Birdsville Races

[Jawz]

Whos going?

Anyone with any info on what i will need to take there feel free to comment!

[apache]

Money, deodorant, your own toilet paper, more money, hat, sunscreen, sleeping bag, more money, NOTAMS!!!

Mgazines and "new" newspapers never go astray as gifts/bargaining chips for the locals, as they don't get a daily newspaper service.

Stay AWAY from the boxing tent - it will only end in tears.
Buy your stubby holder etc from the RFDS.
Be prepared to stand knee deep in beer cans, not shower for three days, pay a landing fee (per passenger), not cheap fuel - a lot of people actually travel home via Windorah to get fuel.

A great experience, and don't forget your camera

[tinpis]

Yer fergot the RID ! http://www.augk18.dsl.pipex.com/Smileys/fly.gif

[Tinstaafl]

Are you camping with your a/c or have arranged accommodation?

If camping:

Bring some form of camping mattress. The place is full of rocks.

Bring something warm to wear at night. Temp. can get quite chilly.

Plan to tanker in as much fuel as you can, refuel there with whatever is necessary to get back out to a cheaper place.

Make sure you have appropriate survival gear for the remote area

Don't bring your best clothes.

Get there early is better & don't rush to leave on Sun.

Pay good attention to the NOTAMS for the arrival & departure procedures.

Be competent at remote area navigation.

[Pinky the pilot]

One suggestion re the fuel situation for those coming up from SA; Plan to stop and refuel at Leigh Creek. The fuel agent there is a great Lady, generally always there on weekends and I am bl***y sure would especially be there on the Sunday. Fact is I heard a whisper of munchies being available to all who stop there for fuel on the way home.
The first two paragraphs of Apache's post are extremely worthy of taking note. Especially the comment re Notams and the taking of Newspapers and magazines.:ok:

You only live twice. Once when
you're born. Once when
you've looked death in the face.

[VRB03KT CAVOK]

- Kick the stones away before pitching your tent and no need for a matress...

- Buy your beers in a round a slab at a time and over the weekend you will save $$$ (you are in XXXX gold terretory)

- Once the sun goes down it gets cold, damn cold.

- Try and syncronise your bowel movements to just after they've cleaned the toilets.

- Your a/c will gently sink into the ground over the weekend, on Sunday don't use takeoff power settings to get it rolling, you'll really upset the people in the tent behind you.

[Mainframe]

Birdsville Races:

I've said it before, this is absolutely the bloke,iest weekend you can ever have.

Yes, the fees are a bit high, but this is the RFDS's biggest single event fundraiser.

There is no more Aussie experience available for most ozzies.

Yes, it gets cold at night, actually, bloody cold.

Yes, there's rocks everywhere on the ground, you need a good base to your swag to avoid them,
or enough liquid "gold" to sedate you past caring.

Do go to Brophy's boxing tent, the "boom d'oom d' boom beat of the drums, the ringing of the bell,
all evoke the most primordal instinct in aussie males, and females.

This is just about the last boxing tent you'll ever see, and it's an experience you will always remember.

Yes, it'll probably end in tears if you are a combatant,
but I know a few cathay and QF captains who braved it for their three minutes or so of glory.

The races are great, and surprisingly true to form.

The only sour part of the whole weekend is the gestapo waiting to pounce at Charleville and other refuelling stops.

Don't even think of going overloaded or not capable of passing a ramp check.

The misfits will have a field day with you if you do.

!st weekend in September, if you can't get there this year, plan for next year

[Woomera]

Mainframe

You were doing well up to the "sour part", perhaps you need to take some of your own medicine.

Your Avatar says; Check Attitude :ok:

You redeemed yourself for a bit with;
Don't even think of going overloaded or not capable of passing a ramp check.
Then blew it.

Why should you operate any differently going to Birdsville than you would with any other flight.

It is a great Aussie occasion and epitomises how vitally important is aviation in getting us together to have some fun in our great outback, 'twould be a pity if some Aussie loon spoilt it by killing someone.

Fly safe out there people.

[VH5BYJ]

Why should you operate any differently going to Birdsville than you would with any other flight.
Ah, dear Woomera! Have you never been to the Birdsville Races? If you had, & seen the overloaded Cherokee Sixes & other assorted aircraft staggering down the runway like I have then perhaps you would rethink that comment! And if someone didn't get lost, run out of fuel, crash or all of the above then it wasn't Birdsville weekend!

[Mainframe]

Hi Woomera,

It was just a friendly warning to the non commercials who venture out there,
as VH5BYJ correctly observed, and I have too,
there are a lot of pilots out there yet to be ramp checked or even who know of the practice.

Those who fly for a living are generally compliant because, amongst other things,
it's their job on the line.

Given the distance involved, it is a normal practice to cost share this weekend,
meaning lots of punters in Cherokee sixes etc with full loads and the fuel and camping gear.

Some private pilots will inevitably be easy prey for the Gestapo, again, hence the "heads up" .

[tipsy]

Pinky, that lovely lady is of course well known for her ability to produce sandwiches and a cup of tea or coffee and greet you with a great big smile as you shutdown at the bowser. Thank goodness there are still people like Rosie in this world,

tipsy

[Woomera]

Mainframe

No worries mate just a bit worried that some might carry your "attitude" to the regulator with them.

They have a job to do and caling them misfits and the gestapo aint gunna endear them to your fellow flyers.

We have been running a campaign of rapprochement here which is bearing some fruit.

You're right they wont have a problem with the pros and we would hope that they are able to counsel the rest.

It should be a useful experience for both pilots and trhe regulator.

As it is not often that we have such a large gathering of Eagles they are bound to find a few turkeys amongst them.

Hopefully they too will handle them professionally, you can be sure if they don't we'll hear about it here. ;) :ok:

[VRB03KT CAVOK]

In keeping with Birdsville tradition; was the town's population woken up by a Cessna 210 departing 1 minute after first light on Sunday?

[gary gearbox]

Think it was one minute before, but it was the Beech 18 which woke me up.

A good weekend but a bit down on numbers they say. The 25 knot northerly made Saturday a bit dusty, and made for good viewing of runway 32 threshold from the front of the pub. As posters have said lots of stones and dirt, but the free hot showers we very nice.

Even a few more ladies around than I expected.

I even recall seeing an aminal with 4 legs running around a track at one point but most people were looking in the direction of the bar at that stage.

Great fun, try and get there if you have not been.

GG