Ground Effect Aviation Podcast

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 flyingGrowing up in a military base in Nova ScotiaHow his training was subsidised by the Canadian governmentCompleting a very competitive flight training program at Seneca CollegeDifficulties in his flight trainingTraining in the Cessna 172, the Beech Baron and the BonanzaHow he didn’t touch a plane for 2 years after completing flight trainingIsland-hopping on the Twin Otter and the Islander in Sint Maarten in the CaribbeanReturning to Canada to do medevac flying on the King Air 100Flying the Dash-7 across international waters for the United NationsFlying 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 SatyalSupport and Original Artwork: Maggie OranPodcast 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 in southwestern France. We talk about how he discovered aviation, what his flight training and PPL checkride were like, the unique way they celebrate a first solo at his aéroclub, a few tips for the student pilot and his plans for the future.

In episode 4, we speak with Neha Puri, who recently transitioned from flying a twin-engine turbo-prop 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!

Holiday mountain flying special! In episode 3, we speak to senior Nepalese mountain flying captain Binod Puri right after he flies me to Lukla, the "world's most dangerous airport". 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.

In our second episode, we speak to my flight instructor Frédéric. I've been flying with Frédéric for a couple of months now and this episode was a chance to learn more about 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. If you're considering flight training but aren't sure where to start, Frédéric has some tips for you.

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 pilot training in Europe, his own journey from air traffic controller to pilot, the notion of personal minimums, the differences of private flying in the US vs Europe and his desire to share his passion for aviation.