PODCAST · leisure
Rotary Wing Show
by Mick Cullen
Capturing stories of helicopter pilots and crew from around the world. Find out about different helicopter career paths, pick up some tips and learn more about what life as helicopter aircrew has to offer.
Episodes
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RWS 113 – 2020 Creek Fire California Rescues w/ US National Guard
The flying you will get to hear about in this episode is a reminder about the difference your helicopter skillset can make to people that are in harms way, and that there is nothing quite like these machines. It also earnt those involved distinguished flying crosses. In September 2020, the...
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RWS 112 – What Do Army Loadmasters Do and an Amazing Story of Flood Rescue in the Town of Eugowra Nov 2022 with Kylle Fenton
Kylle Fenton is an Air Crew Officer (ACO) involved in air rescue and ambulance operations supporting NSW, Australia communities. He is more accustomed to being the one to bring the resources, rescue and safety to others in “the worst day of their life”. In this episode Kylle tells a gripping…
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RWS 111 – Rescue Helicopter Crew Duties to 4300km R22 Ferry Through Remote Australia w/ James Koens
James Koens is a Check and Training Aircrew Officer on very expensive rescue/aeromedical helicopters. He also finds time to be a helicopter charter pilot, Army Reserve aircrewman, volunteer rural firefighter and a podcast host. This episode is being pushed out the door half cooked so that you can...
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RWS 110 – Better Weather Situational Awareness with Matt Johnson
Have you applied the idea of situational awareness to weather before? Knowing what the weather was doing, what the weather is now and what it will be in the future. With access to the right weather products and knowing more about how they are developed you can level up your pre-flight weather...
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RWS 109 – Going Beyond the Social Media Clip – Pasadena PD Accident (2012) with Dan Parsons
You have probably seen the video clip on social media multiple times – a OH-58 comes into land and as it touches down the blades contact another helicopter ground running beside it. Both aircraft are destroyed in spectacular manner but luckily there is no loss of life. In this episode we give a…
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RWS 108 – Sharing an Apache Cockpit with a Burning Flare with Clive Richardson
As aircrew we spend a huge amount of time training for different circumstances and emergencies. Dealing with a burning flare in your cockpit fired from a wingman’s aircraft is not one of these circumstances!! Add in the complications of being a few thousand feet in the air, over hostile…
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RWS 107 – ATSB Request for Information with Robert Chopin
Halfway through 2021, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) put out a call for assistance for information from the aviation community. What they are looking for is feedback or more information about any ground handling incidents on Robinson type helicopters, especially focused on the aft...
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RWS 106 – Mustering with Sam Chisholm
Cattle are big business in Australia. Rough round numbers has us at 25 million head of cattle and the industry employs somewhere around 200,000 people. Australia is the 3rd largest beef exporter in the world. The cattle industry also contributes a sizable chunk of the annual helicopter hours…
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RWS 105 – Enroute Decision Point with Miles Dunagan
Chatter in the cabin starts to die down, you have reduced power and started to bleed back the airspeed. Outside your world is starting to shrink as the conditions start to deteriorate. You lean forward in your seat to try and see a little further ahead. The VSI is showing a descent as you keep …...
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RWS 104 – Virtual Reality Simulators 2021 Revisit with Chris Ryan
How would you like to have been holding a steady hover and taking off and landing at 3 hours of helicopter flight time? Chris Ryan couldn’t afford helicopter lessons so he built himself a simulator to practice at home. His instructor was so impressed at his progress that he encouraged Chris to…
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RWS 103 – Robinson Governor Operation with Richard Mornington-Sanford
Before this episode if you told me that there was more than an hour conversation that you could get out of talking about the governor in Robinson type helicopters I would have been dubious. I was wrong! Today we have back on the show pilot and engineer Richard Mornington-Sanford. Richard...
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RWS 102 – Helicopter Lessons in 10 Minutes or Less with Jacob
If the images and text on the page of your aerodynamic textbook are starting to blur together then it might be time to take a break and try to ingest the information using another format. Jacob from the YouTube channel Helicopter Lessons in 10 Minutes or Less is an Apache instructor and standards...
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RWS 101 – Air to Air Photography with Mark Watterson
Helicopters make fantastic photo subjects! There is still something special about flying that captures the human spirit and the intrinsic movement and energy in a helicopter especially so. Mark Watterson has been photographing helicopters professionally since 2014. He shares some tips for how…
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RWS 100 – Degraded Visibility Training with Tyson Phillips and Andre Lavallee
Two US National Guard pilots are developing a new training tool to reduce the risk of and improve the fidelity of reduced visual environment training. IIMC, dust landings and white outs have all been the causes of both training mishaps and real world accidents and deaths. We talk about what it...
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RWS 99 – Helicopter Flying in Iceland with Tryggvi Helgason
It is not unusual for helicopter pilots to take a winding route to before they end up with a career in the cockpit. Tryggvi worked as a baggage handler, in flight operations and as a quality auditor before taking on a flying job. Now he is flying for the Icelandic Coast Guard on missions as …...
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RWS 98 – Wrong Deck Landings and Approach Detection with Jon Davis
Before a helicopter approaches to an oil rig there are checks and safety procedures to be followed on the rig in preparation – the deck is cleared, cranes are moved out of the way and gas venting is stopped. When the landing rig is misidentified and an approach flown to the wrong landing deck the…
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RWS 97 – A Possible Helicopter Career Plan B with Jerry Grayson
Jerry Grayson returns to the Rotary Wing Show with an update on his next adventure following a packed career in the cockpit as a SAR and film pilot. Now-a-days he keeps his feet on the ground but leverages his experience in the operation of drones – and he thinks it might be a good time ……
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RWS 96 – What I’ve Been Doing for the Last 60 Years with Richard Howell
Richard (Rick) Howell started spinning spanners on aircraft in 1960 as a QANTAS apprentice. Since then he has flown all through Australia and PNG including a 29 year run as a pilot for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Rick and his twin brother John both started in aviation at the same…
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RWS 95 – Adventures in Helicopter Media with Elan Head
Working in the helicopter media part of the industry Elan Head gets to talk to a wide range of people and over time has had the opportunity to take the controls of a wide range of helicopters. This gives her a unique vantage point to talk about the many roles that helicopters perform and some …...
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RWS 94 – News Helicopter Ops Over Los Angeles with Larry Welk
Electronic news gathering or ENG is the term that those in the helicopter news corner of the industry use to capture their operations. As a platform to provide real time on-scene video at short notice over a city nothing so far beats a helicopter. As consumers of news media we have become pretty...
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RWS 93 – Carburettor Icing in Helicopters with Richard Mornington-Sanford
Most piston engine pilots will be at least passingly familiar with the theory behind the formation of carburettor icing. However most textbooks lean towards the operation of the carburettor in a fixed wing mounted engine. Helicopter engines, predominately the Robinson helicopter types but...
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RWS 92 – Human External Cargo Helicopter Ops with Jeff Yarnold
As versatile as helicopters are there are still tight places where they just can’t land to get people in or out. For overwater flights, rescue teams and some utility operations that means using a hoist or under-slung line to reach someone. A hoist fitted helicopter is not always avaliable. Hence…
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RWS 91 – Helicopter Powerline Operations with David McColl
The general line thrown out there is that most helicopter pilots try to spend their careers staying away from wires – the guys and girls flying in the powerline industry get right up close as part of their job. David McColl is a powerline pilot in the US and has built up experience in a ……
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RWS 90 – Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) with Andrew Boniface
The pace of consumer electronics development far outstrips that of aviation equipment and helicopter installed functionality. Electronic Flight Bags are becoming a fixture in cockpits throughout the industry. For about AUD$799 in 2020 you can bring a range of features with you into any legacy...
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RWS 89 – Night Aerial Firefighting 2020 Update with Richard Butterworth
We first looked at night aerial firefighting in episode 65 when the capability had just finished the first trials in Australia. Now with two more fire seasons of experience fighting fires at night, Richard Butterworth is back to give an update on the continuing road map and what as been achieved…
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RWS 88 – First Solo Flights with Peter Holstein
Today’s topic is First Solo flights. If you are a student getting ready for your first helicopter solo this is the episode that you want to hear.If you are an instructor sending students solo then you will also definitely want to listen to this one. For everyone else there are some good risk...
