Mountain flying in New Zealand

In March 2023 Sigi and I flew to the South Island of New Zealand for a holiday. The original idea was just to join a group of friends on a cycle trip along the Central Otago Rail Trail but it gave me the perfect opportunity to tick off a bucket list item. As a private…

Flying to lunch at the Gold Coast

On Sunday 19th February 2023 the Redcliffe Aero Club arranged a flyaway to the Gold Coast for lunch. It involved landing at the international airport in “Class C” airspace, something I hadn’t done for a few years. It’s not that difficult but I had to “swot up” a bit on the procedures and radio calls…

AirChat – Summer 2022/23

Beach flying at 500ft, Harbour Scenic flight, aviation museum and training lectures in Orange

Port Macquarie – Newcastle – Warnervale – Sydney – Harbour Scenic – Victor 1 – Shellharbour – Wollongong – HARS museum – Orange – Cirrus CPPP – Glen Innes The Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) organise training weekends in Australia every two years. The 2022 event was at Orange on the weekend of 11-13th…

Redcliffe Aero Club wings awards 2022

On Saturday 19th November 2022 the Redcliffe Aero Club held its annual awards dinner and presentations in the hangar at the airport. It was a great occasion with a number of students being awarded their certificates for first solo, restricted pilot licence, private pilot licence and commercial pilot licence.

Aero Club Flyaway to Bundy

Bundaberg – Macadamias – Bert Hinkler Museum – Fire fighting aircraft – Q400 On the weekend of 15th-16th October 2022 the Redcliffe Aero Club organised a club flyaway to Bundaberg. Aircraft taking part were Cherokee VH-BHN (piloted by Sam Keenan), Archer VH-FRF (Ron Ennis), Cherokee VH-WKE (Luc George), C182 VH-NDP (Mark Roberts-Thomson), C182 VH-ROC (Paul…

Once more unto the beach

Agnes Water – Town of 1770 On October 5th 2022 Sigi and I flew up to Agnes Water for a couple of nights. As anyone who reads this blog will know, Agnes is one of our favourite beach spots. This time we were able to book the cabins in the Agnes Water camping ground with…

Another joy flight to Noosa and back

On Tuesday 4th October 2022 I took Mary and Janet for a flight up past the Sunny Coast. They both volunteer at the Paten Park Native Nursery where I’ve volunteered since the start of Covid. After potting up together for a couple of years I offered to take them for a flight and they jumped…

AirChat – Winter 2022

Tie down in Tyabb – Ground Rush – Old Station Flying – William Creek – Brisbane Airshow – Ballina Radio Changes – Trouble in Paradise – Your Passengers, Your Unknown Hazards – Staff Intros

Golf trip to the Capricorn Coast

Rockhampton – Yeppoon – RNP approach On Wednesday 7th September 2022 a group of us flew from Redcliffe to Rockhampton for a couple of days playing golf. Peter is a regular golfer with a handicap while Ted, Mark and I are happy hackers who enjoy the occasional game but don’t usually bother scoring. Having flown…

2022 Biennial Flight Review

Night IFR – SID – RNP – Warwick – Stanthorpe – Archerfield – Redcliffe Even though a Private Pilot Licence never really expires, every two years private pilots need to undertake a “biennial flight review” with an instructor. The aim is to check our competency and brush up on any skills that may have deteriorated…

Where there’s a Murwillumbah there’s away!

