Sunday 27th September 2026 was a perfect day for the annual Murwillumbah Aero Club and Gold Coast Flying Schools inter-club flying challenge. Blue skies and no wind. Unfortunately, Air Gold Coast couldn’t take part as the aircraft they’d earmarked for the event was out of action after overrunning the Murwillumbah runway on a training flight the day before! It had to be lifted out of a ditch and moved to one side of the runway. An insurance claim is being filed I believe.
Nevertheless, on the Sunday MAC and Airways Aviation stepped up to the plate to battle it out for the trophies and shield.
After a hot breakfast of bacon, egg, hamburgers, salad and a range of pastries, five pilots from each club took to the air, each flying three circuits, accompanied by an instructor who sat beside them as safety pilot. As with our monthly flying challenges, the first circuit was a normal landing, the second was a flapless landing and the third was a glide approach with the engine idling.
The aim was to touch down as close as possible to the nominated spot on the runway. Each pilot earned between zero and 25 points depending on how close the touchdown was to the spot. They also received a score out of 10 for their airmanship during their flight and a score out of 10 for a written quiz.
After completing their respective preflight inspections, the teams had a briefing from Flight Instructor Jason Prigoone who explained how the challenge would be conducted and how the scoring would work. Each of the pilots then had 10 minutes to complete the quiz prior to their individual flights.
Brenton Smith led the way into the air in his amphibious aircraft, followed by Dominic McCarthy from Airways Aviation in their Cessna 172.
Next came Bill Dennis in MAC’s C172 and so on down the line. Judges from each team were assembled at the edge of the runway adjacent to the touchdown point so that scores could be allotted to each pilot.
As the scores were debated, tactics were discussed and the morning progressed into the early afternoon.
At the end of the day everyone waited with bated breath at the award ceremony for the outcome.
Neville Newell from MAC won top honours for his score of 65/95 with two perfect landings. He had appeared relaxed before taking to the air and gracefully accepted his trophy from President Marty at the awards ceremony. Jason Prigoone came second with 60 points, scoring on all three of his landings. He accepted his trophy, along with the shield on behalf of the winning team. Jason Ross came third with 55 points.
Yours truly came 7th.
It was a great day with typical club rivalry and lots of banter in between aviation chit chat. And also a great way for all the pilots to improve our flying skills.
