On the weekend 16th September 2018 as an aero club flyaway we had a quick trip out to Chinchilla to the annual One Long Table Festival (and an even quicker trip back). The festival celebrates the multicultural community in this western downs town with a variety of foods from around the world and live music.

We had a leisurely departure from Redcliffe on the Saturday morning with reasonable winds and weather.

The trip was out an hour to an hour and a quarter depending on plane and route. We had seven planes and fourteen people together with a RA plane who joined us. Heading off west from Redcliffe we were soon passing over Lake Samsonvale and the Pine Rivers Dam.

Heading out past Lake Wivenhoe and Somerset Dam we made good speed and were soon on short final into Chinchilla.

The main street in the town was closed and stalls, food, music and entertainment was provided in booths all around a long table stretching about 200 metres for everyone to share. The idea was to select food and drink and sit at the table while enjoying the atmosphere and entertainment.

We arrived mid afternoon so after a break we headed off to the festival for an enjoyable evening with clear skies and cool weather. The event was interesting and we stayed at the Downtown Motor Inn only 100 metres from the main street. 

Sunday morning was windy but fine. The Chinchilla Aero Club put on a BBQ breakfast that we all attended. The club is a group of aviators with their own planes and who have a club house and get together regularly. 

By mid morning, the weather was starting to deteriorate and was forecast to get worse. Also, a nasty crosswind developed. We all headed off fairly quickly after the breakfast before the weather became any worse. Luckily the wind was from the west so our trip home was faster than the outbound one, with a good tail wind. We topped 208 knots ground speed on the way back.

Unfortunately the wind also stirred up a bit of a dust storm so we didn’t have good visibility on the way home, even at 9000ft.