Scenic Rim – Mount Warning – Round Mountain – O’Reilly’s One of the most scenic flights in this part of the world is to follow the NSW/Queensland border from the coast to the west through the area called the Border Ranges. It’s full of the remnants of volcanos including one which has as its centre…

Way out West – A trip to Lake Eyre (Kati Thanda) and back

With Lake Eyre filling up after all the summer and autumn rains I thought it’d be a good idea to fly out there in June 2022. It started as a sort of aviators’ outback pub crawl but eventually morphed into a nine day bucket list trip there and back again. Key bucket list items were…

Redcliffe to Caloundra – some video

On Friday 3rd June 2022 I went out to Redcliffe in the early afternoon to prepare for the monthly club barbecue. There was time to spare, and as one of the club’s 182s (my old favourite VH-ROC) needed to be ferried back from AMS, the aviation maintenance company located in Caloundra, Mike and I took…

A quick flight to the Sunny Coast

On Wednesday 8th June 2022 Mike Cahill wanted to fly the short hop from Redcliffe to the Sunshine Coast (YBSU) to practise his procedures for flying in and out of the D-Class airport with its control tower. He was planning to pick up some friends there in a few weeks time and wanted to check…

2022 Old Station Flyin

The Old Station is a property at Raglan, west of Gladstone. It has a 2km long grass airstrip and accommodation for flyin guests. We’ve dropped in a couple of times over the past few years and stayed overnight (see separate blogs) and owners Ron and Helen Creed are amazingly hospitable. For an operating cattle station…

Southern Explorer Trip

Orange – Tyabb – Melbourne – Ballarat – Stawell – Mount Gambier – Aldinga – Adelaide Hills – Arkaroola – Flinders Ranges – White Cliffs – Dirranbandi On 16th March 2022 Sigi and departed in Cirrus MSF on a “southern explorer” trip. The trip included both IFR and VFR legs and though it was mostly…

Checking out potential flyaway destinations

Overflow Estate Winery – Figtree Country Retreat – Toowoomba On 14th March 2022 I wanted to do a short flight in Cirrus MSF to brush up on my skills prior to leaving on a long trip to Victoria and South Australia. I asked Mike Cahill to go with me and we decided to use the…

AirChat – Spring 2019

Hong Kong students – Club’s 50th anniversary – ANZAC day dawn patrol – Hervey Bay flyaway – Memories of RAC – Maui flight experience – World balloon championships – Maryborough wings, wheels and warbirds – Oshkosh 2019 – Engine management – Cunnamulla fella festival – Stanthorpe weekend

AirChat – Summer 2020

Wings dinner – Chinchilla flyaway – Touchdown at Oshkosh – A quick trip to 1770 – A Tasmanian adventure – Cirrus Life

AirChat – Autumn 2022

Cape York and Torres Strait islands – Dinosaur infested Winton – Longreach – Darling Downs flyaway escape – SE Qld’s biggest secret – Learning to glide above the Darling Downs.

When does 12 = 7?

Port Fairy – Warrnambool – Peterborough – Port Campbell – Twelve Apostles – Portland In February 2022 while visiting Mount Gambier I hired Bob Rowe’s Cessna 172 to fly over to Warrnambool to see David and Rita from Red Rock Olives who had rented a cottage in the seaside town of Port Fairy for a…

Limestone coast, lakes, sinkholes, volcanic craters, and a river

Mount Gambier – Blue Lake – Mount Schanck – Glenelg River – Port Macdonnell – Lake Bonney The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia. It immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The name…

Tail dragger endorsement

While doing my gliding course in November 2021 I was intrigued by the Piper Pawnee, the tug that was used to tow the gliders. Pawnees are a popular aircraft for glider tug duties. Most were originally used for crop dusting or other agricultural duties but have been superseded by more modern aircraft. They can be…

More night circuits

On Monday December 13, 2021 it was time to practise night circuits yet again. Another three months had passed so I had to do at least three take offs and landings after last light to be qualified to carry passengers at night. This time I decided to take Cessna 172 VH-IVW as it’s cheaper to…

Instrument approach practice

On November 19th 2021 it was time to practise instrument approaches using the GPS again so Mike and I took Brett for a trip to Kingaroy and Hervey Bay. I was PIC for the first leg from Redcliffe to Kingaroy at 6000ft. Perfect weather with a few friendly cumulus to fly through. There was a…

