are the context for struggles between sexes, sexualities and cultures that reflect and foreshadow changes that would follow on the ground.

Justine explores the struggles of women, Indigenous Australians, gay men and migrants to find a place in the skies. These stories are told by flight attendants and pilots and are brought to life by a rich archive of aircraft, people and exotic destinations. Australia Come Fly with Me invites us to take a trip into the past from a fresh perspective.

Australia Come Fly with Me is a heart-warming look at one of Australia’s most diverse, ambitious and important industries. It asks the question: What will be COVID-19’s lasting effect on our love affair with flight? In a time of relative isolation, this series shines a light on the desire within us all to connect.

Australia Come Fly With Me will be subtitled in Simplified Chinese and Arabic, and added to the subtitled collection on SBS On Demand, available immediately after its premiere. It will also be available with audio description on the live television broadcast.

Australia Come Fly With Me is a WildBear Entertainment production for SBS. Principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with SBS. Financed with support from Create NSW.

8:30pm Wednesday 14 October on SBS.