YFLI

[Wally Mk2]

Anyone been to Flinders Is of late? A few friends of mine are wanting me to get 'em over there for some fishing/bush walking but I ain't been there in like a 100 yrs! I'd have to do it in a SE, yes 'jaba' am gunna leave my senses & fly a SE over water to one of the most inhospitable places wx wise at times!!!:-)
Used to be fun going there many years ago when it was really unknown.
Any hints/tips where to go or where to stay away from would be great tnxs:-)


Wmk2

[Robdog]

Any Replies would be good... I am off there in a week, along with King Island.

[Howard Hughes]

I'd have to do it in a SE, yes 'jaba' am gunna leave my senses & fly a SE over water to one of the most inhospitable places wx wise at times!!!:-)
Next you'll be telling us it's a piston!:ooh:

[peuce]

Well, I've done it ... flew "via the islands".
Single engine piston to boot.

Had the superman eagle ear tuned to the note of the donk for the whole trip.

Hired the airport manager's car and managed to spear a wallaby through the radiator.
Camped at the local camp ground and was monstered by a pack of the local alchohol-fueled youths on motor bikes.

Decided to pack up and leave ... but Essendon was fogged in ... so waited at the airport for 5 hours before we could depart.

All in all ... not one of our better trips :mad:

Maybe things have changed ....

[compressor stall]

Killiecrankie at the NW tip was idyllic in '98. They were just finishing some lodges there. I'm sure there's a bit more now. Great view from the top of Mt K and an old fishing shelter on the foreshore. Penguins, stingrays and all sorts of stuff visible in the crystal clear water.

Great rockclimbing too.

[PLovett]

G'day Wal, despite having been to Flinders Island a few times in the past I never got past the airport until last January when I spent a few days at Lady Barron at the southern end. Fantastic and I wished I could have stayed longer. If I had a photo account somewhere I would post some piccies but I don't.

There are plenty of B & B or cabin type accommodation available as well as the local pubs. There is a hire-car place at Whitemark and the whole island is doable in short time.

If you are going to Lady Barron there is an airstrip within walking distance of the town but be careful as there are two. One is grass and closer to town, the other is gravel and a little further out but is preferred (longer and with much easier approaches). I think the grass one is owned by the local operator and is private use only.

Getting there can be interesting. When I went it was IFR and required a GPS arrival and to boot, it was blowing its head off, so we used Whitemark rather than scud-run to Lady Barron. Incidentally, if you go in January there is an event called "Music In The Vines" which is a lot of fun.

[Jabawocky]

Anyone been to Flinders Is of late? A few friends of mine are wanting me to get 'em over there for some fishing/bush walking but I ain't been there in like a 100 yrs! I'd have to do it in a SE, yes 'jaba' am gunna leave my senses & fly a SE over water to one of the most inhospitable places wx wise at times!!!:-)
Used to be fun going there many years ago when it was really unknown.
Any hints/tips where to go or where to stay away from would be great tnxs:-)

So you mean you are going to go down here, with this kind of weather:eek:, Single engine....and Over Water.....IFR.....:eek::eek::eek:
http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab58/jaba430/IMG_3819.jpg

Take lots of floaties Wally, and remember how to fly a piston do yer Wally? Its not that silly french light twin ya flying down there mate ;). Mind you it probably won't call you a retard when you land :}.

Do you need to come up here for some retraining :E Them levers are Throttle/Prop/Mixture by the way.

So track out via YMAV and from high enough you will not have too long in "no mans land".

My suggestion is climb on top of 8/8 of cloud, do not use a colour map GPS, and let down on King Island. You will never know ;).

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

I'd have to do it in a SE, yes 'jaba' am gunna leave my senses & fly a SE over water to one of the most inhospitable places wx wise at times!!!:-)

Haha, now that IS funny! Always good to start the day with a joke.

Dr :8

[22k]

Take a twin. Nothing more to say than that.

[Aussie Bob]

Have a ball Wally. YFLI is a wonderland. You can get a rentaracer at the airport and accomodation is everywhere off season. Your really don't need any more info than that other than you need probabaly more time than you will allow. Climb the mount, walk the beaches, get a Killacrankie diamond, enjoy the largest population of pilots per capita in Aus, check the cheap real estate.

YFLI should be on any pilots list and a single will get you there and back just fine. Those that say otherwise are just sheltered individuals living in fearful environments. Enjoy!

