Flying Ayers Rock to Broome, Australia

By Jack

On January 7, we made one of the shortest flights of this whole trip with the 653 NM (750 SM) flight from Ayers Rock/YAYE to Broome/YBRM, Australia.  Weather for the flight was good with mainly clear skies the whole way.

Carolyn made a video of the departure from Ayers Rock which clearly shows the red tint of the soil.

YouTube link: https://youtu.be/Ck38LKiPKAM

Most all the route was over the Great Sandy Desert which is essentially uninhabited. This chart was on the wall at the RFDS office we visited in Broome (more on that later)...

The chart had this sobering note over the area of the Great Sandy Desert...

The highlight of this leg of the journey was in Broome where the RFDS has a base. The kind folks at RFDS offered us a tour of the facility and, unexpectedly, offered us space in their hangar and basically acted as our ground handler.

John (a senior pilot at the Broome base) was our guide and provided us much hospitality and a great insight into the daily operations of the RFDS.  The Western Division of RFDS operates a fleet of about 15 specially modified PC-12 aircraft (like our plane) and, as of a couple of weeks ago, a brand new Pilatus PC-24 jet.  John gave us a tour of one of their PC-12s (the PC-24 was at another base) highlighting its specialized medical equipment.

One of their newer PC-12s with the latest paint scheme...

While Josh and I were fascinated by the aviation side of the operation (especially some of the harsh environments in which they operate their PC-12s), in some respects the medical side of RFDS is even more innovative and interesting. Each RFDS base has full-time physicians and nurses on-staff. While they do often get on the plane and go to a patient, a great deal of the medical work is also done remotely. The article beginning on page 9 of this RFDS magazine describes the work of the physician and nursing staff. 

The medical staff also is trained to handle all sorts of issues in the field using the airplane as their mobile hospital. For example, they have a designed infant incubator specially designed to be secured and used in the PC-12...

Suffice it to say RFDS is a very impressive organization and I am not aware of anything quite like it elsewhere.  POPA (the Pilatus Owners and Pilots Association) is looking forward to having two RFDS pilots speak at the annual convention in June. It should be a fascinating presentation. 

John even helped us with the only "maintenance" issue of the trip so far...one of the fittings on the handrail on the main entry door came loose. 

Obviously not a major problem (we just did not use the handrail for a couple of days), but it was bugging me. A quick call to my service center in Canada (Levaero Aviation) and we found out that while at first glance this fitting appears to screw together, it is actually just secured with epoxy. John secured the proper epoxy for us and we had it fixed in just a few minutes. 

After a very enjoyable few hours getting to know more about RFDS and fixing the handrail, we headed to a nearby hotel for our quick one-night stay. We would depart early the next morning (January 8) for the second longest flight of the trip so far...the 1,614 NM (1,856 SM) flight from Broome to the challenging Seleter Airport/WSSL in Singapore. The arrival at Seletar was one of the most "interesting" approaches on the trip so far, but more about that in the next report.

Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Broom

By Carolyn

There is a lot of nothing between the coasts of Australia, except for this Big Rock. It does not disappoint! The rock was originally sand, deposited as part of an extensive alluvial fan. These layers were horizontal when deposited, but were tilted to their near vertical position during a later episode of mountain building. Now what’s left is a prominent isolated residual knob that rises abruptly from larger flat eroded lowlands.

It is summer in the Southern Hemisphere and it is HOT in the desert. We stayed indoors and got an early dinner then took an evening tour to see Field of Light, an art installation by Bruce Monroe comprised of 50,000 glass bulbs with fiber optic lights powered by solar panels. These points of light change color every six seconds and cover over 12 acres. At first they looked like flowers blooming in drifts, but as the sky got darker, the points of light reminded me of Australian dot paintings. There was no moon tonight so by 9:30 the sky was as full of bright dots as the ground was covered in bulbs.

Field of Light by Bruce Monroe

Sunday morning was our next chance to beat the heat. We were rolling by 5:00am, and it is truly worth getting up early to see Uluru change from dark mauve to red to a vivid orange as the sun hits it. The trees on the plain change from green to gold as the sun rises higher into the sky. We used the time before 8:00 to walk the base of Uluru and look for birds.

Uluru...

...changing colors...

...as the sun rises.

Cool plants and animals abound on this continent with over 700 species of eucalyptus, 90 species of mistletoe (many associated with just one host tree), 200 species of marsupials, 75 species of honeyeaters (birds) evolved in partnership with nectar producing trees and shrubs.

