6. Troy, the pilot who's done it all

03/07/21 • 52 min

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 flying
Growing up in a military base in Nova Scotia
How his training was subsidised by the Canadian government
Completing a very competitive flight training program at Seneca College
Difficulties in his flight training
Training in the Cessna 172, the Beech Baron and the Bonanza
How he didn’t touch a plane for 2 years after completing flight training
Island-hopping on the Twin Otter and the Islander in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean
Returning to Canada to do medevac flying on the King Air 100
Flying the Dash-7 across international waters for the United Nations
Flying 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 Satyal
Support and Original Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx

This is the first of a two-part episode. In part 1, we talk about:

How the Covid-19 pandemic has affected his flying
Growing up in a military base in Nova Scotia
How his training was subsidised by the Canadian government
Completing a very competitive flight training program at Seneca College
Difficulties in his flight training
Training in the Cessna 172, the Beech Baron and the Bonanza
How he didn’t touch a plane for 2 years after completing flight training
Island-hopping on the Twin Otter and the Islander in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean
Returning to Canada to do medevac flying on the King Air 100
Flying the Dash-7 across international waters for the United Nations
Flying 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.

Host: Parimal Satyal
Support and Original Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx

Previous Episode

5. Tom, the all-new private pilot

In episode 5, we go back to the European general aviation and speak with Tom, a newly-certificated private pilot in the Arcachon region around Bordeaux. This episode was recorded in late August, the same month Tom completed his checkride.

We talk about:

How taking to pilots at a local bar sparked his interest in aviation
How he discovered piloting after a scenic aerial tour of the bassin d'Arcachon
Why made aviation different from what he was studying at the time
The rather unique way they celebrate a first solo at his aéroclub
What his training and his PPL checkrire were like and what he found most challenging
Why you shouldn't hold the nose up too long on a Robin DR-400 after touchdown
What his plans are, now that he's officially a pilot
His message to student pilots and those aspiring to take up flying

Links to some things we mention in this episode:

Tom's Instagram account: aviation.tom
His home base of Arcachon (LFCH, La Teste de Buch)
SDVFR, a free application for air navigation for iOS and Android
Matt Guthmiller, who circumnavigated the globe on his single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza
TheCandourist, who embarked with a friend on a round-the-world trip on a Cessna 210 (and who was joined for the Atlantic crossing by Matt).

We hope you enjoy the episode and wish Tom all the best in his journey to join the big guys! 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 Satyal
Support and Original Artwork: Maggie Oran
Podcast Music: Getting It All Together by RockitMaxx