Melbourne to Darwin route suggestions

[VH-XXX]

Possibly have to deliver an aircraft to Darwin from Melbourne.

Can anyone offer advice on landing stops?

I assume something along the lines of:

- Melbourne
- Mildura
- Leigh Creek or Marree maybe Coober Pedy
- Alice Springs

Where to from there?

Range is around 450nm @ 120 knots.

Looks to be 1,700nm direct.

[Fat_Bulldog]

I've done a few flights from Alice Springs to Darwin before and I'd recommend stopping at Tennant Creek. Then I'd usually fly to Darwin overhead Tindal, can't remember the distance so you may need to stop at Tindal.

[Jabawocky]

Did you not get the bigger tanks?

Take 20L drums:E

OK here is a good trip plan for ya!

YTDN-YREN-YCBP-YBAS-YTNK-YPTN-YPDN

[VH-XXX]

Sorry guys but to stop the influx of further PM's I have to declare that I will be ferrying the aircraft with the new owner and there will be no room for passengers. It is a private flight.

Tennant creek looks ok, I hadn't spotted that, plus would probably need somewhere half way or close to it from Tennant Creek to Darwhine, maybe Katherine. Will do some research. The best laid plans probably won't work out no doubt.

[Old Akro]

I like MIA because of the swipe bowser & coffee shop. DCT CBP is a long way with no waypoints in a slow SE aircraft. MIA DCT CBP will also take you the the Woomera zones. These days there's usually at least one that is active at any time. They now have little tolerance of incursions, treat it with respect.

I'd probably go via PAG (Mobil swipe) although some guys like Pirie which has credit card swipe. You may be able to do Melb - PAG direct depending on wind & bladder. via HSM is marginally shorter (swipe BP). If you need to splash fuel Horsham is pretty quick to get in and out of. I choose via HSM or via MIA based on wind & degree of desperation for coffee. If there is a strong westerly, getting North as soon as possible is often faster.

From PAG its basically follow the highway.

[Naughty S]

How about MLB-BHI(onight)-LEC-CBP(onight)-AS(onight)-TN(onight)-DN

If you onight at Coober Pedy stay at Radekas the refueller will help with that. The Greek restaurant in the main street upstairs opp the supermarket does the most awsome veal scallopini with way too much garlic :ok:

The hill is worth a look & Alice has the desert park (birds of prey show :D)

At Katherine do the Gorge & definitely the hot springs near town. There are cabins at a van park near the river for 85 a night.

Enjoy the trip.

Cheers

[AussieNick]

remember Leigh Creek no longer has fuel, so Coober Pedy would be the best bet.

personally i'd look at going something along the lines of what Jaba said

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

Go Broken Hill (383 nm) - Birdsville (383 nm) - Barkly Roadhouse (419 nm) (Check that fuel is available) - Tindal (368 nm) - Darwin (154 nm)

Dr :8

[VH-XXX]

I like the Dr's suggestion, good distances and do-able in 2 and a bit days. No time for sight seeing unless it's out the window. Jaba, your suggestions were too cryptic, I need a flight planner to work out where you are talking about.

Sorry Owen you can't come , you have an important job to do providing me with RIS.

[PLovett]

XXX,

With all the rain up that way be doubly cautious that the Barkly Roadhouse has both avgas and a usable airstrip. And for that matter, Birdsville.

[ga_trojan]

Go via Hooker Creek if you want to try something different. The route YHOO to YPDN is a little more scenic than YTNK-YPDN. YBAS-YHOO-YPDN is only a few more miles than going via Tennant.

[VH-XXX]

Just realised we have more options as we can use premium unleaded which may help so that's good. I'll ring ahead for conditions. Hopefully this will take place in 2 weeks and if not me the others going will find the info useful anyway.

[compressor stall]

Buy a couple of 20 lt jerry cans and carry in the back. Will definitely increase your options. And perfectly legal. :8

If you have the miles, totally recommend YHOO - but fuel might be a bit $$. If you can, pick up the gorge north of VRD and fly in, oops sorry above, it to Vic River Xing. Magic Flying... :ok:

Head across to YTBR, refuel, then across Bradshaw station and the Fitzmaurice River, then north to Daly and on to Darwin.

[kalavo]

Jerry cans with fuel are considered Dangerous Goods. Legal with appropriate paperwork to a limit of 60 litres on no pax flights.

