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Coop · Guest

After spending a good few weekends behaving like a contortionist
poking wires through tiny holes and threading power cables and aerial
leads into virtually inaccessible places in Dorothy's interior, it was
a relief to finally pack up and depart to the nor-noreast on track for
Broken Hill about three weeks ago (Wednesday, 4th April, to be exact).

Since then we have covered 2736 nautical miles at an average speed of
91.4 knots. We used fuel at a rate of 34 litres per hour- a rate which
caused us some concern and will have to be investigated as it is about
4 litres per hour above Dorothy's usual fuel consumption. The engine
never missed a beat. The radio worked beautifully, save for one minor
hiccup which was easily diagnosed and fixed.

We flew over an incredible variety of country- from red sandy desert
between Broken Hill and Bourke, to the grey/green "Channel country"
around Charleville and Longreach, the tropical mangroves and estaurine
environment from Rockhampton to Bundaberg, the industrial quagmire
near Gladstone, the structured chaos of the canal developments and the
high-rise around the Gold Coast, the twisted mountains of the great
divide, and the endless plains of Western NSW and Victoria.

The weather was mostly kind- as is evident from our average speed, we
had tailwinds most of the way, with Longreach to Rockhampton being the
main exception (65kts ground speed for a while!). We mostly had blue
skies with a few puffy clouds- the only exceptions to that were an
800' cloudbase as we left Caboolture- and flew across Moreton Bay!!-
and a dose of fog that kept us on the ground until 10:00am at
Luskintyre in the Hunter valley.

The drought was evident almost everywhere we went. It was most obvious
in the outback, of course- I have a photograph of the Darling River at
Tilpa (about halfway between Wilcannia and Bourke) which shows a dry
bed with a few puddles in it. They must be having dust baths. I have
just compared it with an image from Google Earth which shows a river
full of water. But even usually lush green places like the tropical
coast of Queensland had a brownish tinge that I've not seen before.
There was one exception- Kempsy, NSW was green (the locals disagreed)
and we had 12 mils of rain from a thunderstorm while we were there.

We had one "adventure": Enroute from Longreach to Emerald we had
planned to top up our tanks at Barcaldine, but found the wind too
strong and the presence of tall trees upwind making the air too
turbulent for a safe crosswind landing. We pressed on, calculating we
could make Emerald with sufficient reserves. But the wind
strengthened, and as we progressed it became obvious that our fuel
margin was diminishing. Shortly after we passed Alpha my calculations
showed a margin of just 15 minutes (with over an hour still to run)
and I knew we had to find another solution.
The Alpha strip was 18/36 and the wind 080 or thereabouts at around 25
knots. We took a look at the strip a couple times, but the angle was
clearly too much for a safe touchdown along the strip. However, Alpha
looked like it used to have a cross strip. Although it was now well
overgrown, the area where it had crossed the new sealed strip was
clear of trees. We took a close look at it from about 20 feet up and
decided that it would do as an overrun area (provided we avoided the
star-dropper we spotted on our inspection runs), so we decided to
carry out a short-field approach directly into wind angled across the
strip towards this area. We lined it up and used full flap at 35 knots
with plenty of power. I got Dorothy onto the grass at the edge of the
strip , she skipped once, and as she touched the second time I dumped
the flap and stood on the "influencers". We stopped about 15 meters
into the grass on the other side of the runway- a total distance of
about 50 meters and certainly the shortest landing I have ever made.
We shut down and dragged Dorothy back onto the runway before
restarting and taxiing up to the little terminal building.
I checked the phone book and rang an estabalaishment called the "Alpha
Gateway" hoping it might be a servo, or failing that, a pub. The
conversation went like this:

"Er, hello, do you sell petrol?"
"Well, yes luv, on some days, but today we have a special on combs..."
"Er, what is this place?"
"We're a servo, luv, and general store"

I explained the situation, and the lady arranged for "Col" to pick us
up and bring us into town. Col arrived in about 15 minutes and took us
into Alpha where we met the owner of the store- Glenda, the one with
the sense of humour. She and Col had recently taken over the store
from an old chap who had never cleared any of his stock. If you are
looking for a set of points for an MG Midget- you can get them at
Alpha. She had 180 combs she was trying to sell (we bought two) and
she also tried to sell the Navigator a pair of ceramic "Dust
Dolphins". We collected our fuel and before taking us back to the
airfield Glenda showed us around the town of Alpha, pointed out the
various flood levels, and explained how she was working on developing
the town's infrastructure. She certainly gets our AAAA seal of
approval, and if you are passing that way, say hello from Dorothy and
her crew. Its people like this that make Australia a fun place to
live.

