Narrabri, Roma & Inglewood

[Guest aviatrix27]

On 24th April, we left Mansfield (Vic) for Narrabri, via Corowa and Forbes. A friend flew across from Ballarat to meet up with us at Corowa and we flew with him in company for the next few hours. Conditions were VFR, however, the smoke haze was a bit much for us to expect him to find Mansfield. The further north we went, the better conditions became.

 

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Narrabri was our destination for an AYA (The International Grumman-American Pilots Association) fly-in. In total, there were 9 planes, 6 Tigers, 2 Cheetahs and a Lynx, carrying 17 people. Narrabri is a terrific location and the Namoi Aero Club and Kaputar Aviation are wonderful hosts. While at Narrabri, two members of our group took the opportunity to undertake some further flying training.

 

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The AYA generally has two fly-ins per year, one on the Anzac Day long weekend and the other on the NSW October long weekend. It was decided that October’s destination will be Shepparton, close enough to Echuca where there will be a lot of Model T Fords for us to look at. Recommendations for future fly-in destinations are always gratefully received.

 

After AYA, we had two nights to spare before we needed to be at Roma for the Australian Women Pilots Association Conference and AGM. We were invited to spend those nights with AYA friends in Brisbane and near Caboolture, so on 27th April, we flew in company to Archerfield. Whenever I fly into a towered airfield, I’m quite happy to announce that I’m unfamiliar and have them baby-sit me all the way to the ground. It was fun to hear the controller say “nice paint job†as I landed.

 

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The next day, we flew to Caboolture to meet our other friends. They had stayed an extra day at Narrabri and we were both in the circuit at the same time.

 

After another relaxing day with friends, we were off to Roma. Another lovely, uneventful flight.

 

To make flying a little more affordable, we tend to carry our camping gear and stay in a tent rather than paying to stay at expensive hotels. We obviously weren’t expecting it to be too cold at Roma, so were in shock when the mercury dropped to -2°C on our first night. We zipped up the inner door of the tent and our sleeping bags but still absolutely froze. The next day, the caravan park owners took pity on us and loaned us a heater. They were expecting it to be as cold that night as well, but when it only got down to 8° we overheated.

 

On the Friday of the conference, a nav trial was organised. 10 aircraft took part, I was number 5. Somehow, I managed to ace the spot landing even though the wind had changed and the designated runway was now slightly down-wind, but another team had obviously done even better. Not to worry, there was no room in my weight & balance to be carrying trophies home. We did get an award because my navigator had written the best limerick.

 

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We heard from our friends near Caboolture that they were going to Inglewood for a fly-in and they asked if we would join them on our way home from Roma. We arrived there and managed to slot into the circuit with all sorts of other aircraft – it was busy.

 

The next day we headed for home, intending to go via Moree, Parkes and Wangaratta to Mansfield. Once we were south of Wagga, we decided that the weather looked a bit iffy south of Wangaratta, so descended to 2500’ under light showers of rain and diverted to Yarrawonga, where we knew we could borrow a car.

 

We landed around 3pm, and by the time we drove to Mansfield to collect our car and came back to Yarrawonga then went home, it was nearly 11.30pm! We’ve left the plane with our LAME and a list of things for him to look at.

 

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[Guest OzChris]

Awesome report aviatrix - I enjoyed reading that.

 

I love the paint scheme on your Cheetah =D> =D>

 

Congrats on acing the spot landing...easy for a cheetah I guess (spots :lol: :roll: )

 

 

[Guest g_i_jack029]

LOL chris, great report Avia, great photos!

 

sounded like fun!! :D

 

 

[Tim E]

Great trip and trip report..and terrific photos! Thanks for sharing the experience!Glad you survived the freezing night in the tent! Brrr..I could feel the cold here. Great you got a really good trip in... in your fave plane! :D

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

Thanks, guys, we had a lot of fun. Yes, Tim, it was freezing, it wasn't even that cold at home that night with snow on the ground!

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

Congrats and thanks for the excellent report and photos. Love your plane.

 

Spot landing...cheetah :roll: :D

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Nice report and thanks for sharing :)