Renting & flying in the Gulf country

[jumpuFOKKERjump]

From a correspondent of mine on another forum:My son...is 25 Y.O. Israeli privet pilot.

Next April he is going to visit north Australia vicinity of Carpentaria gulf area. He needs of some information about the weather and VFR flying over that area.

Do you know any person which will be able to answer part or all his kinky questions about that place? Part of my reply to him:
"In short, expect blue skies & warm days, or hot days with thunderstorms, or weather events that can destroy cities (if there were any.)

That last point, aviation infrastructure is a bit limited out there. I don't know exactly where you are going but there would probably be limited opportunities to rent an aircraft out there, but I believe there are magnificent things to see from the air. "

Can anybody add to/contradict this, preferably from first hand?

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

My son...is 25 Y.O. Israeli privet pilot.

"Privet was originally the name for the European (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe) semi-evergreen shrub (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrub) Ligustrum vulgare, and later also for the more reliably evergreen Ligustrum ovalifolium (Japanese privet), used extensively for privacy hedging (hence "privet", private). The term is now used for all members of the genus Ligustrum, which includes about 40-50 species of evergreen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evergreen), semi-evergreen or deciduous (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deciduous)shrubs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrub) and small trees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree), native to Europe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe), north Africa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa), Asia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia) and Australasia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasia), with the centre of diversity in China (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China), the Himalaya (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalaya), Japan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan) and Taiwan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan). They are placed in the olive family Oleaceae (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oleaceae)."

What exactly is involved in piloting a "privet"?

Or did you mean "privy pilot"?

"The term privy now refers to an outhouse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outhouse)."

Yes, that's got to be it - lots of us "sh*thouse" pilots out there!

Dr :8

OK, ok, I know the drill - hat, coat, door!

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

Sorry, couldn't help it!

Now that I have had my fun. Cairns would probably be the best (perhaps only) place to hire an aircraft.

Flying the Gulf Country in April shouldn't present too many problems for a VFR pilot. Navigation could be an issue for someone not familiar with the vastness of our fair country, and the lack of "obvious" navigational features. I guess a good GPS would overcome much of that issue.

If you can come up with some specific questions, I would be happy to try to answer them - the Gulf is kinda my backyard!

Dr :8

[OZBUSDRIVER]

If your boy is in the Gulf around August September, he could try this-
Morning Glory/ (http://www.dropbears.com/brough/)
Morning Glory (http://www.morningglorycloud.com/)
Morning Glory (http://www.burkeshirecouncil.com/morning_glory/mg_aopa95.htm)
Morning Glory (http://www.gosoaring.com.au/Morning%20Glory%2007.html)

Certainly something to try at least once. It is up on my list of northern holiday destinations.

[Lasiorhinus]

He'll need a security check, either an ASIC or AVID to fly an aeroplane in Australia. Best get on to this sooner rather than later, or he will be limited to taking another pilot with him at all times.

[jumpuFOKKERjump]

Thanks guys, I'll pass it back and come back with any specific questions.

[jumpuFOKKERjump]

I've had some more questions from Ohad, and answered most of them, can anybody help with this?Are there a lot of GA flights over the gulf west of the cape? Does anybody know if there are any aircraft to rent in Weipa?