This is a chronological list of all the posts to date, starting with the most recent.
A one way trip from Darwin to Redcliffe
In August 2025, after a weekend of Cirrus presentations, tours and events around Darwin as part of the biennial Cirrus Life event, Brett Silvester and I flew MSF from Darwin back home to Redcliffe. I replaced Mike Cahill who had flown up to Darwin in MSF but didn’t want to fly home in the Cirrus.…
Murwillumbah aero club’s annual interclub challenge
On Sunday September 14th 2025 the Murwillumbah Aero Club held its annual three-way inter-club competition. It was a fun and spirited day with perfect weather, where we showcased our flying skills and enjoyed some friendly rivalry with Airways Aviation and Air Gold Coast. Each competitor from the three clubs had to do three spot landings:…
MSF Fatality – The dangers of icing
Friday 6th October 2023 seemed like a normal day. I drove out to Redcliffe to prepare for the monthly aeroclub barbecue. We needed a new bottle of gas for the barbie so I went down to Bunnings to pick one up. On my return to the club Paul Smeath was standing outside the clubhouse looking…
NSW coastal flying, harbour views, museum tour and wine tasting
Gold Coast – Forster/Wallis Island – NSW coast – Sydney Harbour – Victor 1 – HARS Museum – Blue Mountains – Hunter Valley On the morning of Sunday 21st September 2025 I was dropped off at the General Aviation area at the Gold Coast International Airport. I was due to meet Mike Cahill and Brad…
A flight up the California coast
On Thursday 1st August 2024, after two days flying in the mountains out of Denver and two days flying out of Milwaukee, I had my fifth day of flight training in the US. Brett Silvester and I flew an SR20 along the coast of California accompanied by an instructor. We’d scheduled a one-day stopover in LA…
Mountain flying in the Austrian Alps
I’ve loved the Alps ever since my first visit to Europe in 1978. The mountain scenery is just spectacular and the villages dotted around make it look like something directly out of a story book. It’s a tourist’s paradise. Of course, the best way to see the mountains is from up high, either by hiking…
A quick flight to Redcliffe and back
On April 8th 2025 I did my first flight to Redcliffe from Murwillumbah in RYC, the Murwillumbah Aero Club’s Cessna 172. I took Bill Dennis and Dean Litherland with me as company. They hadn’t flown into Redcliffe before and wanted to see what it was like before flying there in June for the Spot Landing…
Getting to know the Tweed Coast from the air
After moving from Brisbane to Pottsville on the New South Wales far north coast in December 2024 I joined the Murwillumbah Aero Club, a somewhat smaller affair than the Redcliffe Club but still a group of passionate aviators. The Murwillumbah airfield is located close to Wollumbin (Mt Warning) that is the remains of a massive…
AirChat – Spring 2024
This was my last AirChat for the Redcliffe Aeroclub. After 8 years as editor and due to a move south of the border to Pottsville in New South Wales I decided to pull the pin. But don’t worry, I joined the Murwillumbah Aeroclub and started a newsletter there called YMUR Murmurs. You can find those…
Flying from Milwaukee to Duluth Minnesota to visit the Cirrus factory
To add a bit of spice to our week at Oshkosh AirVenture 2024, Brett Sylvester and I managed to arrange a flight from Milwaukee to visit the factory where Cirrus aircraft are built in Duluth, just over the border from Wisconsin in Minnesota. It was an “out of the blue” opportunity that started with us…
Flying Cirrus in Wisconsin, Chicago and along Lake Michigan
Brett Sylvester and I arrived in Wisconsin a couple of days prior to the 2024 EAA AirVenture and wanted to go flying. Specifically I wanted to fly along the shore of Lake Michigan past the Chicago skyline and up along the shoreline to Green Bay and maybe even over the top of Oshkosh itself. We…
Outback adventure
On Thursday 26th September 2024 my wife Sigi and I, together with Mike Cahill and Brett Silvester, took off in Mike’s Cirrus MSF in company with four other aircraft for Carnarvon Gorge, the first stop on the Club’s outback flyaway. Sam Keenan flew Piper Cherokee BHN with his daughters Georgia and Ava as passengers, Paul…
Mountain flying in the US Rockies
After doing a few days of mountain flying in New Zealand in 2023 I was keen to do some more and learn a bit more about what to do and what not to do when flying at altitude amongst the mountains. There’s no place to do it in Australia but I knew that it’s possible…
Upset Prevention and Recovery Training at Archerfield
Stalls – Spins – Steep Turns – Unusual attitudes In January 2024 CASA inserted a “safety pilot” restriction on my aviation medical after I’d been diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation. This meant that I couldn’t fly solo until the restriction was lifted. I had to either fly with another pilot who was qualified to fly in…
Pittsworth and Toowoomba
On 1st May 2024 Garry Ayre and I decided to go flying again. At first we were going to attempt to reach Tyagarah after our failed attempt a few weeks previously but the wind wasn’t favourable for the strip there so we decided to go to Pittsworth instead. Garry hadn’t been there before and I’d…
Anzac Day Dawn Patrol 2024
It was another pre-dawn ANZAC Day service at the Redcliffe Aero Club on 25th April 2024 followed by a first light departure for a dawn patrol in company with seven other aircraft. We flew over water to Noosa at 1000ft and returned at 1500. Perfect morning for it.
