Cheetahs and Cubby Houses

[Guest aviatrix27]

Hubby and I had two fly-ins to attend, so decided we would see how well it would work to make it a fly/drive holiday - simultaneously.

 

The first fly-in was at Bourke and was organised by the AYA - the International Grumman-American Pilots Association - on the Anzac Day weekend. The second was the Australian Women Pilots' Association annual conference and AGM in Port Lincoln - Wednesday 29th April to Saturday 2nd May.

 

We left home on Wednesday 22nd April in our ute, towing our camper trailer (the cubby house) and drove to Yarrawonga to collect the Cheetah. Where we had both the camper and the plane, we planned so that the pilot had about an hour to the next stop and needed to wait for the driver to arrive, usually an hour later, before we either swapped vehicles or stayed the night. First leg Echuca (I drove), then Swan Hill for an overnight stay. The next morning we continued on to Mildura and stayed overnight with friends.

 

On Friday 24th, the cubby house was left on our friends' front lawn and we took our tent and basic camping gear and drove to Mildura airport. We had a good look at weather forecasts and the BOM site radar, and were able to leave around lunchtime after a few showers cleared and visibility was good.

 

I was at the controls this time - the first hour was my favourite flying - 500 to 1000' above ground under solid cloud with the occasional light shower of rain and unlimited visibility. Then, I encountered raised dust. I could still see in excess of 10 nautical miles, more than triple the legal minimum, so continued on, and kept updating the plan I had in mind in case conditions worsened. After another hour or so, visibility cleared fully and I could see the horizon again. Total flight time to Bourke was a little over 3 hours and we arrived just after two other aircraft containing 3 of our friends. Another plane was already there, we caught cabs into town to the motel we were all staying at that night and found our other two friends who had arrived earlier in the day.

 

Two more planes arrived the next morning containing 4 more friends. Messages were received from others who were unable to attend due to weather at their end. A total of 6 planes (2 Cheetahs and 4 Tigers) containing 11 people was pretty good considering the weather.

 

Tour bus:

 

 

After an informative bus tour of the town of Bourke, we were returned to the airport and continued on to our "real" destination - Comeroo Camel Station, 65 nm NW of Bourke. We all chatted on 123.45 and there was much teasing about the relative speeds of Cheetah vs Tiger. I asked at some stage whose bright idea it was for us to fly west in the afternoon...

 

All six aircraft were parked and tied down, then an electric fence was erected around them. A bit of a worry, but much less of a worry than returning to our aircraft to find them damaged by animals. We were taken to the homestead where afternoon tea was ready.

 

While the rest of our group settled into their rooms, we built our tent. There was much teasing from our mates, but we can afford to fly or stay in motels - not both.

 

Comeroo was a fun destination. The owner has a large collection of traps - ranging from rabbit traps to poacher traps. Camels were rounded up and two were hitched up to a wagon to take us for a ride.

 

Camel Ride:

 

 

There were also yabbies in the river, our group's catch was enjoyed as pre-dinner snacks on our second night - they were cooked while we went for a bore bath. They have the shell of a spa pool set up which they fill from the artesian bore. The water is about 45 degrees, so was too hot for some of our group. It was relaxing.

 

The bore bath:

 

 

On Monday 27th, we all departed Comeroo and most headed home - we headed back to Mildura to collect our camper and head towards Port Lincoln.

 

About 70 miles short of Mildura, there was solid black cloud ahead complete with heavy rain. Luckily, I had my brand new laptop on board and was able to connect to the internet and have a look at Mildura's radar on the BOM site. If we didn't have the computer on board, we would have had no choice other than land at Pooncarie and wait it out. The radar showed we could safely divert about 10 miles west and that it was not raining in Mildura.

 

After landing at Mildura, we organised ourselves and carried on to Waikerie for an overnight stay. From Mildura to Waikerie, I only had 2 small rain showers to dodge - one to the south and the other to the north. I had a reasonable wait for hubby to turn up - made longer because he refuelled SYF for me instead of disappearing with the ute and getting on the road quicker.

 

The next day, we obtained permission to land at Farrell Flat, 1/2 way to Port Augusta. The coordinates in the airfield guide were close but not quite right, so luckily hubby had received directions for arriving by road - he flew to the town and followed the directions he had been given and found the airstrip. Pilot/driver swap again, then off to Port Augusta.

 

We've found that airports can be difficult to locate by road. Most aren't particularly well signposted, then sometimes you can find the airfield but can't find the entrance! We became quite good at taking notice from the air and ringing the other person and giving clues.

 

Half way from Port Augusta to Port Lincoln is Cowell. We rang the council for strip conditions and were given the ok to use runway 04/22. The drive from Port Augusta to Cowell is boring, a long straight road with a 110 km/h speed limit. It was decided that I "had to" be the pilot who arrived at Port Lincoln, it wouldn't do for a man to be at the controls when arriving at an AWPA event.

 

I conducted a straight-in approach on runway 19 after talking to another lady pilot who was arriving around the same time as me. Two planes up from my tie-down spot was a friend in her new Grumman Tiger (more accurately a Tiger Tiger - but that's a whole other story). She owns the only AG5B in Australia, the others are all AA5B's. A very pretty bird.

