Karoonda Nelson return- Part 1.

[Coop]

It's that time of year again. The time of year when I take a week off and dodge lousy weather to get "Dorothy" (my Auster J1) down to Nelson (just over the border from Mount Gambier in Vic) for her annual inspection.

 

This year the trip was preceded by a visit to a location a few miles east of Karoonda in the Murray Mallee. A chap there has taken on a monumental restoration project- a C-47 called "Irene". This machine was part of the American war effort in PNG, subsequently went into civil service in Australia with TAA, East-West, Connair, Ipec and a number of other less well-known operators. It survived a ditching into a lake (at night- no injuries), starred in a couple of films, and was the first aircraft to land in Darwin after cyclone Tracey almost wiped it out in 1975. She eventually came to a somewhat ignominious end as a MacDonald's restaurant at West Lakes in Adelaide. Jeff was unaware of her illustrious history when he eventually rescued her from that location.

 

The restoration work is only partial so far- but the quality of what has been done is outstanding, as you can see from the photos of the cockpit.

 

[ATTACH]473.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Irene's restored cockpit

 

She is now painted again in her wartime colours with her wartime name on the side of the cockpit.

 

[ATTACH]474.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Irene's external colour scheme

 

Both engines run and most of the people who attended that day were treated to the sound of a couple of big radials. I say most, because my take on the weather suggested I should leave before that occurred, and this proved to be the right decision although I regretted missing the sound show.

 

Cloud base out over the Mallee was about 3,000' but I had already had to dodge around one shower of rain to get to Jeff's place, and this was the pattern all the way to Nelson, with the cloud base getting lower as I flew further south. Near Keith I was confronted by a line of showers with no apparent gaps, and I was considering landing to allow the showers to pass.

 

[ATTACH]475.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Approaching a thin patch...

 

However, after turning east, tracking along the edge and descending to 2,000', I found a thin patch where I could see clear air beyond and broke through.

 

[ATTACH]476.vB[/ATTACH]

 

...and out the other side

 

Further showers impeded progress near Padthaway, but these were smaller and I simply flew around them. Approaching Naracoorte I was busting for a leak (too much coffee at Jeff's place) and the weather wasn't looking too classy ahead, so I decided to drop in on the Naracoorte Flying Club and pick up a little extra fuel in case I needed to "hold" for a while. With extra fluid loaded into Dorothy's belly and the excess in my own belly eliminated, I blasted off again towards Mount Gambier just ahead of yet another shower approaching Naracoorte. About 10 miles from Gambier I was again confronted by a collection of showers. Going east might have got me around them, but there was no guarantee and that was downwind over vast swathes of pine plantations. I'd have to fight my way back upwind to Nelson, and this could put me too close to last light. Going West was also possible, but the diversion would be even larger. So, with one eye on my escape route behind me (back to the strip I had noted near Coonawarra) I closed in on the showers to see if I could find a way through. My navigation had me approaching Mt Gambier airfield (and the GPS agreed), so I made an inbound call even though I couldn't see it. A glance at the map confirmed that the highest ground around here was about 600' (apart from one aerial further west). The cloudbase seemed to be even lower, so I dropped down to 1,000' to get under it and turned a little east to parallel the line of showers.

 

Then the showers thinned, I could see the cloudbase, the horizon beyond, and bright green paddocks. I made a mental note that if the world suddenly disappeared my escape turn would be to the left, and plunged in. The rain lasted for about 15 seconds, and I was out into bright sunshine and patches of blue above, with Mt Gambier airport right in front of my nose.

 

[ATTACH]477.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Passing Mount Gambier

 

From there, the run to Nelson was easy, and I was soon lining up on their short grass strip to be met by Don who helped me tuck Dorothy away in the workshop overnight.

 

(Continued)

 

[ATTACH]17915[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

[Coop]

Re: Karoonda Nelson return- Part 2.

 

[ATTACH]478.vB[/ATTACH]

 

The approach to Nelson

 

[ATTACH]479.vB[/ATTACH]

 

The runway at Nelson

 

Next morning I ran Dorothy up to get her warm so we could do the compression check and was surprised to see little vapour trails coming off the propellor tips- something I've not seen on her propellor before.

