I prefer to wait in the shade until they finish loading whatever they have to load in the plane. I don't ask questions except about the total weight of those boxes, and I don't pay for the fuel, the food and overnight stays...
We'll be cleared before the Baron, as we were first
Hmmm, the plane seems heavy - I wonder if I have been told the correct weight... Or maybe I forgot to add the seventy beer cases I'm myself transporting for the barbecues (there were five hundreds of them at the start of the Rally, as I estimated we would need 50 cases per leg)
Anyway, these Dart Mk536-2 engines are powerful and we finally lift-off
Georgetown and Tamar River mouth
Hills and plenty forest reserves in the area (Swiss boy is happy)
St Helens airfield is in sight but we're early, so we'll fly a full left pattern to land on runway 08
Turning base
In final for runway 08 but the situation was a bit chaotic as other aircrafts were all landing on runway 26, which was not suitable for my schedule... I had to quickly land between two other arriving planes and then some of them had to go around while I was taxiing back to the parking.
Landed ! This could have gone much more wrong than just a flat tire...
Taxiing back, and now we'll have to wait that the Piper Cub clears the taxiway so that we can park - which he won't do, of course : "artificial intelligence" aircraft in fact means very stubborn pilot. No problem, I just drove THROUGH it !
Now the guy took off, I did not damage his aircraft. And who comes ? A Curtiss JN-4 ! What a busy little airfield !
OK, let's see if Thom brought a spare tire or if we'll have to manually sew the rubber.
Got to agree, sure enjoyable to follow the Avro (BEER). Once again nice screenies. By the way, the answer to your question Raphael is FSX. Was a dyed-in the wool fs9 then that darn ORBX came along. Lost some good planes but FSX is catching up. Especially if you fly DC3'S.
I think I understand what you mean, Dick, with Orbx : their sceneries look so beautiful and so real - and they're only for FSX. I've seen many videos that made me want landing on these Orbx airfields, be it in Australia or Pacific Northwest. On the other hand, I appreciate the almost infinite number of freeware addons for FS9 and the fact that it is running smoothly on my aging computer (9 years now and no plan to change it in near future).
Here we are, flying over the hills between St. Helens and Launceston, dodging clouds and hilltops, at about 3,500 feet:
After the touch and go at Launceston, we climbed to about 6,500 to get above the rock-filled clouds, then landed at Strahan Airport. Didn't see all the tents, barbecues, etc. We looked around, then got a ride into town for a beer and a steak.
GAAR 2017, Leg9, St. Helens to Strahan via Launceston
Already the second last flight day in this year GAAR! But I think it will be one of the fascinating ones.. From the north-east via Launceston to the west coast of Tasmania!
Unfortunately my AN2 is not IFR equipped, so a visual flight is announced and no runway 32L ILS-approach in Launceston.
OK then, runway 26 and here I go! Full throttle.. with a tailwind component of 8 knots.
Bye bye buddies…! Thanks and see you next time.. the oysters were very delicious!
Heading west.. and it needs a bit of a good rate of climb, to avoid some rocky surprises!
6000ft QNH.. this is a perfect cruising altitude..
.. to give an overview of the „Griffin Forest Reserve“.
From time to time a little IFR feeling. My anticipation for «Tailwind» has changed into a non- anticipation «Headwind»! 287°/25 knots.. meaning: XWC from the right 19 knots and HWC 16 knots, also the OAT has dropped to 1°C. Next time I will buy a polar outfit!!
Aha, I have received the permission to enter airspace Charly for a touch and go on runway 32L
Ok! direct into right base for runway 32L and down to1500ft QNH! Airport Launceston is in sight!
..turning into grande finale!
All set! Some 8 knots x-wind from the right.. my bulky plane is not so streamlined like, so it needs some instinctive feeling to keep pitch and speed!
Touch..
..and tschau Amigos! By the way, Launceston airport is Tasmania’s fastest growing airport, and the second busiest in the state, after Hobart Intl. Airport!
Overhead the little village of Longford, well known for its historical background.
I start climbing back to 6000ft QNH.
Enjoying the splendid outlook..
..to the „Great Lake“ and..
..to a hundred of other small lakes more!
Gosh!! It looks like very impenetrable.. I prefer flying!
Lake Burbury.. is a man-made water reservoir – and a popular fishing lake: like rainbow- and the river trout.. Eh, I go for trout tonight!
Crossing Tasmania from the Tasman Sea to the Indian Ocean ! Hooray.. I made it! The Macquarie Harbour and Strahan right in front of me – like a painting!
The small Strahan airport is the main airport for the West Coast of Tasmania and mainly used for charter flights into the wilderness area in western Tasmania… or for special occasions – like a GAAR!
On final runway 36 – and as always, a bit too late! But I just can’t stop to marvel the landscape instead checking the flight timer!
Close to 4pm on ground – after all in a good time!
