Gerard Frawley

Managing Editor

Lee-Anne with the magazine's Andrew McLaughlin (left) and Gerard Frawley (right).

Lee-Anne Simm

Advertising & Events Manager

Lee first joined Australian Aviation in 1990 as a young and vibrant office assistant.

After several years of making the office work, Lee assumed the positions of Circulation and Production Manager, overseeing the magazine's production from start to finish.

Also advertising and events manager, Lee is kept on her toes in this fast paced and dynamic industry.

In 2005, Lee, along with Managing Editor Gerard Frawley and Deputy Editor Andrew McLaughlin, took over the helm of AA from its founder when they formed Phantom Media.

Lee has two children, Macaila and Nathan.

Contact Lee-Anne

Andrew McLaughlin

Deputy Editor

Andrew started writing for Australian Aviation in 1998 on a part-time freelance basis, with his first item published being an article on the USAF detachment at RAAF Base Richmond.

Between 1998 and 2003, Andrew regularly wrote feature articles, mainly on Australian and overseas military aircraft and units. In 2003, Andrew started writing the military section of the then new Australian Aviation Express, the magazine's weekly email newsletter, a move which enabled him to start writing on a full-time basis.
In mid 2004, Andrew was commissioned by Boeing Australia to write a book to celebrate the F/A-18 Hornet's 20th anniversary in RAAF service in 2005. 'Hornets Down Under' was completed in early 2005 with the assistance of the RAAF and the team at ‘Australian Aviation', and was launched at the Avalon Airshow that March by the then Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Angus Houston.

In February 2005, Andrew joined forces with Gerard Frawley and Lee Ann Simm and established Phantom Media. The Phantom Media team then bought ‘Australian Aviation' magazine from founder, Jim Thorn, and as Deputy Editor, Andrew now writes the magazine's Newsdesk section and various feature articles each month, as well as the weekly ‘Australian Aviation Express' electronic newsletter.

Career highlights for Andrew include two visits to Nellis AFB in Nevada to view Red Flag exercises in 2003 and 2004; attending the Hornet International Operators Conference in San Diego in 2004; a trip to view the massive Airbus A380 factory in Toulouse in 2005; a visit to the USAF 1st TFW at Langley AFB in Virginia in 2005 to see the first F-22 Raptor unit in action; a flight in an Airbus A380 demonstrator in Sydney in 2007; and a visit to the USN's VFA-122 Super Hornet training squadron at Lemoore NAS in California in 2007.

However, undoubtedly the highlight to date and one which will be hard to beat, was Andrew's ride in the back seat of an RAAF F/A-18B Hornet during a visit to ARDU at RAAF Edinburgh in late 2000.

Specialising in military aviation matters, Andrew was recognised by his peers in winning the Best Defence Article at the 2007 National Aviation Press Club awards for his ‘Fighter Battles' feature which appeared in the April 2007 issue of the magazine.

Andrew lives in Sydney with his wife Jacqueline and two children, Hayden and Brianna.

Contact Andrew

Paul Sadler
Photographer & Reporter

Paul has had a passion for photography from a very early age and began learning the art when he was just 7 years old (thanks to an inherited Pentax SLR). He grew up with a father that just loved watching the Mirages flying in and out of RAAF Base Williamtown, NSW while on holidays in the late '70s and soon fell in love with everything 'aviation'.

Most kids his age were spending their pocket monies on new toys or computer games etc, but Paul saved every cent he was given and used ALL his pocket money to buy film, pay for processing and occasionally the purchase of a second hand lens or two.

Shooting everything that moved, but mainly aircraft and helicopters, he started to develop a talent in aviation photography and used his subjects well to teach himself most of the skills and techniques important to photography.

Fresh out of high school after completing his HSC (and obtaining his pilot's licence), Paul took up a position as an assistant photographer with a national sports photographic company. Travelling the country side photographing all kinds of sports from national women's hockey, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race and V8 Supercars, Paul found himself in a photo lab working as a photofinisher/technician (a printer).

After a short period as an assistant photographer, his career as a full time commercial photographer really took off and he decided to go it alone, starting his own photographic business. Purchasing a Kodak Express mini-lab, Paul used his retail lab to gain valuable experience in the photographic finishing industry before opting out in early 2000 with the introduction of digital photography.

Paul was one of the first commercial photographers in Australia to convert to digital and has never looked back.

Having his first photo published in the November 1992 issue of Australian Aviation, Paul is our chief photographer, Rotor Torque columnist and editorial assistant. Highlights with his association in aviation media have included, flying the 737, 767, 747, Black Hawk, F/A-18 Hornet and Hawk 127 simulators, meeting Chuck Yeager, flying a Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX) in one of 37 Squadron's C-130J Hercs, on call with the RACQ Careflight Rescue helicopter team for 48 hours, spending four days water bombing and observing the 2003 Canberra bush fires, photographing a RAAF F/A-18 Hornet over Melbourne from the ramp of a C-130H Hercules, flying with the RAAF Roulettes Aerobatic Team and in the rear seat of a 76SQN Hawk 127.

At the 2007 National Aviation Press Club awards Paul received commendations for his article titled 'Afghan Chinooks' in the Defence Article of the Year category and for his photograph titled 'Hornet Flare' for Aviation Photograph of the Year.

Contact Paul

Danielle Cregan

Circulation Manager

The youngest in the Australian Aviation team, Danielle joined the magazine in early 2006 and looks after the phones, the magazine's subscriber database and all book and subscription orders.

Dan is an enthusiastic student of all aspects of the magazine and aviation businesses, and is a now a regular airshow attendee.

Her favourite column in the magazine is by far 'Rotor Torque' (closely followed by Traffic) and she is fast becoming an expert on all things rotary winged.

A budding photographer, Dan one day hopes to have some of her photos published in the magazine.

Attending Virgin Blue's black tie event to mark the opening of its new 'The Lounge' at Canberra Airport was a recent working highlight for Danielle.

Contact Danielle

Ellis Taylor
Reporter

After a few years as a freelance journalist, Ellis has joined the editorial staff at Australian Aviation and is responsible for writing on civil aviation affairs.

Ellis has long had a keen interest in aviation. He caught the bug from attending an RAAF airshow at Pearce air base as a twelve year old. This led to an early interest in military aircraft which changed over the years to an interest in the airlines. Later on, Ellis became interested in the business behind the airline industry.

Ellis has a strong academic background and holds a Bachelor of Commerce (International Business) with Honours. He wrote his honours thesis on the strategic alliances of Air France and KLM. He is also a casual tutor in Strategic Management at Curtin University of Technology in Perth.

In 2007, Ellis worked as a Commercial Graduate for Jetstar Airways. In this role he worked in the Business Development and Strategy and Commercial Projects departments. This experience gave him a great insight into the airline industry and a greater appreciation of the role of airline management.

Ellis had his first article published in Australian Aviation at the ripe age of 17, about the state of aviation in WA after Ansett had collapsed. He has also written for other publications including Aircraft & Aerospace Asia-Pacific, Aviation Business Magazine and The Caribbean Investor.

When not writing or looking at aircraft, Ellis enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing and watching cricket and soccer and playing attempting to play the guitar. He does aspire to get his private pilot's license “at some point.”

Contact Ellis

Tony Arbon
Civil Aircraft Register Columnist

Tony was born in England in 1949 and first became interested in aircraft while at school. He vividly remembers watching Bristol Freighters, DH Herons and DC-3s pass over the family home on approach to Bournemouth/Hurn airport during the early 1960s.

 
A trip to Hurn each weekend quickly became the 'norm' and the occasional weekday trip was not out of the question to see something interesting - playing truant from school. Local joyflights were conducted by DH Dragon Rapide and Auster aircraft and visits by modern Cessnas and Pipers were considered something special. Tony recalls seeing the last of the Vickers Viscounts being built, the first flight of the prototype BAC One-Eleven and following the progress of each One-Eleven as it progressed down the production line at British Aircraft Corporation's facility at Hurn. 

During 1974 Tony emigrated to Australia and immediately became interested in the local aviation scene. Visits to New Zealand, Fiji and Papua New Guinea during the late 1970s and early '80s broadened his interest in this region and Australia, New Zealand, PNG and the Pacific Islands remain the focal point of his aviation interest. He began taking aircraft photos during 1975 and obtained a Civil Aircraft Register from the Department of Transport in order to catalogue his collection. He quickly found that this Register did not contain the depth of information that he needed and began adding notes and putting together histories of types and individual aircraft.

Tony says that his enthusiasm "sort of got out of control" and now boasts one of the largest collections of aircraft slides, books and magazines in the country. He also holds historical records of every aircraft ever registered in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and most of the Pacific Islands. Tony joined the Australian Aviation team in September 1985 when he began writing a regular feature covering changes to the Australian Civil Aircraft Register and managed to turn, what could have been a rather dry subject, into an interesting and informative article.1991 saw the first Australian Aviation Civil Aircraft Register published and who better qualified to edit the Register than Tony.

After 15 years of continuous publication of the Civil Aircraft Register  technology has finally taken over and the Register is no longer available in book form. However, all the information is still available on CD complete with a search program and photos.  Tony is a member of the local Aero Club, Air Britain , the Aviation Historical Society of Australia and the Aviation Historical Society of New Zealand. He writes his regular Register Review contributions, edits, compiles and distributes the Australian Aviation Civil Aircraft Register on CD and manages a small woodworking business in Caboolture, Qld.

He retired from Airservices Australia in 2000 after 22 years as a Flight Service Officer in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Contact Tony

Mark Brownley
Contributing Writer

Mark Brownley is an aviation writer and commentator who has had numerous articles published on such issues as general aviation, air finance, aircraft selection and domestic competition. 

Mark has been associated with Australian Aviation since 2000 and his most recent series ‘Human Factors – People in Aviation' focused on the people at the ‘sharp end' of the business. 

Mark is also an internationally published author in the field of small-medium business development.

Macarthur Job
Air Safety Writer

Macarthur (Mac) Job has had almost a life-long involvement with civil aviation.

He learnt to fly in the early post war years in what he still believes is one of the best training aeroplanes -- the open cockpit Tiger Moth.

His professional involvement in aviation began in the early 1950s as a pilot in South Australia 's Flying Doctor service, then based at Ceduna on the Great Australian Bight . The South Australian service in those days was run by the Anglican Church's Bush Church Aid Society - the equivalent of the Uniting Church 's AIM –- and it also ran several bush hospitals throughout the S.A. outback.

The Ceduna base, as well as its doctors, base hospital, radio station, and aircraft, also included a pharmacy. The young red-headed pharmacist had been recruited several years earlier from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney , after the first flying doctor was bitten by a snake. Her name was Esma Page, and a year after Mac's arrival, they were married. Five children, six grandchildren and 52 years later they are still married!

In 1964, after a spell of charter and fisheries flying, Mac was appointed to the Air Safety Investigation Branch of the Department of Civil Aviation. As a Senior Inspector of Air Safety, he was Editor of the Department's pilot safety magazine, Aviation Safety Digest which, in 1972, won the international Flight Safety Foundation's "Publication of the Year" award.

In 1980 Mac became Editor of the industry journal Aircraft , published by The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd. Eight years later, after a stint with the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, which operates more than 40 aircraft in community development work in Papua New Guinea and outback Australia, he become a full time aviation writer specialising in air safety. Since that time he has written widely on the subject and has published seven books.

At the Avalon Air Show in 1997, Mac was presented with an award for "aviation safety excellence" and was also given the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's Adams Trophy . And in the Queen's Birthday Honours for 2003, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for "services to the promotion and advancement of aviation safety".

Although he still holds a licence, he has little opportunity to exercise it these days, other than an occasional flight to “keep his eye in”. But he still writes regularly on air safety, Esma patiently explaining to friends that "aviation is a disease they never get over"!

Macarthur was recognised with the prestigious ‘Life Time Achievement’ award at the 2007 National Aviation Press Club Awards for his work in better understand accidents, why they happen, and most importantly, how they can be avoided.

Bob Grimstead
Airtest Pilot

Bob Grimstead's first flight was as a 15 year old Air Cadet, in a Royal Air Force Provost radial engine trainer. He was immediately hooked for life. After gaining the necessary school qualifications, he learned to fly at The College of Air Training, Hamble, before joining BOAC as an airline pilot. Bob's subsequent career with British Airways spanned 33 years, and he retired as a Boeing 747-400 captain.

 
While a professional pilot, his love of light planes never deserted him. He has been a sport pilot for nearly four decades, including several years of display flying with the world renowned Tiger Club, and has flown more than 20,000 hours in over 200 types, from 747s through airliners modern and ancient, military jets, executive aircraft, commercial and private light aeroplanes, ultralights, helicopters, sailplanes, gliders and hang-gliders, to a powered parachute, a balloon and an airship. 

Having photographed aircraft since he was a small boy, Bob started writing in 1982 to publicise his formation display team. He has since developed these hobbies into a second career, and has written nearly 200 articles (mostly flight tests), which have been translated into several languages and featured in over 30 publications all around the world.

 
He and his wife Karen, an interior designer, live in Perth, Western Australia. Bob owns and runs a four seat tailwheel Maule, an open cockpit homebuilt Fly Baby and a Fournier RF-4D aerobatic motor glider at Serpentine, but retains the use of an Aeronca Champ for fun flying when he is in England.

Dave Prossor

Warbirds, Vintage & Veteran and From The Right Seat Columnist.

David started his aviation writing career back in the early 1960s, initially with material for aviation enthusiast newsletters. His first commercial aviation article appeared in 1968.

Since that time he has written numerous articles for local and overseas magazines and publications. He has also contributed material to several aviation books and video productions.David commenced writing the Warbirds column in 1983 and continues to do so today. The main theme of the column has always been to run news items covering the Australian warbird, antique and classic aeroplane scene as well as the local aviation museums. 

With a keen interest in antique aircraft, and long before they featured in mainstream media, David became the founding editor and writer of Rag & Tube, the magazine of the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia. In 2000 David launched a new column in Australian Aviation, From The Right Seat. That column deals with flight instructional issues and all that goes on around them. The column came as a natural carryover from his flight instructor work. In addition to his writing activities David is a knowledgeable and experienced airshow announcer. In his capacity as an airshow announcer he has covered many airshows in Victoria, NSW and even overseas.  

With so much interest in aviation it was only natural that David would want to fly. He commenced flying in 1964 and over the years, first as a private pilot and later as a commercial pilot, he has enjoyed logging many thousands of hours flying across Australia in antiques, taildraggers and floatplanes, as well as charter flying, flying instruction, hopping skydivers and towing sailplanes and even advertising banners. He was a sailplane tow pilot at the World Gliding Championships held in Australia in 1974 and again in 1987.

In the late 1990s he did some commercial floatplane flying and developed a love for that sector of aviation. These days David is a professional Grade 1 Flight Instructor based at Melbourne's Moorabbin Airport. He especially enjoys teaching the special skill of leaning how to fly a tailwheel aircraft.   

David enjoys nothing more than flying to some new airport, hopefully in an interesting taildragger, and to land on a grass airstrip. Of the 70 plus types that he has flown more than 20 have been tailwheel/tailskid types.  

David has previously worked in the administration side of the then Department of Civil Aviation (Airworthiness & Air Safety Branches, Head Office, Melbourne). David also worked with Melbourne based Schutt Aviation in the heady days of the General Aviation boom in the late 1970s, in new aircraft certification and later as Manager, Spare Parts.  His favourite aircraft to fly: Biplane - the Tiger Moth; Low wing - IMCO Callair A-9A; high wing - Cessna 185 (so versatile!). His favourite aviation writers: Ernest K Gann, Budd Davisson, Stephen Coonts and Don Downie.

 
And of the future? More interesting writing for both the Warbirds and Right Seat columns. More feature articles and perhaps even a book. Continued instructing in order to pass on a wealth of experience and knowledge plus, hopefully, some more floatplane flying.  If any time is left over he is using that to restore a 1917 Sturtevant 5A watercooled V8 aero engine that he acquired some years ago. Anyone have an interest in Sturtevant aircraft and aero engines?  If so contact Dave

Gordon Reid
Traffic columnist

Gordon developed an interest in aviation in late 1953 at Prestwick Airport, Scotland while still at school. The following year he purchased his first camera, which took black and white photos. He started taking colour slides in 1962 and colour prints in 2000, and this has led to a collection of 80,000 black and white negatives and 15,000 slides.

 From August 1954 Gordon started recording the details of all the aircraft he sighted and has maintained a daily diary ever since. This later expanded to record all interesting aircraft visiting our region whether personally sighted or not.

He has been a member of Air Britain (International Association of Aircraft Historians) since 1960.  Initially employed by Clydesdale & North of Scotland Bank from 1958 until 1962, he moved from Glasgow to London in late 1962 to join British European Airways at London/Heathrow where he worked in the Flight Operations Department. In April 1965 he emigrated to Melbourne and the same month joined Trans Australia Airlines.

He was employed by TAA/Australian/Qantas from 1965 until November 1993 when he took an early retirement package. From late 1969 until retirement Gordon worked in the Operations Control Department where he was latterly a Duty Control Manager.  

August 1966 saw Gordon's first visit to the United States on aviation related matters and has since then he has returned on 27 occasions. Since retirement his annual visits to the United States generally includes a week at EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh, Wisconsin followed by three weeks touring round airfields in different parts of the country. From late 1965 until late 1973 Gordon edited the Essendon Newsletter, a magazine directed at aviation enthusiasts. Between 1976 and 1983 he wrote a series of monthly articles in the TAA Aircrew Bulletin with the main subject being the history of individual aircraft previously operated by TAA.

Gordon first started writing for Australian Aviation in September 1983 and in September 1985 wrote his first Traffic column. Gordon maintains an extensive library of aviation books (hundreds) and magazines (thousands).

Contact Gordon

Tony Holmes

Contributing Writer & Photographer

Born in East Fremantle in 1967 and raised in Rockingham, Western Australia, Tony Holmes was weaned on a diet of aviation as a small child. His grandfather served in the Royal Air Force during World War 2, both as an engine fitter on Spitfires, Mosquitoes and Typhoons and an air gunner in Sunderlands - his other grandfather was a Royal Marine. Tony's father (Tony senior) continued the family tradition by joining the RAAF in 1960s, serving initially on Vampires with No 2 FTS at Pearce and then completing his brief career in the air force with No 25 Sqn. Tony senior has worked in civil aviation at Jandakot ever since. With a background like this, it is hardly surprising that Tony junior developed a passionate interest in aviation.

Tony first started taking photographs in his teens, developing his skills as a photo-journalist during the completion of a journalism degree at Curtin University in the mid 1980s. He also secured his first book commission, with UK-based publisher Osprey, while still a student.

A published author by the age of 20, Tony made the move to England in 1988 to seek full-time employment in the world of aviation publishing. Initially working as assistant editor for Osprey in London, he went freelance in 1994 and has run the aviation list for this publishing house ever since. During his 16 years in aviation publishing, Tony has authored more than 40 books and edited a further 250. He has also written innumerable magazine articles in that time, and was recently presented with the Contributor of the Year award for 2004-05 by the US Navy's Tailhook association - he is the first non-American to win this prestigious prize.

Career highlights to date include the 21 carrier embarks that he has completed with the US and British navies across the globe, chasing Sea Harriers in a Hunter, conducting numerous air-to-air shoots off the coast of his beloved Western Australia and interviewing World War 2 fighter aces for the various books in his best-selling Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series.

Tony lives with his beautiful Kentish wife Katy and his two young Kentish sons Thomas (7) and William (4) in Sevenoaks, some 25 miles south of London. When not writing about, or photographing, aeroplanes, he enjoys playing cricket, watching all manner of sports (particularly motorsports) and driving his fire engine red Subaru Impreza WRX STi.

Contact Tony

Geoffrey Thomas
Contributing Writer

Geoffrey Thomas has been commentating on the airline industry for 25 years and as well as writing for Australian Aviation is the Senior Editor with US based Air Transport World.

Geoff first became engrossed in the industry as a young child, when his uncle who was a chief engineer with Trans Australian Airlines allowed him to scramble over DC-6Bs and Viscounts.
 
Some awards have come his way and Geoff was named Aerospace Journalist of the Year in the Best Systems and Technology category for 2002 and 2003 and he won Australasian Aviation Journalist of the Year awards for 2001 and 2002 and was runner-up in 2003. In all Geoff has won 17 international and Australasian awards. Geoff has also featured in a number of TV investigative documentaries and is a regular commentator on Australian TV and radio.

A low point was missing a flight in the Concorde because it clashed with his son Nick’s fifth birthday but a highlight was taking part in Boeing’s 777-200LR record setting world distance flight late last year.

It's no surprise that Owen found his way into aviation. His father had a diverse career that stretched from 201 fighter missions over Korea with the RAAF to the airlines and many and varied tasks in General Aviation. Entering the industry as a commercial pilot in 1987, Owen's flying included charter work, flight instruction and ferry flights, spanning the Kimberleys to Micronesia .

Terms as a Chief Pilot, Chief Flying Instructor and an Approved Test Officer rounded off his time in GA before joining Ansett in 1994 as a First Officer on the 737.

Since the airline's collapse he has flown with an international carrier and completed a Masters Degree in Aviation Management. His writings on aviation have been published both in Australia and abroad, covering subjects from the historic ‘Southern Cross' to satellite navigation.

Joining Australian Aviation in late 2005, Owen won the National Aviation Press Club's Aviation Technical Story of the Year award in 2006 for his piece on ADS-B. His first book, Down to Earth, traces the combat experiences of a WWII RAF pilot and is available now via Australian Aviation.

Keen cricketer and terrible golfer, Owen lives in the Southern Highlands with his wife, Kirrily and three daughters.

Owen's website: www.owenzupp.com