Pilot's Report

Dear Reader,

Getting out of Wollongong, we had to dodge a few clouds over the escarpment. Fortunately the weather report called for all the weather to be totally coastal. So once past Goulburn, the skies cleared up nicely and we flew under clear skies to Narrandera and Swan Hill.

We refuelled at Narrandera and again topped up at Swan Hill. As there is no AVGAS available at Kingscote (Kangaroo Island), the plan was to refuel at Goolwa (30 minutes flight from Kingscote) before proceeding to Kangaroo Island. Goolwa is near the Murray Mouth, where the mighty Murray River, Australia's longest river, finally enters the sea afters a long meandering journey from the Australian Alps through NSW, Victoria and South Australia.

Coming into Goolwa, flying over the magnificent Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert, the oil pressure gauge recorded a higher than normal oil pressure reading. As we were quite close to Goolwa and the oil pressure gauge in Jabiru are notoriously prone to malfunction, we flew on and landed at the rough dirt strip at Goolwa. Goolwa has a perfectly good sealed strip but it was lent out by the proprietor Geoff for testing of some racing cars. He gets $220 per car as compared to $8 that we paid as landing fee. So it was the rough dirt strip for the poor Jabiru.

Once on the ground, we refuelled at Goolwa. A quick call back to base to Bruce confirmed that there was nothing to worry about and that the higher oil pressure reading was due to a faulty gauge. So we decided to fly on. Fortunately there were no further high oil pressure warning lights. Whatever was wrong with the oil pressure gauge had fixed it self

Enroute to Kangaroo Island, the winds were pretty strong, roughly 17 knots, so it was a bumpy ride. We headed for the nearest point of Penneshaw, where the ferry goes as well and then followed the KI coast into Kingscote strip.

Kingscote has three strips, one sealed and two gravel, so that no matter which way the wind blows, you can always find a strip into the wind.

After a four night marvellous stay at KI, the flight from Kingscote to Horsham via Meningie was uneventful though a bit overcast and windy. A cold front had passed the area a few hours ago and we caught up with it when we reached Meningie.

We refuelled at Horsham and set the course for Toc. Again uneventful but windy and overcast

After three days and some gliding at Toc we got to the airport early. It was cold (4 degrees) and wet (lot of dew on the grass). This was going to be the true test of the cold start kit that we had installed on the Jabiru just a few months ago. Happy to report that the cold start kit did its magic and the engine started first go.

The trip from Toc to Gong via a coffee at Cootamundra was uneventful. We ran into ex president of RA-Aus, Rodney Birrell, at Coota who was returning with his wife from NatFly2014 and had made a coffee stop at Coota just like us.

All in all, the trip was good and apart from the brief high oil pressure reading there were no other problems. Well done Jabi!

As usual the pilot and the navigator worked well together as a team and special thanks to our loyal SARWATCHER Kate!

Until next time, check out our updated map!

The Pilot.