About 20 miles from Emerald we were startled by a terrifically loud
buzzing noise emanating from the starboard wing root. After the
initial burst of adrenaline, I realised it was a loose tape vibrating
in the wind, and of no consequence apart from the noise making it
difficult to think, let alone use the radio. At Emerald I had to cover
the mic. with my hand while I made my calls or nobody would have been
able to hear anything except the buzzing. I found what I thought was
the culprit and sealed it with some gaffa tape, but during take-off
the noise started again, so we landed for a closer inspection. This
revealed that a gap seal between the canopy and the wing root had
lifted in the middle and was vibrating like a harp string. This time
we used a wide strip of self-adhesive sailcloth as a temporary repair
and that fixed the trouble. Unfortunately, the extra time put us too
close to last light, and we had to stay the night.

Within minutes some local Emerald aviators had offered Dorothy a space
in a hangar for the evening, and a lift into town.
We were met with tremendous hospitality wherever we went. From the
gruff "RT" of Rockhampton (who directed us to the best Barramundi meal
we have ever had, loaned us his car, and hosted us like royalty) to
the gents at Kempsy who have already restored two Austers and are
working on another (I took part in their club's streamer-cutting
competition with very forgettable results). At Luskintyre we slept in
their beautifully appointed clubhouse for a very modest fee, and at
Broken Hill we were entertained by two delightful grandchildren of a
AAAA member.

The Navigator did a fair share of the en-route flying on this trip,
including the run through "the gut" (the VFR route from Wirradgurie to
Maitland) which she thoroughly enjoyed. Her navigation skills have now
reached a high level, and we marked all of the airfields we saw on our
charts for future reference. (But she still can't find her glasses
when she needs them....)

The AAAA fly-in at Echuca was well-attended. There were 18 Austers and
about 150 aircraft present when we left on Sunday morning, with more
arriving as we were departing. The Grand Champion- a beautifully
restored Stinson Reliant- was a popular choice. The organisers had
done a sterling job in laying out the aircraft parking so that both
pilots and public were satisfied, and the rest of the organisation
appeared to be going smoothly.

"Dorothy" will be getting some attention before our next excursion.
The fuel consumption issue has to be solved, and I have gathered some
ideas on how to reduce her oil consumption- primarily by reducing the
amount scattered across the countryside by her various vents and
drains- which I gleaned from the owner of a Dragon. He's got two
Gypsies to worry about, so he should know Smile

.

Regards

Coop
(The final itinerary was:
Callington- Broken Hill-Wilcannia-
Bourke-Cunamulla-Charleville-Blackall-Longreach- (Alpha)- Emerald-
Rockhampton- Bundaberg- Caboolture- Casino- Coffs Harbour- Kempsey-
Luskintyre- Mudgee- Parkes- Narranderra- Echuca- Brim- Callington)

d&tm · Guest

"Coop" <vhbdq (AT) chariotnose (DOT) netwheel.au> wrote in message
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SR20GOER · Guest

"Coop" <vhbdq (AT) chariotnose (DOT) netwheel.au> wrote in message
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Stealth Pilot · Guest

On Tue, 24 Apr 2007 02:14:11 +0930, Coop
<vhbdq (AT) chariotnose (DOT) netwheel.au> wrote:

RT · Guest

"Stealth Pilot" <notransponder (AT) aeroplanes (DOT) com.au> wrote in message

John B · Guest

"Coop" <vhbdq (AT) chariotnose (DOT) netwheel.au> wrote in message
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Rob · Guest

Coop wrote:

Rob · Guest

RT wrote:

Coop · Guest

On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:33:57 +1000, Rob <mesa (AT) mine (DOT) com> wrote:

Peter Fanelli · Guest

veritas <veritas (AT) coldmail (DOT) con> wrote in news:z3f1i.36988$M.6161@news-
server.bigpond.net.au:

Coop · Guest

On Sat, 12 May 2007 12:31:05 GMT, Peter Fanelli
<fanelli (AT) bellsouth (DOT) removeme.net> wrote:

Rob · Guest

Coop wrote:

Coop · Guest

On Sat, 12 May 2007 23:37:54 +1000, Rob <mesa (AT) mine (DOT) com> wrote: