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 comp ..read more

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 fou ..read more

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 we ..read more

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 serv ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more