[Fantome]

If either of you have not overnighted Arkaroola or Mount Dare Station, then give it serious consideration. Arkaroola and Doug Sprigg's accommodation, observatory, and mountain top tour in the Troopy are a must. The biggest attraction about overnighting Mt Dare is that just to the south is Dalhousie Springs where you have a short walk from the strip to beautiful hot springs. Then when you pop over to Mt Dare for the night the beer and the bar and your hosts are all that people who've been before get misty eyed about.

[PLovett]

Last information I had on Dalhousie Springs is that the strip is closed.

IIRC due to the fact that there is no longer a park ranger stationed there to advise on the condition of the strip and the parks service don't want liability issues from people landing there.

Arkaroola is fantastic and Doug Spriggs is a mine of information about the place. Can't recommend it enough.

[NNB]

XXX
you trading up your ride?
NNB

[compressor stall]

Kavalo - you might want to check the CASRs again. (And I have presumed that the aircraft in question at those speeds and range was unpressurised and <10 seats).

[Jabawocky]

XXX

This is a pilots forum.......:8
YTDN-YREN-YCBP-YBAS-YTNK-YPTN-YPDN

Translated that is ..... HOME-Renmark-Coober Peddy-Alice Springs-Tennant Ck-Tindal/Katherine-Darwin(land of Tinpis).

The Dr has another good scenic suggestion, either way with the rains and floods in the interior there has not been a better time to go for a looksee!

J:ok:

[Fantome]

Re. Dalhousie Springs, according to reliable contacts in Alice the strip has never been closed as in off limits to all, and though SA Parks are a bit precious about it, no one will be shot or warned off for landing there. 'When ignorance is bliss.. . .. "

[Old Akro]

Avgas will be easier to get than 98 PULP in a number of those places. Once you're off the highway, I wouldn't assume anything outside of Diesel & 91 ULP and 91 ULP can get dodgy. Note also for some of the places, the number of tanker refills they get per year can be counted on one hand. I'd phone each place you want to get fuel.

Most legs you'll be flying against the prevailing wind, so factor some headwind in your fuel calcs.

Long legs with few or no reporting points are spooky if you haven't done it before. The FTDK route is not bad, but it will not have full VHF coverage. I'd check that too. Once again, its a bit spooky the first couple of times. And the maps aren't completely accurate, for instance there is an area North of Nhill where I lose VHF about 40% of trips. Personally, I'd be packing a sat phone.

Personally, I'd also be adding a day and having more fun.

[VH-XXX]

I've never been out of VHF coverage before unless at low levels. Above what height are comms lost in those areas? Or is it the case that no amount of height will get you comms?

[PLovett]

VH-XXX,

There will be areas where you will be out of VHF range at any altitude below flight levels.

In other areas you will not get VHF under about 5,000' unless within a 100 miles or thereabouts of a ground repeater station, e.g. places like Coober Pedy.

[Old Akro]

Firstly, FTDK's suggested route traverses some country with no mapped VHF coverage at 10,000 ft on the PCA.

Secondly, at my cruise levels (8 - 10k) there are a number of marginal or nil coverage areas. Once somewhere near Merimubula I had a call on my mobile from ATC wanting me to relay a radio call to a Virgin flight because they couldn't reach either of us on VHF.

Depending on which track I take there is somewhere NW of Nhil where some days I lose VHF comms for a bit. Nearly always on that route, ATC warn me before hand and request an ops normal time, so its clearly known.

Its not a big deal and its typically only 20 min or less of flight time, but in a SE aircraft with no sign of population it gets a little spooky when you're not used to it.

Outback flying is great, but its not Kansas, Dorothy. You need to adjust a bit.

[NNB]

hey XXX
are you upgarding your ride?
NNB

[Old Akro]

Forgive me if this is a bit dumb for you.

There are some places that if you go down - even knowing where - it might take a couple of days to get to you. And a bit longer if its in a VHF coverage hole and they wait for an ops normal time to expire.

If I were doing the trip, I'd have: min 10 litres water + bottled water in the cabin. I have a survival kit which I researched & made up some years ago when I started flying to Nth SA regularly. The key bits are first aid, mirror and something like a leatherman. A blue tick Telstra Next G phone is nearly mandatory. We put magnetic base aerials on ours and frequently get 50km coverage from transmitters on the ground. Naturally, I'd have a GPS EPIRB.

I'd take a sat phone, but I have one. The are rentable but I'm not sure where.

For the private / business flying I do, I now consider 5 hours flying per day to be enough. I just don't find it fun after that. Others do longer legs, but by the time you add ground prep, fueling etc and (for me) some inevitable work calls history tells me that I don't like more than about 5 flying hours per day. In the places you are going accommodation is pretty cheap and the hospitality is good. Why not add a day? How many times in your life are you going to do this trip?

There's lots to do. Eat Whiting from the Spencer Gulf at the Augusta Hotel. Have Kangaroo Curry pies at the William Ck hotel. The best Kangaroo steak I've had was at William Ck. The best Salt & pepper squid I've had was at the Eldo at Woomera - go figure! Maybe stay with the John & Sonia Bailey at Wirraminna station (www.wirraminna.com.au). Dinner at Tom & Mary's Greek Cantina at Coober Pedy. Drinking a beer and watching the sunset from the Underground Motel or Lookout Cave in Coober Pedy is a fabulous thing. An Oodnadaburger at the Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta with Adam. Beer with Andrew at Mt Dare. I'm not much for Alice Springs (although the aviation museum at the old airport is interesting), but Curtin Springs station can be a lot of fun (google them). I haven't been to Birdsville in years, but it would be a real sight, as would Innaminka with the Cooper Creek flowing. The Family Hotel at Tibooburra (with the Drysdale murals) is a great place to stay too.

I'm assuming you're flying something like a 4 seat Jabiru based on speed & 98 Octane & reference to pax. Some of this class of aircraft can get pretty high oil temp with extended running in hot ambient. The aeroplane might be happy with the odd break too. And don't forget to pack oil. Long hot bumpy climbs (if it is) always use oil as it gets splashed around the crankcase. Oil can be more difficult to get than Avgas.

The last time I flew back, the 30 kt wind was fully 90 degrees different on the ground than 9,000ft. Flying the wind can change your day.

Because the legs are long, small increases in TAS start to make a difference. Its nice to know where to have the CofG for best cruise. Some aircraft I've flown have maybe a 3kt spread between fwd & aft CofG.

Assuming you will be VFR, I'd go and buy all the maps & cut them to fit. I'd also study the route and get familiar with ridge lines, salt lakes, etc. You almost certainly have a GPS, and while outages are rare, they happen more in this territory because fewer satellites are tasked to be there. I've flown to a couple of stations with GPS coordinates only and its just more comforting to have an expectation that where you are going is consistent with landmarks. There's a lot of time with not much to look at and the mind can do odd things.

[Stationair8]

Done that flight a few times over the years, and found this to be the best route;
Day1 Melbourne-Mildura(Fuel and lunch)-Broken Hill
Day2 Broken Hill-Leigh Creek(fuel and lunch)-Alice Springs
Day3 Alice Springs-Tennant Creek(fuel and lunch)-Darwin.
About 18 hours tacho all up.
Take some snacks, water and keep a 10 litre drum of water in case of a forced landing.

[WannaBeBiggles]

XXX, I recently flew a similar route (MMB, BHI, CBP, AYE, BAS) and never found VHF coverage to be a problem, though would still take food and water with you.

If the owner of the aircraft wants to take the scenic route AYE is well worth a squiz, but will add a couple 100nm to your flight. Fuel is available at AYE.

Also, not all fuel companies have bowsers out there so you'll need a credit card handy.

Hope you have a fantastic flight. Flying out there is an unreal experience. :ok:

[Capt Fathom]

Day2 Broken Hill-Leigh Creek(fuel and lunch)-Alice Springs

Aussienick has mentioned fuel NOT available at Leigh Creek? Check that one out!

[VH-XXX]

There's lots of good advice there thanks everyone. I'll have to go through it all carefully.

Departure date is either 28th which gives at least 5 days or 8th. I could just leave it to someone else and not worry about the stress however it would be good to see it arrive there safely.

[QSK?]

Doc:Go Broken Hill (383 nm) - Birdsville (383 nm) - Barkly Roadhouse (419 nm) (Check that fuel is available) - Tindal (368 nm) - Darwin (154 nm)Good way to go, Doc, but the only thing that I would add is that fuel is quite expensive at Birdsville and there are no swipe card facilities; call out only.

[Fantome]

With water, some rations, a space blanket, the GPS ELT and the SAR note, I don't give a rats about VHF coverage. When you do this trip at 1000' or below you see detail the high flyers what not of. And if your fuel allows, come round for another look or cautiously come a bit lower. Praise be, the digital camera.