GAAR 2020 Leg#5 Yuendumu to Alice Springs
Things never turn out the way you expect!
You should have seen my cockpit. Everything, but really everything was powdered with red sand dust.. every smallest clock!! The morning was over until I cleaned it all up!
Then comes the second:
A mechanic says that I am losing motor oil .. and wanted to remove the casing!
But that would be a huge loss of time. So I close the hole with an XXL heat resistant Swiss adhesive plaster from the medical emergency kit. That works 100% definitely!
A thorough engine test run.. no more oil dripping..
Thom is certainly already in Alice Springs .. let's go!
Blue sky and light southern wind.. but cold.. 5° Celcius!
I choose runway 12 for takeoff. Direct departure on course! Easy..
The poor guys out there are still working!
On the way to runway 12
With one eye I fix the oil pressure and oil temperature displays for the engine #2
No deviations, the pointers are where they belong! Three cheers for the XXL heat resistant Swiss adhesive plaster!
Line up!
The runway is clear..
.. no workers in sight! Take-off!
With a little delay of an hour I'm in the air. Compared to real aviation today.. - peanuts!
Thank you for everything.. Cheers
Australia's outback, this area too, was our absolute blockbuster for a long time and it’s always fantastic to have a look at the photos and walking down the memory lane!
Here the Stuart Bluff Range, an open and dry bush landscape. Almost uninhabited.
The Tanami Track, leads through one of the driest regions in Australia - a thousand kilometre short cut to the Kimberley across the Tanami desert.
The first settlers in the tanami desert tried their luck with cattle farms, but failed due to lack of permanent water.
Further south the saline Lake Lewis with an unusual setting in arid Australia as it is fed periodically by relatively large rivers. When flooded it is a paradise for waterbirds and fish!
The Tropic of Capricorn is a little further south.
Tilmouth Well.. a roadhouse, a campsite, a gas station, the normally dried up Napperby Creek and an airstrip.. nothing else.
Back then we drove past here.. and enjoyed a bush camping!
Shortly before Alice Springs I cross the National A87 or better known as the Stuart Highway. Stuart was an discoverer and, after several attempts between 1858 and 1862, he succeeded in crossing the continent from Adelaide to Darwin, some 3000km.
His big rival was Robert O’Hara Burke. The Burke and Wills expedition led from the city of Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, some 3250 kilometers away. With only two subordinates, Burke and Wills achieved their goal in 1861, but overall the expedition failed in its main aspects and ended tragically.
The Burke and Wills expedition is wonderful to read in the book by - Alan Moorehead "Copper's Creek".
Alice Springs - some history!
The construction of the "Overland Telegraph Line" brought the first Europeans to Central Australia in 1871. There they discovered a water hole in the Todd River, which they called "Alice Spring". In 1872 the telegraph line from Adelaide to Darwin was completed, and Alice Springs developed into an important base for mission travelers and gold prospectors. It was initially called "Stuart". 20 years later, the settlement had only ten buildings and fewer than 30 residents. It was not until 1929, when the railway, the "Ghan", reached the city and a noteworthy upswing took place. In 1933 "Stuart" was renamed to "Alice Springs".
During the Second World War and Darwin's evacuation, Alice Springs was an important army base.
Alice Springs Airport.
The airport was built in 1940 and used as a base for the Royal Australian Air Force.
Since 1958 it has been officially named "Alice Springs Airport", now only used for civil purposes and is next to Connellan Airport, located directly at Ayers Rock, a starting point for travelers on the way to Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park.
I should actually take care of my approach instead of chattering so much..
Along the MacDonnell Ranges for the final approach to runway 12
The right moment! The "Ghan" is on the way!
But my approach is absolutely messed up. Too slow and too low!!
Actually..
.. everything is muddled!
And all of this in front of an audience in the marquee!
"Taxi straight ahead to the GAAR parking, final positioning by Marshaller".. so the Controller from Tower!
Don't show anything and keep a stiff upper lip!
Here we are..
.. but Thom looks at me rather skeptically!
Thom pats me on the shoulder.. eh, one of these days, so what! Have a drink!
Cheers
Put the time back a bit ..
So that's pretty real the small Alice Springs Aero Club building ..
.. and this is my flight log entry from back then.. more of that - later!