Birdsville Races 2003

Some snap-shots from my cross-country navigation, from YSCB to Birdsville.

The Birdsville races were held on the first weekend in September.

We overnighted at the Tibooburra Hotel where we were served steak and vegies and the steak's overflowed the plates. Our son Steve ate it all.

Steve was being trained to read maps in the back seat, while I was under instruction in the front left seat, and Tony Harnet of the Airport Flying School was my instructor. Tony taught me how to navigate using NDB and across the dessert by aiming at a landmark on the horizon and when the landmark got too close to pick another on the horizon in the same direction.

We had two Cessna 172's in our convoy. The one I flew was a C162N with the short-range tanks - but it made up for that with a fuel-burn of 28 lph. I distinctly remember looking down at the Sturt highway with a car chasing a ute and they both overtook the aircraft!

The other aircraft instructor was Gary Buchannan, a retired Canberra jockey. Gary's eyes popped out of his head watching Steve eat the steak. Gary, being an ex Jockey only ate one main meal a day and not large portions.

This was real visual flying before the advent of inbuilt GPS and EFBs, using celosheen covered WAC (maps), chinagraph pencils, a rule and your watch.

The strategy to find Innaminca was if I missed it was to fly up the Cooper Ck for a distance, and then turn around and follow the Cooper creek back to Innaminca.

We refueled two aircraft at Innaminca by sharing a 200 litre drum that I purchased with my credit card. I remember it being $2.50 a litre, which I thought was rather expensive at the time.

Steve is now commercial pilot flying Twin Otters and King Airs for Sea Air out of Hervey Bay.