Escaping Victoria's Weather

[Coop]

I’ve just returned from the annual pilgrimage to Nelson- on the coast just over the border between Victoria and South Australia. This is the location of the Nelson Aeroplane Company- an organisation which specialises in restoring and maintaining old aeroplanes. Harvey McBain and his employees maintain a substantial number of rag and tube machines as well as a selection of more modern types.

 

The only problem is that Nelson is in Victoria- and as all South Australians know, Victoria is no place to be at this time of the year- in fact, it has been my experience that crossing the border into Victoria is almost always certain to cause the weather to go to pieces any time of the year, let alone winter.

 

But needs must, so last Monday I set out in fine SA weather in the hope that I’d make it to Nelson without having to go IFR.

 

I decided to take a look at the Coorong this trip, so I set out first for Kingston. With about 2 knots of tailwind, and a freezing level of 5,000’ I needed the gloves that my daughter provided for me at Christmas. The Auster might feature an enclosed cockpit, but the gap where the bungees come through the bottom of the fuselage must be a high pressure area as there is always a draught.

 

Lake Alexandrina still shows the effects of all the water being sucked out of the river further upstream, but the level has risen somewhat over the last few months, chiefly because of local rainfall. But it could do with at least another metre to get it back to normal levels, as you can see in this photo of the area where the Murray enters.

 

 

The more westerly sections of the Coorong aren’t looking too bad,

 

 

but the eastern areas still need more water.

 

 

I noted a significant number of Pelicans, some as high as I was (3,000’) and almost all of them heading northwest. I wonder if they’ve heard about the water entering Lake Eyre?

 

The smooth air continued to Kingston SE and I photographed the town and airfield (middle left of picture) as I sailed past. The buildings just to the right of the airfield include a motel (very convenient if you fly in) and one of the largest collections of vintage tractors anywhere in the world. Many have been restored, but many more await restoration. The town has some interesting museums (many still in the “acquisition” phase, like the tractor collection) and a restored lighthouse removed from an offshore reef that is also worth a visit.

 

 

From Kingston, I cut across land towards Millicent. My aiming point to maintain track was some white objects on the horizon, and I couldn’t figure out what they were until they were much closer. Then I finally realised that what I was looking at was a collection of wind turbines along a ridge just past Millicent. I didn’t count them all, but there must be over 100- you can see them in the background of the photograph. This is one airfield Dorothy hasn’t landed at, but given it is such a short distance from the town, one we will have to put on our agenda next summer for a day trip or a weekend jaunt.

 

 

After Millicent I began to encounter large swathes of pine forest which provide much of the industry in these parts.

 

 

Soon, mount Gambier came into view and I manoeuvred to take a good look at the Blue Lake, which was gratifyingly blue at this time of the year.

 

 

Shortly afterwards we crossed the border and Nelson appeared over the nose- (note how dark and gloomy it becomes as soon as you leave SA).

 

 

Unlike the towns on the River Murray, Nelson, situated at the mouth of the Glenelg River, was suffering an excess of water. A sand bar had built up over the river mouth and the water had backed up behind it, causing the level to rise and flood some of the shacks, jetties and roads along the banks of the river and its estuary. The day after I arrived officialdom decided to cut a hole in the bar, and the rush of water soon enlarged it to about 50 metres across, with a rapid overnight reduction in the river level.

 

The strip at Nelson, just east of the town, is a natural grass strip of about 4-500 metres with low hills on both sides. The prevailing winds usually give you a crosswind landing, and the low hills can make for some interesting turbulence on final approach.

 

 

However, on this occasion conditions were calm and for once the landing was relatively uneventful. Before shutting down I ran Dorothy up to check mag drop, oil pressure at idle, and maximum static rpm- all to be recorded in her engine log. No sooner had I switched off than her cowlings were off and Harvey was doing the compression check while she was still warm.

 

 

The next two and a half days were occupied with routine maintenance and attending to items that were showing signs of wear. The biggest job was replacing the undercarriage pivot bushes, and the apprentice LAME (me) undertook some minor riveted repairs on the cowlings (under supervision, of course) as part of my further education in aviation matters.

 

 

Victoria lived up to its weather reputation by turning on one of the coldest days on record while I was there.

 

A departure on Thursday was deemed unwise as Dorothy wasn’t ready until lunch time and the lousy weather and strong westerlies would have had me pushing at the limits of last light to get home, so departure was delayed until Friday morning.

