Within Limits - Introducing Snappy and Snapper

WEBVTT
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So, welcome all.
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Uh, welcome to another Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineer Association podcast.
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My name's Scott Dresser, aka Snappy.
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I've got a very special guest here this here today, and we're going to talk about things all aviation and his career throughout that process.
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Um a very big welcome to Mr.
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Peter Holskamp, aka Snapper.
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Yes, you've heard correctly, it's the Snappy and Snapper Show.
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It's got a good ring to it, hasn't it, Pete?
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Sure it does.
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Might be a spot on radio for us, never know.
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Um Welcome, mate.
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Thank you.
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Lovely to have you have you around, and obviously throughout your career, which has been a segment throughout Quantus and a segment post-Quantus, and we're going to talk a bit a bit about both of those parts, elements of your career.
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So how did you actually get into aviation?
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How did it all start?
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Well, I was a young kid living in Canberra, would you believe?
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And I had the interest just in aeroplanes.
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And I used to ride my bike out to Canberra Airport when I was a kid.
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When when when you could do that.
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And I worked out there or helped out there polishing aeroplanes, flying around the place a little, and I even got a student pilot's license.
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And uh, but look, flying was never couldn't be for me because I've got my my eye injury.
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And uh so it was it was go into aviation, go into maintenance.
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And a good man there, Adrian Johnson, who we named our son after, he's Adrian.
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And he said to me, look, you've got to go to Qantas.
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Um I was in year eleven or year twelve at high school, and I made the approach to Qantas, and the next minute I'm starting at Rosemary Tech.
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What 1968?
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1968.
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Yes.
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Well, there you go.
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So class of 68.
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Class of 68, 23c.
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It was living me out of home, I boarded when I moved to Sydney.
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That was tough.
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Yep.
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It was tough.
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And uh then I met Pauline four years later, we were married, and then life was a lot better.
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Life changed for the for the better.
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Yeah.
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So was it was aviation always something you were interested in, or was it Mainly, mainly.
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Look, I I did apply for a job at NAB to work in banking, which I got.
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They they accepted me for that.
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But uh the application process for Qornice was going through, and it wasn't long after I got the letter from Quarnos that you've been accepted into Quartus.
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Yep.
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The rest is history.
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So if it wasn't aviation, would it have been anything else?
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Do you think Well, banking, I don't know.
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That's the other side of the corner.
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I did I did like bank uh I did like maths at school.
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But that's about the only two things that came into my mind.
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You know, I'm a mechanical person, banking numbers, the whole rest, fixing airplanes, similar.
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Yep.
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Um I gotta ask the journey in Cornice.
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Give us a rundown for the first time.
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Well, you know, I mean I was very fortunate to go to the Rosemary Tech, you'd be aware of, in Rothschild Avenue, just around the corner here.
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Yep.
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And and then we went through the TAFE system.
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And yeah, look I worked in all the areas of corners as you do as an apprentice in the workshops.
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And in third year, I nearly worked the whole year in what they call 707 periodics, and that's where I got the bug for heavy maintenance.
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And at the end of fourth year I had my basics I and I done well in my appraisals and supposedly put people like me at the terminal.
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You'll finish your time at the terminal.
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Yep.
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And sorry to say to my friends at the terminal, it wasn't for me.
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I what happened that about April the following year, there was a thing out anyone liked to go back to periodics to work on in heavy maintenance.
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I put up my hand straight away.
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And uh that's what I wanted to do.
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I wanted to rig flight controls, change landing gears, and do everything you do in Heavy.
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So that was 1971, and from ever since I've been in the Heavy Arena.
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Yeah, yeah, it's a um that was obviously the line guys refer to us those guys that worked in the hangar sections as cave dwellers.
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Cave dwellers.
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They were the cave dwellers.
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So you obviously your career began obviously really in that that's the area that you you chose to be in.
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Obviously, you work your way up the ranks throughout that time.
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I was leading hand when I was 27.
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Yep.
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And that that was full of its moments because you've got two sorts of people, those who want to be there and those who want to make hard things hard for you.
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Yep.
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And that's life.
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And uh but leading hand and when we went onto the seven-day shift, I I was made a subforeman, as they called it in those days.
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And uh another ten years I was a DMM.
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I acted in Mel McGregor's chair, and many of the people watching now will remember Mel.
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What a man.
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And uh sat in his chair.
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Uh sat in his chair for many years as an acting in an acting position.
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And then finally I applied for the job uh and I was awarded the DMM role.
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DMM role, yeah.
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So it's a um it's been quite a quite a journey through the case.
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Oh look it was, and uh look, it was great.
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I I you know, and please I humbly say without trumpeting my we did things there, and this was my brief was I did it because of my people.
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I mean we're uh I was only as good as my people.
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And we did have quite a team back in the day.
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We had a great team.
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So I was lucky enough to spend time.
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I fought the fight for my people, um, and I think my people, I know my people wanted to work there.
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And I knew, you know, all the stories, and I even knew s some of the home stories, the tough home tough home stories, and the not so tough, but I I got to know them all, and I was very privileged in that position.
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And I would I would say it was probably m a little bit more family orientated back in the day.
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That very much was.
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Yep.
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And uh we had the Christmas Times and you know social times.
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I knew many uh many wives on the phone because when they're when they were ringing up to say, Johnny or Billy's sick.
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Um, you know, you This is obviously before mobile phones for all our viewers out there.
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So yeah, they'd they'd ring they'd rig the landline and so-and-so is sick.
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And uh yeah, so you got to know them that way.
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So it was very, very it was a family environment.
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I used to know a few guys back in the day that were um constantly summons to the office for personal phone calls.
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Used to be the the same old, same old.
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I mean some of those things have w were then and they remain.
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Although the people with the mobile phones in their pockets today, I think they'd be worse.
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Yep.
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Oh, definitely.
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Definitely a distraction in the work workforce that is, especially with the the youth coming through today.
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It's something, yeah.
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Definitely a distraction.
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So obviously, you've you finished your life at at Corners at the age of fifty-three.
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I was fifty-three, yeah.
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We'll talk a little bit about that later.
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Yep.
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The next chapter in your life was was post-Cornus.
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Now, obviously, Well, can we just stay with Cornis for a sec.
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Right, okay.
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Um I'll stop there, but so I'll just go on with so obviously some of the highlights within Quantas.
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That's what I'm what I want to go to.
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So some of the highlights within Qornis.
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Yeah.
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Can we can we discuss a little bit about what they were?
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The way that Cookie Crumbled was um I was involved in many secondments.
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And uh and later on we're going to talk about you know people who had impact on my life.
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And there was one gentleman there, his name was Keith Bridge, and he was a manager of maintenance programs.
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Yep.
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And that I went and worked with him many, many times because that was really how my my DNA worked.
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Uh maintenance programs was bigger to me than actual doing the work.
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And I spent many, many months in maintenance systems.
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And and one of the big things we didn't was uh we incorporated the the CPCP maintenance programs into the system of maintenance.
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That took two years of work in our office.
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We had our own device.
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That's more of a planning role, obviously.
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Well, no, it wasn't planning.
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No, no, no, it was integrating the CPCP tasks into the routine tasks.
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For streamlining?
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Yes, for streamlining.
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Because what happened?
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Um the individual tasks were falling separately.
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Gotcha.
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So we did the task then, wrapped it, wrapped it up, and the next check we'd pull it all apart again and do this one.
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So again, just wasted time in access.
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And I know I know that they told me uh we we the result was we we got uh one one day off the C check because it's just streamlined the work.
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Which is huge, right?
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Yeah, I I'm very proud of that.
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It wasn't only me, it was uh Bob Byrne, um Satya Narayan and Barry Green, God rest his soul.
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Yep.
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Yeah, um but that wasn't.
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Lenny loopholes.
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But no, look, I did many, many secondments, and that led those secondments, especially in maintenance programs, led me on to many things after Corners.
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Yeah, right.
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So some of the obviously the highlights with the mods that you spoke of.
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Yes.
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Strut mods?
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Well, yes, I mean look, all those big heavy maintenance things, strut mods was was the one of the biggest.
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Yep, I was totally involved in that myself.
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Yep.
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Uh and also there was one aircraft, EBG, where we did a section 41.
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We did the s seven zones of the service bulletin.
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Yep.
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And everyone out there who knows what the section 41 mod program was, that was huge.
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You know.
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And then, you know, to put an airplane back together uh after a strut mod and uh section 41 was big stuff.
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Yep.
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Yeah, it was a um I remember some of the some of the mod programs personally myself, obviously the combi conversions.
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Yes.
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Um obviously the strut mods and um yeah, there was there was there was lots going on.
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Uh interior config changes.
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There were.
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I mean, and all of those things like this the combi conversion was, you know, again, what we what we do, we take a guy off the floor uh and do you want to go and help put all this into place?
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And that was one of the things I as I did as a DMM.
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You know, the a project was coming and you'd you'd you'd look around the hangar and you'd and there were guys straight away you'd pick, you know, do you want to be involved in this?
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Do you want to sit in the office and w you know, just take your time and I want you to do the project for us.
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It was the early days of basically single point of contact, subject matter expert in mind.
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Well, you really you had to do it, or another way of saying it, if you didn't do it, it was wasn't the way to go.
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So in other words, but it wasn't planning, it was organizing and um streamlining, yes, that's the they're the words.
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Yep.
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So one thing you were pretty renowned for in heavy maintenance, which I remember quite fondly, was the famous um heavy maintenance snapper tours, which where it sort of developed into you showing people around the aircraft melee pilots, I believe, at the time.
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How did how did that all come about?
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Well so-called snapper tours.
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Look, I was just happy to show people what we did and talk about what we did.
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And but the pilots became a very big thing.
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Um it was a sunny afternoon and I got a knock on the door, and uh a pilot walked in, four bars, uh, Captain John Dennis, and he came in and he said, Look, I've got a group of honest corporate guests here, and could he, could I sh could he show them a around the head the aeroplane?
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Well, we had an airplane in parts, in bits.
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And I said, Look, I can, I've got time this afternoon.
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Can I can I show you around?
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Well it became from that it became a a very, very frequent big thing where John would ring me and we'd we'd have a group.
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And the clients or the people who came were all top shelf clients.
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And Qantas was bringing them in.
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From within Qantas or from outside?
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Outside.
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Oh no, definitely all outside clients.
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Huge uh contracts.
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Yeah, right.
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And Qantas, well done, brought them in just to show them how we did it.
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And and John was a he was called a customer liaise captain.
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And by the way, check and training captain, the man was amazing.
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And he he was showing people the simulators, of course.
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Yep.
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And then one day he had a brainstorm and he said, Listen, I'm going to go over the hangars.
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In those days you you you were allowed to walk across the tarmac.
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That's how he came to knock on my door.
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And it became a thing.
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Uh I went in on many a day, even on my days off, to be with him to uh show these corporate people.
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I'm talking Deutsche Bank and Telstra, and they were they were very senior executives of these companies.
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Yeah, right.
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And Quantas well marks to them that they did this and it had a very good corporate response.
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And this obviously the aircraft was usually with D checks in the state of complete.
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Complete pull down.
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Yeah.
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So things that most people would never see.
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Never, never, never see.
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Never see.
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And what you do, you you know, you you you told them what you did, how it was done, you know.
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You know, it was a planning process.
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That's really what it was.
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And uh at the end of the day, um 400 people over to LA.
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Yeah, yeah, exactly.
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And I mean that's the thing.
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I mean, most people that saw the aircraft in that state just couldn't believe we could actually put it back to the state in which it's airworthy, really.
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And you'd explain to them like, look.
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An airplane really doesn't know it's flying.
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But we would test everything in the hangar.
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So it thinks it's flying.
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Yes.
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So there was there was no problem to put 400 people in there.
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Yeah, a majority of aircraft I know that left heavy maintenance went on they weren't on test flights.
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They were basically uh put they were put to work straight away.
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But there was you talk about people who just a little bit sideways on people who had an impact on my life, Keith Bridge, yes.
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But was Barry Stewart.
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And Barry Stewart was one of one of my first was maybe the first manager.
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The bloke was amazing.
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And the pilots were he he got wind that the pilots were a little bit uncomfortable at flying our aircraft after a D-check.
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Because yeah, tech o problems, because you know, airplane's been in the hangar for that long.
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You know.
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So Pete, so So Pete, so all of the um all of the people that have influenced in your career, um who stands out as probably one of the biggest mentors?
