In episode 6 of the Ground Effect podcast (recorded in May 2020), we head to North America to speak to Troy Baxter, a pilot whose international career is as diverse as it is surprising. From island-hopping in the Carribean, flying in an active warzone in Afghanistan and doing medevac in Canada (to name but a few of his adventures), Troy has done it all.

This is the first of a two-part episode. In part 1, we talk about:

• How the Covid-19 pandemic has affected his flying
• Growing up in a military base in Nova Scotia
• How his training was subsidised by the Canadian government
• Completing a very competitive flight training program at Seneca College
• Difficulties in his flight training
• Training in the Cessna 172, the Beech Baron and the Bonanza
• How he didn’t touch a plane for 2 years after completing flight training
• Island-hopping on the Twin Otter and the Islander in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean
• Returning to Canada to do medevac flying on the King Air 100
• Flying the Dash-7 across international waters for the United Nations
• Flying civilian in an active war-zone in Afghanistan (and having to deal with rocket attacks)
• Flying the Dash-7 from Africa to North America (via the Middle East, Europe and the North Atlantic)

We hope you enjoy this episode. And if you do, rest assured that there’s a lot more in part 2, which will be posted in the coming weeks.

If you have any thoughts, ideas or suggestions for us, or you want to be a guest in the podcast, we'd love to hear from you! You can get in touch with us either by email (groundeffect[@]neustadt[.]fr), via Twitter @thegroundeffect or Instagram (groundeffectpodcast).

Host: Parimal Satyal
Support and Original Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx

In episode 5, we go back to the European general aviation and speak with Tom, a newly-certificated private pilot in the Arcachon region around Bordeaux. This episode was recorded in late August, the same month Tom completed his checkride.

We talk about:

• How taking to pilots at a local bar sparked his interest in aviation
• How he discovered piloting after a scenic aerial tour of the bassin d'Arcachon
• Why made aviation different from what he was studying at the time
• The rather unique way they celebrate a first solo at his aéroclub
• What his training and his PPL checkrire were like and what he found most challenging
• Why you shouldn't hold the nose up too long on a Robin DR-400 after touchdown
• What his plans are, now that he's officially a pilot
• His message to student pilots and those aspiring to take up flying

Links to some things we mention in this episode:

• Tom's Instagram account: aviation.tom
• His home base of Arcachon (LFCH, La Teste de Buch)
• SDVFR, a free application for air navigation for iOS and Android
• Matt Guthmiller, who circumnavigated the globe on his single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza
• TheCandourist, who embarked with a friend on a round-the-world trip on a Cessna 210 (and who was joined for the Atlantic crossing by Matt).

We hope you enjoy the episode and wish Tom all the best in his journey to join the big guys! If you have any thoughts, ideas or suggestions for us, or you want to be a guest in the podcast, we'd love to hear from you! You can get in touch with us either by email (groundeffect[@]neustadt[.]fr), via Twitter (@thegroundeffect) or Instagram (groundeffectpodcast).

Host: Parimal Satyal
Support and Original Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx

In episode 4, we speak with Neha Puri, who recently transitioned from flying the twin-engine Jetstream 41 on domestic routes in Nepal to flying the A320 to international destinations. This is the second of two interviews recorded in the summer of 2018 in Nepal, which I took forever to edit and put out (sorry Neha and my listeners!). But here it is, it's a really fun episode and we hope the wait will have been worth it!

We talk to Neha about:

• Her primarily flight training in Cebu, in the Philippines
• How she transitioned to flying the BAe Jetstream 41 twin-engine turboprop, of which only 100 were ever built, in Nepal
• What it was like to be trained by a family member (who also happens to be our guest in the previous episode of this podcast)
• What it’s like to be a female pilot in what is still a male-dominated industry
• The international organisation of women pilots spearheaded by Amelia Earhart called the Ninety-Nines that financed her A320 type rating
• What it’s like transitioning from flying domestic routes on a twin prop to international ones on a sophisticated, modern Airbus jet with a lot more automation

Ground Effect is a farily new podcast with a lot to learn so we enthusiastically welcome your thoughts, comments and suggestions either by email (groundeffect[@]neustadt[.]fr) or via Twitter (@thegroundeffect).

