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Old 24th April 2002 | 11:24
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The Nr Fairy
25 Anniversary
 
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 2,018
Likes: 73
From: Pewsey, UK
Hone :

Definitely a single seater, with a two stroke engine.

I did the poling but Mark, the instructor ( and incidentally the guy who taught me to fly while I was out in Oz for a year for work ) did the radio and the rest. I'd not flown their for 2 1/2 years, so it made sense to me.

General route - Choppers West out of Bankstown, then North via the lane of entry at 1500'. Turned right at the 12 DME point from the Sydney VOR - that's the edge of the controlled airspace around Sydney airport. Then to the coast at 1500' - 1800', and turn right, down to 1000' to remain in the Victor 1 lane. IIRC the radio is on the R405 common frequency, making blind calls.

At the Sydney Harbour heads, turn right - still at 1000', watch the boats. Down to 500' abeam the Harbour Bridge southern pylon, calling blind on the R405 frequency. Follow the Paramatta River at 500', keeping over the water for noise abatement which sometimes necessitates tight turns, and at the Ryde rail bridge, start climbing to 1000' for the return. I don't know if it's come out on the piccies, but after the Ryde bridge there's a mast which is VERY close - makes life interesting.

This trip is excellent if you've got to take someone who's visiting Sydney for a pleasure flight. Seeing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from a new perspective lights their faces up something excellent, and it's nice to wave and be waved to by, the people climbing the bridge.

As an aside, this was the FIRST time a passenger was ever sick on me. My mate's 7 year old son was ill - but we had bags and he told us he was going to be ill, so the only problem it caused was fewer piccies of the Olympic Stadium.
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