newt
Well Known Member
Farewell Adelaide, hello Sydney.
I've recently taken up a job with a company that networking geeks would know as, "AS15169," which has seen me relocate with my partner and two dogs to Sydney.
I had planned to reposition the RV from Parafield to Camden this weekend. I got 80% of the way there, thanks to weather.
The trip began on Saturday morning: Clear blue skies, a bit of fog that lifted early in the morning, so we were able to launch by 0900 and clear the Adelaide hills.
Our track took us almost due East, over the South Australian plains, into Victoria, then across the Murray River into New South Wales.
Lakes near the Murray near Mildura YMIA, towards the eastern side of what the WAC chart calls "Sunset Country":
Stopped for a comfort break at Robinvale YROI. On descent approaching the river:
It all started to get a bit rubbish after that. We caught up with the clouds near Hay YHAY and had to drop down to 3500, and the weather closed in more and more as we moved further east. By the time we reached Narrandera YNAR we were dodging scattered showers, and ATC was broadcasting SIGMETs about isolated thunderstorms on-track.
Our intended refuelling stop at Temora YTEM was behind a curtain of black, so we diverted to Wagga Wagga YSWG instead, leaving most of the crud behind us.
My travelling partner kindly videoed a greaser landing at Wagga Wagga. Not often you get video evidence of one of those
I didn't have the right kind of card to operate the fuel system, but we were helped by some wonderfully accommodating locals. One of them has the first Ercoupe imported into Australia (looking immaculate, still in its original factory paint-job), and another is 10 hours into his phase-1 in a beautiful looking RV-8. He was buzzing around the pattern later in the day while we watched from the airport terminal.
Having refuelled and tied the aircraft down, we watched the clouds begin to dissipate to give us a wonderfully clear afternoon.
But, safety first: I'd called for a met briefing, and no matter how good it was starting to look in Wagga Wagga, it was still terrible further east. So we called it quits for the day, booked some accommodation, and headed for the bar.
Spot track here (I didn't hit the breadcrumbs button until about 20 minutes out of Adelaide)
I called for another met briefing last night. Low cloud down to ground level isn't expected to clear from Mittagong YMIG until Tuesday. Mittagong/Bowral is kinda the entry-point to the Sydney basin for single-engine VFR due to its status as a low-point in the mountains that ring the city. If you can't get past YMIG, there's no point even starting.
So we booked airline tickets to get home instead.
This morning the day dawned gloomily, with fog blanketing the region. It lifted by about 1030 while we were in the taxi to the airport, and delayed the arrival of our airline flights because Wagga Wagga is too small to have an ILS.
Taxying out in the Qantas Q400 after lunch, when it had finally arrived (!), I could look across the airport and see li'l SOL sitting on its tiedowns on the GA parking apron, in front of the white hangar in the background:
And 25 minutes later I was able to look down at Mittagong and see that yes, indeed, the decision to stop was the right one. It's... under there:
In the Sydney basin it was raining heavily, with patchy low cloud and no visible horizon to the west. I'll go to bed tonight delighted with my 3.3 hours in the cockpit and the quality of my decision making, and look forward to heading back to Wagga Wagga to finish the trip in better conditions next Saturday.
How was your weekend?
- mark
I've recently taken up a job with a company that networking geeks would know as, "AS15169," which has seen me relocate with my partner and two dogs to Sydney.
I had planned to reposition the RV from Parafield to Camden this weekend. I got 80% of the way there, thanks to weather.
The trip began on Saturday morning: Clear blue skies, a bit of fog that lifted early in the morning, so we were able to launch by 0900 and clear the Adelaide hills.
Our track took us almost due East, over the South Australian plains, into Victoria, then across the Murray River into New South Wales.
Lakes near the Murray near Mildura YMIA, towards the eastern side of what the WAC chart calls "Sunset Country":
Stopped for a comfort break at Robinvale YROI. On descent approaching the river:
It all started to get a bit rubbish after that. We caught up with the clouds near Hay YHAY and had to drop down to 3500, and the weather closed in more and more as we moved further east. By the time we reached Narrandera YNAR we were dodging scattered showers, and ATC was broadcasting SIGMETs about isolated thunderstorms on-track.
Our intended refuelling stop at Temora YTEM was behind a curtain of black, so we diverted to Wagga Wagga YSWG instead, leaving most of the crud behind us.
My travelling partner kindly videoed a greaser landing at Wagga Wagga. Not often you get video evidence of one of those
I didn't have the right kind of card to operate the fuel system, but we were helped by some wonderfully accommodating locals. One of them has the first Ercoupe imported into Australia (looking immaculate, still in its original factory paint-job), and another is 10 hours into his phase-1 in a beautiful looking RV-8. He was buzzing around the pattern later in the day while we watched from the airport terminal.
Having refuelled and tied the aircraft down, we watched the clouds begin to dissipate to give us a wonderfully clear afternoon.
But, safety first: I'd called for a met briefing, and no matter how good it was starting to look in Wagga Wagga, it was still terrible further east. So we called it quits for the day, booked some accommodation, and headed for the bar.
Spot track here (I didn't hit the breadcrumbs button until about 20 minutes out of Adelaide)
I called for another met briefing last night. Low cloud down to ground level isn't expected to clear from Mittagong YMIG until Tuesday. Mittagong/Bowral is kinda the entry-point to the Sydney basin for single-engine VFR due to its status as a low-point in the mountains that ring the city. If you can't get past YMIG, there's no point even starting.
So we booked airline tickets to get home instead.
This morning the day dawned gloomily, with fog blanketing the region. It lifted by about 1030 while we were in the taxi to the airport, and delayed the arrival of our airline flights because Wagga Wagga is too small to have an ILS.
Taxying out in the Qantas Q400 after lunch, when it had finally arrived (!), I could look across the airport and see li'l SOL sitting on its tiedowns on the GA parking apron, in front of the white hangar in the background:
And 25 minutes later I was able to look down at Mittagong and see that yes, indeed, the decision to stop was the right one. It's... under there:
In the Sydney basin it was raining heavily, with patchy low cloud and no visible horizon to the west. I'll go to bed tonight delighted with my 3.3 hours in the cockpit and the quality of my decision making, and look forward to heading back to Wagga Wagga to finish the trip in better conditions next Saturday.
How was your weekend?
- mark
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