2 more days of flying and sooooo.... much wind ....

It seems like were always pushing the winds around OZ and the last week is no different . This next few days are waiting and watching... launch at dawn and its strong I have decided to head straight east towards Lake grace , easy roads to keep and eye on me now we don't have radio contact . It's strong and bumpy as usual about 30 km /hr i'm flying and geting tossed around but making some distance slowly , I want to tell the guys to find me a road south but they are either in front of me or behind me can't even use hand signals ... I finally find a south road as its starting to rain and ahead is worse , turning south the the guys see me and follow , thinking I could make better Km's I find the winds have also switched to westerly and no foward speed in fact I'm moving backwards.... oh shit ! I make abit of km and then bin it ... its over for the day . We head into Lake Grace for coffee and breakfast . No more flying for the day , we look at prdict winds again . The next 2-3 days show strong winds in our area and it seems the only time to fly are between 1am-6am. We camp in a secluded area where I landed. We wait having supper and retire early we have only 1 more day as Mark called the media and we have to be in Perth at 10 am tomorrow ..We know I have flown the distance but we want some padding ... April 4th ... wind is better , not radio again and seems like a better day to do km quickly flying east ! Launch fly fast towards Lake Grace I can feel the wind picking up as I fly over town and head up into the small hills. Wind is quartering from the left or north and as i head up the hills the wind is getting compressed and accelerating , ground speed is 65 -73km/hr and bumpy . Passing farms and wheat flields and ponds, I'm thinking this could be a good day to get 100km + km but I have to hurry so on with the bar... I am just passing the 50 km mark looking ahead down the hill thinking its going to get smoother and lighter on the downwind side . Just as i'm looking foward to the next 50 the motor sputters i'm 50 ft above the ground moving at 73 km hr , it coughs and cuts..... nooooooo.... a solid line of trees ahead going up the the farm on my left , quicly grab the toggles turn into the wind and touch down within 10 sec with basically no forward speed ... its over..! the guys see me and drive up wind is strong .. they ask me whats wrong this time and I just shrug my shoulders and say "who knows" !!!! But I know that is it ! Wind is increasing , no more spare parts or motors and we have run out of time . We congratulate each other try to start the motor with starter hand proping and don't get it to even fire. We fought to the end ! We load up the truck and head back to Lake Grace fro breakfast again ! Its over , I'm bushed and releived I dont have to fly anymore in crappy air , I'm safe and i have flown the world record in less than 2 months , less than 1/2 the time it took ben Jorden to fly his 8008km's a few years ago across Canada setting the previous record. On down loading the instruments we find the total is 8215 km, breaking the record by 208 kms. We could fly more km in the following days that would involve cancelling the Media set up , fixing the motor again and waiting for a lighter wind which would be another 2 days . Were satisfied and we head to Steve G for a B b que and some braggingand story telling ... Thanks Galvo for having us and getting us drunk ... cheers

Yes ... a pending world record !!

Well after listening to the wind all night I have apprehension about flying .. it strong.....but .. it's morning and laminar air . I'm now thinking lets just get it over with ,i'm tired of flying !! We figure we need about 100 km and the window is small. Predict wind says strong west winds by 8am .. Lift off is easy , cross wind find the right road and off I go . Chat to the guys that i might be hard to catch , but they manage well and find me in 15 minutes , No radio contact ,, what the f^&^%&^k ! I can't believe this the day I need the radio, and it's not working , well I end up flying in some crazy air , holding on at times toggles and sterring tips in the hand bouncing along like a cork in the ocean. Not a nice flight but somewhat down wind at about 65km hrs, near the end its total cross and crazy , I fly 130km to where the road turns west into the wind . Turning head on I fly into the wind.... my ground speed is 0, Zero !! Cut the motor , go on glide and not moving , hopefully I will not get dragged backwards on landing !! Just as I touch down I get about 1km forward speed and land , flip around run, grab wing, drag control, yes its finished for now . The boys arrive ad we all do a high five , I think we have it , now to check the instruments .Mark downloads the flymaster into GPS dump and he comes out with 8150 km !! yes we have the pending world record ...happy boys ... now to better it ! Afternoon is windy and rainy,, Mark arranges all the media hype for Thursday in perthat the Flying doctors s airport , hopefully we can get some more km 'in. The rest of the day is right off wind and rain showers ,I'm now sitting in the bush typing , finished a great supper , and content, only a few more flights and its time to celebrate . Body rest is coming....

April 1st .... ..

April 1st the joke is on us... Up as usual light winds forcast untill 9pm then strong , good we'll make good progress south and try to get the record we need about 160 km or so we think . Off to a great start, staying low hoping over power lines and going good about 30 ftoff the deck , motor goes dead, not time to grab the toggles only have the wing tip sterring in my hand oh shit ... flare and run asap .. whew no breakage to the motor or me , happy boy . Guys catch up .. wrap tape over a potential problem area at the starter figuring it was shorting out , start it and it stops again , can't get it going. Swap carbs out thinking this one was getting work out . New one onnot tunned wont idle proper , spend about 40 minutes and we have it going again , but rough on low power .. off I go... 20 minutes later ,motor cuts out again same as last time ... ahhhhhhhh these motor are driving me crazy !!!!!!!! Decision is made to change motor over and use the last spare motor , do the swaps and get everything ready when were about to put the prop on we notice the crack in the motor case , from the previous post belt tensioner ... shit ! get another motor out , the last and only one that might run and swap all the working parts on to it ,,, The guys now these part by name ... and what it takes to swap out , but i'm noticing the wind increasing from the west .. its 9 pm already, we've done 3 hr and 40 km . I take off and have a problem with the steering , something is caught .. figure it out and go ..... I fly about another 20 km and the wind is brutal, the cold front is here ! We missed our window of oppertunity those F%&&**O(*##ing motors ... Drive into town about 3km and have brecky and coffee, a nice treat at the local truck stop . Sunday afternoon nothing in town is open , meet with craigs parents whom come and visit and camp at the local caravan park. Go for a run in the wind ...loosen up the body and stretch . Sleep.... maybe tomorrow !

