Victor 1

[maxamos]

Whilst up in Sydney over the last Xmas holidays I organised to fly the Victor 1 route down the coast.

 

I am now living SE of Melbourne, but was born and bred in Sydney and lived on the northern beaches - Harboard, Sydney beaches - Coogee, and the Illawarra coast - Thirroul at various times. Also did some paragliding at Stanwell Park, so the idea of flying Victor 1 has appealed to me since I heard about this access route about a year ago.

 

Victor 1, for those that don't know, is an access route along the coast of Sydney, with one of the main points being a flight level of 500 ft from North head to south of Cronulla. (Victor 1 is clearly defined in Ersa and also in publications from Air Services). Sounds fantastic to me. ;)

 

Organised to hire a Jabiru LSA 55 from Sydney Jabiru at Hoxton Park in advance to fly the route, then waited for a clear day with calm conditions. When a day arrived with the right conditions and a permit to leave from my wife; my intended passenger, my brother, couldn't get the morning off. There was no way that I was going to miss the opportunity so off I went.

 

Had a quick chat to Robert at Sydney Jabiru, borrowed a life jacket, checked the flight plan and off I went. Did a quick circuit, touch and go at Hoxton Park, to familiarise myself with the local surroundings and ensure that I would be able to find it easily on my return and also to get familiar with this Jab. All good, so let's head for Hornsby.

 

Had a nice trip up to Hornsby, then hung a left and headed for Mona Vale, where it was time to descend a bit to ensure that I was under the 1000 ft step by Long Reef. It was a beautiful day to be flying down the coast. I had also done some gliding in the past at Long Reef but there wasn't much time to hang around as I cautiously checked for other aviators, changed to the Victor 1 frequency and made sure I was at 500' before North Head. The passage down the coast was as good as I had heard, but before long I was at Cronulla, and getting prepared to exit Victor 1, and climb a bit to give myself a bit more insurance ( with height that is ). Continued on my way with a slight diversion to Wombarra to fly over a friends house and waggle hello before turning around to head back to Stanwell and re-join my flight plan. Then it was around past Wedderburn to Appin for my next turn point before heading back to Hoxton Park.

 

All in all a fantastic day, but a bit more work than I had thought, especially by myself, trying to change radio frequ, stay outside controlled airspace and continually monitor for other a/craft. It would also have been nice to have someone to share it with, but that will have to be next time, as I will certainly be doing that trip again. :big_grin:

 

For those that are interested give Sydney Jabiru a call

 

Kirk

 

 

[Ultralights]

I love the V1, and have flown it many times, but usually extend my flight to start from barrenjoe lighthouse then turn south. or the same going north, but i usually start at barrenjoe at 500ft.. its a great flight.. even on a windy day it can be very smooth if the wind is off the ocean.

 

 

[PaulN]

V1 is one of our highlights too. When tracking Cooma/Newcastle and return we usually do a long coastal from Moruya to Nobbys. Magic views and much quicker than driving. At times on V1 we've passed over top of breaching whales, checked out the cargo on passing ships and even received friendly return waves from yachties. A wonderful experience everyone should try at least once ;) .

 

Paul