Host: Parimal Satyal
Support and Original Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx

Holiday mountain flying special! In episode 3, we speak to senior Nepalese mountain flying captain Binod Puri right after he flies me to the "world's most dangerous airport" and back on a Czech-built Let 410 Turbolet. Lukla's Tenzing-Hillary airport is an exceptional altiport: a one-way 1.729ft (527m) sloped runway at an altitude of 9.2000ft (2800m) with an 11.7% gradient, a cliff on one end and a stone wall on the other, towering mountains on all sides and unpredictable, fast-changing weather (as we'll see). Should you ever wish to scale Mount Sagarmatha, aka Everest, this is the closest serviced airport you can fly to.

We talk about:

• Why the margin of error is extremely low in Lukla
• Some of the risks involved in mountain flying
• STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) aircraft you might see
• How (and where) Nepalese pilots train
• The importance of CRM (cockpit resource management)
• The language that pilots use on the radio
• How aviation has changed over the years in Nepal
• Advice for new pilots and anxious passengers

If you are unfamiliar with Lukla airport, this video of the approach on YouTube should give you a good idea of what it's like. You'll also find another video on the Ground Effect Podcast Instagram page I took from inside the cockpit that shows how close to the mountains we get and how at multiple occasions you get to hear the EGPWS (Enhanced Ground Proxity Warning Sensor) screaming "Terain! Pull up!".

Thank you once again to to Cpt. Puri for this incredible experience and for taking the time to chat with us about his 37 years of experience as a mountain flying pilot in Nepal.

As always, we're a new podcast with a lot to learn so send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions either by email (ground.effect[@]neustadt[.]fr) or via Twitter (@thegroundeffect).

Host: Parimal Satyal
Support and Original Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx

In our second episode, we speak to my flight instructor Frédéric. I've been flying with Frédéric at my aéroclub for a couple of months now and this episode was chance to get to know what made him want to change careers and become a pilot relatively late in life, what it's like to teach someone else how to fly and what his own goals are as a pilot.

We also talk about:

• Why he feels like he has aviation in his genes
• What made him want to pursue his hobby and get his license
• What drew him to acrobatic flying
• How bad landings are a simply a necessary part of flight training
• What it's like to teach someone how to fly and learn to trust them
• Tips for the beginning student pilot
• How, regardless of experience, a pilot has to always be learning

Frédéric mention these things in the podcast:

• The Right Stuff, a historical drama about the early test pilots involved in cutting-edge research at Edwards Air Force Base in the 60s, including the legendary Chuck Yeager.
• L'avionnaire, a very thorough online encyclopaedia on aviation, with articles on everything from history, aerodynamics and instrument flying to weather, engines and de-icing (in French).

A huge thanks to Frédéric for taking the time to chat. We hope you enjoy this episode.

This is a fairly new podcast and we've still got a lot to learn, so we've love to hear from you! Send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions either by email (ground.effect[@]neustadt[.]fr) or via Twitter (@thegroundeffect).

Host: Parimal Satyal
Support and Original Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx

In our first episiode, we speak to Antoine, an A320 pilot, a French-language aviation podcast host and previously an air traffic controller in Switzerland. We talk about:

• How his parents were glider pilots and how he started flying very young
• How he set his parents' field on fire by playing with rockets
• What it was like to be an air traffic controller
• What the pilot training process is like in Europe
• How flying a modern jet aircraft compares with small general aviation ones
• The importance of communication in the cockpit
• The notion of personal minimums
• The differences of private flying in the US vs. Europe

Some technical terms we use in the podcast (I'll be careful to explain these more in-podcast in upcoming episodes):

• ATPL - Airline Transport Pilot License (European equivalent of ATP)
• CPL - Commercial Pilot License
• VFR - Visual Flight Rules (or visual flying, by looking out the window)
• IFR - Instrument Flight Rules (or instrument flying, regardless of visibility)
• IR - Instrument Rating (rating that allows you to fly IFR)
• ME - Multi-Engine (rating that allows you to fly multi-engine planes)
• MCCJOC - Multi-crew Cooperation & Jet Orientation Course
• Class Alfa - Class A (as oposed to B, C, D, E, F or G) airspace, usually reserved for commercial aircraft, mostly jets.

If you speak French (or if you're just curious), check out Antoine's French-language aviation podcast: Parlons Aviation

We love hearing from you, so send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions either by email (ground.effect[@]neustadt[.]fr) or via Twitter (@thegroundeffect).

Host: Parimal Satyal
Support and Original Episode Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx