There is usually more than one way to get to your destination - don't get locked in on going by the most direct route.
The storms in the top end rarely hold hands. By that I mean they are usually isolated and do not form a continuous line like a cold front down south so there are normally routes past them.
If there isn't a route past a storm there are usually a hundred and one strips in the vicinity. Land and wait out. The storms are usually gone in 30 minutes or so.
The storms in the top end move surprisingly fast. Don't think you will be able to get around them by flying across their front. Go behind, your route will be shorter even if it doesn't look that way to begin with.
When flying east out of Darwin I noticed that during the day the clouds would extend out along the peninsulas but rarely extend beyond out over the sea. It was often worth a diversion to the coast to be able to duck out and around the end of the storms.
Be careful of what you drain out of the fuel tanks. I have had nothing but water for the first 3 or 4 samples drawn out of some tanks. Keep draining until you get nothing but fuel and if necessary give the wings a wobble to dislodge water caught in the baffles in the tank.
When flying around a storm be very careful you don't fly under the cloud shelves surrounding the centre of the storm. They look like one of those profile views of controlled airspace surrounding airfields. The downdrafts there are savage. I reckon the dash of the venerable C206 I first flew in the NT still has my pax's finger marks in it from the one and only time I got caught.
Talk to others who have seen it all before. Prior experience is valuable so if you don't have it, learn from others.
Last edited by PLovett; 14th Feb 2010 at 21:37.