Coolgardie to Merriden 280 km....

Coolgardie, Saturday the 31st , up at dark set up ready for legal light winds were supposed to be freshening ! Forcast is for 20km NE winds, a run for Southern Cross, then to Merriden . About 88km into the flight I hit a change of wind and everything went crazy .. bouncing around wildly , after a few minutes I noticed a buzzing through my helmet trying to figure out if the visor was coming undone. then again ...what the *(*((%$$ !. I then looked back and saw the whole cage vibrating ,, oh shit ! guys I'm going down.. look for a landing area , no power left. Now what !! I was going so well ..land on the highway so the guys can see me and have a possible take off area. Turn off motor so it does not explode on me ! Turn final setting up , look ahead coming around the corner is a semi .. but this is a Widee load carring a D8 cat on the back ... shit... well he's not stopping,I put it down on the shoulder just as he passes , we both have a holy shit that was close look on our faces !! Wait 10 minutes the guys show up and find out that the prop flexed and hit the frame of the cage all three parts were toasted . We figured it was the turbulance that caused it , but 2 days later when were swapping motors out again to get one running we finally found that the casing of the motor was cracked where the tensioner was on the belt , This would have caused the pulley/belt to move causing the prop strike . We changed motor over and used the other one , carb change , etc . ,35 minutes later and a scetchy launch where I just about took out the truck , I had a huge climb out when I hit the wind above trees , but off and moving ! Managed to fly past Southern Cross into just a few km short of Merriden 6 hrs flying , 280 km , buzzing tired and and hungry , I did it ... Whew i'm bagged . Into town for lunch before everything closed about 2pm it Saturday in OZ ! Went out for an afternoon flight winds were light and fickle , untill I took off ! The winds were NW so we turned south and tried to go tack west , ended up going about 50 km and hit a SW wind so turned northerly and ran about another 50 km back , we cant get away for the headwinds slowing our progress west ! Total for the day was 380 or so , I find a nice place to land out of the way and quiet ! My legs are toasted , my body is worn out, I laid down and tried to rest my buzzing body , the guys set up camp , I eat and go to bed..,Tomorrow's another day the end is near ....

Were across to WA....yahooo...

March 30th today , last flight we were stuck in Yalata at a small dirt runway, in an aboriginal settlement . morning was good for flight and at first light I was off again , today was the day long and tiring but managed to do my best flight total to date 450km . I took 3 fillups but basically flew for about 9 hrs with small breaks for sugar to keep my going , some of it was rough but nice to have the wind at my back or so some of the time . The next 4 days are a seris of flights 210 km 280km 250 km , it seems to never have the wind favor us or change after about 2 hr of flying to slow our progress down. The mid day thermal are brutal we are lucky to have a cloud cover which is allowing me to fly mid day. The nullabour cliffs were cool to see but I had to do battle with a direct north wind at about 30 km hrs , which ment if I get to close I get pushed back into the ocean .. not a nice way to finish ! At times had to get low as the upper winds increaded and it got real bumpy up high that is over 1000ft , so surfing along at around 200 ft full bar and keeping the wing over me at th same time. Entering WA was a treat ... an accoplishment were here ! As I passed the road house I noticed a large building and saw it was for fruit quarantine ! Shit we had so much nice fruit and vegtables which were confiscated for pest coming into WA. So here we are at the campsite with only meat pastaand rice left , bastards...I mean this is done in the middle of th desert with no where to stop to buy new food ! and we dont know how many days it is going to take us to cross ! To make a long story short we end uptaking another few days and yesterday endedup in Norsman the finish of the Nullabour !Yeah were were all happy , we wear out of food and water and had'nt showered for 4-5 days. the lat 2 dys of flying were tough as the clouds had disappeared and it was tough rough flying and very hard on the mind and body , especially the shoulders and rotater cuffs. I am mainly quiet in the evenings in recover mode ! They do not know what i'm going through unless your the one doing it you cant feel it . Today and yesterday were wating games and watching the weather the past 4 day we have been without cell or computor sevice to check winds which I find is good and bad. good we get more work done to the motors and campermuch needed repairs to both , Now we have 2 motors running again which we have not had since the beginning of the trip !! With our spare parts the boys got together and did the job, I watched and cooked... kitchen bitch !! They know better than me which parts work now and which ones are finished and what we need to finish this off. Yesterday flew 120 km into Norsman , tried an afternoon flight a few times and just about hit the trees shit ! the next flight I only had 10 km foward speed ,not enought to clear the tree's and get us the 169 km we need to th next town . Stayed in Norsman at the campground showere, food ,shopping and laundry , Today winds are better and get off at 3pm and get my butt kicked for the 1st hr , probably the most violet air yet , clof front had just passed , flyng in the lee of some mtns and cross wind mixed with thermals ... not fun ! Evening was better tail cross wind , lighter later in the flight. 140 km and were into Coolgarie ? Just enough fuel and time to land before last light , and a good set up for tomorrows ever changing winds ! good night !

Nullarbor here we come !

Up early at dawn , pack up and go out to the motor , belt was slipping it would not start . Perfect morning , ended up putting on the starter which was not on this motor from the prevoious day , too much dew and we did not have the moter covered. Put on the starter still having problems witht he new starter ! Finally it kicked over and time to get suited up , problems with the in line fuel fileter and the motor running out of fuel . Got up and away ,nice air flew past Ceduna at 90km away in 1.5hrs ,just past the city it was getting mixed up , drop altitude and surf along the tree tops again. Flew on.. lost ground crew for supplies and landed after 4 hrs and 196km side of the road truck stop . Flew thru some semi rough air for about 2 hrs but nice foward ground speed. Decided to fuel up and set off asap waitied about 45 minutes for the ground crew toshow up . 2 lousy launches on the hwy and set up over in the feild , wind was light a variable . Launched and flew to Yalata 78 km away in thermic conditions , could see a sea breeze coming in and it was mixed air not to nice ! Road house was closed and flew into town and landed at the airport , aborginal settlement had a nice visit from some of the locals , they wanted some gasoline !who knows what for ?? Wind was to strong for and afternoon flight. Cook supper read ,fix motor and stuff ! Total today was 280km , hope for better tomorrow and to get to Border town . Weather is holding for the next few days with the high pressure. Let's go to west Australia...!!

March 23rd ....

We ended the last flight after 20 km and that's where we camped on a pullout on the side of the hwy . Not a nice place but no here else to go. The day was spent reading and exploring the area , hiking . The 24th is supposed to be nice with a high pressure system setting up. Light winds ...up early ,set up on the hwy. and we were off , I could see Fog in the distance !! Managed to fly about 10 km and we hit fog. I tried to climb up and over but I could not see the ground ,not good if I have to land quickly . It actually got very thick , lots of moisture and it was hard to see . I asked the guys to go ahead and look for towers and powerlines as I had to stay low to see the hwy and doing 40km /hr would give me seconds to avoid anything . This went on for about 1 hrs and then it got windy had to land to warm up an dry out , I was soaked and shivering ..warmed up 1/2 hr later back in the air . More fog passing the town of Kyancuna, waiting for the bend in the road for a better tailwind, up to now it was a south cross wind and slow progress. Nice farming area , real large farms and looks like wheat or similar staying low for the past 2 hrs . I could see showers starting to the south and low level wave starting had to keep flying and get ahead of it , the road was curving in my favor now and running at 65km/hr. Landed for some gas after 3hrs and when we went back we to start could not get the engine going again . Swap engines over took about 1 hr ... tick toc, tick toc ....as usual wasting valuable flying weather and wind . Launched again and flew for about another hr landing near Poochera in crazy thermals and wind . Ended up going into town for beer at the pub , I get to have Coke !! Launched again about 5pm in strong wind but tail wind , landed near 7pm past Wirrula , Looks like the sea breeze kicked in and i had 0 ground stopped me dead and real nasty air. Total for the day 250km , slow start,fog,rain, wind and heat...all in 8 hrs . Food and sleep ...

Thursday the 22nd March

We woke up early with the prospect of getting some distance, consulted Predict Wind on the internet which is usually very reliable we found . Left the ground at around 7:15landed at 7:18 my Gps was not working and I need a working road map to get into PT Augusta. Launched again and flew towards Wilmington met some south winds and had to climp over a pass near Orrorrow, but was quite smooth , was wairing for my ground crew to catch up wanted to find aout about ground winds before the big pass ahead of me . I was qute nervous climbing over the pass as the winds were supposedto be increasing from the south especially on the other side. it was a smooth as sillk flight over and a real treat to do it. Green rolling hills and a nice glide over the back with smooth air .Pt Augusta here we come , the wind was picking up , followed around the city , north of the airport and onwards to land near Iron knob about 160 km away. Yes throught the crux and happy to get away from the windy area , I think ! Had to go back to Pt Augusta as the ground crew did not stop for supplies and we are entering the area of no services ! Got food , propane , gas and Macdonalds ! Flew another small flight in the afternoon , we know the wind is picking up and we hit it , down after 20km , trying to make Kimba this evening would be nice , Predict wind says lots of wind tomorrow !

Past Pt Augusta finally !!

Whew , it takes alot of patience to fly in OZ . It's always blowing ! For the past 3 day we have only put in about on 120 km . Usually a quick early morning or very late evening flight . Managed to get into the town of Burra about 40km away from where we stopped last post. Nice evening flight into the hills surrounded my wind turbines , ok so that gives you a clue as to what were are up against . Would have liked to go flown further but , it was too dark ! Camped out on the side of the hwy , next day was all wnd , took and late afternoon flight and landed after 5 km , way too wind almost parked on the spot ! Waited for another hr in the paddock and launched again late evening , flew in some strong winds for about 40km and landed . Had some spectators come and see us with their kids , they heard about us in the Cobar news a week earlier , cool ! Did not get out that next morning again too windy , went to town and did the usual in Terowie famous by a visit from General Douglas McArther March 20/1942 we were their the same day at that time 70 yrs later ... both good men just passing by ! we ended up flying past trowie later in the day abd landing about 30 km away from where we started , again so much wind .... launching at about 6:30pm landing by 7:30. Next day was the same, wind switched direction 180 during the night and it started to rain and blow hard , cold front low clouds had to get up at 2am to secure everything , cover and move my tent and stake it down ! March 21, was spent in Peterborough in the morning coffee and brekky... went out and put in a nice late evening flight to Orroroo windy but at my back. Nice flight ... set up camp , sleep !

North into SA .... and PT Augusta ?

We did not get out of Edenhope on the Friday, low clouds about 400ft and some rain , waited most of the day and could see clearing coming , to stay or go ?? We were invited by the locals to come to supper at the golf club, excellent meal and good company , thanks !! Supper was paid for and as we left they gave us a meat hamper for the trip hmmmmm... that will be nice ! Up early on sat. morning , still dark as usual lots of locals out to see us off in the morning , fueled up ready to head north , hand prop the engine , the starter is finished, it starts well and easy , a few quick low passes for the local crowd and norht at 64km /hr . Flew up thru Bordertown SA and now north , morning flight 140km . Quick meat pie and coffee and warm up a bit ... it was so cold this morning about 11c - 2c for 1000ft up and wind chill . So more like 4c for me flying , did not bring warm enough cloths ! Topped up on gas and flew another 60 km and landed when I was getting my butt kicked around again , but good progress ! Spent sat afternoon at the bakery eating andd doing some internet waiting for the wind to slow down , as usual ! Evening flight at about 6pm flew untill dark or about 15 minutes after sunset , nice flight quite calm and pleasent ! Another 75km , nice camp area in between 2 roads , I like camping and finding new places to stop from the air , my ground crew could not catch me , ground speed of about 85 -90 km/ hr and I can cut corners !! Today is the 18th ..... ahhh could feel the wind all night on the tent , but not gusty smooth laminar air , told the guys well be flying asap and wanted them under me as they usually aren't in the morning, and I'm not good with that !! Told them I wanted them to be packed up and ready to leave when I did... it worked well and they were on my ass .. untill the town and they had to get gas . Flew along at between 50km/hr and 113km/ hr depending on wich direction the roads went , quick 11o km flight then the shit happened again , thermals and bumpy and more wind . Made it to 145km and landed ... here we sit waiting for the wind to die once again on the side or the road ! Life in the outback ! It's all GOOD... I'm happy ! cheers

Today ...and Edenhope !

Well it seems we have a frontal system approching in few days, its march 13th right now . We are down to our last starter , we are praying it will hold out ... it is staring to make noise , not good ! Flew an easy 88km this morning , decided to land and ask a farmer which road to take, they all had a good laugh they were loading hay on the back of a truck and wanted to see my take off again . A few minutes later I was off , wind was continueing to pick up and i'd lost my ground crew. I flew about another 15 km and put down thinking my crew might be lost or something had happened . They found me about 45 minutes later after getting misplaced going thru the city .
Loaded up the motor and went to Macdonald's for breakfast... free WIFI , but it sucks its so slow not worth the effort. Cleaned the starter and found some better ear plugs. My ears are starting to ring from to much noise and flying too much . Was given a pair free at the hearing clinic thanks !!
Evening went out to fly again, motor would not start ! Starter is pooped ! put a new plug in , clipped back the ignition wires at the plug side and Mark did a hand prop , worked well , everyone was happy . Now we dont have to worry about a starter anymore , just loosing fingers !!
Had a nice 80km flight into Eden hope situated on a small lake . caravan part right on the lake with a big grassy beach , put on a bit of a show for the locals and landed near dark to applause ...
Spending the next few days here as the front has come in .. need to scatch up on sleep and rest and charging instruments ,running and swimming in the pool.
Ended up with an ear ache from the water after swimming , ohhhh sore , goggled it . Oil in the ear and some tylanol.. fixed it up !

Nice little town, locals are great and they dropped off some donations for the Royal Flying Doctor for us to pass on . Hope to be in the air again tomorrow the 16th , and run north towards PT. Augusta in SA . cheers

Moving forward .. sort of quickly !

Last post was about a week ago , sitting in a town called Cobar , nice little place in the middle of NSW. worked on the motors trying to get one working propery and maybe even two again , Went for a run ,was ready to fly bu 3pm , took off , in rough conditions , went to power up no power ... no power , tried to turn around , no way to clear the power lines , ditched in a field with goat bones all around me , Graveyard for dead goats !!
Changed carbs out , waited untill 5pm and took off again wind head to cross foward speed about 24 km hr with bar on full . 3 hrs battle took me about 60km and a nice landing spot fot eh evening , not too bad everybit helps . much patience requiredfrom my ground team whom are all following in the truck and travelling very slowly as well . The next few day are a blur .. take off early , land early due to wind and turbulance cross head wind . full bar required most of the time . Legs and arms getting very tired as well as my mind .

210km , 220 km , 300km, 220km day done in the past 4 days push, push , we are behind on Km and days of flying from the storms of last week. Our daily km is now 120km down from 200 not enough.
Reached the town of broken hill , nice evening comming into a big mining town, landed out near the airport abd had a nice pizza night in town !
Big day running south from here toward Mildura 300km or so , landing just short of Mildura .
Big group discussion this night , things needed to be sorted out , all's good again I hope. Left Mildura early, taking off and flying thru the vineyards and south of Mildura to avoid controlled airspace and the city .
Flew about 60km untill I saw nothing but tree's landed , due to not have a charged radio and not knowing about how far the forest (national park) streched , turns out it was only 24km. Took off again about 2:30pm , not much wind but rough thermals and headwind when I started south ,up and own like a yoyo , managed another 60km in 2 hrs . Got my butt kicked in a dust devil as it felt like I was entering an area of convergence .. landed quickly . Waited it out for 2 hrs , took off and flew another 80km in sweet evening air, ahhh I need more of this . Great camping area no mosquito's , good supper and rest , 220km for the day !

Nevertire again....!

Well at least were making some Km now , the groups mood in better we did about 100km today . Good sleep, the nights are colder now , mosquitoes are not getting better !! Take off before sunrise , turn north and head towards Nyngan 63 km . Cold in the air but smooth at last cruise at about 1000ft, hide hands behind flight deck .
No gloves , lost them somewhere with my sunglasses ! Must be getting older, losing everything at least I have no keys to loose !! hahahah if you know me !!
Make a nice turn in town and head west again follow the highways toward broken hill . its getting bumpy again wind is shifting to the south and throwing me around hang in their . Don't know where the ground crew is ... lots of tree's decision time ... stay with it ! Thinking about possible landing areas railways tracks , side of the road , hmmm keep going suck it up ! Find my ground crew at about 150 km aweet pull up on the highway ... wind turns tail again smooth flying 71km hr.
See the town of Cobar ahead , yes 175km later on the ground in a nice dirt field. Good landing ... Happy I did not ditch early. Into town for a cuppa 10 am flying for 3 hrs .. stessfull and good to be putting in some km's again.
Finally catching up on the blog ! let hope for a good afternoon and less stress... more smooth evening flying needed!! cheers

Gilgandra decision time !!

