Trent Robinson, founder of Trent Robinson Aviation, has a mission to help pilots all over the continent train safely and make the most of their flying experience. To that end, Robinson hosts the Flight Training Australia podcast series.
Based at Darwin International Airport, in Australia’s Northwest Territories, Robinson has been an instructor for nearly 30 years. He had the idea to launch the podcast roughly five years ago, and his very first episode in November 2021 centered around tips to get through the instrument proficiency check. He’s come a long way, covering nearly every training-related subject under the sun, and he’s on Episode 209 (released on September 14). The next one drops soon, though. “I was managing one a week,” Robinson told AvBrief, “but I slowed down the pace a bit. It’s going really well.”
Robinson had noted that a lot of training information out there in the online universe is U.S.- or Canadian-based. “So I saw a niche to fit the topics to Australia, a little closer to home. I can help one student at a time with flight training, or through this avenue, I can reach a lot more.” He notes that in Australia’s far-flung geography and training infrastructure, a lot of students wind up with a limited number of folks to talk to, and they can unwittingly introduce a bias, or be out of date. “This gives them a real opportunity to get an external influence,” he says. A handful have sent him feedback, saying that the podcast got them through their flight tests, making it all “totally worth it” to him.
Bringing a wide range of experience to the table, Robinson started aviation training in 1995, and he has done a mix of charter, flight instruction, and consulting and has worked with several major flying schools. After getting his instructor rating in 1998, he moved up to being a grade 1 instructor after 10 years (roughly equivalent to a chief instructor), then served as head of operations, and finally as a flight examiner. He was awarded CASA’s Wing Award for Flight Instructor of the Year in 2023. Much of his original training and work was at Perth’s Jandakot Airport before he moved north. He started aerobatics in a Cessna Aerobat, then moved on to formation flying in Nanchang CJ6As—including one memorable event, launching an aerial show for Perth’s Australia Day commemorations over the Swan River. More recently, he flew the camera ship for the Spirit of Douglas DC-3 when it came through earlier this year.
In his podcasts, Robinson stresses preparation all around. Part of that includes ongoing education programs that his company hosts. The next one up? A series of wet-season seminars (when the persistent rains put the weather into sharp focus), starting on Wednesday, October 14, at 6:30 p.m. WAT, sponsored by Air North, with an in-person format in Darwin at the Novotel.
It began as a CASA initiative—Australia’s civil aviation authority. “We’ve had a few fatalities and [the wet season] has a very different weather environment than what pilots have been trained to,” says Robinson. “A lot of junior pilots especially [find it useful], but airline pilots come too.” General aviation “keeps communities running up here,” stressing the importance of learning to safely handle the tropical weather along Australia’s northern coast. The seminar will post to YouTube afterward.
Robinson signs off his podcasts often with a universal truth in aviation, no matter where you fly: “Remember the golden rule: Aviate, navigate, communicate, and do a missed approach if it’s not looking so good.”
You can follow Flight Training Australia on its socials: @trentrobinsonaviation on Facebook, @trent_robinson_aviation on Instagram, and on YouTube: @flighttrainingaustralia.
Another recommended Oz-centric podcast includes HiFlyMedia, with 15 episodes in the can, focusing on the human side of aviation.
