Coupladaysmate...

Well,

I spent the weekend waiting for parts at Daly waters pub suffering the never ending groundhog day and then got back out to Kidman Springs to upgrade the Motor controller hardware and C1 software.

ER series Kubota motors have not been designed to have 'any' automation installed on them. Small hint Big Bro... Great motor but the concept of trying to fit a rack puller solenoid is best left to the more patient types. Never day die... I managed to get everything working with a few hacks. Now if the motor had been mounted correctly from the start life would have been much easier with a log less swearing.

I headed into Tennant Creek last night and have now touched down in Mount Isa after a very boring (read - trim, stay awake, trim, stay awake oh I had better wait and fly in circles till the Qantas 737 and the Macair flight have gotten out of my way). The Barkly is looking very dry. I saw more vegetation when I crossed the Tanami Desert yesterday heading to Tennant Creek.

I am heading home to Melbourne for the weekend to have a good look at the new house as it is now at fixout stage. A couple more weeks and it will almost be ready to move in. :). I will be returning to Mt Isa on Tuesday to continue the trip. I might bump into a couple of people this weekend.

Everything is south from here and I should be home for a longer stay in about 2 weeks.

Back into civilisation.

Back into Daly Waters Pop. 27 (locals and 300 terrorists) to wait for the Friday night mail truck. There are only so many spare parts that can be carried at once and many more ways to break things you don't have spare parts for. I should be heading back to Kidman springs for a couple of hours work in the morning and then heading east to Cloncurry (QLD)on Sunday.

I've spent the last 3 days or so at Hogdson Downs working with some of the locals trying to set up their own cattle station. The weather everyday has been around 33-34 degrees with a nice sea breeze. The locations are amazing and the fishing is even better. Vincent (one of the community Elders) has been trying to convince me to come back for a weekends fishing just before the Wet.

The locals are trying to create a independent, successful community and are determined to do what they can to make it happen. The elders have all welcomed the 'intervention' and think it's great that the new local copper has taken on the challenge of coaching the local footy team.

I'm glad that followed rule number one of using bush airstrips... Precautionary overflys are highly recommended even though that I was told the airstrip would be the best place to land. Those little bushes are a little larger when you are on the ground and looking at them. The nice long runway at the community was the best option and all the local kids found it funny that someone my size could fit into a 'little' plane like the Jabiru. :)

Snakes alive.

Todays Count.

3 King Browns (one flattened under the Hilux :))
1 Whip Snake. (good for whip handles according to my guides and also meant to be very tasty)
2 Black headed Pythons.

Anybody would think that I was in Arnhem Land or something. One of the photos shows Vincent carring a crow bar. they are the best thing to drop onto a snake to slow them down when walking thru the grass up here.

The country side is amazing with numerous swamps, Donkeys, miles of Bull Dust (not just from the locals) and snakes by the thousands. The blokes made there own lunch on the run from a long neck turtle they found in a water hole. I will draw a line at eating locally on this trip.

Flying in here was interesting with a final approach requiring a little weaving thru the hills before touching down. The normal wind is from the east but has been blowing from the west for the past couple of days.

Heading further Bush...

I Completed the small job that I needed to do at VRD and 'Installed' a motor controller at Kidman Springs so the guys don't need to swim the creek during the wet. I'm sure the 'bloody lizards' would help the olympic swimming teams training. Those 'bloody lizards' also have some fine dining with Tony's prize fillet on offer. The beef just keeps getting better as I head further north. Nothing tastes as good a real steak sandwich at Kidman Springs.

The boys from Helimuster NT at VRD did a fantatic job on the service with the girl now absolutely purring. I was surpised to say the least at the food. Gary (resort chief) can put on a great feed and I would encourage anyone to book the Helimuster NT motel room for the night. Great place with some great fishing spots within walking distance from the work shop. Sunday is a day of recreational flying so avoid the blokes attached to the eleven meter kites running up and down the strip.

Barra fishing at VRD is the favourite hobby of most of the boys. Reef 'n' Beef is the staple diet.

I am currently sitting at Daly waters enjoying the shade of a previous employers pub.

It was a very interesting landing at Daly waters. It appears that the old copy of ERSA is a little out of date. (about 40 years). The runway is about 3000m long and about 40m wide. The trees growing out of the bituman at either end could make life interesting for anyone other than a Jabiru. Ok maybe a STOL would work. Look out for tourist's taking a scenic drive down the strip. I hope I scared the crap out of them.

It's a shame that a significant part of WW2 and early international flight history is slowly rotting away. The pre-world war 2 hanger is finally getting used for it's intended purpose after a break of several years.

The week that has been...

Sorry about the lack of updates but a very busy week of 12 hour days has left me tired and just about falling asleep over dinner.

The weather has been perfect and most days are around the mid 30's. It has taken a few days to get used to the warmer weather with the first couple giving me a nice NT tan. :)

My few days work as turned into a full weeks work getting the system back into a functional state after a ringer or two left some gates incorrectly chained. It's amazing how much damage Cattle can cause over night.



