The most informative thread on Pprune

Seconded for sticky!:ok:

Why not just bookmark it in your Firefox/Internet Explorer?

For those guys heading north and don't want to make the drive, I have a good reliable car up in Darwin I would like to get rid of. PM me for details

Sorry for the stupid question, but when exactly is the wet season? And is this when the flying gets busy due to the roads being flooded and therefore a greater need for flying in to and out of the remote townships?

Politically_Blonde, you obviously don't know, do you? I read somewhere you don't even have your PPL. May be you can add something useful to this website once you have some flying qualification? :rolleyes:

Julie,

Before you hit someone else with sarcasm, think about how you come across.
If you have not done CPL or ATPL Meteorology, fair enough. If you have, then I'd dive back into your theory notes.

To answer.

The "Wet" pertains to the Wet Season in the northern part of Australia when the good ol' ITCZ shifts south bringing monsoonal conditions. Lots of rain, lots of thunderstorms and the occasional cyclone to spark things up.

Which month this happens is the talk of the locals "up north", but "Summer" is a reasonable answer.

Also, I punched in "When is the wet season in Australia" into Google and got a few hits.

The flying rate overall is less than in the "Dry" because of fewer tourists. However, many communities are cut off because of rising flood waters or washed out roads. So, for the crews that remain during the Wet, they are still busy. It is more challenging and requires a bit more experience.

Dunno if the bush fire smoke (viz) may not be a bit more challenging for a tyro in the dry Reddo?
But I supppose nowdays yer just read them GPS things?

If you poke your nose into something wetty and bumpy you're nuts anyway.

Tinny,

I know what you're saying and it definitely has some truth. However, I found that if you had the altitude to play with, just drop down 1-3 thou' feet and the viz improved considerably. Trying to bash your way through the smoke haze close to the inversion layer was hard work. :ugh:

From my experience the worst of the smoke haze was about 8,000' (inversion dependent) or so, therefore, a drop to 4 or 5,000' wasn't difficult nor too great a fuel penalty. :D

GPS's are useful for sure, but they can't solve all the problems.
Agreed re wet and bumpy stuff.. :ouch:

If you believe everything in the media, then we're in for an absolute shocker this year with an El nino event forming already .. hmmmm .. I thought it awful last year. :bored:

Build up.
I have my mad pills ready beside me bed.

redsnail, thanks for your answer (and thanks to those who PMed me as well). That's the sort of info I'm looking for. Info from people who have been there done that and got the t-shirt. This is the reason why me and a lot of other newbies come here to Pprune. .. to get quality information and advice .. not to be laughed at for simply asking a question.

And yes, I have done ATPL Met but I can't recall every single detail that was covered in the syllabus and I'm sure I'm not the only one either. :)

Thanks again ..

What kind of experience, if any, would typicaly be enough to land you a job or interview over the phone or by email? Im in a situation where I have a trickle of work and dont want to risk loosing it and alot of cash travelling in the hope I might get a full time job. I have done the door knock thing a couple of times and, well, it doesnt give me much confidence that its going to work any better some place else :}

JulieFlyGal if I may add to redsnails comments.

Some places in the Top End, particularly Arnhem Land, the wet is infact the busier season. Due to what redsnail and yourself illustrated, the closing of roads.

This is of course for the places that don't have tourist clientele, lovely remote aboriginal communities.

Try AAA Charter, Kakadu Air, Gunbalanya Air Charter, Maningrida Progress Association, MAF, Air Frontier, Katherine Aviation & Chartair for bases in Arnhem Land.

Nav.

Welcome to the wonderful world of aviation....:rolleyes:

People....your first job will be the hardest to get. You need the hours to get the work and you need the work to get the hours.

You have a much better chance of getting work if you turn up in person rather than have your resume circularly filed.
At least arrange an interview with a group of operators and schedule to catch a burner up to DN, hire something useful and plan a route over a few days that will get you in front of as many potential employers as possible.

May not be the ideal plan but you gotta start somewhere.:ok:

I plan to do this soon, however I see that the aeroclub in Darwin has closed.

Anyone know where I can hire a C172 in Darwin?

Is the Darwin Flying School still running?

I don't think he meant to fly around these places. Driving would be the affordable option.

If you flew all it would take is one crappy radio call and you won't even have to bother landing.

Adding to what johnny said you may find yourself standing on a strip in the middle of nowhere with no way of contacting anyone to come pick you up if you plan on just dropping in, not all operators offices are at the airfield. Best to drive up and go see them.

Darwin 172 hire
 

Training Wheels, try AV8 if they are still going in Darwin. You could hire a 172 when I was there in Jan:ok:

AV8 no longer hire their aircraft out unless and instructor is with you.

just remember to call and arrange a convienent time to meet with the CP as alot of CP's are out flying and the last this you want to do is end up at an office without anyone to talk to till 5pm

For those of you who have driven up north from the cities... in search of a job, do you recommend it? or like someone said before - catch a plane to darwin, hire a car and drive around that way, see if you score anything - if so, fly back home, pack your car and drive back up?

Or would it be better just driving there with a full car and going from place to place or sitting around some larger location working at coles until luck comes your way?

I'm in Melb and I'm just wondering what the hell the drive up there is like... the roads... fuel stops along the way... what one would need, etc, how many hours say from Melb - Darwin or Alice Springs