A rare clearance over Sydney Harbour

Two days in Sydney provided some spectacular flying, views and photography.

Thursday’s flight was with our custodians flying below Sydney’s controlled airspace and following the coastline. There were many remarkable properties to admire from above. The weather was delightful and the scenery impressive — majestic cliffs, white beaches and dramatic headlands passing beneath Spirit’s wings.

However, the coveted inner-city area required Air Traffic Control clearance.

We very much hoped to fly over Sydney Harbour, above the ferries, the Opera House, and the Harbour Bridge. We had requested this by phone beforehand, had it approved and even brought along a local pilot to assist.

On this occasion, however, we were denied and instructed to remain outside the area.

Our guide explained that such clearances were quite rare.

Morgan tried again.

“Would you mind checking with your supervisor? He mentioned twenty minutes ago on the phone that it would be fine.”

This was entirely true.

Unfortunately, the resident sheriff was not inclined to reconsider.

Then came the dulcet North American tones of Captain Curt.

“We’ve flown halfway around the world and had Spirit photographed against some impressive skylines — New York amongst them. They managed to fit us in. If it’s not too much trouble for you to check with your supervisor one more time, we’d be very grateful.”

A brief pause followed.

Then the welcome reply.

Cleared straight in.

What followed was quite a sight.

Sydney Harbour is surely one of the most beautiful in the world. The iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge made for a remarkable visual experience through Spirit’s wide cabin windows.

This short flight proved to be one of the most memorable of the journey so far.

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Friday March 13th – Sydney

The following day part of the route was repeated, this time with the film crew flying alongside in a Caravan to capture the footage.

The weather was less benign than the previous day but provided a dramatic backdrop, producing some fantastic photographs of Spirit with the Opera House framed perfectly beneath her wings.

The sequence concluded with an impressive breakaway shot as Spirit pulled away from the Caravan camera plane, with the crested waves rolling below.

Our thanks must go to Lucas and Ryan of Performance Aviation, whose professionalism and organisation were instrumental in making everything work safely while we conducted formation flying in such a tight airspace environment. We will look forward to seeing them again in Wanaka.

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Fuel matters

As mentioned earlier, we had encountered some challenges locating suitable Avgas.

Spirit was considered too heavy for Coffs Harbour which had Avgas available. Their concern was that Spirit exceeded the maximum tyre loading permitted on their apron.

This was somewhat puzzling from the airport authorities.

Those limits exist primarily to prevent damage from small, high-pressure tyres, whereas Spirit’s large, low-pressure tyres are designed for operations on grass strips and would scarcely trouble a blade of grass — let alone paved tarmac.

Unfortunately common sense and logic were not victorious on this occasion.

So Spirit repositioned further north to the more practical and accommodating Gold Coast Airport in Queensland to refuel and replenish oil before the next major leg across the Tasman.

Friday the 13th had ended well.

Perhaps it was the gum.

More about that story after we have landed on Norfolk Island.

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