 

By the time I tied down and got everything out of my plane and made my way to the terminal, a few other friends had arrived and hubby wasn't far away either. He drove me and one of the other conference delegates to the hotel for registration, then we dropped her at her hotel and continued on to the caravan park we were staying at. We didn't have long to set up our camper before we needed to leave to attend the first function of the conference - a welcome cocktail party hosted by the Mayor at the local Civic Centre. That was followed by a dinner in honour of the late Nancy-Bird Walton, the theme of the evening was "pink and pearls" in honour of our late patron.

 

The next couple of days were filled in with education sessions and optional tours. A Nav Trial was scheduled for Friday morning, alas the weather conspired against us and we abandoned the idea. All of our flight planning had been completed, so we put it away and went to the lunch at a private airfield, known as Sky Park. Those who weren't taking part in the Nav Trial had a ground nav trail to complete - even though we arrived about an hour after everyone else, we decided to have a go at the planning for that one too. Time ran out long before we were finished, so we handed ours in anyway - we only did it for the mental exercise.

 

A couple of pix at Sky Park:

 

 

 

As it turns out, we got the "Search and Rescue" award for the last placed team.

 

Photo op after the AGM:

 

 

Saturday morning was the AGM - a necessary evil. The Nav Trial was re-scheduled for Saturday afternoon, so we returned to the airport. We were marshalled according to the speeds of our aircraft, and after minor corrections to our flight plans to allow for different weather conditions, we set off as # 7. My navigator was a lady named Kristy, she's 2 exams short of her ATPL and a former flying instructor, so was very handy. She kept excellent records and we think all questions were pretty close to correctly answered.

 

At the Presentation Dinner, I received an award for "Human Factors". Part of the nav trial had been a questionnaire, I was deemed to be the winner. Most questions were answered by Kristy, and I had a little help on TAA chat and facebook chat from Robbo and djpacro - thanks guys! We only qualified in one section for a trophy in the nav trial - the open category. This was because we were carrying a non-AWPA observer (hubby). This category was won by Rodger Merridrew of Lilydale aerodrome and his team. Congrats to Rodger and his team. Next year, I will ensure that each person in my plane is an AWPA member!

 

Sunday 3rd was the start of our trip home. Luckily we had done some packing the previous day so weren't late leaving the caravan park. First stop Whyalla (hubby flew this time), then I flew direct to Port Pirie and waited for him to drive via Port Augusta.

 

The next day, hubby decided that I should fly and he would drive from Port Pirie to Aldinga. A quick look at the map was a little scary, I thought I'd have to lodge a flight plan, but a closer inspection showed that I could fly around Adelaide without going anywhere near any restricted areas or controlled airspace.

 

Aldinga is a very active little airfield, I needed to wait for a Robinson chopper to leave before I could re-fuel and there were lots of comings and goings of light sport aircraft and a Cirrus and various others. Hubby arrived just in time to hammer in the tie down pegs for me after I re-fuelled. There's a cafe at the airfield too - excellent food.

 

We decided to stay 2 nights at Aldinga - we needed a rest/laundry day.

 

Wednesday 6th was Aldinga to Mt Gambier via Meningie and Kingston SE - once again a few phone calls for permission to land and strip conditions at Meningie. Meningie was being used by a crop duster - he was spreading seed in a nearby lake.

 

We intended to go from Mt Gambier via a few towns we hadn't been to before to Bendigo, alas weather meant the most logical place to go was Horsham. Hubby headed off in the ute and I waited for improved weather and set off to Horsham in the plane. Once again, my favourite flying weather - 1000' or so above ground, under solid cloud and the occasional light shower of rain. After a cuppa with the LAMEs at Horsham, hubby arrived and I set off for Bendigo. Finding Bendigo airport by road if you haven't driven there before is a bit of a challenge!

 

Overnight Bendigo, then on Friday 8th we were on the home stretch. I flew and hubby drove to Yarrawonga, where I booked SYF in for an oil change and a few minor fixes with our LAME, then it was my turn to drive again.

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

Great report Avi. Sounds like you had a blast. A trip I'm sure you'll remember for a long time.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

 

[Robbo]

Good work trix.... :)

 

 

[VHKDK]

Interesting story. I could have told you that no matter how black the clouds are, it NEVER rains in Mildura!!!!!

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

Thanks Glenn, Robbo. VHKDK, we were told by our friends we stayed with in Mildura that it never rains too, alas rain delayed our departure, then the black cloud on our way back had been over Mildura, and I assure you, the roads and airport were more than a little damp :biggrin:. Perhaps we encountered their entire annual rainfall .

 

 

[Coop]

Nice one Kaye. I've done a few hours in Grummans- nice machines, once you get used to the castering nosewheel.

 

I have to say, tho', that I've never seen it rain at Mildura!

 

The laptop in the cockpit and calling up the BOM radar website is a neat trick. Might have to investigate organising something like that myself.

 

Sounds like you had a lot of fun!

 

Coop

 

 

[Wingnut]

G'day Kaye, it was great to meet you and the other AYA - Grumman owners at Tumut. It's a pity Saturday was IMC and I had to leave FXR at home dry in her hangar - it was a good social gathering though. Traipsing through Tumut Falling Leaf Festival in the rain and mud, strolling through Adelong, all good fun. Many thanks also to Dave and glenyce Francis for their local hospitality and showing us their Tumut hangar and lovely RV7 VH-ZEE.

 

 

[GAJab]

That Dave Francis acquired my old rego, VH-ZEE. I really liked that rego, I should have reserved it for my next aircraft. Oh well.