Across the Sunburnt Country Kurt Colvin, October 2007 In June of 2007, my family and I came to Perth, Australia for a 6-month visit to the University of Western Australia. Perth is a beautiful city of 1.2 million people, very similar in climate and appearance to San Diego. However, Perth is the most isolated capital city in the world, closer to Singapore than the next significant Australian city, Adelaide. It is a long way from anywhere. Riding bikes along the Swan River, Perth, Western Australia Those that know me know that flying is a big part of my life and leaving my plane for 6 months wasn t trivial. But with the lure of new, interesting people and experiences and real bush flying in the back of my mind, off we set for the other side of the world. Once settled in Perth, it took me some time to learn about general aviation and meet the right people, but as often happens in my life, the right opportunity suddenly presented itself. The Sport Aviation Association of Australia (SAAA) was holding its annual conference in Cowra, New South Wales. This is the Australian equivalent to the Airventure event in Oshkosh, WI held every year by the EAA. They planned to hold a 2- day seminar on flight testing and a new friend and I were asked to present a session on risk management, a topic that I happen to teach. So, the stage was set; a sport aviation conference on the other side of Australia, a flying friend and justified reason to go. Once we attended to a few minor details (permission from the missus and find an airplane to fly), we departed toward the east on October 14 th in an RV-6A. We were constantly very near gross weight and very near our aft center of gravity, but Sierra-Hotel-Sierra (registration VH-SHS) flew beautifully.
Ready for departure from Perth with David Bryant, aircraft builder and overall guru. The RV-6A was built by high school students under the supervision of David. We quickly ran out of daylight on the first afternoon and set down on a dirt strip near Southern Cross, WA. A single carport type hanger housed a nice Cessna 170, but there was no sign of the owner (or anyone else). With darkness upon us, we slept on the hard, red dirt beneath an amazing southern sky. With my camping trips to the Nevada deserts, I thought I had seen starry nights. Let me assure you that sleeping under a pitch black Australian sky is simply beautiful. It makes you feel very small. Up before the sun, we were off to Kalgoorlie for the next fuel stop. On our run up for take off, a magneto was not firing. We were sure it was just fouled plugs, but after a couple hours troubleshooting, we needed a new mag. With a single phone call we were in touch with a great maintenance shop with the correct mag IN STOCK. Kalgoorlie is a remote mining town and stock such parts. I was amazed, but we were back in the air within 4 hours. Eastward we went. The next fuel stop was Forrest Airport, a 560 mile flight. Flying in the outback is quite different than any type of bush flying I have done in the US. My typical plan is select a destination that is 2 to 2 ½ hours away and head out. As I go, I start to plan for alternative airports if things don t go as planned (weather, lack of fuel at destination, or I need to take a leak). Even in remote Nevada, Oregon or Wyoming, alternative airports are there. Maybe 50 miles out of the way, but that is a fun and challenging part of flying: coming up with contingency plans.
Forrest, Western Australia. Once an overnight stop for Australian coast to coast flights. Now, a required fuel stop as one crosses the 700 mile Nullarbor Plain. Well, let me be the first to tell you that it is different here. The range on SHS was about 750 miles and we were on a 560 mile leg. The next alternative is 300 miles to the south and that s it. So, fuel planning becomes very critical and a wrong decision or assumption can be at best time-consuming and expensive or at worst, life-threatening. Landing spots were readily available, but landing 250 miles from a human in the middle of a very expansive desert would quickly become a life threatening event. It is amazing to look out the window at 9500 and not see a single manmade structure, road or trace. It is also a little unnerving. But, things went according to plans and after a quick night in Forrest, it was across the South Australian boarder into Ceduna, SA. Then Ceduna to Mildura, Victoria and Mildura into Cowra, New South Wales. 1750 miles in 13 flight hours over 3 days, averaging about 135 knots. We were there. The flight test seminar went off without a hitch. I learned a lot about how to approach flight testing of a new experimental airplane and will tuck that away for sometime in the future. Our talk on risk management was well received and we were able to lead the group through a failure modes and effects analysis of potential engine and flight control failures. I will be able to use this new exercise in my courses at Cal Poly. The SAAA convention itself was very enjoyable. Compared to Airventure, it is a very small event, much smaller than even a regional fly-in like the Northwest event in Arlington, Washington. But the quality of the aircraft, the comradery of the people and overall fun is right up there. In fact, being a no-crowd-kind-of-guy, I prefer small. RVs are everywhere. Of the 100 experimentals that came, I d estimate the percentages as: RVs (40%), Fast Glass [Lanceairs, Glassairs, etc.] (20%), and the remainders LSA types. The
forums were few, but quality. I particularly enjoyed the Superior XP engine and bush flying techniques forums. In the camping paddock at the SAAA Convention Cowra, New South Wales. After 4 days in Cowra, it was back to the west. We thought we might be able to do it in one day, with the extra 2 hours of daylight flying west, but after 7 hours we hit some light thunderstorms, strong winds and we were tired. So, overnight in Ceduna, SA and an easy 7 hours back across the Nullarbor into Perth. Just for a perspective, here are the details of the trip. Hours: 27, Distance:3600 miles, Total days: 8 Aircraft rental $85/hr $2295 Fuel $60/hr $1620 Misc expenses $600 Total: $4515 (Australian Dollars) ($USD~4000) My share was $USD 2000
I think this will tide me over until I can get back to San Luis Obispo and Chrissy (my Christen Husky). I left the Indian Ocean, crossed the great Nullarbor plain, flew along the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight on the Southern Ocean and to within 50 miles of seeing the Pacific Ocean on Australia s east coast. Not bad for a first trip. However, if you ll look at a map of Australia you notice that it is an island (in fact, it is the largest island in the world). And if you had an airplane on a big island, what would be the logical thing to do? Yep, that is what I m thinking too