At first: a cold stubby and second: Allan is asking for dinner in town at Tasmania’s finest and freshest fish&seafood restaurant! Very generous!
hey Urs, did you remark the low fuel announcing lights at your panel??? I had that a few legs ago and the warning bells were ringing,....sometimes these old Russian ladies have a high consumption.... (headwind drinkers....)..lol... well done anyway and all the great descriptions are my favourites! I will follow soon.... just have a check of my tyres....
leg 9 back to my working place, after changing the right front tyre,....startup watching carefully!!!! taxying safe.....thanks again for your great help! full brakes....all concentration on the tyres....(not even thinking of taxilights...lol....) cleared for takeoff ......full throttle.... a last good bye with low passing St Helens..... and chasing Urs.... no longer available on the radio,...must be way ahead.... seems to become IFR? really flying low,...ehhh... but Launceston, just ahead... downwind.... final turn flare for..... a smoooooooooooth touch....... and go...................
midfield crossing.... towards the final target,...clouds ahead?!?! a real front system.....IFR? no option,...just climbing up.... yeppp...getting better up here....but cold,...brr... not for the engine,....for me....lol spectacular views.... an alternate airfield and a cloud bank in front.... diving underneath ok, well done, target in sight....(in the background) here it is...a vaste airfied though.... Strahan.... quite a strong crosswind component....puuuhh...let's pray to the "tyre goddess".... haaaaaa,...touch down on centre line.... tyres ok...lol... hey Urs,...no BBQ here,...whereare Phil and his boxes??? lets look for Urs and a nice bar downtown.............
Beautiful shots, guys ! This time, I waited to see your pics before flying the leg. And as everybody is saying "Good Bye", we're still flying the Rally. Leg 9, from St Helens to Strahan
I hoped the airfield would be a bit more quiet today than when we arrived, but as soon as I entered my cockpit, the Piper Cub started taxiing and then the Curtiss did too while I was doing my checklists
Lined up on runway 08, ready to go. I know the flight instructions mentioned runway 26, but I did not want to take-off against all other aircrafts in the pattern. Was frightened enough the other day when I landed here against other traffic !!!
97 knots : rotate
Leaving the east coast on our way to Launceston
Climbing to FL100 - too high for such a short distance to Launceston (bad flight planning, for which I'm the only responsible)
Launceston tower cleared me for a touch and go on runway 14R (and not 32L as in the flight docs). I did respect the instruction but of course it increased distance. Together with a longest departure route in St Helens, this will make impossible to reach Strahan within schedule... But safety comes first, of course !
Short final
I did not want to mess up with my logbook (I'm not sure it understands touch and go - have to test this once) so I kept flying a few feets above the runway before pushing throttle back to full power.
Turning to heading 232 to Strahan
Lots of nice clouds, I like this sky !
One of the lakes Urs told us about
Hills become lower as we approach the west coast so we started our descent from FL100
Fast approach to avoid a too big delay. No runway 30 in FS9, so we'll be landing on runway 18.
In long final for runway 18. We're not flying the pattern this time, as we're late - but please keep the secret.
Touchdown : I jumped on the brakes and used reverse thrust. Almost one minute late - the Swiss boy will need more beers tonight to get through this great shame...
Parking is small. One more challenge : parking the aircraft without damage.
We made it ! Let's get these beer cases out and drink some before joining our friends for the debriefing and the BBQ (I feel bad for the delay).
:-)
To those still here : see you for the last flight, although I'm afraid that it might be too dark to see anything... or anybody. Good luck for the last leg, it appears challenging.
GAAR 2017, Leg10, Strahan to Cambridge The grand final flight in this year GAAR.. (time to shed a tear!)
A night VFR-flight is not my cup to tea, especially in a region which I do not know! So the best thing is to prepare yourself as good a you can, and expect the unexpected! According the DEM, 4000ft QNH should be a safe cruising altitude..! The upmost point on my route is „Wylds Craig“ a 3543 ft mountain peak! I should pass that peak on the right side.. hopefully!!
Well then, cockpit preparation is done, 800lt of aviation spirit in the tank and some load. That comes to a TOW of 5120 kilograms!
Safety first.. I first set the radio altimeter to 400m (russian aircraft..) and if I should fly below, a big noise (alarm clock) is waking me up!
So then, a serious outside check, and a last cheerio!! Lets start this flying agriculture vehicle..!
Thom already left earlier ..! „Phil“ will follow IFR.. (noblesse oblige!)
After a short backtrack to runway36.. lining up – heading into a pitch-black sky!!
Ha..! doing a crazy take off! Nose down to gain speed..
..and pulling up the heavy vehicle like a starfighter…..! (goodbye airspeed..!)
Leaving Strahan behind and climbing into the great dark unknown!
With pomp and glimmer.. I have switched all cockpit lights to off and gazed to this nightly sky..
.. until the alarm went on!! By instinct: full power and climb.. As you can see, I just crossed something which is 100m underneath the plane.. Eh! Adrenalin-fuelled and a maximum heartbeat flushed my body!
Later, (after slowing down my nerves...), on my way inbound TTR NDB, a real grandiose extravaganza! Full moon is ascending above the horizon! By that time I have received a permission from Hobart to enter airspace «Delta»..
Over TTR, switching over to Hobart TWR… eh, what a chatter!! It doesn’t go without notice: on the left, Hobart runway 12, and on the right.., what a question, ..Cambridge!!
What a welcome! Tower girl says: "cleared to land runway12" Later she added: "Congratulations!"
Perfect! I don't know what to say!
Easy on the rudder and throttle.. then the GAAR 2017 will be history!
History?? No way, look at this!! On my way to find a parking lot.. ah, marshaller in sight!
Golly!
Last but not least.. the final parking! I guess Thom is already in one of this party tents!
Big thing eh? Some toasts, some three cheers, a lot of chatters take place and everyone agreed, this was a extraordinaire GAAR 2017
But before we start the celebratory dinner: Snap your chair and your drink, look and listen to the „Grande Finale“.. with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra!
Afterword: Well then, another GAAR goes into records!! It was a great fun sitting behind the screens and controls meanwhile it was snowing outside here in Switzerland!
Thanks to the GAAR organisation with Allan, Rob and other helpers which leading the way! Well then, catch ya later! Yours Urs