Summary: The Geeks take the day off on account of the Memorial Day holiday, but we still have some great aviation content: David Vanderhoof has an interview with David M. DeFelice, the Community Relations Team Lead at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, recorded at SpaceFest at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Find the Glenn Research Center on Facebook and Twitter. Max Flight has a conversation with Ryan Ewing, who runs a site called Airline Geeks. Ryan is quite the enthusiast and his aviation passion started out at a very young age. Follow him on Twitter. Rob Mark tells us how he seems to be having a little trouble with the President’s choice of Anthony Foxx to replace Ray LaHood as Secretary for the Department of Transportation. An RAAF AP-3C Orion at Avalon 2013 In this week’s Australia Desk: A Federal Government Senate committee has handed down a verdict into the handling of an ATSB/CASA investigation into the 2009 ditching near Norfolk Island of a PelAir Westwind jet, which ran out of fuel on a medical transport flight – a report which is extremely critical of the way the investigation was handled. A team from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) have been short listed as finalists in the Airbus sponsored 2013 Fly Your Ideas global university challenge. The team has passed through to the final with its proposal for the development of aircraft fuelled by a blend of sustainably-produced liquefied biomethane and liquefied natural gas (Bio-LNG). If successful, they stand to win a €30,000 prize. The RAAF has retired an AP-3C Orion due to budget cuts and the Government has been making enquiries regarding the possible purchase of the MQ-4C Triton UAV Senate committee hands down poor verdict on performance of safety regulator and ATSB Senate Committee releases damning report into Australia’s aviation authorities RMIT team shortlisted for Airbus’s Fly Your Ideas challenge final Australia issues Triton Letter of Request Budget reveals RAAF Orion retirement 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. Lukla Airport © Alex Johnson In this week’s Across the Pond segment: Pieter takes a break from guests this week to respond to Rob on the Jetstream and mention his son’s trip to Lukla airport one of the most dangerous airports in the world. But he leaves us with a question about aerospace domination in the next century. Find Pieter on Twitter as @Nascothornet, on Facebook at XTPMedia, and at the Aviation Xtended podcast. Mentioned: Smithsonian National Air &amp Space Museum’s Become a Pilot Family Day and Aviation Display Opening and closing music courtesy Brother Love from the Album Of The Year CD. You can find his great music at www.brotherloverocks.com.
