OK, put the knives away!
I don't think Jaba's intention was to "point the bone" at the PIC. Perhaps "brave" was not the best word to use - I prefer "interesting"!
I've been told that I am crazy for flying some serious IFR in a single - but its all about risk management.
I cut my teeth mixing it with SE Qld's CBs - all the way back to my 2nd PPL solo nav (in a C150!). If you haven't been there, let me tell you, "They can be very scary"! The biggest, meanest thunder bumpers I have seen - outside of Kansas.
Would be interesting to hear from the PIC what the actual senario was. It looks like an interesting flightpath from Sunshine Coast to Archerfield. Probably not one that I would have considered, but if the thinking was, "Lets go west and see if we can get around behind this thing and pick our way to AF. We can land at one of the many aerodromes out there and wait it out, if it looks too bad". Then OK - I can go along with that. Looking at the plot, they had lots of "outs" providing that they had plenty of fuel and didn't push their luck too far. A bit of money spent on fuel, but no big deal.
I assume they were VFR, or at least visual, cause there is no way I would tangle with that in IMC in a lighty, even with radar and a stormscope.
I have run into SE Qld's "Wall of CBs" on a number of occasions when flying from Nth Qld to Toowoomba or Brisbane. If I saw that picture on the iPad I would most likely be heading for the nearest available aerodrome with rental cars.
Anyone who has been flying for a while has most probably pushed their luck with CBs. I know I have: eg taken off just in front of an approaching storm or picked my way between BIG vertical buildups IFR in a 172. Got away with it and afterwards thought, "I probably shouldn't have done that"!
Many years ago I was in a new, probably the best equipped Bonanza in Oz, with a highly experienced PIC, trying to fly from Boulia to Cloncurry. We ran into a line of storms associated with a cold front going through. Numerous attempts to find a way through were thawted by lightening strikes ahead of us so we diverted to Mt Isa to wait it out. A visit to the Flight Service Unit (remember those?) to kill some time revealed that there were 5 x other aeroplanes out there and we were the only one to turn away! Were the other pilots just more brave than us?
Looking at that radar plot and finding out it was a lighty has you asking questions. There is a learning experience here, particularly for those just starting out.
All good in this case!
.....but what if the outcome had been otherwise? We would be having a totally different conversation!
As others have said, we weren't there. Don't know what the backup plan was. Didn't see the view from the cockpit.
Most likely a complete non-event.......but an interesting case study none-the-less!
Dr 