Crossing the Nullaborr

[Bernie Knight]

Poteroo

 

Thanks for the runway breakdown.

 

I will try and get to the Myrup strip and catch up with the RV owners there

 

I have good endurance and around 5 hours plus 1 hour reserve comfortably. At 140 -150 knots good ground distance. 230 litres of fuel in mains and wing tips.

 

I'm planning now and may go directly to Albany and I'm thinking stop off on the way back.

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Yes I see Myrup - in between Fisheries and Merivale Road. Looks ideal as it is a lot closer to town. .

 

Mmmm maybe Esperance for fuel and back to Myrup..

 

 

[skippydiesel]

All the best Bernie,

 

I am planning the same trip but in a slightly slower aircraft (ATEC Zephyr Rotax 912ULS).

 

I don't need AVGAS & my research to date suggests ULP 95 & 98 RON is available close to most of my potential stop overs.

 

I am in no hurry & expect/hope for several side trips along the way - so 3 days to 3 weeks, each way, will be just fine with me.

 

Have you any advise/observations/preferences on the most auspicious time of year to journey forth?

 

Would be very interested to be kept informed of your experiences and progress along the "track" - hope you will be able to spare the time to keep in contact.

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Skippydiesel

 

I'm thinking of leaving in late April early May but will do some earlier flights to Clare Valley, Port Pirrie and possibly Port Lincoln first.

 

Bernie

 

 

[Jabiru Phil]

Bernie,

 

Did some of that route a couple of years back.

 

Looks like you have decided not to take on the water crossing at the bottom.

 

Port Pirie, Ceduna, forest.is the closed I have been to your plan.

 

I refuelled at Kalgoolie prior.

 

Just a thought, if you want a break at all, Renmark has swipe card Avgas at good price.

 

One thing that is a MUST. Follow the cliffs from Nullabore to Border Village. Sensational.

 

You may even see some whales.

 

We spent the night at Nullabore as Border Village strip was u/s. Accomodation and meals ok.

 

The strip had some surface water in places but easy to avoid.

 

Wish I was doing that trip again.

 

Cheers

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Thanks Phil,

 

I will try a slightly different route on the way back.

 

Will keep you posted

 

 

[skippydiesel]

SkippydieselI'm thinking of leaving in late April early May but will do some earlier flights to Clare Valley, Port Pirrie and possibly Port Lincoln first.

 

Bernie

Is the April/May period particularly auspicious (weather) ??

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Skippydiesel

 

Yes weather and fuel supply are obviously the most important planing points.

 

 

[Markdun]

We just crossed from Northam WA to Goulburn NSW last week in a Tecnam. I can strongly recommend staying a night at Forrest WA and refueling there. Friendly and keen aviators there. Nullabor Motel is a dump & a dive....we refueled there, but would have been better off to push on to Ceduna. From Northam we flew to Kalgoorlie via Southern Cross, then to Forrest direct, then cut across to the coast to Border Village....Nullabor Motel...Ceduna...Port Augusta. The only fuel planning issue we had was the long leg from Kal to Forrest with a 15kt head wind...but we still landed with 28l remaining (actual) vs 18 planned. There are lots of good strips to land on next to the railway if you carry extra fuel in jerry cans. ..but we didn't. The only problem we faced was at Mildura where the Mobil pump would not take the Mobil card issued to us a couple of weeks before and the agent wanted to charge us a $60 call out fee. ..We caught a taxi, bought a jerry can from Bunnings Aerospace and enough fuel at Caltex to get us to Hay to fill her up. Avgas at Nullabor motel was $3.30 a litre, which was the most expensive of the whole trip. If range is a problem, another option (going west) is to fly the coast to Caiguna and cut across inland to Rawalinna (no fuel there) and then follow the train track/road to Kalgoorlie.

 

Have a great trip. ...ours coming east was fantastic.. 2 days of headwinds to Forrest, then 3 days of tailwinds to Goulburn.

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Thanks mate,

 

I have Forrest and Esperance on my trip. I will fly/go over quickly and take a few extra days coming back.

 

At around 140 -150 knots I have around 6 hours of endurance plus and about 1500 km. If I pull back to 19/1900 I can go for ages with wing tanks holding 200 litres - plus 1 hour reserve at just on 40 litres.

 

I will top up at Port Pirie and fill up at Forrest.

 

Headwinds are always an issue over this part of the world.

 

It sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for the tips on Nullaborr etc.

 

Thanks mate again. Bernie

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Getting ready ..

 

 

[red750]

Bernie, Here's a photo I took of your plane at Avalon on the Sunday. I called at the marquee but was told you were there on the Saturday.

 

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Peter

 

Sorry I missed you.

 

We have the Antonov AN2 in our hangar and the Iskra jet, so I may have been over with the guys there

 

The Skybolt just near my plane was my old plane - just a handful for me

 

Perhaps a visit to YLED - Lethbridge for a Saturday lunch one day.

 

Bernie

 

 

[skippydiesel]

SkippydieselYes weather and fuel supply are obviously the most important planing points.

Not addressing my question - which related to the time of year, as in why March/April? or alternatively just the time you want to go.

 

 

[poteroo]

Not addressing my question - which related to the time of year, as in why March/April? or alternatively just the time you want to go.

March - April - May is generally considered the 'best' time to fly along the Southern Australian coast. The small amount of 'frontal' wx is usually moderate intensity, fast moving, not extending far north from the coast, and gone in a few hours. Troughlines with TS can be anticipated though - so watch the WA weather moving through from NW to SE. Troughlines initially shown inland of Perth-Geraldton-Carnarvon tend to extend southwards, but miss the far SW of WA - usually affecting the southern coast east of Ravensthorpe/Hopetoun. Does this help?