 

[ATTACH]480.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Vapour trails from Dorothy's prop- you can see he trail running across the Pawnee fuselage in the background.

 

The annual was straightforward- no suprises and little to be done other than the annual cleaning of various filters, some adjustment to the timing on one maggie, and a general inspection. All over by the end of Monday, so I was ready to go by Tuesday morning.

 

The return flight was much the same- except the rain showers were further apart, and I had a head wind. The original plan to go via Naracoorte and Keith was thrown out because the rain had other ideas. My GPS (an old Garmin 89) has no map facility, so I worked hard to keep track of my position by rough dead reckoning. When dodging around like this, the GPS isn't much use- knowing you are 40 miles from Naracoorte on a bearing of 030 (to Naracoorte) gives you a rough idea of your position, but actually plotting it on the chart with one hand while flying with the other and bouncing around in turbulence is a futile exercise, so I usually keep marking the chart as I go with my best estimate, confirmed by an occasional fix, and use the GPS as a backup.

 

[ATTACH]481.vB[/ATTACH]

 

More showers on the way home

 

However, in these conditions, a few minutes prior planning for the unexpected pays dividends. The previous night, as is my usual practice, I had checked likely landing places and programmed into the GPS any I could find along and either side of my track. So, when contronted by a wall of water I first turned towards Meningie, but finding that to be already inside the squall, I then turned about and ran for Tintinara, figuring I could beat the rain there if I sacrificed some altitude and opened the throttle a little. Keith was also available, but that involved backtracking and would cost fuel and time.

 

Dorothy and I arrived at Tintinara just as the rain started, and spent an hour or so eating lunch and examining the fire-bombers and agricultural aircraft that call this place home.

 

[ATTACH]482.vB[/ATTACH]

 

The fire bomber at Tintinara

 

The rest of the run home was easy- just a couple of showers to side-step and soon Dorothy was tucked back into her hangar ready for the next excursion.

 

Coop

 

[ATTACH]17916[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Enjoyable read as always Coop. Prop-tip vortices the speed combined with humidity? Nice shot!

 

 

[Coop]

Enjoyable read as always Coop. Prop-tip vortices the speed combined with humidity? Nice shot!

Yep, that's what I reckon- it was very humid and pretty cold. I've never seen them before on my aircraft. They happened when I ran her up to full power to check the rpm for the maintenance record. Wish I'd thought to use my camera's movie option to film them- would have been a more interesting show.

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Still a nice pic none the less. Was reading the other day that these due usually occur at full power maybe close to supersonic prop tip speed

 

 

[Guest David C]

A great read and trip report ... Thanks Coop for taking the time to share with us all here ... Looks a little wet down that way !!

 

Dave C

 

 

[Coop]

Hmmm- first time I've considered anything on "Dorothy" going supersonic!!

 

Yep, it was very wet down the southeast. There were occasions where I wondered if I should have taken my life jacket with me...

 

In that area there are lines of sand dunes (covered in scrub) which run more or less parallel withe the Coorong. They are, I believe, old shorelines formed as the sea slowly receded. The water was accumulating in the depressions between these lines of dunes.

 

Coop

 

 

[cavalier]

Hi Coop

 

Nice reading your trip report,just one point I thought that Mt. Gambier was actually in South Australia.if I have read this incorrectly I apologise,anyway keep up the good reports.

 

 

[Coop]

Hi CoopNice reading your trip report,just one point I thought that Mt. Gambier was actually in South Australia.if I have read this incorrectly I apologise,anyway keep up the good reports.

(...just over the border from Mount Gambier in Vic..)

 

 

Ah- I see your difficulty- and my poor wordsmithing! It is Nelson that is just across the border in Victoria, but you could be forgiving for thinking I meant Mt Gambier, the sentence is somewhat ambiguous.

 

I should have written : "Nelson, in Victoria, just over the border from Mount Gambier"

 

Regards

 

Coop