To YDUN for brekkie and YHEC for morning tea
Dunwich – Heck Field On Saturday 20th April 2024 Garry Ayre and I made the most of the perfect weather in the morning to fly to the monthly breakfast at Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island. After topping up with fuel we departed at 7:30, crossing over to Moreton Island and flew past Tangalooma Resort. There…
Trouble getting to Tyagarah
Thursday 11th April 2024 was one of those autumn days that are perfect for flying. Blue sky, no wind and about 27 degrees so not too hot. Garry Ayre and I decided to make the most of it and go flying. I’d planned to fly to Tyagarah near Byron Bay with a short stop in…
AirChat – Summer 2017
Wings dinner – Club open day – Stanthorpe flyaway – Adels Grove flyaway Part 2 – How I landed my first job – Camping under the wing – Bob Hoover RIP – Kooralbyn flyaway – Restricted areas can catch you out
AirChat – Winter 2017
Anzac Day dawn service and patrol – Remote piloted aircraft – St Maarten in the Carribean – Mountain flying in New Zealand – A lifetime of aviation – One way to cut the cost of flying – A trip to 1770 – The multi crew environment
AirChat – Spring 2017
Jimbour opera – The Bahamas by 172 – Tailwheel endorsements – Stanthorpe flyaway – Where are they now? – Our new sim – Avalon vs Paris – Evans Head flyaway – Double Bonanza – Mount Gambier aero club
AirChat – Summer 2018
Wellcamp fly in – Cirrus life – Outback, forest, reef – Iconic rivers – RAC open day – Graphical area forecasts – Wynyard aero club – Wings dinner
AirChat – Autumn 2018
Magneto mayhem – Great eastern fly in – Importing a Cirrus – Women aviators – PIFR? What? How? Why? – RV adventure
AirChat – Spring 2018
Oshkosh – Outback and gulf safari – Under pressure – Red centre odyssey – Four miles up in a 182 – PIFR theory to practice – A visit to a Cirrus factory – Stanthorpe pilgrimage
AirChat – Summer 2019
Cirrus pilot proficiency program – Amberley restricted airspace – Grand Canyon and Oshkosh – Wings dinner – Total GPS failure – Test anxiety – One long table – Night circuits under the IFR – Hunter Valley airventure – Club open day – Children of the magenta beware!
AirChat – Autumn 2019
50th Anniversary issue – RAC moments – The accidental theory specialist – A day at Amberley – Avalon Airshow – The great beer lift – The ski’s the limit – Outback air race – Life of a VET student – Winter weather – Childers flyaway – Memories of RAC – RPA operations
AirChat – Autumn 2024
This tiger flies like an angel – Are you really that good? – Wings Dinner Awards – Cirrus life – Fright VFR – Lifting the lid on Bernoulli – We did return – RTO roundup – A dusty diamond part 2 – Instructor intro – Master the 5p’s – Learning to fly at RAC -…
Challenging landings at Orchid Beach, Maryborough and Redcliffe
Friday the 15th March 2024 was a bit of a windy day. Garry Ayre and I had decided to fly to Orchid Beach on Fraser Island / K’gari as I’d been wanting to go there for a long time but the strip is too short for a Cirrus. Garry with his newly minted PPL is…
Cirrus Life Weekend in Adelaide
Every two years (except during Covid times) Cirrus Australia put on an “event” for Cirrus owners and pilots. It’s supposed to be a chance for people to network and for Cirrus sales people to talk people into buying or upgrading a plane. There’s also few lectures thrown in but they are more light weight than…
Flying the rail trail to Nanango
On Friday 1st March 2024 Garry Ayre and I flew to Nanango and Kingaroy, following the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail from Moore to Yarraman on the way. It was my first landing at Nanango where there’s a well maintained 850m long grass strip. It took about 30 minutes to walk into town where I left…
Yamba dabba do
Palmers Island – Yamba Palmers Island is a privately owned grass airstrip just inland from Yamba. It is owned by the MacIntyre family, local sugar cane growers. Bob MacIntyre was a mad keen aviator who established the airstrip on his property back in the 1970s. The family has been happily hosting GA visitors every since.…
AirChat – Spring 2023
Scone, Mudgee, Temora flyaway – Don’t run your fuel tanks dry – Flying without instruments – One looooong table – Stanthorpe wineries – White out conditions – It’s the Law – Kimberley cruising – Flying coach
Up in the Ayre with Garry
As part of my plan to reacquaint myself with the Cessna 172s at the aero club, following the destruction of MSF, I decided to go for a short flight with Garry Ayre on Sunday 5th November 2023. I hired IVW, my preferred aircraft as it’s IFR rated and has a G1000 glass cockpit very similar…
Some instrument training with Adam in SR22G6 VH-8AS
In the aftermath of MSF’s crash I realised I’d need to hire a Cirrus from someone else as, at least for the forseeable future, Mike wouldn’t have a plane. MSF had been a “Generation 1” SR22 with fairly basic avionics so to build up my confidence in flying again while acquainting myself with the more…
A new starter motor for MSF
On Thursday 14th September 2023 I flew up to Caloundra in MSF so that AMS could fit a new starter motor. We’d been having difficulty starting the engine on our trip to the Kimberley and it had been getting worse so after it totally refused to start after doing a few circuits one day Mike…
Mudgee and Temora Flyaway
The Temora Aviation Museum hosts monthly air shows and it was decided to organise an aero club flyaway to attend their September 2023 airshow while basing ourselves at Mudgee for the weekend. Six aircraft took part with Mike Cahill, Brett Silvester and me in MSF, Bryan Galvin, Mike Gardiner and Gary Ayre in Cherokee BHN,…
AirChat – Winter 2023
Flunflight relaunched – We shall return – Training tigers – Mountain flying in NZ – Engine management made easy – Anzac day
A scenic flight along the Baltic coast
Baath – Stralsund – Peenemuende – Rostock In July 2023, during a visit to Germany, Sigi and I visited the Baltic coast with our friends Hans and Johanna and their daughter Carolin. We stayed for a few days near Barth, a small town on the German Baltic Sea coast just west of the island of…
Hop to it: coffee, cakes and barbecue
Watts Bridge – Gatton Airpark – Clifton – Warwick Sunday 18th June 2023 was a perfect Brisbane winter’s day – and perfect for flying. Not a cloud in the sky, no wind. The forecast maximum was 23 degC, so not too hot, not too cold. Yes there was a bit of fog out west in…
A quick trip to Boonah
On May 1st 2023 we did a quick trip out to Boonah for lunch to check that everything was working well on MSF before we departed on our big trip to the Kimberley in WA. Brad Green and Luc George came along for the ride. From the airstrip it was a 15 minute walk to…
Heading Home from the Kimberley
Purnululu (Bungles) – Hooker Creek – Tennant Creek – Barkly Wayside Inn – Mount Isa – Winton – Emerald – Agnes Water – Hervey Bay – Redcliffe 29th May 2023 dawned like all the other days in the Kimberley. Blue sky and not a cloud in sight. The only difference was the temperature. Being so…
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