 

 

[skippydiesel]

Hi Poteroo - Wow! terrific answer. Many thanks

 

 

[naremman]

Not a bad choice of aircraft to cross the Nullabor in!! Have a bit better than 20 crossings, all in aircraft with around the 100 knots cruise so even 10 knots of wind could change some of the circumstances quite promptly. As a general rule for wind it was high going East, low coming West. GPS makes life a lot easier. The first ten trips were all done with map, compass and watch, including a Ayers Rock (yes off the old dirt strip) direct to Forrest in a 407 Nm leg in a Victa Airtourer 100.

 

With the weather we have experienced in the past few months it is a bit hard to define normal, as Northerly flows have given us 75% of our average annual rainfall by the fifth week of the year in the WA Wheatbelt. Severe flooding has been experienced on the South Coast. Some of the dirt strips like Caiguna can turn to mud baths quickly, usually more so on the taxiways. Forrest no problems, though in the 70's ERSA used to carry a warning for camels who made a habit of sitting on the warm bitumen.

 

One thing I observed that in a 800 mile day how much the weather varied in what you encountered in the one day. We might have set off with all the ARFORs but invariably ran into more than was forecast. Moisture laden Southerly winds hitting a warm land mass can create some interesting situations, and I have diverted via Forrest a couple of times.

 

Other than a backside bending component, you will be passing over a fascinating part of the Australian landscape. Heading West from HOB at 1500' with the 300' cliffs off to the right, and gliding distance back to the highway still rates as one of my best flying memories.

 

Travel safely, and have fun

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Potrero

 

Thanks my answer - I could not have answered it better

 

I've previously looked at both shipping and farm weather patterns and yes agree.

 

And importantly I have time...

 

Thanks guys for the feedback it's been invaluable..

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Naremman

 

Thanks. Yes I looking forward to running the coast.

 

The tandem seating in the RV allows great visibility to both left and the right. I will be going alone and with full fuel capacity I have quite a bit of luggage capacity - 10 kg. front with tie down and battery charger. Just on 80 kg. behind with some ballast.

 

I'm just working through a safety pack, first aid, survival gear etc etc. there's a great resource I have printed off with all types of survival items from blankets, water, lights and a detailed list of small requirements. This adds up to only a few kgs.

 

I will take plenty of photos and add a detailed Post here - Blog

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Red750

 

Peter,

 

Just an update, the Iskra jet is only a few weeks of having the few small changes and repairs completed. My RV8 is in hangar 8 with my old Steen Skybolt and the jet.

 

The Antonov maybe back in shortly, so I may move across to a back hangar as I have the engine cowls all off and the front race type seat out. It's all laying around taking lots of floor space.

 

I could be in the back hangar - but at the Lethbridge Airpark a bit.

 

 

[red750]

Thanks Bernie. If you've read my profile you'll see I live in the eastern suburbs and haven't flown for 30 years. I only get west of the city when I house sit for my son near Highpoint West while he's on holiday. He's thinking of going overseas sometime soon. Then I might get a chance to visit Lethbridge.

 

(Bit of thread drift here. I'm 3 years out from major cancer surgery, and had my oncology check-up today. All clear - no more CT scans, and clinical check-ups (blood tests) extended from 3-monthly to 4-monthly.)

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Peter,

 

Great news re the tests. Yes I saw you were retired, but if your in the western area, we are just 45 minutes down the road and a good excuse to get out of the house. Let's know if your thinking of heading down.

 

I'm in Italy for five weeks though from next week. Part of my decision for the May excursion when I'm back over to the west..

 

 

[skippydiesel]

In planning my, yet to be realised, Nullarbor trip, from the east to west, I checked out ULP & accommodation (will also take a tent) availability and planned legs that I hope would be no more than 2-3 hrs and came up with:

 

NSW - Camden / Griffith / Mildura, SA - Port Pirie / Ceduna / Nullarbor, WA - Caiguna / Kalgoorlie / Serpentine

 

To be honest it never occurred to me to fly a bit further north along the railway line SA/WA. This conversation has highlighted other options.

 

I had sort of assumed that I might take a number of side trips, as the mood/weather/interest dictated, before returning to my main rout .

 

May be the west to east, return trip, could be made further north along the rail line from Kalgoorlie to Woomera and on into NSW . Would need to check out the fuel and accommodation stops along the way

 

Any comments from you much travelled people??

 

 

[Bernie Knight]

Skippydiesel,

 

..I just drew that trip on the map and it looks a great option

 

Fuel is always a big deciding factor and Avgas is just not available in a number of locations I was considering flying into.

 

I have two 20 liters bladders and I am considering carrying them - about 300 km of extra fuel to get a bit off track.

 

Maybe on the way back, but the endurance with my RV8 is really very good so I should take more advantage of that...

 

 

[rgmwa]

March - April - May is generally considered the 'best' time to fly along the Southern Australian coast. The small amount of 'frontal' wx is usually moderate intensity, fast moving, not extending far north from the coast, and gone in a few hours. Troughlines with TS can be anticipated though - so watch the WA weather moving through from NW to SE. Troughlines initially shown inland of Perth-Geraldton-Carnarvon tend to extend southwards, but miss the far SW of WA - usually affecting the southern coast east of Ravensthorpe/Hopetoun. Does this help?

Did the trip in March last year. Had to wait for a day when leaving Perth and then had a day's delay at Port Lincoln, Nullarbor Motel and Esperance on the way back due to weather. Great trip though. Learned a lot and had a lot of fun. I'm thinking of going again in Sept/Oct this year. What are conditions usually like in those months, Poteroo?

 

rgmwa