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Barry Barry Stewart.
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Um Barry Stewart was my first manager way back.
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I think I was only a leading hand.
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And he he he it just wanted to do everything for him.
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You know, and he he called a spade a shovel.
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He even chewed your butt if he had to, and I've had my butt chewed by him.
00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:42.960
You're the recipient of that, yeah.
00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:43.440
Okay.
00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:47.679
But I I loved him.
00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:55.360
He and he had one saying he said one of your major roles in inquiry or at home is to look after mum.
00:15:55.440 --> 00:15:56.559
Mum is your wife.
00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:57.360
Yep.
00:15:57.600 --> 00:15:58.559
And I I rang him.
00:15:58.639 --> 00:15:59.200
Well, what happened?
00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:02.480
We had a Pauline had a major uh medical issue up in Gosford.
00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:06.399
I rang him from Gosford and I said, listen, Barry, Pauline's US.
00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:08.080
And uh blah blah blah.
00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:10.320
And he said to me, You know the rules.
00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:13.039
You stay up there and look after mum, right?
00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:15.919
And when you come back to work, I sign your leave forms.
00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:16.480
Yep.
00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:18.080
The guy was amazing.
00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:27.840
But he he he was he he was good in that sense, but he was also he was no no uh BS.
00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:34.399
And at the end of the day, he he he was a wonderful man, and everyone wanted to work with him and for him.
00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:39.919
And obviously you had a lot of respect from not just yourself but from from the majority of the guys that were working in that era.
00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:41.279
Yeah, yeah, very much.
00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:46.720
So other people like um I mentioned Keith Bridge in maintenance programs.
00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:53.360
Um later on Ken Lewis from corporate safety.
00:16:53.679 --> 00:17:02.320
I worked a lot with him, and Ken Lewis was very much uh supporting the work that we did in the aircraft recovery business.
00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:09.519
Talk about that later, but he he said it's not when corners.
00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.359
It's not if we have a prank, it's when.
00:17:14.000 --> 00:17:16.000
You know, and he he he really banged.
00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:20.559
It's more of a realistic approach that these some of these things are unavoidable sometimes.
00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:22.960
And it might not even be an engineering issue that causes it.
00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:24.079
Exactly, exactly.
00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.440
But we need to be ready.
00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:35.839
And and Ken via Barry Stewart, that's how through Barry, I then he Barry pulled me aside one day and he said, Right, you've got another role now, you're gonna get involved in the recovery process.
00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:40.079
Which brings me to my next question, which is obviously OJH are.
00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:41.119
Yeah, well before we go.
00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:50.400
Before we go to OJH, so what was more about then getting a team together, like put a training course together for the for the guys I chose?
00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:58.079
And also going to Montreal many, many times uh to the aircraft recovery working group in IATA.
00:17:58.480 --> 00:17:59.599
Oh, so there was a training group.
00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:03.200
Well they were they were they were called the Aircraft Recovery Working Group at the time.
00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:04.799
I think they've got a new name now.
00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:09.039
But in that room, you were with people like they were they were kings of the castles.
00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:16.160
Like everyone from North America, like, mate, there are blokes there that are recovered, but they've had more recoveries than you and I have had breakfasts.
00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:16.799
Yep.
00:18:17.039 --> 00:18:22.799
And mate, the learning and sharing with them uh was amazing.
00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:24.799
Right, yeah, I wasn't aw I wasn't aware of that.
00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:32.880
Yeah, so um so when OJH happened, um we we had the all the the ki the kit arranged or we knew where it was.
00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:38.880
It was the we we got I had the license to get the guys together to organize the recovery kit, was manualized.
00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:55.599
Um I'll just I'll just tell our viewers, for those for those of you unaware, OJH was a 747-400 roller-powered aircraft that had a an excursion off the end of the runway during landing over in Bangkok, I think two thousand and nineteen ninety-nine.
00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:57.680
September nineteen ninety-nine.
00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:05.440
So the aircraft was extensively damaged to the point of where you would almost say probably irrecoverable.
00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:15.039
But Quanis in and their wisdom tried at the time within within Boeing, the help of Boeing, um, repaired that airplane back to new condition.
00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:29.599
Uh Peter and his team and others flew over to Bangkok to recover that aircraft off the golf course, and it was an amazing recovery considering the the conditions and the circumstances that you had to deal with.
00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:38.480
And um obviously after the aircraft was put back into a hangar situation and sure, then Boeing took over the repair scheme of that airplane.
00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:41.599
It was a fantastic project.
00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:44.559
We got the recovery team together to go to Bangkok.
00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.480
There was only one person didn't go on the recovery airplane, and that was myself.
00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:53.839
Because what happened uh my passport was in the Chinese consulate getting a visa put in.
00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:54.880
Oh right.
00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:04.640
So luckily um one of my good friends in the hangar, Henry Kok, and I, with a letterhead from Qantas, we went to the Chinese consulate to recover my passport.
00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:08.240
And I didn't go on the recovery airplane, I went up at night.
00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:10.640
And obviously very soon after.
00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:11.839
Oh, that that afternoon.
00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:12.160
Yep.
00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:14.240
But I think that was one of the longest days of my life.
00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:16.000
I was absolutely knackered.
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:16.480
Yep.
00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:20.960
And uh but recovery um well we learned a lot.
00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:24.640
It was all part of the learning about rec how to recover an airplane.
00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:29.519
Look, I'm not Muhammad, I I went up there with many, many good, knowledgeable people.
00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:46.480
And one thing I knew, and I've done that in other recoveries I've been involved in, we got involved with the uh you need people from the local area who who can who can get you your equipment, in this case graders, trains and so forth.
00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:46.880
Yep.
00:20:47.119 --> 00:20:47.920
But uh yeah, we couldn't.
00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:50.880
Thai technical were exceptional, weren't they, at the time, if I remember.
00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:52.240
Well, yeah, well you were there for that.
00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.119
I I I came home once airplane was in the shed.
00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:58.400
And um yeah.
00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.400
But I was given the privilege.
00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:08.640
Um John Clerk was the manager of the day, and he he asked me to go to uh Shaman in China to so-called bring the airplane home.
00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:10.799
And that that was an amazing privilege.
00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:22.319
So I signed the maintenance release to bring the airplane home, and I flew home on the on the delivery flight, as it were, um to Sydney, and it was fantasti I'll never forget it.
00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:31.440
Yeah, I got a round of beers out of the captain uh or the test captain from Qantas who um said that JH wouldn't leave Bangkok on a particular time.
00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:33.519
I bet him a round of drinks and uh he lost.
00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:34.559
He paid too, which was good.
00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:46.880
No, I mean Shaman actually was a big gig in the sense that Sydney uh decreed that the aeroplane would leave with zero MELs, and that was hard.
00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:56.400
And uh even with the help of Cafe giving us some bits to get home, was we got home.
00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.839
I mean, considering what I saw during that during that remote.
00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:15.039
Well actually it's g it's worth mentioning um Air France put it 747 into the water in Tahiti in 1994, I recall.
00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:15.359
Yep.
00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:19.200
And the structural damage to Air France was identical to J.H.
00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:23.359
So I'm not going to say Boeing knew what to do, but they'd done it before.
00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:24.160
Gotcha.
00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:27.279
Without without the water ingress too bad.
00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:31.519
You know, and the discussion about should it should OJH have been scrapped?
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:33.759
And look, I wasn't party to how that all worked.
00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:39.759
But the thing is, Cornis needed every seat, and they got OJH back in six months.
00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:44.480
And if they wanted to get another airplane, order one or what you're talking years away.
00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:45.200
Yeah, true.
00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:54.240
So it was a very, in my opinion, and uh uh stand by it, it was the right decision, and it came home as a and as operating.
00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:56.799
Yeah, they operated for many years, lot many years later.
00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.680
Now in now in bits in Murano, that's another location.
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:01.440
They're all in bits, unfortunately.
00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:02.400
They're all in bits.
00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:05.839
So obviously 30 years in Quartas?
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:07.359
Yeah, I mean 38.
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:08.400
Thirty-eight, I think.
00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:09.119
Thirty-eight years in the yeah.
00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:10.000
So let me say, yeah.
00:23:10.160 --> 00:23:11.279
Thirty eight years in Quantas?
00:23:11.519 --> 00:23:11.759
Yeah.
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:12.319
Yeah.
00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:14.400
Um obviously highs, lows.
00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:20.720
Oh yeah, look, you know, I mean, look, only highs, you know.
00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:31.920
Look, when the redundancies came, or they were coming, and you know, uh I I was offered a redundancy and I thought, look, I'll take it.
00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:37.200
And you know Although it was a difficult decision on my part.
00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:42.079
And and I never thought what would happen to me afterwards.
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:53.839
But it's a funny thing to say uh leaving having left Cornos and then when I went out into the world, it was the best a very good decision, best decision, whatever you call it, that happened to me.
00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:54.640
Yeah.
00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:05.119
I mean obviously I was I was there at your farewell during that time and I could see you were terribly upset, and I I don't believe it was a decision you kind of wanted to do at that particular time.
00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:09.359
But it was there were some other circumstances behind it, which we won't go into full detail.
00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:16.720
But I it was I didn't want to leave, but it was it was offered and um yeah, I mean I left.
00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:19.519
But it's the old story for people out there watching, you know.
00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:22.799
I mean, doors close, doors open.
00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:25.359
Like I was only fifty-three, as we said.
00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:29.039
Um the world wasn't ending.
00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:29.759
Yeah.
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:38.319
So I mean at at 53 years of age, obviously too young to Oh, I had to marry off the kids, so I had to pay off the house and all the normal things of life.
00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:39.519
All the things, yep.
00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:42.720
So what was your thought process through that time?
00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:44.559
What were you thinking you were going to do?
00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:49.039
Were you were you still thinking aviation was the career path?
00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:50.960
I didn't know where I was going to go.
00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:52.400
But what happened?
00:24:52.559 --> 00:24:59.440
Um a good mate of mine was an electrician out of contractor's business, and he was looking for a lackey and he he rang me.
00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:07.680
He said, Listen, mate, I think you could run a few wires on around a building on a scissor lift and uh connect electrical plugs.
00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:12.720
And um I did that for with him for a number of years actually.
00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:13.920
We worked together.
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:19.200
But then in 05 my phone rang.
00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:20.319
Yep.
00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:24.000
And and and everyone watching, you know, when my phone rang, look.
00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:28.559
Everything I did in post-cornice, I didn't seek.
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:30.079
It was offered to me.
00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.359
And I'm very humble about that and thankful.
00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:37.920
But do you think that might be because of some of the networking or some of the relationships that you did?
00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:49.039
Before I go into the phone ringing, with the networking, Barry Stewart used to say, and uh, this is what I say to everyone out there, get to know as many people in the business as you can.
00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:50.160
Right?
00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:53.039
And and and one of them was Ken Lewis.
00:25:53.119 --> 00:25:58.559
He was EGM Executive Group General Manager of Corporate Safety in Cornice.
00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:07.680
And as I mentioned earlier, he he he he he was he was you know behind all the recovery stuff.
00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:16.640
Now one day he rang me and he said uh Peter Holsgame, Ken Lewis here, and uh he invited me to join a thing called IOSA.
00:26:17.599 --> 00:26:23.759
Now, for the people out there, IOSA was the IATA uh operational safety audit.
00:26:24.160 --> 00:26:29.680
In in the early 2000s, the airlines were doing co-chair orders.
00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:33.279
You know, airline A was putting passengers on airline B.
00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:38.480
And with their due diligence, they'd go and audit that air.
00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:47.680
They'd go and order the other airline that uh like Quantas might have put their people on New Zealand or Pan Am or whoever, they'd go and audit that.
00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:50.240
And there was all this cross-matching of auditing going on.
00:26:50.319 --> 00:26:50.640
Yeah, right.
00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:53.440
And to all different levels, you know.
00:26:53.680 --> 00:27:04.000
And the international world said, hang on, we've got to get a a de uh a decent, like a standardized approach.
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:09.519
And that grew into the IOSA audit, the IATA Operational Safety Audit.
00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:26.400
Um it looked at eight eight factors of aviation and the airline operations and management, pilots, cabin crew, dispatch, cargo, ground handling, and by no means maintenance.
00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:37.440
And I I was I was uh approved to do maintenance auditing, of course, but I did uh cargo, ground handling, and org, organization and management.
00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:41.839
And through that, I traveled the world for about four years.
00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:43.839
It sounds great, but it wasn't.
00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:45.759
It was very living out of a suitcase.
00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:46.799
Living out of a suitcase.
00:27:47.839 --> 00:28:02.559
But look, it was was amazing going to all these different countries China, Taiwan, South Africa, the Pacific, Europe, Netherlands, France, um the Middle East.
00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:09.200
I went to nearly every airline in the Middle East, you know, Emirates, Kuwait, Gulf Air, um, etc.
00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:18.400
I'm sure there's a few um airlines out there that um probably our viewers would say uh as far as auditing goes would be interesting, and probably not in a great way.
00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:20.799
But what who pleasantly surprised you?
00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:26.079
I think they they all did.
00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:32.000
I mean, actually the world out there is is is especially this is 05, remember, it's not 26.
00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:38.960
They were starting to realize, hang on, we've got to we've got to act within these these regimes with these standards.
00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:54.240
Um some of them were infant, and that that was why doing the audit look, we we went in as auditors, and you think an auditor is black and white, but we actually went in as coaches as well.
00:28:54.559 --> 00:29:02.640
I mean the the airline had to show that how they documented the process, and we had to go and see how they did the process.
00:29:02.960 --> 00:29:08.799
In other words, im uh implementation and and and yes, it's written down.
00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:13.279
We we did all that, but some of the area some of the airlines were infant in those days.
00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:16.799
But um, so they were looking for guidance.
00:29:17.119 --> 00:29:18.559
And they and we that's what I said.
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:24.720
We went in as guidance, coaching, uh that was well appreciated by the airlines.
00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:28.400
And look, I would think I went to 40 airlines around the world.
00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:29.279
Oh wow.
00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:29.680
Yeah.
00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:33.359
I didn't go to Japan, went through the uh but I went to all those other countries.
00:29:34.319 --> 00:29:35.920
And obviously you didn't come to Cornice.
00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:44.079
No, actually the company I was connected with went did audit Cornice, but I I could not be asked with a so-called conflict of interest.
00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:45.200
Yeah, understandably.
00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:46.880
So no, no, I didn't do that.
00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:53.200
But I but later on I ordered Virgin um and Air Pacific.
00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:56.799
Uh yeah, so uh I've been to many, many airlines around the world.
00:29:56.960 --> 00:29:57.200
Yep.
00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:02.240
And I and I've learned to wit spicy food and Chinese food that I didn't even know what it was.
00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:03.920
Close your eyes, hopefully.
00:30:04.160 --> 00:30:04.880
Close your eyes.
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:09.119
So I've had a a wonderful experience in that regard.
00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:11.680
Um very, very lucky.
00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:12.720
Oh good.
00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:14.640
So that was that was the auditing process.
00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:17.759
And how then that was only IOSA.
00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:18.400
Right.
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:19.759
So then what happened?
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.400
Um I went into the ISPAO program.
00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:31.839
Now, by the way, I was doing other contracting too, but the ISPAO is the international standard for business aircraft operations.
00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:33.680
So I went into the business world.
00:30:33.920 --> 00:30:34.400
Yep.
00:30:34.960 --> 00:30:36.480
That's another world.
00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:39.200
Yeah, well it's uh a a a different budget.
00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:41.519
Uh you took the words out of my mouth.
00:30:41.680 --> 00:30:51.200
I mean I I did business operators in the Middle East in Hong Kong, um, execute jet here in Sydney, um, and down in Melbourne.
00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:53.759
Amazing.
00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:57.519
You know, the the business operators were generally 100%.
00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:04.559
Um I only did maintenance in the business arena, and I had a colleague who used to be with me in IOSA.
00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:09.200
He he was a pilot and he he he he did the the pilot side of it.
00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:11.599
And uh that was amazing.
00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:14.400
Would have got to meet a few interesting characters, no doubt.
00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:15.519
Oh yeah, I saw it all.
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.799
And I s the one thing I saw was the the money dogs walking around.
00:31:18.960 --> 00:31:19.119
Yep.
00:31:19.359 --> 00:31:24.240
The sniff sniffing out the money, people bringing in because you're only allowed to bring in ten thousand bucks.
00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:25.440
Oh, of course, yeah.
00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:27.279
But you know, naughty naughty.
00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:27.759
Yep.
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:35.759
So um but yeah, then I then I went on to the to the bars regime.
00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:42.160
By the way, the reason I I left IATA because you c I couldn't keep up with the flying.
00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:43.359
Yeah, it's too difficult.
00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:43.839
That's right.
00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:53.440
It like you're in Taiwan this week, come home Sunday morning, then oh you're going to London and come back, then you go to Johannesburg week at home, then you're going back to Paris.
00:31:54.160 --> 00:31:56.160
I know we're in business class, but forget it.
00:31:56.400 --> 00:31:56.799
Yeah.
00:31:57.039 --> 00:31:59.839
You know, i it was very, very difficult.
00:32:00.079 --> 00:32:04.079
But and also you could only o audit and operate it twice.
00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:06.720
Uh yes, yes, yeah, limitations.
00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:10.799
So I like yes, I went to KLM twice and KLM City Hopper twice, etcetera.
00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:11.759
Air France.
00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:15.119
But you only went twice.
00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:19.519
So the work was thinning, and that's why I went it's BAO.
00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:21.759
But then I went on to the BARS regime.
00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:25.839
Now the BARS regime is uh the basic aviation risk standard.
00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:27.279
Far from basic.
00:32:27.680 --> 00:32:28.000
Right.
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:31.359
I'm just I'm I'm troubling keeping up with these acronyms, Pete.
00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:35.279
Yeah, well, well, we're you know, we're all in aviation acronyms are go-go.
00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:36.000
True, true.
00:32:36.319 --> 00:32:44.160
But the BAS regime only did for a short time, but that was anal.
00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:47.119
That was pretty So obviously not enjoyable.
00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:48.559
No, it was harder at the end.
00:32:48.640 --> 00:33:06.799
And and part of the reason was with IATA, um, the Espayo people, and in Barr's, your audit, th in other words, the the the I audit that I did myself was then audited by someone in Oregon or in Brazil or in Melbourne.
00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:09.920
And these they were very, very difficult.
00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:11.119
Right, okay.
00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:12.960
So the so the audit was audited.
00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:13.839
Yes.
00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:15.519
Well, that's quite strange, isn't it?
