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.
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. :)
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