 

Friday’s area 50 forecast looked somewhat intimidating with more strong west winds, isolated showers, cloud base at 1200’ and fog inland. However, I thought I’d have a go in case a coastal route was possible and the fog not too extensive. After takeoff it was obvious that due west was blocked by a wall of water, and the cloud base was only 500’, so I tried towards Mount Gambier in the hope of an inland route, only to be blocked by a large fog patch that joined up with the rain squall. So, it was back to Nelson for another cup of coffee and a top-up of the fuel tanks (you can’t have too much fuel in bad weather). While there I checked the area 30 forecast, and found they were forecasting “low cloud” between Lameroo and Millicent- exactly what I had seen (who says the Bureau can’t get it right?).

 

After a delay of about an hour and a half, things brightened up a little, so I took off again. At least the fog had gone, and the cloud base had lifted to about 800’. The route west was still looking unhealthy, so I overflew Mount Gambier, picked up the road heading north and tracked towards Penola and Naracoorte. Approaching Naracoorte I was again confronted by a major rain squall, so decided to land there and wait till things improved. After landing I found my way into the heated clubhouse where I met Robin, the chap I purchased my new propeller from a few years ago. He showed me how to use the club’s new swipe card bowser so I could top up the tanks again and gave me a lift to the nearest roadhouse to get a pie for lunch. While I ate that he showed me around his extensive trucking business before dropping me at the airfield once again. Such hospitality is the norm for aviation folk, in my experience.

 

To the west the weather still looked unhealthy, but the sky was brightening to the north, so I set a course for Keith.

 

 

By the time I’d reached Padthaway we were far enough from Victoria for its influence on the weather to have abated, and from then on I flew under patchy blue skies. While the cloud base had lifted, the wind above 1000’ was about 20-25 knots on the nose, but by staying around 500’ above ground level, I could reduce this to about 15 knots, giving me a ground speed of about 75 knots. While this was not all that fast, the low level perspective made it look fast, and at least I felt like I was getting somewhere. The major disadvantage was considerable mechanical turbulence which made the flying somewhat tiring. As I crossed the salt pans east of Wellington I noted that there was no problem, in these conditions, of picking the wind direction.

 

 

After just over 3 hours of flying the home base hove into view and I was able to execute a fair landing on our short and downhill east-west strip in the stiff breeze. Dorothy had made her escape from the cold, dead hands of Victoria’s weather for another year….

 

Coop

 

 

[Guest David C]

I enjoyed your report Coop ... and agree with you about the VIC weather !! ...

 

Dave C

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

Aaawww, Victorian weather's gorgeous - honest! I'm anxiously awaiting my first snowfall of the year.

 

As for "where's all the water", when I flew the Murray/Darling system last year, the only place I saw significant water was Renmark. Don't know where it is this year, although we flew to Kingaroy to visit a sick friend a fortnight ago, most of inland NSW is greener than we've seen it in years. Still not green compared to where I live, but at least the brown had a greenish tinge. And, we had to overnight at West Wyalong due to stress of weather. Victoria was fine, although cold. Then again, it should be cold, after all, it IS winter :biggrin:

 

 

[Coop]

Well, Kaye I have to admit that during Summer there are times when the colder climate in Victoria can have some advantages..... but baiting Victorians is a national sport in SA, and I am sure that the reverse is true in Victoria (what was that about the difference between Adelaide and a graveyard at night?.... the graveyard's got more life...?). Yeah, well, we have to give as good as we get, and play to our strengths eh?

 

Hopefully some of the water coming down the Darling from Qld and NSW will get to SA in the next few months. The Murray's banks have been collapsing down this end through lack of water- one collapse took a couple of trees and a car with it! Things really have been desperate.

 

I think the southeastern Coorong is improving because they have sent some of the drainage channels into it instead of into the sea. They need to do more of that sort of thing.

 

As for the pelicans- I saw a couple more today at about 3,000' over our place (in the Adelaide Hills) gliding steadily towards the Northeast. One day someone will put tracking transmitters on a few of them so we can figure out how they learn there is water in the outback....

 

Oh, and now you can see the photos in the body of the report...

 

Coop

 

 

[Guest Michael Coates]

Wow - its cold up here on the Gold Coast, i think we only got to 22 degrees today so i really feel for you southerners.