Gliding course – 6 days to solo

In October 2021 I took part in a 7 day ab initio gliding course at the Darling Downs Soaring Club. They have a grass strip and clubhouse at Maccaffrey Field near Jondaryan, about 10km from Oakey. This is just over 2 hours’ drive from Brisbane. The course was designed for beginners with no flying experience…

Glasshouse mountains scenic flight

What could be better than a flight around the Glasshouse Mountains on a blue sky day? On 14th November 2021 I decided to hire one of the Club’s 172s for a short scenic flight. RAQ has recently been upgraded and is now glass cockpit with a G3X touch avionics suite. It was short flight out…

Cruising the coast and border ranges with Tim, Seb and Valther

Moreton Island – Straddie – Gold Coast – Mount Warning – Scenic Rim In May 2021 I took Tim along with his old schoolfriend Seb and Seb’s father Valther on a scenic flight down the coast and along the NSW/Qld border. The border ranges are also known as the Scenic Rim because they form the…

AirChat – Autumn 2020

AirChat – Spring 2020

Gold Coast flyaway – Who was Lores Bonney? – Circumnavigating Queensland – Vintage aviation in style – My new Chippie – Queen of the skies

AirChat – Summer 2021

Watts at Biggenden – Controlled airspace violations – FNQ hotspots – A look into the past – St George flyaway – Noosa for lunch – A turf and surf adventure

Airchat – Winter 2021

ANZAC day dawn patrol – Agnes Water and 1770 – Trouble in the Falklands – Night flight to the Gold Coast – RAQ’s Garmin G3X glass cockpit

AirChat – Spring 2021

Air combat engagement – Flight youth engineering – How to avoid excessive hangar rents – Stanthorpe flyaway – A birdy in Bargara – Chinchilla one long table – Electric aircraft the race is on

Yet another breakfast at “Straddie”

North Stradbroke Island (or “Straddie” to the locals) is located off the coast from Brisbane and is a bit of a local secret as a place to escape to for old style beach holidays. The largest town, Dunwich, has a small airfield with a grass and gravel strip. The local aeroclub likes to attract air…

Flying out of Parafield

Adelaide – Aldinga – McClaren Vale I grew up in South Australia so ever since I obtained my PPL I was keen to do some flights around the state. After flying to Mildura in 2107 I knew how far it is to get there from Redcliffe so I decided in early 2018 to investigate whether…

A trip to the northern most tip of Australia  

Agnes Water – Atherton – Karumba – Cobbald Gorge – Thursday Island – Cooktown In August 2021 my wife Sigi and I took off for a couple of weeks to Far North Queensland, including “the Gulf Country” in North West Queensland, and the Tip of Cape York Peninsula. The Tip is the most northerly point…

A birdy in Bargara

Bundaberg – Bargara – Golf Our three day “golflyaway” had been planned for months.  A few other golfers of varying levels of ability who I play nine holes with on a semi-regular basis had agreed with me it would be great to fly down to Coffs Harbour and play on the famous Bonnville course. Initially…

Outback Odyssey

Charleville – Longreach – Noonbah Station – Winton – Barcaldine – Shandonvale Station In April 2021 Sigi and I had a trip into the Queensland outback with our friends Anne and Harpur. The idea was to visit a few classic outback towns along with a couple of outback farms (or stations as they are called…

St George by george!

St George – Vineyard – Cotton Farm Well, it was a beautiful spring day in October 2020 when we had the first Redcliffe Aeroclub flyaway to St. George. St. George is on the Balonne River, about 500 kilometres to the west of Brisbane in cotton farming country, just north of the NSW border. Originally Mike…

Snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef

Town of 1770 – Lady Musgrave Island – Agnes Water Beth had been wanting to go on another trip with us since the trip to St George in 2020 so we arranged that she and another friend Sandra join us for a few days at Agnes Water/1770, one of our favourite destinations. This time there’d…