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RWS 87 – Search and Rescue at AMSA with Luke Brandley
We spend a lot of time training for emergencies in the air but how much do you know about what happens next or what kicks into gear if you go missing? Luke Brandley is an ex-Huey pilot now working as a Senior Search and Rescue Officer with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). He and …...
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RWS 86 – Going for Height and Film Flying with Fred North
Even if you are not an avid movie goer it is still very likely that you have seen some of Fred North’s work. Fred has been involved in many of the largest Hollywood Blockbusters in recent times either flying helicopter stunts or providing the aerial filming platform. There is a lot that goes into...
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RWS 85 – Buying a Helicopter with Stephen Boyce
In the market for a helicopter or just want to know some of the ins and outs of the process? Stephen Boyce has been working in helicopter sales since 2011 and flying them since 1994. Helicopters are high cost purchases and almost always a case of buyer beware. Should you buy new or used? How …...
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RWS 84 – Pilotage FLIR with Tony ‘Squid’ Norton
Forward Looking Infra-red (FLIR) systems have been around for a while and used in a search or surveillance function normally by an operator with a control panel. A small number of aircraft are now incorporating FLIR as a pilot vision tool, tracked to the pilots head, as another way of seeing at...
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RWS 83 – SH2 Sea Sprite with Jim Palmquist
Ditching a rapidly yawing helicopter into the open ocean is one of those experiences most of us would happily pass on. Jim Palmquist and his crew onboard a SH2 Sea Sprite survived just such an event during his time as an aircraft carrier search and rescue pilot. The Kaman Sea Sprite is a unique...
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RWS 82 – Test Flying and Lessons Learnt with Tony ‘Squid’ Norton
If your perfect day sounds like flying a glider in the morning, testing the HV curve in a Kiowa at lunch and then jumping in a Swedish jet interceptor in the afternoon then Tony ‘Squid’ Norton can tell you what it’s like! Tony is currently the senior aviation instructor and and standards pilot…
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RWS 81 – Helicopter Job Market USA (2020), Visas and FAA License Conversion with Jared Friend
A few years can make a big difference and that is the case now in Jan 2020 for the helicopter pilot hiring market in the USA. For the first time in a while the minimum hours/experience for job adverts are starting to decrease and operators are looking for new hires. Jared Friend is the General …...
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RWS 80 – Influencing a Positive Aviation Culture with Natalee Johnston
There are differing and some very academic definitions for what culture is. I like – “the way we do things around here”. This is a chat about organisational culture and how it impacts on aviation and specifically helicopter operations. Natalee Johnston spent most of her time in the Royal…
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RWS 79 – Tackling Helicopter Aircrew Distractions with Kimberly Hutchings
Have you ever taken your eyes inside the cockpit to check a notification or had your preflight inspection interrupted by a phone call? Distractions of all kinds are increasingly a problem for aircrew and they are starting to show up in safety stats. Picture for a moment – you are aircrew on a...
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RWS 78 – Military to Civilian Transition for Helicopter Pilots with Tarryn Ryan
For many military aviators their careers at some point end up being a case of ‘up’ or ‘out’ – either promoted to more non-flying roles or transitioning out into the civil industry. Landing that first non-military position can sometimes be hard as you establish yourself again and reorient to the…
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RWS 77 – Helicopter Hoist Operations with Rob Munday and David Callen
Hoist operations open up a wide range of additional roles for helicopters. They allow us to get people and equipment into and out of locations which would otherwise be inaccessible or too dangerous to land. Rob Munday and David Callen from SR3 Rescue Concepts help talk us through some of the...
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RWS 76 – Funding Helicopter Training Using VET Student Loans (Australia Only)
A bit of change of format for this episode of the Podcast. I’m re-sharing a recording made for the flight school website where I instruct. This one is all about some of the financial assistance that the Australian Government provides that can also be used towards the gaining of a commercial...
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Helicopter Survival and SAR Missions with Mike Atkinson – Real-World Lessons
As an ex-Kiowa helicopter pilot, survival instructor RAAF fixed wing instructor, jet and 737 pilot Mike Atkinson has had opportunities to experience a range of aviation operations. So what does he do in his spare time? in 1932 two German seaplane pilots found themselves off course and out of...