00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:17.200
Very very intense.
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:20.640
So depending on who audited your work, you could get someone to just pick the ICO.
00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:24.799
Well, you know, I mean the auditor in Brazil or in Oregon.
00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:26.480
Um, you know.
00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:33.519
So th they they were questioning my uh aviation experience.
00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:34.319
Uh okay.
00:33:34.640 --> 00:33:39.759
I'd had 38 years with rules and regs of a major international operator.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:42.720
And they're trying to tell me that I haven't got enough experience.
00:33:42.799 --> 00:33:44.480
Like it was very heavy.
00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:45.200
Yep.
00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:46.880
It was very, very heavy.
00:33:47.200 --> 00:33:48.960
Yeah, well that would have wore thin after a while.
00:33:49.039 --> 00:33:55.119
Uh but um I mean you you learned and and you know, um, but you learned.
00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:57.279
And it was look, I look back at it.
00:33:57.759 --> 00:33:58.640
As an experience.
00:33:58.960 --> 00:33:59.599
Great experience.
00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:04.000
So obviously that had a that had a a shorter window, I'd imagine, that that role, did it?
00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:11.119
Well I ordered it from oh five right well till the last audit I did was in twenty three.
00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:12.480
Right, eighteen years.
00:34:12.719 --> 00:34:13.599
So that was yeah, eighteen years.
00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:19.119
And by the way, my last audit was with an operator that flew into the Octetie mine in uh Port in New Guinea.
00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:20.400
Oh, there you go.
00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:29.360
Landing in through the New Guinea Mountains and I mean I I just look at all these places where we went and what aviation opened to me.
00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:30.000
Yeah.
00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:31.440
It was amazing.
00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:35.519
And I you're almost speechless about it all, how good it was.
00:34:35.679 --> 00:34:36.079
Yeah.
00:34:37.280 --> 00:34:40.400
Was there you mentioned something about there's another recovery program you were involved in?
00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:53.119
Well, not so much recovery program, but wit and just sideways for a sec, Barry Stewart, did I say, you know, network?
00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:58.719
You know, uh make your network as fast as you could.
00:34:58.960 --> 00:34:59.280
Yep.
00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:02.800
Well, when I was in Montreal, I got to know many people over there.
00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:09.920
Um and there was one guy there, um Jim Jajawi, he he he he was the head of Rams in Douglas.
00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:10.639
Right.
00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:16.239
And he'd put he'll he'd pull more airplanes out of the mud than you and I have had breakfast, you know.
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:26.880
And talking to these people, well they they they wanted you to share their or they wanted to share their experiences about what they did and how how they did it, how they did it.
00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:42.000
Well, um, you know, that IOSA came in, I mean, aircraft recovery working group finished, and it was ten years later I got an email from this Jim Jijawi gentleman.
00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:48.079
Because he'd he'd gone into an aircraft recovery business of his own after he left McDonnell Douglas.
00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:50.960
And also uh repair.
00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:59.519
And there was a 747 freighter in Maastricht in the Netherlands, which had had an off-runway excursion.
00:35:59.679 --> 00:35:59.920
Yep.
00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:04.079
And uh I got a contact, he said, You're a 747400 man.
00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:06.639
Would you come over and help us?
00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:12.159
So when when I got there, there was a lot of damage around the nose gear, Willwell.
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:32.960
All of section 41 was dismantled, all the boxes are gone, all the circuit breaker panels are gone, and the fins removed, and they actually built a huge igloo tent around the front of from the front of the wing right to the nose to to put the whole airplane into like a huge tent.
00:36:33.199 --> 00:36:35.599
I mean, it came from Portugal.
00:36:35.760 --> 00:36:40.239
These people came in from Portugal and built in Portugal and built this huge tent.
00:36:40.559 --> 00:36:44.880
And we were we're on a tarmac spot in Maastricht, there's nothing there.
00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:58.800
And we we needed power, we needed generators, we tooling, you know, and the the Americans only brought 400 hertz uh 400, I mean US powered 110 volt stuff.
00:36:59.119 --> 00:36:59.519
Yep.
00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:10.800
We had to go and buy US stuff, sorry, European stuff, uh just drills and tooling that we could use with the local voltage of that part of the world.
00:37:11.679 --> 00:37:15.039
It was gobsmacking, amazing.
00:37:15.199 --> 00:37:21.360
I was lucky with my own experience that you'd remember the H-11 volt program uh on the stabilizer on the fin.
00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:26.239
Well, we actually, as you know, I just said the fin was removed, Boeing said, because it was out in the wind.
00:37:26.639 --> 00:37:33.440
So I was I was gonna ask you about that, the aircraft being outside, obviously, in those conditions, obviously with side loading with wind loadings and obviously being jacked.
00:37:33.519 --> 00:37:33.840
Yeah, we didn't.
00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:35.119
So they actually said take the fin off.
00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:35.440
Yep.
00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:37.519
So we were lucky.
00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:45.360
I hate saying I don't like the first person, but we were lucky that um we did all those bolts with the H11 bolt mod.
00:37:45.440 --> 00:37:46.480
You'd you might have done it yourself.
00:37:46.559 --> 00:37:51.360
We built the stage up on top of the stab jack screw, got the carpenter in, and he did all that for us.
00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:51.760
Yep.
00:37:52.239 --> 00:38:02.400
Another example of having a person there who knows the scene, and this lady, she was a lady, she got the carpenter in and she got these steel workers in to build tooling and the whole shebang.
00:38:02.880 --> 00:38:13.920
And yeah, they we went up in the stab trim compartment and they we put all the new bolts up in there and went lucky we knew our way around Boeing drawings where we it's not the maintenance manual.
00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:14.320
Yep.
00:38:14.559 --> 00:38:17.760
It's in the recovery manual how to remove the fin, but not how to install the fin.
00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:18.320
Yeah, right.
00:38:18.480 --> 00:38:22.159
So that all came off Boeing drawings, which we found, and we knew about the crush washers.
00:38:22.239 --> 00:38:24.159
Did you ever do the H11 bolt mod on the stab?
00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:25.599
Oh, I think I think off memory, yes.
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:30.719
Well, anyway, definitely the 7-6 had a similar program as well with bolt replacement as well, yeah.
00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:39.360
So um yeah, we was lucky that we had all that knowledge that we could just open up computers and look at Boeing drawings.
00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:46.159
Because the Americans got gave me all that access to Boeing drawings and maintenance manuals that we could get all that information.
00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:49.119
So, Pete, very serious question.
00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:50.800
The 7.6 or the 7.4?
00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:51.599
I've got a big one.
00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:52.639
What's your baby?
00:38:53.280 --> 00:39:00.239
Look, the 7.4, I know I've got my I went to Boeing as an inspector on the two 767s.
00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:03.679
Um I was very lucky being A being Snapper.
00:39:03.840 --> 00:39:08.000
They my airplane was OGS and the Boeing people did call it OG Snapper.
00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:10.000
Yeah, we all affectionately called it that as well.
00:39:10.159 --> 00:39:10.239
Yes.
00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:22.480
But um no, look, the 767s was great, and and I was a DMN looking after 767s, but the 47 is really yeah.
00:39:22.960 --> 00:39:27.119
Yeah, I think you'll find that's the that's where the love lies for most of us for the many maintenance.
00:39:27.440 --> 00:39:29.199
Especially the Line One guys, obviously that was our baby.
00:39:29.599 --> 00:39:33.440
I mean we grew up on that and we you know we did everything to them what we did.
00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:48.400
So with a with the current uh management style that's in place today, and there's obviously the whole do more with less, a lot more pressures on lame today than I believe there ever has been.
00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:52.960
What advice would you give to guys in those positions today?
00:39:54.719 --> 00:39:58.400
I'm not going to say it's it's right.
00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:07.280
I mean pressure and more with less and is it you can see my h my hesitation.
00:40:09.440 --> 00:40:13.360
In in all my world travels are the same.
00:40:14.719 --> 00:40:18.639
What's happening with us is the same everywhere in the world.
00:40:19.840 --> 00:40:21.760
So is it right?
00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:25.039
That's where experience comes into it.
00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:31.679
I mean you can do more with less if you've got the experience.
00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:37.679
But if you haven't got the experience, you the operator is in trouble, in my opinion.
00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:39.840
It's exposed pretty quickly, isn't it?
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:41.199
It is, it is, you know.
00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:49.760
I mean but conversely people with experience will will will detect, repair, fix, correct problems like that.
00:40:50.079 --> 00:40:50.480
Yeah.
00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:57.360
And they know and they know like with uh you and I having been in the hangar, we know what to look for.
00:40:57.840 --> 00:40:58.079
Yep.
00:40:58.400 --> 00:40:58.559
Right?
00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:00.079
But that's all experience.
00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:00.639
Right?
00:41:00.960 --> 00:41:01.920
You can't buy it.
00:41:02.239 --> 00:41:02.719
You can't buy it.
00:41:03.119 --> 00:41:04.400
No one can buy that.
00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:13.280
So um and I want can I just one other thing I want to add in there about other things I did.
00:41:13.360 --> 00:41:16.239
I I had a great connection with express freighters.
00:41:17.119 --> 00:41:25.360
Um Andrew Fortune is another man I highly respect, and I did so many things with him.
00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:32.880
Uh one of them was uh installing the 767 Freighter maintenance uh into the maintenance program as a contractor here in KCB.
00:41:33.679 --> 00:41:47.760
Uh and I did many, many, many projects with Andrew in Singapore and in Phoenix, including um building the 747 Freighter 400 training program, which I did, and started to deliver in LA.
00:41:48.239 --> 00:41:55.280
But then um as you know, the 400 Freighter program was cancelled.
00:41:55.679 --> 00:41:56.800
That's that's business.
00:41:57.199 --> 00:41:58.000
It's another story.
00:41:58.239 --> 00:42:01.280
But but um apparently there's no money in freight peak we've been talking about.
00:42:02.159 --> 00:42:07.519
But look, um working with Andrew, he's a friend really.
00:42:08.159 --> 00:42:10.400
When I go to Geelong, we always have a beer.
00:42:10.559 --> 00:42:25.360
And uh I did he opened the mini door to me and the 767 Freighter introduction was and that was the prompt Bob Alcorn came down to Melbourne one day when I well I was in Jet Star and haven't mentioned Jet Star yet.
00:42:25.679 --> 00:42:33.440
Was um he pointed the finger at me and said, I want you to come to Sydney and get involved in the 400 Freighter program, but that didn't happen.
00:42:33.679 --> 00:42:33.920
Yep.
00:42:34.159 --> 00:42:37.679
But yeah, I said Jet Star, it was another program I got involved in.
00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:46.800
Um David Wells contacted me and I commuted to Melbourne for four months and then seven months, Monday to Friday, down Monday back Friday.
00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:47.440
Yeah, right.
00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:51.039
And working in their maintenance programs area, and it was fantastic I loved it.
00:42:51.280 --> 00:42:58.960
At Jet Star that on the on the single floor of management, um just like KLM City Hopper in Amsterdam, identical.
00:42:59.119 --> 00:43:00.960
And everyone knew everyone.
00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:03.920
And look, I'd go back to Jet Star tomorrow.
00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:04.719
It was really good.
00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:05.519
Yeah, right.
00:43:05.679 --> 00:43:09.280
So you you're retired now from the workforce approximately three years?
00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:09.679
Yeah.
00:43:10.239 --> 00:43:13.119
So what's what's what's life for you and the family today?
00:43:13.599 --> 00:43:16.480
Do you still miss the smell of you miss the smell of kerosene?
00:43:16.719 --> 00:43:17.679
Oh, I do, I do, I do.
00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:22.480
I mean, you know, I mean I think it's basically the tax man has really changed.
00:43:22.559 --> 00:43:23.840
Why I can't work really.
00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:24.880
I mean, I'm on the pension.
00:43:25.039 --> 00:43:25.360
Yep.
00:43:25.599 --> 00:43:27.840
And if I it's not it's not worth it.
00:43:28.079 --> 00:43:28.400
Yes.
00:43:29.119 --> 00:43:45.519
You you're losing your pension when you know and I I've yeah, I I would because I think I can still offer something to pe I've got unique skills uh in QA and other and in maintenance programs, but no, I can't.
00:43:45.679 --> 00:43:47.760
It's not it's not that I don't want to.
00:43:48.320 --> 00:43:52.719
Well the way the industry's going, Pete, you could be called back very soon, I can tell you, but who knows?
00:43:53.760 --> 00:44:01.760
Look look, you know, I I've caught to train the mascot station many, many times and uh, you know Um who knows?
00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:03.280
Who knows?
00:44:04.559 --> 00:44:05.599
I'm only 21.
00:44:05.840 --> 00:44:06.159
Yeah.
00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:08.880
But but would I do it?
00:44:11.519 --> 00:44:16.000
Well one Pauline, my wife, would totally support me if I chose to do it.
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:16.880
Yeah, right.
00:44:16.960 --> 00:44:17.039
Okay.
00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:20.719
Yeah, she's been she's been behind me through all this.
00:44:20.960 --> 00:44:21.280
Yeah.
00:44:21.519 --> 00:44:26.559
So um Which brings me to the next question in regard to keeping in touch with former colleagues.
00:44:27.119 --> 00:44:34.320
I mean, obviously this podcast today wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for an organized event that we we met up with a couple of weeks ago.
00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:35.360
A couple of weeks ago, look.
00:44:35.599 --> 00:44:37.360
Um so how how important is that.
00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:38.559
Oh, very important.
00:44:38.800 --> 00:44:40.159
Very oh, very important.
00:44:40.480 --> 00:44:44.960
You know, it's um funny thing to say, but tough thing to say.
00:44:45.039 --> 00:44:48.239
Like I've met a lot of the guys at funerals.
00:44:48.480 --> 00:44:59.360
But and that's how the group we were with the other day, I won't mention the name because it's got a uh swear word in it, but but but um You've got to keep it PG, Pete.
00:44:59.679 --> 00:45:00.320
It's PG.
00:45:00.559 --> 00:45:11.679
But we um I used to go to the lunches, the the monthly retiree lunches, but that sort of but that group we were at the other night is pivotal.
00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:19.599
Plus I've got just good quantas friends who are um Kevin down in Avalon and I've got a lot of many quantas friends.
00:45:19.679 --> 00:45:21.920
But other than that, I live in a retirement village now.
00:45:22.079 --> 00:45:25.519
And I've got more friends there now than I've than I've ever had at home.
00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:26.159
Yep.
00:45:26.400 --> 00:45:33.920
And uh walk going walking and walking just and And you live in a pretty nice part of the world too, I might not.
00:45:34.159 --> 00:45:34.400
Well listen.
00:45:34.559 --> 00:45:35.199
I might be a little biased.
00:45:35.360 --> 00:45:36.320
You know, I'm a little bit biased.
00:45:36.400 --> 00:45:40.719
I live in the for everyone out there who doesn't live in the Southern Shire, well come on down, you know.
00:45:42.000 --> 00:45:54.239
So um and by the way, uh well we always live there and working at Mascot, well, it was just a nice drive to Mascot and half of Corners work lived there, and I don't know about it.
00:45:54.639 --> 00:45:55.440
It's pretty convenient, yeah.
00:45:55.840 --> 00:45:57.840
There's still a large majority down there.
00:45:58.400 --> 00:46:01.440
So yeah, I sit in front of you.
00:46:01.760 --> 00:46:03.039
I'm a happy man, you know.
00:46:03.119 --> 00:46:05.199
I mean, it was a great career.
00:46:05.280 --> 00:46:11.840
I think I've given it a lot, and I've been rewarded in every way.
00:46:12.400 --> 00:46:13.920
And I'm very thankful for that.
00:46:14.159 --> 00:46:15.679
And I'm humble about it, actually.
00:46:16.000 --> 00:46:16.800
You are humble about it.
00:46:17.199 --> 00:46:17.920
I'm no hero.
00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:28.079
I it was just actually, and uh, I'll repeat it, leaving leaving Qantas at the time was difficult, but uh it was a good thing.
00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:28.719
Yep.
00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:31.440
And I've given back to aviation so much.
00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:40.559
Oh, that you have, that you have, and I will say I feel as though we've only just scratched the surface of what we've spoken about today, and there's probably a lot more we could talk about, but obviously.
00:46:43.039 --> 00:46:44.239
The time has gone that quick.
00:46:44.320 --> 00:46:45.119
I know.
00:46:45.519 --> 00:46:46.400
It's incredible.
00:46:46.800 --> 00:46:52.079
But one thing is certain is that you've had an amazing career in aviation.
00:46:52.320 --> 00:46:56.000
You've certainly touched the lives of many, you've left an amazing legacy.
00:46:56.159 --> 00:47:08.320
Uh, with that, especially around people around my generation earlier on that were AME transitioning to Laming at the time, uh, certainly uh provided a lot of assistance and support towards ours, which was it's not forgotten.
00:47:08.559 --> 00:47:08.800
Thank you.
00:47:08.960 --> 00:47:13.519
So a lot of guys out there be, I'm sure, would love to hear what you've had to say on this podcast.
00:47:13.679 --> 00:47:17.039
And it'd be it'd be great to see you that you're doing well and you're looking great.
00:47:17.280 --> 00:47:17.599
Thank you.
00:47:17.920 --> 00:47:20.960
So thank you so much for being honest in your stories today.
00:47:21.119 --> 00:47:22.159
Really, really appreciate it.
00:47:23.199 --> 00:47:24.559
Thanks for the invite.
00:47:25.199 --> 00:47:28.880
I was a bit scared initially when we first came in, but I figured it's all worked well.
00:47:29.039 --> 00:47:33.360
But I've been a I'm a lucky man in many, many ways.
00:47:33.599 --> 00:47:39.440
And look, I've had highs and I've had lows, but it's been a good outcome and I'd do it all again.
00:47:39.760 --> 00:47:40.159
Excellent.
00:47:40.480 --> 00:47:41.119
Thanks for asking me.
00:47:41.440 --> 00:47:41.760
Great to hear.
00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:42.480
Thanks for asking me.
00:47:42.800 --> 00:47:45.039
So all our viewers out there, thank you for tuning in.
00:47:45.119 --> 00:47:48.559
Uh, this has been another podcast by the ALAEA.
00:47:48.719 --> 00:47:51.760
Um stay tuned, there'll be, I'm sure there's more coming.
00:47:52.000 --> 00:47:54.079
And uh I might see you somewhere out the ramp.
00:47:54.239 --> 00:47:55.119
Stay safe.
00:47:55.679 --> 00:47:56.960
Stay safe.