PGH has some stunning spots but the floating logs with funny bumps on one end don't make the water holes that inviting. To quote a local 'bloody lizards!'. The pasture is amazing with the spear grass in places up over 6' in height. PGH has a strange balance of enviroments, The tropical Savanah to the south with the more impressive rock outcrops in the north. There are many examples of the local culture that existed well before the 'white fella' came. I have seen at least three large sites that show that PGH once supported a fairly large population and still does today with the local population still using this land on a daily basis.



Miles upon miles of fat cows and very fat wieners. mmm steak.




I should be heading to VRD and Kidman springs over the weekend so a few more tropical spots along the Victoria River should provide some relief from the sun on the plains. The 'scare-craft' as a 'certain' hardware engineer calls it will be getting a well earned service on Monday morning with a flight to Hogdson downs in the afternoon.

Work.

I have been tied up with a fairly intensive week of ringer / cow damage repairs at PGH. I promise a full update in the next couple of days.

Giles

All in a days work.

Swiming, flying and four wheel driving. All in a days work.

It must of been a friday. I ran into a couple of problems yesterday with the tank at new well. I was expecting to get out of Napperby yesterday afternoon but a water tank gently suggested that a Jenny Craig weight loss program is required.

Plastic water tanks normally have a piece of PVC piping installed into the center to help support the 'weight' of the roof. In most cases a bit of careful manuvering will allow a fair amount of work to be done on top. The tank at New well was missing one small item, the piece of PVC piping that supports the roof. As I was counter balancing myself applying a 'tek' screw to mount a camera bracket the center suddenly colasped.

Opps, Very painful to fix as you need to get inside the tank to install the support and the cover had gone missing as well. Several birds (many) had departed the 'flying world' inside the tank. The smell and floatsum was not a pleasent experiance this morning. I'm sure a few tourists didn't enjoy the sight of a two very large, and very white men standing on top of a water tank in just their jocks either. It seemed to be very busy on the Tanami Track this morning.

Ah, everything done and now time to leave for Tennant Creek. Show day in Tennant Creek is a lovely place. Drunks in the mainstreet, Burnt parma (yes it is a friday and I had missed lunch at the pub) and a really dodgy room for the night.

Tennant creek is a place where you can hear the locals 'celebrating' all the time and the fireworks and crackers get let off on a regular basis. They must be a really happy bunch here. Oh and I forgot it was voted one of the most deadly places on earth by the media... (ok it was, ACA and today tonight so it doesn't really count).

I plan to be in the air before 8:00am and should be at PGH before lunchtime. The jabiru super lifter will be very heavy getting off the ground so I am hoping for a good takeoff headwind. Pressure altitude will be a very real factor tomorrow with it predicted to be around 3500'. With that issue a very nice, long runway will be needed. The aircraft should be about 60 kilos lighter when I get to Pidgeon Hole so it will be able to perform slightly better. This is not a trip to be done when the dry season is coming to a end.

I heard a little story about a fellow Torradin flyer getting grounded in Katherine by CASA. They dont like the idea of a round Australia aerochute flight without any support. I'm sure I will hear more as I head that way. The concept of 30kn's (50 odd k per hour) flat out would drive me nuts.

Oh well, I think its time I headed to bed as it sounds like the local footy team has just won their first match for the year. Good on them, but breaking bottles and yelling at each other is a strange way to celebrate.

Giles

Horrible four letter words.

Work. Ok i've said and boy can Roy Chisholm make you do that. 7am start and a 7:30pm finish.

I have basically spent the day installing a camera and replacing some of Roys patch up wiring with a more stable animal proof version. Boundry is up and running with a few additions such as a rain gauge and camera facing the trough. I still need to remount the camera at New Well.

I will be heading out of here tomorrow about lunchtime and it should be a good race to Tennant Creek. Jabiru vers Roy's Cessena. I Suspect that the Cessena may beat me but I will give it a go. Landing in Tennant will be interesting as they have a 2950m strip that is 35m wide, The little jab only needs a couple hundred of it to get into the air. Land short and I will be taxing for hours. Not the place to practice short landings. :)

I plan to stay the night in Tennant and then head out to Pidgeon Hole in the morning to avoid the predicted dust storms out in the Tanami.

G

Where's the blasted indicator on this thing.

Got away from Kaldunda just as the sun come over the horizon. Some of the locals gathered around this morning to watch me take off, but I suspect they were just still drinking from last night.

My promised "road tax" was put to good use as I managed to avoid a fine for using a unroadworthy motor "car" on a public road, She wasn't sure on where it stood with the rego, but it appeared that some body forgot to put indicators and brake lights on it. :)

The West Macdonald ranges where absolutely spectacular just after dawn. I finally managed to get some decent flying weather with a sutble tailwind pushing me in just the right direction. Clear Blue skys were more than welcome this morning. It's hard to imagine that Mt Giles sits at almost 5500' feet.

The trip over the ranges took just over and hour and a half without any possible landing sites. They make the Victorian Alps look tame.

Operational safety required a cruise altitude of 8500'. A fairly high cruise level for a Jabiru. Class D airspace was at 8500' so I could'nt take it any higher.

I should be here till around Thursday and will then head to Pigdeon Hole to knock off the 3-4 days work that I have there.

A day of extremes..

You will have to excuse the formatting. I have finally found something worse than Trak.


I Left Cooper pedy at about 8:15 and immediately encountered a 35 knot head wind. What should have taken 1.5hrs to Cooper Pedy become almost a 3 hour trip of dodging massive thunderstorms. Five minutes from Cooper Pedy the winds almost dropped to nothing.

I thought that I had left the worst of the weather behind me but again encountered another head wind about 50 miles north of Cooper pedy and what I thought should have been enough fuel to make it to Napperby (based on the BOM forecasts etc) was soon eaten up by a 40 mile detour to get around a massive rain storm that also kicked up stronger headwind again. The weather become absolutely perfect as soon as I crossed the border into the NT.

I had put Eldunda down as a quick break but found the runway to be completely unusable so I took the next best option knowing that I was starting to get low on fuel and used the best and safest option. Many happy shots were taken. :) I am not the only one to have ever done it but the tourists thought it was great entertainment. The local cop reacons I owe him a couple of beers as road tax.

I plan to leave here at about 7:30 in the morning and should be getting into Napperby as everyone enjoys that wonderful Monday morning coffee. International Roast just doesn't cut it.

Dog Fence 2.0

I made it into Olympic dam without any hassles with the Jabiru running like a dream. Now if the pilot can make a decent landing things will improve. The cross wind on landing caught me out a touch. I have more respect for RPT pilots by the day.


Arid Recovery's system seems to be working well now we have swapped a couple of units around to take advantage of some of the power improvements that were made with final batch of the C1's.


Mel's hard work developing the system has already shown benefits with the least being the ability to check the traps with out getting out of her PJ's on a cold Sunday morning. She has a high level of confidence in the system and is comfortable with the results that are displayed.


I am heading up to Napperby on Sunday and will have a full days flying to get there. There is a massive rain system coming across in the next couple of days so I must get a early start otherwise I will get caught out. It is meant to be a one in twenty year event. Some of the properties north of here have not had rain for almost two years so I hope the expected drenching occurs.


Napperby will take about seven hours of flying time so I will need to get into the air at first legal light (8:00am). I should be at Napperby by 4:30. The trip to Napperby is just over 1000km but the range of the aircraft is about 10km short of that. Murphy strikes again and its a bit hard to pull over and top up from a Jerry can so Copper Pedy for fuel it is, and possibly one other stop dependant on the wind.

Giles

The best laid plans...

I Finally managed to get going after a two day weather delay and made it as far as Renmark with a three and a bit flight time. Got to love a 10 knot tailwind. For once the BOM got something right.

Ballarats weather this morning was cold, wet and cloudy. I sat on the ground till at least 10:30 chomping at the bit to get going. I swear I wore a path into the concrete trying to find a break in the weather to the west.

The flight out from Ballarat was interesting to say the least. I ended up flying at between 2000' and 2500' till I got to the SA border when I could finally climb to 3500. I was hoping to have more of a glide margin as I crossed the "Big desert". I had at least 3 encounters with carby icing when I turned north from Nhill. It Cleared up quickly once the carby heat was applied.

Renmark has become a overnight stay due to fuel supply issues. I confirmed that fuel was

available before I left Ballarat but guess what... It took three hours to get someone out to unlock the fuel pump. The three hour delay meant that I would not make Port Augusta before dark so off to a cheapy motel room for the night.

I plan to leave early in the morning and get to Olympic dam by lunchtime so I can finally do some real work. Bring on the card based fuel bowsers..

G

Finally...

After several frustrating days of really bad flying weather things are starting to look up with a high pressure system moving in from the west. I was hoping to get away around lunchtime today but the system did'nt clear as fast as perdicted thus I am spending the night in Ballarat. I should be hitting the air around 8am and expect a cloud base of about 3500' to 4500' till I head north from Nhill when it should clear.

The Flight plan has been run and I am looking at a 6-7 hour flight across to Olympic dam, depending on the winds. I am expecting a 10 knot headwind tomorrow and about the same when I head towards Alice Springs on Saturday.

Flying between Nhill and Renmark over the Big desert dunes will be a good dead reaconing navigation test with very few visual indicators on the way. The GPS's will be a savour. Plenty of sand dunes and some bright blue skys should make some great photos.

The aircraft has been worked over and appears to have been well treated in its life as a trainer. The Jab has around 740 hours on but it still performs quite well after having the engine recently replaced. It's a shame that the prop is in such good condition considering the gravel airstrips it's about to face. I will need to pay special attention to the prop care.

Rogers "after factory" seat mod of a extra foam layer will be much appreached after a couple of hours. Jabiru take a hint. Your seats suck!

I will need to get endorsed in a J-200 or J-230 for the next trip as MTOW weight and cabin space are being pushed to the limit. I suspect that I will need to restrict fuel to around 85 litres to maintain performance. This should give enough range for the longer hops later in the trip. Maybe a couple of weeks of a traditional corned beef diet will help. :)