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RWS 74 – Pete Gillies Talks About Tail Rotor Failures
Pete’s MD500 is in hilly terrain when a passenger’s hoodie departs the cabin and goes straight through the tail rotor. Listen to what happens next in this recording captured by Doug Williams at his house with Pete Gillies. Extra puppy noises included 🙂 In a machine that by design generates...
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RWS 73 – Pete Gillies Talks About Teaching Autorotations
In this interview Doug Williams captures a conversation at his house with Pete Gillies about teaching autorotations. Pete shares a story that highlights the differences, especially in turbine helicopters, between touchdown autorotations with the engine idling and with an engine completely off.…
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RWS 72 – AW609 Tiltrotor with Dan Wells
Tiltrotor technology aims to push the envelope on helicopter top speeds while retaining the ability to land and take-off vertically. The Leonardo AW609 will be the first civilian tiltrotor design to undergo FAA certification and brings with it some unique mission profiles. Dan Wells started his...
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Aircrew Mental Health & Resilience: Kevin Humphreys on PTSD, Trauma, and Recovery – Part 2
Part 2 of the interview with ex-Australian Army and current Search and Rescue pilot Kevin Humphreys looking at the topic of aircrew mental health. In this episode the focus shifts from Kevin’s military career to his personal experience with mental health challenges, the recovery process and what...
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Aircrew Mental Health & Resilience: Kevin Humphreys on PTSD, Trauma, and Recovery – Part 1
Kevin Humphreys is a veteran of a number of overseas military deployments on Blackhawk and Chinook, currently a check and training pilot on AW139 helicopters and an ambassador for a number of mental health charities. He joins us in the interview today to share some of his flying experiences and…
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RWS 69 – Multi-Engine Helicopter Considerations with Jim Vince
Learn about multiengine helicopter operations in this episode. A great primer for those that have only flown single engine machines and hopefully a useful refresher others. Putting this together has been a great refresher for me personally as it is just over 10 years since I last flew anything…
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RWS 68 – 2018 World Helicopter Day and Flying the Chinook with Paul Kennard
World Helicopter Day 2018 is this Sunday! Wishing everyone in the industry a fantastic day for it as we celebrate what we do and the machines we love. A big thank you to Mike Young from aircrewinterview.tv for being kind enough to allow the syndication of this interview with RAF pilot Paul…
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Flying a Wessex in the Falklands War: Harry Benson’s Helicopter Combat Stories
6834 nautical miles south west of London in the South Atlantic some amazing helicopter stories were being lived out during the Falklands War. Many of these were even unknown to the other aircrew flying in the same operational area. Harry Benson was there as a 21 yr old pilot and many years later...
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RWS 66 – Extreme Ownership Book Review with Adrian Park
A podcast that I get a lot of value from is the Jocko Podcast which deals in leadership, mindsets, ju jitsu, military history and has nothing to do with helicopters… or does it. In this episode I chat with Adrian Park a former Australian army helicopter pilot and now EMS pilot who has a special …...
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RWS 65 – Night Aerial Firefighting with Richard Butterworth
Helicopters are amazing assets to have working in a bush firefighting role. Every year around the world they contribute to lives saved and property damage avoided. Now for the first time in Australia we are starting to see the move into night time firebombing operations. Richard Butterworth is…
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RWS 64 – Lessons from an AH-64 Apache Refuel Fire with Skip Tackett
Imagine you are sitting in an apache cockpit during a refueling operation. Suddenly the world outside, in every direction you look, is one giant fireball. You can feel the heat cooking through through the windshield. What do you do next? That is the situation that today’s guest Boyd ‘Skip’…
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Rotary Wing Show have?
Rotary Wing Show currently has 90 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Rotary Wing Show about?
Capturing stories of helicopter pilots and crew from around the world. Find out about different helicopter career paths, pick up some tips and learn more about what life as helicopter aircrew has to offer.
How often does Rotary Wing Show release new episodes?
Rotary Wing Show has 90 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Rotary Wing Show?
You can listen to Rotary Wing Show on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Rotary Wing Show?
Rotary Wing Show is created and hosted by Mick Cullen.
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