Always nice to finish the morning battle and have a cuppa and some food in the local bakery. Nice place this town .. great bakery. He are all a bit glum , not nany KM'a being put on and were starting to run out of days. Were hoping to do about 200km a day but were getting behind , some of us have to get back to work soon. Group meeting at the table , bring out the map ! Look at our options !!
Cannot go south too many roads closed , and floods still to come , that is the way we want to go , decide going north, still some raods closed. Strong X wind expected from the SE . hmmmmm... looking at th forcasts , lets go west, out of this area !
It is decided to backtrack our route and go back to Warren and Nevertire and the triangle of doom !! The afernoon is quite windy but some tail wind sweet I think... wait untill 5pm and launch .. nice tail wind for about the first 30km then it decides to go south and X wind .. shit ! Bumpy, bumpy and at Warren.. watching the floods again, the road turns south into the wind . Slow going as I watch the Sun set and crawl along the ground at 20km hr with bar on... bloody country is it ever not windy !!
End up were we started and few days earlier..... land , eat, sleep .

Nevertire east past Warren ....

A day of sitting in the rain , incredible storm , flooding all around us . Many towns south are being flooded and evacuated . Waga waga is moving 10.000 people out and lots of personal damage ! The roads south are all mainly closed , the roads north are closed , we are deciding to go north east. Based on the weather map and predict wind. We set of early back to Nevertire area , launch and get in the air ,a bit late but were off , Fly past Warren, its bumpy .. south wind and colder afer the rain . Push on.. watch all the rivers overflowing the banks and fields full of water , 45 km after take off i'm back on the ground too much x wind and gusty , nice to be back on the ground !
We drive about 20 km to the nearest pub thinking they may have a cafe or cell tower ... nope just a pub , Local roads are all flooding and closed . We spend the day hoping for the wind to calm down, but by 7pm we pull the pin and are drinking beer ! The pub owner gives us a place to sleep for the night , I prefer my tent , the others mainly Budd snores loadly !! Cannot handle snoring ! Next morning wake up to the garbage man at 5:30 am ahh great way to wake up ... get on the road and back to the take off , find a launch site on a dirt road very slippery !! Off we go agian !! Make it to just short of Gilgandra , very windy about 25km hr , and no real forward speed with full bar... damn wind !!! It always seems to be X or headwind ! .... oh well life in the outback !

Nevertire !

This is the town we sit in, spent the day in an empty parking area woohooo exciting !
Found out the coil was gone on th motor but we have no puller to take it off ... so we swaped the motor out . We are 12 km short of The town of Nevertire, in the triangle of doom as we call it ! we decide to head into warren a larger town about 19 km east and set up in a caravan park .
Next day another attempt to get out of here drive back 30 km and as I take off and climb before the power lines. I feel the belt slip when I apply power ,, shit ... gusty x wind/tail conditions and I have no power. I am trying to stay low to keep in the winf gradient near the ground and have to hop over power lines , everytime I apply power I dont know if I'm going to climb or the belt is going to slip, milk it... milk it.. jat as i get to nevertire I am about to cross some major lines .. apply power no go belt just slips and I'm sinking fast . Power off, turn into wind sort of , avoid trees, watch for power lines, shit coming up quick , landed safe but a bit fast, whew that was some adrenaline !!
Walk threw water back to road cursing f&*&(*king motor , but as you would know things happen sometimes for a reason . Within 5 minutes of landing the wind changes 180 deg and a cloud forms. Good to be on the ground !! We head back into the town of Warren. Now the weather it is setting in good , we spend 3 days in the Caravan park in pouring rain , good thing for the new tent ! Washing cloths, eating and some running and reading . Interesting trailer park people !!

Coolabah and south again .

So many mosquitos.... let's get out of here ! I had 2 aborted launches trying to launch cross wind to the road and surrounded by trees with 40kg on your back . I decided to change roads and get the wind in my face , much better... off and away !
Launched from many of the "closed roads due to flooding" in the area . Initally we were going to go west at Bourke the day before and head over towards Moree, but the roads are closed due to the high water. A quick climb out to 1000ft and tail wind again 74 km /hr then 80, then at 1800ft haha... 105 km/hr with speed bar . Again leaving my ground team behind, catch me if you can ! Nyngan coming up ,just as I hit the edge of town the first bumps hit ... oh here we go again air grew cold , wind shifted, road changed direction now it was drop down to 300ft hang on and see how far I can ride it out.... I was on the ground by 8:30am and 103 km later . Landed at a dirt air strip a station. Owners said make yourself at home and we went itto town . Coffee and meat pies for breaky , and a swim at the pools for some laps. Most all small towns have outdoor pools and are in good shape nice way to spend a few hrs. Washing cloths and waiting... waiting .. wiating !
Evening flight getting off at about 5pm , moderate north winds storm Cunimbs to the south a 20 km flight and I was on the ground again. ground speed was 64km hr. then 54, then 45 and I could seethe change comming , cold air and SE winds ahead time to land , her comes the shit for the next 3 days !
We are not sitting in the rain , on the side of the road . This morning after we went out delayed due to some light showers , get ready start the motor uhh start the motor ..... no go , no spark ! Damn ,it also stared to get windy... abort the day !
Changed some electronic the parts on the motor and still no go , let change the motor now . so that is what Craig is doing the others are fixing broken parts on everything, mainly the camper ,and doing the internet thing ! Camper is falling apart slowly ! Let see if wombat our camper , will make it ?? Now sitting in the rain trying to decide where to go and when , forecast is for 3 days of rain, heavy at times !
Life in the outback !! cheers

The big day ....

Well a late start this morning , big groggy from the beer. Starting at about 6:15 take off from the shop yard , quick dash across town and then south with a tail wind . Climb to 1600ft and at 75km /hr , soon to be up to 102km /hr by 64km mark , nice sweet air ! As I have found out OZ air does not stay this way for long, at about 134 km the wind came cross and cold. Ahhh here comes the shit !!
Dropping down, now ground crew in sight for the past 1.5hrs , I really thought maybe it would get better and had few landind area's the road is narrow , and tree lined and a cross wind to the road , not going to be a nic earea for landing or taking off. Tough it thru... but 9am I could see fields and open country, yes landing options now and I can drop lower. This area is flooding and has so much water everywhere river is 9m above where it should be. Landed short of Bouke so my ground crew could find me about 280 km and landing by 10:am ... sweet !!
Waited for ground crew about 1 hr in the heat and flies, they stopped to fuel up and were traveling at about 75km /hr .... our truck named Sasquach runs on LPG their is limited LPG out here and about 4 out of 5 staions were not working .so were running on jerry cans and hope . Spent a nice afternoon in Bourke and was in the air by 3:30pm slight cross wind from the NE and ground speed 54km /hr. Managed a rough ride this evening to Coolabah narrow hwy lots f tree's , was good to be down .
Camping next to the pub after a few beers, food and lots of mosquitos it was off to bed , feeling sore and tired !, but happy !!

Its a Cunnamulla evening ....

Yes , a good afternoon CU's everywhere ... lets go , got my washing done, well fed, coffee ... ahhh time for some Adrenaline ! Light to moderate winds but eastery , made a run to 134km landing at sunset , last part of the flight was great and smooth , the middle part was not bad but had to fly thru some light rain and some small CN's all around . At landing a Oz pilot came over and invitede us to stay at his house for the night . He has a grape picking operation and farm , the starter motor is going on the engine again so he lent us the shop to do repairs. A few beers later and Craig had the motor up and running.
I was doing my own repairs myself but have stepped aside and let the mechanic fix it now , keeps him busy and I have more time for the blog now .
John biggs....if your reading , thanks for your place and for all your hospitality ,and some parts. Turns out he rides Advanture bikes as well and does tri's , so he let me go for a burn on his 990 KTM ,,, sweet ,, I know what I'm getting soon ! Hope to ride with you next season.

Lets keep pushing ahead ... westwards now !

I ended up flying a short flight out of St george in the evening at about 5:30pm and landing a couple of hrs later about 70km away . Stopping in the middle of nowhere. Spent the night on the side of the road and all the next day storms and wind and rain , eat, sleep and read and wached a movie on the laptop .
Group meeting went well the day before got some stuff ironed out and now have communication with the truck and ground crew , Bought a radio and base unit !
I feel a bit more secure now I know I can talk with the guys and they know where I am . It's the 27th today . Short morning flight after the rain and wind eased a bit flew into Bollon and landed 10km outside .. getting windy again and up to 20-30km hr cross .
Forcast is looking better now for the following days, group spirts are up , coffee food and out of the mud . Showers and washing and stocking up on supplies , hope to make a run for Cunnamulla this evening if all goes well . wind to the east of us are 25-35km hr ... well have to wait and see . cheers

A little less wind please !

Wind , wind ,wind .... Short flight after the rain stopped in the morning . Flew to Moonie getting strong put down short of town .
Interesting area lots of wet areas only good for grazing ,, lots of roos and cattle . Spent the whole day in Mooonie population about 10 !! Wild pig hunting and fishing area for murray river cod.
Spent the day on the ground because of wind , very limited cell sevice .
Next day looked good flew to about 25km short of St George was making such good time 90km /hr then hit very rough air , how come you cannot seem to fly very far in OZ without hitting crappy air somewhere !!! It's flat here ! and all the same ...
Went into town and picked up Mark at 4pm comming back from Toowoomba, again too much wind for the evening .
Morning flight looked good after the rain ,went to check but it started raining again ,, wait, wait , ok let s try again, short flight into ST george about 30km to gusty and some rain in the way. No ground crew for 1 hr was very pissed off . No communication no, contact ! we have to have a group talk this is not working for me , it's getting more dangerous. cheers

Continuing the push towards the coast ...

Charlesville , then east again , after dropping Mark off I ended up flying untill dark and landing on the road again after 7pm. I was battling a x- wind and only did about 70km this evening , but still every bit counts.
Next morning waking up at 5am and feeing a x-wind is not a good thing, considering it was coming from 90 degree's from the highway track. I attempted 3 launches and their was no way to get it up on line. It took a a quick backtrack down the road , we found a small clearing facing the wind. Very tight spot and no room for messing it up ,as soon as I was 3 feet off the ground I swung it around and followed the highway.
It was super rough and only flew about 45km and put it down too much x wind for me and the thermals started early with cooler air . The evening was great however ,we had a tail wind and put in my longest flight of the trip at 170km in 3 hrs lovely air Landing on the outskirts of Roma
Roma an oil town and felt it home right away and were invited over for some beers on landing with some of the locals and a guy whom ownes the landing area , he invited us to stay at his renovated house and park in the driveway ... Thank you Rick !!
He was a great host and let us use his house for some repairs and cleaning and laundry . Marks motor was taken in and repaired and the truck exhaust was fixed which had a large hole in it .. all done .. let's get on the road it was a day of no flying and my body needed it. .... legs are getting very tired from pushing speed bar all day and shoulder rotator cuff ..
Next day : flew about 110km short of Miles
We ended up in a nice little town had coffee ate some grapes off the vine and had lunch . I was up in the air again by 4:30pm and flying towards Miles about 20km away , this is when idecided to turn south as it was stomy ahead and hitting a headwind keeping the speed at about 20km /hr. The next part of the evening was quite bumpy and had to stay low , not fun flying landed near dark ... very wet area !
Near Gumms...

Today is the 20th Feb ....

Finally a good day yesterday well sort of.. we were on the road ready to fly an the sttarted motor decided to pack it in on the parajet of mine. I quick swap over to new relay and stil nothing , it was decided it was the starter. Well after trying to remove it from another motor it was decided that this is not going to work , so we swaped Mark's motor out and used his, changed it all over, rewired and new carborator and were in the air by 8:30am.
We wasted a nice morning of still air. But, we are now running south with the wind and by 11;30am I was on the gound at 110km waiting for my ground crew. At this point we had to make a turn in the road and I was not sure they would find me, radios have not been working so we have no communication now with grouond crew. I was in the air at about noon and did another 42 km before it got too rough to fly.
we dropped Mark off in Chareville for the bus to go to a meeting in Sydney "Friends of Australia" to try to drum up some awarness and support for out cause and attempt at the world record.
We passed the 2000km mark yesterday, I have been flying for 11 days now so we are keeping on track with time and Km's, did 225km yesterday !

The next 6 days..

He have been trying to make 200km per day , we were behind on km but the 340km day made up for some lost time, a days rest was nice and the next week has been tough. Its a battle each day with flying into a headwind,and rough conditions , boring for the ground crew and slow. The days are hot 35c and usually we are stopping in rest areas or parking lots to sleep near the highway so we dont have to transportth motor far to take off now alway doable so the motor is strapped on top the caravan or the hood of the car and we drive on. People must think we are nuts... a few times we land in town and last week I landed in front of the pub in Kynuna and walked 2 ft for an evening beer , quite the show for the locals. Most of everyone we meet are amased at what we are doing and very friendly, Good ole Aussie's meeting some interesting people and seeing the country stopped at McKinlay's Wallabout Creek Pub home of the crocodile dundee movie ... interesting and funny places . Lots of hug roadtrains traveling the roadsout here and seeing area that have been recently flooded by 2 meter rivers over the road just recently opened for us to travel our timing is lucky !!

Conclurry the wait ...

We arrived in Clocurry on the 13th and on the 14th we rested and waited , the prop arrived but we could not find a TIG welder in town to fix the cage. Another problem wne the prop arrived was the prop was a 2 piece and would not work with Marks motor. The day before we had also but had problems with our reserve bridles burning on the exhaust and wrecking them. I manage to get them fixed here in town ,one problem fixed but seeing that the prop was wrong, it was decided than Mark could not fly further now without waiting here for 2 weeks for a new prop... decision was made for me to fly the next day and continue !
Good morning launched before sunrise on the highway, a quick down wind run before turning and heading into the wind.
With the wind we were nmaking great time and lots of km's I had a 72 km downwind run when I turned into the wind I was slowed down to 24km and slower ahhh... agonising . I had to fly cross wind and low to the ground or I would not make headway so for the next 2-3 days it was 300 ft and lower inching may way along at between 19-40km hr. The bonus was I got to see the animals , 100's of roo's, wild pigs ,emu's wild cats maybe either a dingo or a fox , very intense and tiring flying. One morning I only made 50km and was put down by 8am. The ground crew now has to travel equally as slow boring but ...

where are we ?

Somewhere in the middle of nowhwere is where we are flying ! Along the Overlanders hwy. using it now as a landing and takefoff runway . It is a great landing strip and mostly deserted . Landing in Homestead , Prarie and such place were you might only have 100 people in town or less at times and only 1 store open. Morning are spent flying trying to get in good km before the wind and thermals kick in, usually about 8:30 am. If its good we can refuel and relaunch. On one of these Mark had another bad take off and ended up breaking another prop and breaking his cage. It was then decided for me to fly on and we would phone ahead and get another prop sent out and he could catch up the distance later. A local pilots in Brisbane thought he had a prop which would do, great.. got couriered out right away to Concurry.
Damn, we had just put in a great 158km the envening before and a 100km flight that morning together..and it was looking good for an afternoon flight . I pushed on and ended up putting in a 340km flight this day . We camped at a caravan park in Cloncurry , really a nice place, swimming pool and a nice town , the temp were better and no bugs !! Lets see if the prop comes in tomorrow ?

Eastwards ....

We started the day a bit later as we were campng right beside the take off area . When we land, we also have to think about how we are going to takeoff out of the area or we have to backtrack to a safe take off . Mark had a sketchy launch just mising some tree's and touching one as he left .. whew ! I ended up taking off and lost my GPS off of my flight deck ... Shit !
I was on my way and had to cirle back to land , the guys did not see it fall off. We searched about 5 minutes and decided to relaunch and as Budd was walking over to us.. he found it near the spot I had taken off from .. Thanks Budd... did not want to leave 700.00 sitting in the grass for the locals ... they would have no idea what it was used for !! Off again and some good miles put in, generally flying about 1500-2500ft agl , nice tail cross wind. Mark's motor was running rich and he was not getting as good of fuel economy as I was so I was letting him lead and land were he figured he could get too on his fuel.The evening was light wind again and Mark was having take off problems also we had to figure out his motor , spent the evening tuning his engine fuel mixtures and getting it running right . It was tuned now nd ended up being better than mine on fuel and power. Camping at an old military airport with huge runway !!

Chartersville and westwards ....

Wake up times have changed for me it is now 4:30am ... ahhhh. We had breakfast and broke camp and headed back down the road to the start . Starting was a bit of a problem .. sneaky winds and very calm, Mark decided to launch first as it gave me time to help and figure out slight winds after a few launches we decided to switch sides of the slight hill . After we moved around and set up it was geting on about 7;30 am another launch went bad and mark ended up breaking a prop no injuries ! After a quick run to camp and a new prop we were off again luckly... Mark weaved his way through the trees and circled upwards waiting for me to set up . I joined him and flew past Chartersville staying about 2000tf agl. Landing later around 11:30am outside of a small town . We spent the day waiting for the wind to die down and by 4pm were redy to go , the switching winds and light conditions were not favorble for mark to take off , camped in the cricket grounds after I put on a flying show for the locals ... it was nice evening ! Lots of mosquitos !!

Townsville and the start of the paramotor trip !

We ended up driving for the next 2 days and 1400km.We were parking up along the road and mainly just putting miles in. We were late starting on the this trip, waiting for the paramotors to show up and other odds and ends. I had asked Parajet to have the motors in OZ for the 15 Jan. but I guess 6 months advanced notice is not enough time! We took a few days in Townsville geting the motors and wings set up and tested at an old private airstip outside of town about 30km . Testing was only 1 flight ,it went ok , this was the 1st time we had been on this equipment the Parajet and Dudek wings. Mark ended up having a mishap with his motor the first day when a line wrapped around his wrist and caused him to do a big long turn and hard downwind landing, thankfully nothing broke . We camped at the airport and were forced to run for cover at about 1am , a wicked storm blew in and soaked everything and blew the motors over . We woke up a bit late thinking it would still be blowing but by 7am we were up in the air and flying . Cool clean air and a slight headwind from the south , a but bumpy as we headed towards the ranges when it switched to north but manage a good start to the day about 70km landing east of Chartersville. Mark thought he was out of fuel and decided to land . Good landing and we spent the day in town getting stuff sorted out , missed the evening flight !

Meeting the guys for the flight4life ...

Leaving Towoomba I went out to Cecil plains westwards and spent the night with my buddy Dennis W. Whom I had met on great kepple island 35 years ago , he still looks the same and we had a good time catching up . I did end up seeing him a few times once in NZ skiing and and another time with Mike Pottter in 94 , good to keep in touch with good ole friends ! After I headed to Surfers Paradise and slogged it throught another heavy rain storm but found the place and was soaked ! Now we were all together in one place staying at a relative's of Mark's. We had Greg,Budd,Mark and I . We ended up spending about 10 days here organising buying and putting the gear together , Nissan patrol and older carravan and tons of spare parts it all came together on the last day we loaded up and were northwards towards Townsville yahooo....

Cooryong and upwards ...

Hi , ended up spending about 5 days flying in Cooryong area was quite windy and now have decided to take up hangliding ... sometimes you really need that extra speed crossing valleys. After this I was on my bike again heading north towards Manilla , it took a few days of camping in parks and pull over areas on the sides od rivers , ended up dodging a few rainstorms but also hit few. Manilla was fun great place to hang out and chill and get some x-c in . Managed a 70km flight the first day and a few 80/85 km flights . Met some good friends and even went to the Tamworth country music festival ... it sucked !! But I knew it would !! Anyways I will be back a flying tour is planned soon . Flying infrastrucure at godfrey's is great even has a swimming pool. On the last day I ran 22 km a personal best so far, now I know I can do the Mad mudder race ! I ended up leaving manilla and heading north toward Toowoomba it took about 2 days and hit lots of rain in this area for the next 3 days I was stuck in a caravan park as my Battery went dead on a holiday and had to be replaced. Bummer it was a new bike !

Bright and area ...

I ended up staying in a nice carvan park at the base of My beauty the flying sit ein bright , where most of the vagabound pilots set up camp . Nice place walking distance to the landing area met up with Fred Gungle and Brian Webb and few other locals whom I had know from my visit here 20 years ago with Mike Potter when we were out this way flying ,, how time flys ! A few nice days Xc were had, some runs and beers in the evenings rode my bike up to Mt Buffalfo park , nice ride on the bike without equipment !! I spent a nice time in Bright and after 5 days I was off to Corryong for the Hng gliding nationals and more flying . A nice days ride over the pass to Threadbo ski area and down again , nice to see areas that you have only heard about and some nice off road roads .
Arrived in Corryong and the evening at the caravan park again on the river , another really nice campsite ! Met up with a few locals and enjoyed a B Bque and again beers , Shelly an ex student of mine was competing in the competition this week , I was to be the wind dummy !

Finally a new post .... ! It's only been a year !

Hello from Australia ! I did not know anyone read my posts as I know you have to post regular to get others to read it, Sorry but I dont really have the time to post all the time , my spelling sucks and I type slowly so for me it is painful but will try to catch up now that I am on this new Advanceture and have the day times off.

I arrived on OZ on the 1st January, this being a holiday nothing was open and spent a day in the holtel and aound the area outside of Melbourne. It was nice to be back to OZ but have the prices gone up a cheap holtel was 120.00 night . Not is my budget if i have to spend 4 months here . First few day were spent geting myself used to the 40c heat. This was tough in the city getting around with all my gear , motor cycle , camping and paragliding/paramotor stuff. Besides having to pay at all the airports over weight ,,,, this sucks ! They should weigh the people not the baggage then I could carry more.
I was looking for a used KLR and found a few but it all involved going out and looking at the bikes then getting the paper work done , I thought this to be very expensive and time comsuming , I found a bike store which sold Kawasaki and ended up buying new and putting it on the card within 3 hrs I had my new bike on the road ..... yah baby 11 a new bike 0km on it and was a great color.... RED ~~

Within 3 days I was loaded up and heading to Bright in the snowy mountains, 3 hrs away. A great drive once I found my way out of the city follow the sun east then north . The country side was beautiful the road uncrowed but driving on the other side of the road took some concentration on the bike ... Stay left ! Stay left ! I arrived in Bright in the evening after a nice backroad ride and not much traffic. Time to go flying !!