[outnabout]

I'm interested to see the reaction to the very thought of flying a SE piston over water - shock, horror, don't do it.

A quick memory flick through the statistics of the past few years (and I'm only going on memory), and it would appear that the majority of deaths in Aust GA seem to have occurred in multi-engine.

So, why the :eek: reaction to flying SE piston? I recognise that the weather on or around Flinders can be dodgy, and changeable, but the reaction on this thread seems to me to be perpetuating the myth that ME = fly anwhere any time but SE = death, all the time.

Yes, I agree that ME gives more options, but it's not 100% guaranteed - nothing is.

I would think that flying any aircraft Sth East out of Jandakot, West out of Bankstown, or North out of Melbourne (all - I think - over hills and heavy forest) would have been just as much tiger country as the Bass Strait.

[Wally Mk2]

'outnabout' I think you miss the tongue in cheek responses that go with the long standing thought of mine flying a SE IFR over water is suicide!:)
'jaba' yr nuts !:ok:

Thanks for all the info guys:ok: I have been to YFLI many times b4 but not for years hence just wanted to know if there was anything interesting that I may not have been aware of.
Done it in SE planes back in the days when I was really dumb & knew no better!:E Used to have to go via the smaller Is's back many years ago as that was the only legal way to, go, Deal Is, Hogan Is etc. Been there in twin turbines as well & near fell asleep whilst way above the waves, not the case in a piston single !!!! eeeekkkkkk:E
One year got stuck there in Vh TIZ a C210. Had a bunch of mates on board & when it was the morning to head back to MB we couldn't see the end of the rwy due low cloud, two extra days stuck there ! Another time just got out in a C182 & had to fly damn low to stay blw the solid overcast (remember no GPS back then!)watching the shark fins below:E,ended up in Sandy Bay I think it was called circling looking for an out! Eventually landed at some strip East along the coast, can't think of it's name (someone may remember,might be closed now)& stayed a full day/night!
And while I'm on a roll here did another trip in a PA32-300 (Vh HOW)with a mate of mine he was in an Aztruk. He landed ahead of me & said no need for any brakes upon ldg, soon found out what he meant as I flew over the strip & saw three trenches along the main rwy, near full power to taxi to the ramp......the place was soaked ! Stan Bowmen ( I assume he's long gone now)came out to meet us at the strip with a rusty Sigma hire car & said sheeeez you guys where lucky to get in! As we drove off in the rusty Sigma the guy next to me said hey my feet are getting wet & we where IN the car on the wet rd !:ok:
The stories are endless just with YFLI! At $5 Kilo crays it was considered cheap sea food!


Wmk2

[Aussie Bob]

I have been to YFLI many times b4 but not for years hence just wanted to know if there was anything interesting that I may not have been aware of.

You think the joint may have changed?

[Wally Mk2]

........hey 'AB' it's FLI we are talking about here, with it's history anythings possible buddy as they may even have a traffic light on the joint!!:E


Wmk2

[Brian Abraham]

Don't know what the problem is flying Bass Strait single engine. Spent thousands of hours doing just that in front a good old Lycoming (turbine Wally, but glad when they gave us a multi)

[Pilotette]

I'm heading across at the end of December & because I'm departing from HSM was planning via King Is. Any merit in coming back over via Flinders or much the same deal?

[PLovett]

Pilotette, they are two very different islands scenery wise (King is flat and Flinders is hilly to mountainous) but the locals are equally as friendly on both places. :ok: Mind you when the wind stops on King everyone falls over. :eek:

[CharlieLimaX-Ray]

On a quiet day you can still hear the Heron turning base for runway 23.

[hadagutful]

Doesn't matter how many engines Wally, just go and have fun but plan accordingly.

What nonsense about SE a/c, has anyone told you that they are ferried across the Pacific and there's a bit more ocean to traverse than down to Flinders or KII.

It's a common sense approach and risk minimisation, i.e. pick the weather, take your life jackets, follow the islands, have your portable ELT handy and plan/SARtime or flight following.
If you are staying down for more than a couple of days, just be prepared for weather changes as it is Bass Strait.

(Like the comment from Plovett about the wind on King Is., if it stops people fall over!)

[CharlieLimaX-Ray]

Is Artie Withers, Noel Bowland and Leedham Walker still on the island?

[AIREHEAD]

Yes, all still there and well. All still involved in aviation