Flying over Sydney

[The Nr Fairy]

All :

I took an R44 for a spin round northern Sydney and through the lane down the Parramatta River - 500' from the Harbour Bridge for about 3 / 4 miles.

I got my mate to take piccies - if anyone wants a look, check out my Fototime album here (http://www.fototime.com/inv/5E4E5448E5E891A) .

Can anyone identify the kit in the first two piccies ? My guess was a CH-7.

[widgeon]

Cool pics , for some reason did not expect Sydney to be so green.

[Robbo Jock]

Excellent pictures. No help on the "CH-7?" question, I'm afraid. I flew a Piper Warrior over the harbour quite a few years back now, it's one of my more memorable flights, circling over the harbour near the Bridge and House. Your shots bring it flooding back...
Afraid all my piccies are old technology, so I can't share !

[t'aint natural]

Hey, my old house is in picture 16. I used to live in McMahons Point. You should've taken the pictures yourself and let old shaky fly. The harbour trip is one of the most picturesque anywhere. Trouble is, there isn't much variety around there... no wonder Dick Smith keeps flying around the world.

[Steve76]

The homebuilt looks like the eyetie "Dragonfly"

[syd_rapac]

Widgeon,

It greened up after the major fires were put out by rain around the end end of january. It got so wet that the Skycranes were bogging into the ground and had to be moved to a harder area.

Syd

[Whirlybird]

Nice pics Nr Fairy.

Hey, you get to fly in the US AND Oz in the same year!!! My turn to get jealous - except I'm having too much fun to bother. Enjoy yourself!!!!

[Hone22]

Yep could be a Dragonfly, from the angle of the shot its a bit hard to tell wether it's a single or 2 person Jobbie.

CH7? that's the one also called an angel????????

Both machines look similar (I guess configuration wise there aren't too many formula's that work well at those power/weight groups).

Hey NR how bout a brief speel on the general route + clearances etc.

A sydney flight would be something I'd like to do in the future and having been into Bankstown, it's surprising how "open" the airspace is until 2RN (as long as you're doing the helicopter approach as opposed to the aeroplane approach 1000' Vs 6000' :D )

Tell me more pls.

[The Nr Fairy]

Hone :

Definitely a single seater, with a two stroke engine.

I did the poling but Mark, the instructor ( and incidentally the guy who taught me to fly while I was out in Oz for a year for work ) did the radio and the rest. I'd not flown their for 2 1/2 years, so it made sense to me.

General route - Choppers West out of Bankstown, then North via the lane of entry at 1500'. Turned right at the 12 DME point from the Sydney VOR - that's the edge of the controlled airspace around Sydney airport. Then to the coast at 1500' - 1800', and turn right, down to 1000' to remain in the Victor 1 lane. IIRC the radio is on the R405 common frequency, making blind calls.

At the Sydney Harbour heads, turn right - still at 1000', watch the boats. Down to 500' abeam the Harbour Bridge southern pylon, calling blind on the R405 frequency. Follow the Paramatta River at 500', keeping over the water for noise abatement which sometimes necessitates tight turns, and at the Ryde rail bridge, start climbing to 1000' for the return. I don't know if it's come out on the piccies, but after the Ryde bridge there's a mast which is VERY close - makes life interesting.

This trip is excellent if you've got to take someone who's visiting Sydney for a pleasure flight. Seeing the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from a new perspective lights their faces up something excellent, and it's nice to wave and be waved to by, the people climbing the bridge.

As an aside, this was the FIRST time a passenger was ever sick on me. My mate's 7 year old son was ill - but we had bags and he told us he was going to be ill, so the only problem it caused was fewer piccies of the Olympic Stadium.

[RotorHorn]

Cheers Nr.
Top piccies! Suprised you could see anything with the glare from that shirt (picture 20) ;)
Better than being stuck in the office though, eh? :cool:
Glad you're enjoying yourself. I think I'll stick to the Lake District, its a bit easier to get to on a lunch break....

As an aside, can you get those CH-7's to fly in the UK? If you dare that is...:eek:

[The Nr Fairy]

That shirt is the quieter of the two. The dress shirt, on display at the last GatBash, could double as a hi-vis vest.