Under Southern Skies

Providing Commentary at the Hunter Valley Air Show

Grant (left) & Steve (right) doing commentary at the Hunter Valley Air Show 2015

This weekend will see Steve & Grant providing airshow commentary services at the Hunter Valley Air Show. Teaming up once again with Allan Van’t Padje of Show Sound, Southern Skies Online Media are firmly in the real world as they provide a full airshow PA system (setup, operation & tear down) as well as commentary services.

If you’d like to enquire about having Steve & Grant provide commentary for your event, please call Grant on 0422 914 949.

Tyabb Air Show 2014 DVD

Southern Skies Online Media is proud to present the Tyabb Air Show 2014 DVD, available for purchase from the Peninsula Aero Club for AUD$25 (plus postage & handling). You can call them on +61 3 5977 4406 or email them at pac@pac.asn.au to place your order.

The DVD has also been seen available for sale at pilot shops and other locations around Melbourne, including Skylines at Moorabbin Airport.

Featuring stunning in-cockpit video from a number of aircraft (including the F/A-18) along with beautiful slow-motion footage & pilot commentaries, the Tyabb Air Show 2014 DVD does more than just recreate the crowd’s view of the airshow. The main air show feature shows:

Planning & Preparation
Show Opening (with Southern Knights & Paul Bennet)
Tiger Moths & Pups
RAN Taipan Pairs display team
RAAF trainer formation
Wirraway & Boomerang
WWII Fighters
Chris Sperou’s aerobatic routine
CAC Sabre
Vietnam battle re-enactment
Sky Aces formation aerobatics
GA-8 Airvan
Pitts Special vs Mercedes AMG race
US Trainers
R22 demonstration
F/A-18 Hornet handling display
Hornet & Mustang heritage formation
Missing man formation & show close

In addition to the air show main feature, the DVD also includes the following extras:

Chris Sperou narrates his aerobatic display
Paul Bennet takes you through his solo aerobatic display
WGCDR Tim Alsop tells you how the F/A-18 handling display is flown
Tyabb in Slow Motion

The DVD is getting great reviews from early purchasers and at this price, it’s a no-brainer to buy a copy :)

Tyabb Air Show 2014 DVD on the shelves at Skylines

Tyabb Air Show 2014 DVD getting ready to display on the screen

Covering Exercise Pitch Black 2014

Every two years the Royal Australian Air Force hosts a series of simulated air warfare missions with attendees from multiple countries taking part. Code named “Pitch Black,” the exercise has over 40 military aircraft operating from RAAF Base Darwin and RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory with missions held over the Delamere Range Facility and Bradshaw Field Training Area.

For Exercise Pitch Black 2014, Southern Skies Online Media sent Grant up to Darwin to cover the event. Joining a group of four other aviation media specialists, Grant was taken on the tarmac at RAAF Base Darwin and also flown to RAAF Base Tindal by RAAF King Air transport. At both locations the small group was provided with unparalleled access to Australian, American, Singaporean, French and Thai aircraft, pilots & maintainers.

In addition to maintaining a constant stream of updates & photographs on the Plane Crazy Down Under Facebook page, Grant also recorded plenty of audio content for use in a future episode while also making & refreshing contacts within the armed forces. While it was certainly a busy (& hot :) ) time in Darwin, it was very productive.

Shooting Video for Airbus

The Southern Skies Online Media team were recently hired by Airbus to record content of their new A350 XWB aircraft as it visited Sydney and Perth on its first flights to Australia. The aircraft was performing route proving flights to show that it is ready for long haul operations with short turn-arounds at each airport before flying to its next destination.

We flew up to Sydney on the 4th to shoot the aircraft arriving at 6am on the 5th. We stayed with the aircraft on the tarmac shooting external & interior content as the aircraft was inspected by media & airline guests. As the aircraft left on its next leg to Auckland, we stayed by the runway to shoot its departure before flying back to Melbourne.

Then on the 10th, we flew from Melbourne to Perth in the morning, shot the A350’s arrival in the afternoon and then flew back to Melbourne that evening after spending an hour shooting content of the aircraft on the tarmac. It made for a long day but the results were greatly appreciated by our client.

Airbus have produced some quick summary videos of the route proving flights that included Sydney (Trip 3) & Perth (Trip 4). You can access these videos by clicking on the links below:

Airbus A350 XWB receives a water arch salute in Sydney

Grant interviewed on Radio 2UE about the Cirrus CAPS deployment

Following his appearance in a newspaper article on the recent Cirrus SR22 parachute deployment over the Blue Mountains, Grant was invited to appear on Radio 2UE to provide more information about the parachute, the aircraft and how the system works.

You can listen to Grant’s interview with Angela Catterns by clicking the link below:

Grant on the “Mornings with Angela Catterns” show on Radio 2UE in Sydney

Grant supplies commentary on Cirrus CAPS deployment over the Blue Mountains

When a Cirrus SR22 demonstrator aircraft had to deploy its CAPS after an engine failure over the Blue Mountains, Grant was contacted by News.com.au to give comment on the system. You can find the comments they used in this report on the incident:

“This was one serious sales pitch: pilot Peter Edwards works for the company that made the plane parachute which saved his life”

Producing an Airshow DVD

We are honoured to have been asked by the Peninsula Aero Club to produce the official DVD for the Tyabb Airshow 2014. We’ll be putting a team on site for the event with multiple cameras on the ground and on board some of the aircraft then producing a comprehensive DVD that captures the sights & sounds of the show.