               

just a few of the many species of eucalyptus 

           

Pied honeyeater (thanks, Becky, for all good animal pics)

One last day in Australia took us west to Broom on the Indian Ocean. The airport includes facilities for the western division of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which uses 17 Pilatus Pc-12 aircraft to serve remote indigenous communities, mining operations, and far flung “stations” (ranches) for medical emergencies. John M., a dedicated and able pilot, give us a great tour of the ambulance-outfitted planes, hangers and medical facilities. Last year, the western division retrieved over 8,500 patients, flew 4,700,000 miles across almost 1,000,000 square miles. Most funding is through corporate and private philanthropy, with some government support.

John showing Josh how the stretchers are loaded into the aircraft.

Pretty cool configuration 

RFDS

N575PC got to spend the night indoors with a buddy!

The temperature in Broom was about the same as the Outback, but with 100% humidity it felt much hotter. Becky and I managed a short walk around the hotel before an early dinner. We’ll be rolling by 4:45 tomorrow morning, headed to Singapore.

Flying Brisbane to Ayers Rock, Australia

By Jack

On January 5, we made the 1,228 NM (1,412 SM) flight from Brisbane/YBBN to Ayers Rock/YAYE.

The weather was good and the flight uneventful other than the dramatic change in the landscape below us. From the coastal area of Brisbane, across a rainforest, and then into the aptly named Red Centre of central Australia. Other than Antarctica, I can not recall flying over a more remote and starkly beautiful landscape than the red tinted deserts of central Australia. 

I thought some of the areas of the Southwestern US I regularly fly over were remote, but it is nothing like central Australia. Literally hundreds and hundreds of miles with no paved roads and no evidence of towns or villages.

Being from Texas, we like to brag about how big everything is in our home state, especially ranches. Well, even the largest Texas ranches are puny in comparison to the cattle "stations" in Australia. The largest station in Australia is Anna Creek at 5,850,000 acres or about seven times the size of the largest ranch in Texas and larger than the entire country of Israel. There are around ten stations with 3,000,000 acres or more. It is hard to humble a Texan, but the vastness of Australia comes close.

The remoteness extends to aviation as well. Uncontrolled airspace (Class G) extends from the surface to flight level 180 (18,000 FT) in most of central Australia. Below FL180, IFR is cancelled and you are on your own.

The Ayers Rock airport is unusual in that it is uncontrolled (no ATC control tower), has no instrument approaches (VFR only), yet has several airline flights with large jets daily. As we arrived, an airline B737 was taxiing out for departure. Although we were more than 40 NM away from the airport, the airliner said they could not depart until they had us in sight on the downwind leg. I have never heard an airline with that sort of requirement, but I have never operated at an uncontrolled VFR-only airport with 18,000 FT of Class G airspace above that also has airline traffic.

Of course, the main objective of the stop at Ayers Rock was visiting the iconic Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) which we did at sunrise on January 6.

We visited Uluru almost 14 years ago with our kids, but I must say it was worth the second trip and waking-up at 0430 local to see how the color of the reflected light from "The Rock" changed as the sun rose.

After two nights at Ayers Rock, we head to Singapore on January 7 with a quick overnight stop in Broome, Australia. The big excitement for the short stay in Broome is we have been offered a tour of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) facility there. The RFDS is a most unique medical service that has a storied 90 year history. They also operate a large fleet of Pilatus PC-12 aircraft (like our plane) and have just taken delivery of a brand new Pilatus PC-24 jet.  We are looking forward to the tour.

Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane
By Carolyn

Another blog entry...another country! We flew from Auckland to Brisbane, which is the capital of Queensland, Australia. It’s a much larger city than I realized and, at least the bit we explored, not nearly as crowded as Sydney. Later, we learned that all the tourists and summer-vacationing Australians were hanging out on the south side of the river and the beaches.

The view from our  hotel

And the other direction

Jack had us booked at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, conveniently located next to the Brisbane Botanical Garden and the boardwalk, with access to good restaurants and bars. Becky and I explored the garden in the afternoon, keeping to the shady parts. There weren’t loads of birds, but all the birds we saw were new to us. The coolest animals, though, were giant flying fox bats!

Right outside our hotel! Isn't Jack smart?!

Black flying fox bat

Eastern water dragon

The next two days were prearranged birding trips with Hugh Possingham, TNC’s lead scientist. Becky and I had an EARLY start Thursday and rain almost dampened the day at Oxley Creek Common, but when it cleared, the birds were more energetic than usual and Hugh’s list showed 77 species! Some we only heard, but most we got a very good look at. On Friday, the guys joined us and we drove an hour west to D’Aguilar National Park. The dense rainforest trees hid many of the loudest birds but we saw plenty of new birds and other things, including a pademelon and monitor lizard, plus we got a nice walk in the woods.

Bucket list for me: birding in Brisbane with Hugh Possingham

We've tucked our pants into our socks to avoid leeches.

Ready for the rainforest

Hiking/birding the rainforest in D'Aguilar National Park

red-legged pademelon

Lace monitor lizard

And, leeches for extra points!

Next stop, Uluru!

Flying Auckland to Brisbane: The Big Seven

By Jack

After a wonderful three week break in New Zealand (with a short side trip to Sydney, Australia), we resumed the flying part of the trip on January 2, 2019. We re-joined with Josh and Becky who had been away to another part of the world on December 31 and spent a good part of New Years Day cleaning-up the plane (which had been sitting lonely on the Skycare ramp at Auckland/NZAA) and generally getting it ready to resume our trip.

The plane on the ramp at Auckland after being pushed back for departure...

The morning of January 2 promised good weather for the relatively short (for this trip) 1,249 NM (1,436 SM) flight to Brisbane, Australia over the Tasman Sea.

The route with satellite images showing essentially clear skies...

Departing the busy Auckland International Airport...

As is our habit on long over water flights (most of the flights on this trip), we had the approximate positions of ships along our route marked in case of an emergency...

We passed east of very interesting Lord Howe Island, but not close enough to get a good photo. We did fly almost directly over a couple of uninhabited atolls (which were not on our charts) just north of Lord Howe...

After a bit of research on the ground, it appears this is Elizabeth Reef which is southernmost coral atoll in the world. 

On the arrival to Brisbane in good weather, the value of having two pilots in the cockpit proved itself once again. We were on a "descend via" clearance via the SAVER2 arrival for runway 01R...

As we passed DUNNE at 4,000 FT, I dialed in 3,000 FT into the autopilot and started a further descent as indicated on the arrival chart. However, Josh quickly reminded me that the controller had cleared us (a few minutes prior) to "descend via the arrival to 4,000 feet" which meant we were to stop descending via the arrival instructions at 4,000 FT.  I quickly corrected and maintained 4,000 FT without enough of a descent to raise a question from the controller, but it was one of those many situations where the old saying "two heads is better than one" proved itself. I got a chuckle today when we were out for a hike and saw this sign at a tea shop where we stopped for a break...

Glad we never brief that kind of procedure!

The landing in Brisbane marked a milestone for me and Josh...we have now flown N575PC to all seven continents. This even brought a smile to Josh's normally serious countenance...

A lot of airline pilots get six continents under their belt as we had before this landing, but most pilots are missing Antarctica. We checked-off Antarctica (along with pilot friends Jerry S and Giuseppe C) in January 2017, but were lacking Australia. Done deal.

We are spending three nights in Brisbane and arranged to have a quick maintenance check of the plane done there since a Pilatus service center is located nearby. The plane was performing perfectly, but we want to get an engine desalination wash done and have an experienced PC-12 mechanic just give the plane a good "once over" check.

An engine desalination wash is recommended periodically when operating in salt water environments to rinse out any salt that may have accumulated in the engine which could eventually cause corrosion. They basically run fresh water through the turbine section of the engine while turning the turbine with the starter (but not allowing the engine to start).  After the wash, they put everything back together and we ran the engine at high power for eight minutes to dry out any residual water and just generally check that the parts they removed to inject the fresh water all performed properly after re-installation.

At our request, the excellent crew of two mechanics from Premiair Aviation (a Pilatus authorized service center) also did a thorough visual check of the engine and other important parts of the plane. They found no problems and reported that the plane was in excellent condition (thank you Levaero Aviation!). I asked the lead mechanic if he would be comfortable crossing the Indian Ocean in the plane with us and he said absolutely "yes" without any hesitation. This plane has been extraordinarily reliable having never had a significant maintenance problem for the entirety of our two previous round-the-world trips, but it is nice to have "fresh eyes" confirm its condition.

After a nice break in Brisbane (which Carolyn will document separately), we head to the very hot "Red Centre" of Australia on January 5 to visit the famous Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock).