Episode 243 – Talking with Igor Sikorsky III




Airplane Geeks Podcast show

Summary: We talk with the grandson of aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky about his grandfather and the annual Sikorsky Weekend that Igor holds at his sporting camp in the North Maine Woods. Igor flies a Skyhawk float plane to ferry visitors to his camp and to fishing spots in Maine. You’ll hear stories about his grandfather – how he viewed life and those around him, his visions for the helicopter, and his interests in religion and astronomy, among others. Igor holds a great collection of historical records and memorabilia from the life of his grandfather, and he brings that out for Sikorsky Weekend. Other Sikorsky memorabilia can be found at: Igor Sikorsky Archives New England Air Museum Helicopter Museum in Philadelphia The week’s aviation news: FAA delays contract tower closings to June 15 Boeing completes 787 battery certification test flights Boeing Poised for 787 Battery Fixes With Teams in Japan The Pain And Iron Rain In India The Aircraft of the Week: David continues his series on the Skyhawk with the international versions. In this week’s Australia Desk: Recorded on the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne near Princess Bridge (sheltering from the rain). We speak to Doug Worrall, an airline pilot and iPad/Android app developer, about his new game, LEO – Low Earth Orbit, available in iTunes and Google Play. Doug explains his motivation to create a challenging game that makes the user think and consider the laws of physics. The impetus for the game was his son’s school not offering physics as a subject any more, due to lack of interest. In the news: The Australian Government, after gifting 4 ex-RAAF C130-H aircraft to Indonesia, announce the sale of five additional airframes to that country. Air Samoa announces a Pay For What You Weight scheme for air fares…Steve is horrified! A routine go-around by a Qantas aircraft at Sydney during the week is cause for an appalling, ill-informed article on ABC News during the week. Doug explains the realities of a go-around and why they’re reasonably routine and very safe practice. Find more from Grant and Steve at the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast, and follow the show on Twitter at @pcdu. Steve’s at @stevevisscher and Grant at @falcon124. Australia Desk archives can be found at www.australiadesk.net. In this week’s Across the Pond segment: This week we travel to Italy to talk to Federico Bossi, Air Traffic Controller in the Milan Tower. He shares his experiences as well as telling us about his passion for flight simulation. Federico is @AeroFede on Twitter. Find Pieter on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on Facebook at XTPMedia, and at the Aviation Xtended podcast. Mentioned: Jamie Dodson’s Nick Grant Adventures books. My Opinion: Thoughts and Comments on General Aviation Classic Air Force Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at www.brotherloverocks.com.