The Bungles Pilot
 

I was just viewing the threads on the 'young pilot's' heading up north to try their luck on getting their first flying job.

I was taken back a few years when I was in their shoes, and a poem I wrote about my experience as a “Bungles” pilot came back to me. It is posted below; hopefully it won’t cause some readers to have nightmares of their trips over said large rocks.

This poem was written after I observed one of our pilots walking back across the tarmac with a group of elderly passengers in tow. I hope he is enjoying the flying with VB.

The Bungles Pilot

The Bungles pilot wakes,
And rises before first light
Staggers to his plane
To complete the pre flight.

Then the passengers arrive,
So frail and weak.
He reminds them
"The flight's two hours
They'd better take a leak".

They follow him to the plane,
Like old lost sheep.
And pray into his hands,
Their soles to keep.

The brief is done,
And they're in the plane.
He taxi's for three zero
To do the flight again.

The plane is airborne,
And soon on their way.
The pilot's thoughts
Turn's to airlines,
And jobs with better pay.

They are heading South,
And he turns with a weary smile,
Shouts to the old dears,
We're now passing over Lake Argyle.

If you look to your right,
You will see the dam wall.
And thinks to himself,
God this flight's a bore.

They’re soon in the Bungles,
And it's as rough as guts.
The pilot thinks to himself,
If I do this flight again, I'll go nuts!

The plane twists and turns,
And occasionally the pilot goes weak.
As he mixes it with the boys,
From Alligator and Hall's bloody Creek.

They are now over Argyle.
And wonder at the changing hues.
They are homeward bound,
And on into the Carr-Boyd blues.

He crosses Packsaddle Plain,
And thinks with dread.
The flight is almost over,
There are stupid questions ahead.

He walks into the office,
Like a man in pain.
And see's on the board,
He has to do the Bungles AGAIN!! :O :ok:

Quite an afflatus indeed...
 

Not bad at all mate. I read the odd poem from time to time. Although, not so much these days due to a lack of time.

I'm sure the guys actually doing that run would appreciate it!


520.

G'day Mr Cont

I hear you are borrowing AOZ for a few months.

Does this mean I'm going to have to do the club comps in UNS:{ :{

Good luck

Dawnie

Did the AOZ thing come off?. It was a long shot, hope it worked out for both parties.

Yep, looks like a deal has been struck regarding that.

Might be down that way to pick her up soon...we should catch up.

Btw Wiz, I don't think I told you, I'm up north again now.

Speak soon! :ok:


520.

Ok lets see who has the biggest score of bungle flights under their belt.

I myself have approx 450 flights around those ******s. I estimate almost 1000 mind numbing hours flying old dears around the rocks ex Knx. :}

Very impressive and sorry to hijack the thread, but....

I really think there should also be a tally for most Oombi runs ex WYM, and most cartons of Red Cans (or Green, or black box, or muzzle for that matter) fit into a C206/210.

We all know that 0.7 or 0.8 return WYM-FRV-WYM is much more mentally and physically demanding than a 2.2 hr soiree over the Bungles. And besides, what are the chances of Inga and her busty friend Heidi turning up for the trip to YFRV?

Winner gets an all expenses paid trip to Temptation Island, courtesy of Wyndham Aviation.

I'll kick off with my meagre total of 180 Oombi trips and a total of 28 cartons of red/green cans and a few muzzles into a C206.

Cheers,
TL

Transition Layer.

If you are lucky enough to one of the guys/girls that got to fly the bungles mission in the marvel of Australian aircraft engineering the GA8, on a good day you might log 2.5 ku-beb-ku *3

God help us all :yuk:

I got off lightly with only 365 Bungles.
However one of the other pilots working there at the time had over 1000, he is due for release from the assylum soon.:O :}

personally, nearly 500 sorties.... but we had a chief once who it was said had done over 900 or so then the topic became taboo... goes gets log boog to scare up the rest...

there was a ripper "theme song" we had... but shame now Ive forgotten it...

Great poem!!! I really enjoyed it. I'm not a Bungle pilot, but I can certainly relate.

I must admit. Although I've done my fair share of Abrolhos Islands tours Ex GEL (and have arms about 10 cms longer than when I first started from carrying eski's and lunch bags three Kms to the "pristine" beach), I would be ready for the nut house after seemingly endless Bungle runs. I truely take my hat off to all of you. Best wishes and the very best of luck to you all for whatever derivative of this industry you're aiming for.

P.S. And thanks heaps for giving us our Airvan back! :ok: :D ;)

Just a question since the aircraft has been mentioned a couple of times - what is the airvan like from a pilots point of view and also an operators side? Just curious.

Did plenty of 3 bungles days in the trusty Airvan. The key is to get the ventilation fan mod done so it actually blows & has some sort of circulation. Poor Slings scarecan doesnt have this and theirs is on the bottom of the pilots wish to fly list. I got about 400+ hours in them and I enjoyed flying them. Plus they had a lovely colour moving map GPS, so thats why I didn't get lost on one of my 200+ sorties to the bungles. Northen Chique, I too heard Pongos recount of such a song. There is a current song about the bungles now. If anyone wants to get it, contact the guitar weilding navajo driver @ sling.

PS - Airvan is great on short strips carrying the max legal load. Very poor when you look at the distance to run on GPS and there is 400nm to go and your roaring around at 115kt. I got one to 10,000ft by KU mbz boundary once (empty of course).

Gippsland Aeronautics should be blown off the face of the earth for making such a dismal excuse for an aeroplane.
- Anymore than an hours flight and you would need to see a chiropractor!
- It had a shape only a mother could love
- Under powered
- 300 hp single with no rudder trim
- Flew like it was sitting on a pin head so it was fondly dubbed the "spew van"

I remember vividly running out of the office after seeing I had been rostered, nay sentenced, to fly the Scarevan screaming "I would rather be flying the Slug!".

GA for shame...:suspect:

Right on Poita.

Said like a true airvan discriminater.

I do recall an incident of one poor soul who was subjected to 9.7 hrs of airvan pain in one day:{

Give me a slug any day.

Dr smhoo all is good and well if you are 5'2.

BTW. unlucky if it didnt have a gps be you cant even track coastal to the bungles :ok:

ive never flown an airvan,i have however flown the slug.with regard to earlier posts a few have mentioned that they would prefer to fly the slug.so basically what i can deduct from that is the airvan must be one of the worst a/c on the face of the earth.:suspect:

Airvan - is that better to fly than the 206 that we all used to do Bungles in.

I remember one guy having a blade of the 206 prop come off overhead the bungles. Managed to get it down in the scrub with only minor injuries. Luckily Army were on exercises nearby and got them all back to KU fairly quickly.

That was about `84, and said pilot has been with QF for about 15 years now.

So, hours is hours, and hopefully it will get you all where you wish to be.

song
 

I heard a really brilliant song about the Bungle Runs you poor ******s have been doing/done. Goes to the music of Don McLean's "American Pie" Funny as fork. **** it kills us from here in Broome to do three or four a year but to have to do 3 or 4 hundred?!?

Bungles
 

TL... probably not quite in the same league, but at the other end of the spectrum 250+ YPJT-YSHK-YPJT in C210's at 5.7hrs return. I think BB (and others in the '95-'99 era) could top this though!

Carton frieght, how does 450 kg rate? YDBY-YCTI

rN

470 or so, but I cheated, most were done with the 3A's:D

As for the Spewvan... the less said the better:mad: