Shark Patrol
During the Summers of 1967-68 and 69, I flew the Shark Patrol aircraft up and down the coast of Sydney from Palm Beach to Cronulla every weekend with the public holiday tacked on. This was for the Sydney Radio Station, 2SM.
The aircraft was a Cessna C172, VH-ARK, which we called "Ark the Shark"
We had quite a few sightings. On board the "ARK" we had a very loud siren fitted to the bulkhead to warn swimmers and a radio transmitter on the back seat. With this we had instant contact with 2SM and could transmit direct over the airwaves, this was done by one of the 2SM disc jockeys, who would come along on every flight. The majority of bathers on the beaches tuned into 2SM, good thinking 2SM.
My Airways Clearance was a ripper, it was always, " A R K maintain East of the coast, not above 500 feet and report OPS. normal on the hour and half hour".
It was a great 3 summers.
angry ant