Frieda River ops New Guinea

[Flying tigers]

G'day,would any of you seasoned campaigners have any info,advice or photos on operating out of Frieda river and the surrounding area?

Cheers,
FT.

[chimbu warrior]

I have not personally been to Frieda since about 1982, however it was at that time run by Carpentaria Exploration, a division of Mt Isa Mines (now Xstrata).

CE operated their own Islander and 2 Hughes 500's for many years. Bill Dossett, who flew for them, wrote a book "Flying Memories".

I think I last took a Twin Otter there, and the strip was regularly used by Islanders. According to some old notes it was 630 metres long. I recall it had a good gravel surface, but the narrow valley restricted manouvering.

It is at S 04 37 E 141 57.5, so have a look on Google Earth.

[Waghi Warrior]

Hevilift operate a regular service into there in Twin Otters,they go there at least once a week ex Hagen.

[Killer Loop]

I think you will find they go in there almost every day, on occasions twice a day, ex Mount Hagen and sometimes POM.

[Captain Nomad]

As far as bush strips go - not bad at all. Like a lot of the low lying area strips it can be a bit perilous getting off centre if it has been very wet.

Valley a bit narrow in places so generally pays to work your way in from up high and drop down into the valley - if buildups are in the area or banking up on the ranges like a typical PNG afternoon stay to the North and work your way over the lower terrain.

If you need it - organise drum Jet A fuel in advance.

[Flying tigers]

Cheers folks, I new that there would be some good local knowlege out there, I will be operating a PAC750 out of there so I think that I have the correct aircraft for the job, I will be there for a month so I hope that the fishing there is good!! Thanks again for the replies and the great advice.

FT.:ok:

[geeup]

Could be a little civil unrest around the camp at the moment :*
Might be worth looking into before venturing out that way :}

[psycho joe]

It's been a few years, but from memory the strip gets very slimy/ boggy very quickly in the wet. Can be very a exiting place to lose directional control:E The local camp was a bit funny about anyone using their drums of fuel too. More than once I had to explain (slowly) to the expats in charge, that the Balus wont fly without the go juice. :ugh: