London to Sydney by Cherokee (Oct 2013)

[Aussie Andy]

G'day one and all... just to let anyone interested know, myself and my co-pilot Sam are going to fly my 1966 Cherokee 180 G-ATYS from London to Sydney later this year.

This is partly about a personal challenge - I'm an Australian ex-pat living in London for 24yrs and have always dreamt of flying home under my own steam! But it's also about charity - we have the ludicrous aim of trying to raise £1/NM (it's 10,500 NM from EGTB to YSBK..!).

If you find this of interest and want to follow our plans, preparations or have questions or want to offer advice(!) then please checkout our various web presences, all of which are listed at www.g-atys.co.uk (http://www.g-atys.co.uk).

Cheers!

Andy

[runway16]

Ask Plank Bender. He did it in reverse.

Suggestion. First check your engine logbook to make sure it is telling the full story.

R.

[LeadSled]

Aussie Andy,
Make certain you have fuel supplies guaranteed, that is now a really big problem.
In some places along your route, the fuel prices for avgas are scary, I have seen one recent report of US$27 per US gallon.
Pre-print say 1000 General Decs. you will not have all that many left by the time you get to Oz.
Tootle pip!!

[ozzieausterdriver]

Good on ya Andy - just read your face book and other links - you have my vote and look forward to seeing your safe arrival in oz. :D

[Aussie Andy]

G'day Chaps, thanks for the comments ....

Couple of mates of mine have done the trip both ways. Will welcome Plank Bender's input as well ... but it seems to be a changeable situation so the real issue is current info...

Yes arranging (and paying for!) Avgas is an increasingly difficult task... but not yet impossible. It does involve having 44 gallon (sorry, Aus is metric these days: 200L :) ) drums specially ordered and shipped - so far that is the case for 6x airfields enroute..!

You say Avgas can be expensive, but here in the UK we already pay vastly more than you do in Oz so it doesn't seem as bad for us as it does for you guys ;-)

Cheers Ozzie Auster Driver :-)

It'd be great to meet some of you who are interested as we make our way from Darwin to Sydney. Planning g this (depends on when the wet starts) via FNQ where I have relations I'd like to visit, thence down the East Coast... but if the wet has kicked off, we might have to go Kupang - Broome - west and south coasts...

Lastly please all consider to give just a little if you can on the donations page (this is not to cover my costs, it goes directly to Oxfam to help eg Syrian kids get a drink of clean water) :-)
Everyday Hero UK: The Cherokee Challenge Flight to Australia 2013 (http://www.everydayhero.co.uk/event/cherokeechallenge2013)

[Aussie Andy]

LeadSled - yes on the Gen Decs... seems this is common theme of everyone who's done it :-)

[allthecoolnamesarego]

Mate,
You are doing what I've dreamt of doing for many many years!

Have a blast and don't let anything stop you. I'm envious just thinking about it.

Enjoy and stay safe. :D:D:D

Coolnames

[Jabawocky]

Beware of folk from Canberra who turn up flying V-Tails (FTDK's) offering to fly along with you.

Be scared :}:E

enjoy the trip:ok:

[ozzieausterdriver]

Here - here - very best of luck Andy - we are with all behind you. :ok:

[WAC]

As another Cherokee driver, if you happen to do the west to east across the bottom option, there's a spare hangar and bed for you halfway across! Look forward to reading of your adventures!

[Aussie Andy]

Cheers lads :)

WAC: where are you, like Kalgoorlie or Eucla or somewhere??

[gerry111]

Jaba, I'd usually be aboard with that dodgy guy from Canberra. But apparently he's running his IO 520 "On Condition". So for safety reasons, I'll have to stay on the ground...

In a previous life (circa 1984) Andy, me and a now dodgy Bo guy all shared the same avionics bench... :(

[Aussie Andy]

Is that Macka's bloody Beech they're talking about!?

G'day Gerry!

Andy :-)

[gerry111]

G'day Andy!

There's only one "Forked Tailed Doctor Killer" Beech based at YSCB so we do need to be discreet...:E

There's also a very nice G36 Bo there that never seems to fly..:sad:

[Jabawocky]

gerry.......you poor bloke :E

But glad to see you have a sense of humour. :}

Andy, make sure you post lots of pics on this thread. :ok:

[Aussie Andy]

We'll be posting pics on www.facebook.com/CherokeeChallengeFlight and Everyday Hero UK: The Cherokee Challenge Flight to Australia 2013 (http://www.everydayhero.co.uk/event/cherokeechallenge2013) :-)

[WAC]

... Minnipa... Which is about 120km west of the Sydney/Perth halfway point.

[Aussie Andy]

Mate, I'd love us to buy an old ARC-164... let's do it! I'll fit it to the aircraft and file /U (will I also need 415VAC?)

Minnipa eh..! Can't say I remember it when driving between Perth and Sydney years ago, but I see where you are on the map before Whyalla if coming form the West, so we'll stop by if we end up tracking west/south coasts!

Cheers :)

[WAC]

You may have blinked at that moment...

[WAC]

You may have blinked at that moment...

[Jack Ranga]

Dood, getting fuel in Australia will be as backward as some of the 3rd world countries you pass through. Make sure you ring every stop 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week & 2 days ahead. (Apparently its good airmanship to ring every supplier of fuel, even if they advertise it, ahead of every flight you do in Australia :ok:)

Good luck :ok:

[On eyre]

Wait for it - Whyalla will get a mention again - can't let it go I'll bet.

[Jack Ranga]

Where? Let what go brah?

[Jack Ranga]

The bloke is on an epic trip, have the good grace to wish him luck :=

[Aussie Andy]

Cheers Jack, and thanks for the tip re- fuel in Oz...

Clinton / Gerry --- delegating that to you guys! When we get as far as Indo I'll call you!!

[Super Ord]

Good luck guys, look forward to following your adventure.

[Aussie Andy]

Cheers Super Ord :-)

[Jabawocky]

Delegate to them :eek:

You are brave:E

:ok: