Back in from the Outback

An early start aimed to beat both the heat and the flies.

The flies were already awake and seemed particularly interested in landing on everyone’s faces. A helpful local explained the flies were simply searching for tiny droplets of moisture and had learned that eyes, ears, and noses were the most reliable places to find them.

Fortunately, we were soon airborne with our Custodians joining us on this sector.

With the smooth morning air, it was a wonderful opportunity to fly well below controlled airspace and quite literally under the radar. Spirit tracked south across the Outback while, through her large windows, the vast and ever-changing landscape stretched to the horizon in every direction.

At times we flew for more than an hour without seeing a road, house, car, person or any other sign of humanity.

Just Spirit, ourselves, and the terrain slowly unfolding beneath us.

Central Australia is sometimes referred to as the GAFA — the Great Australian “F All” — but with smooth air and time to observe carefully, we began noticing the remarkable variety in the terrain below. Rock formations appeared suddenly where they seemed to have little geological business existing. Long wave patterns of sand dunes softened gradually into lightly forested ground. There were countless natural features that made one pause and wonder how they had come about.

Even the occasional road drew attention.

Tracks, side roads and drainage ditches became interesting details when viewed slowly and at low altitude — things easily missed from higher and faster flight.

Our technical fuel stop was Leigh Creek, a very small town surrounded by a very large space.

The Avgas bowser was unmanned.

The credit card worked and the fuel began to flow. We had confirmed several times beforehand that Avgas would be available here and were relieved to see that it was.

Then at 298 litres the pump stopped.

We needed 850 more.

A problem — particularly as it was a long walk to the next fuel station.

While we did have the option of continuing on to Broken Hill if necessary, it was not the preferred plan. So we turned to the advanced pilot troubleshooting procedure for modern machinery:

Turn everything off.
Turn everything on again.
Try once more.

After a short pause the welcome sound of the pump returned — only to stop again at 298 litres.

But now there was no concern. It was clearly a safety cut-out system designed to prevent a stuck pump or hose leak. With a series of restarts the required fuel was eventually delivered.

Once more we were airborne. With the midday heat building, convective turbulence made the lower altitudes less comfortable, so we climbed higher for the remainder of the journey. The scenery continued its endless procession below until, several hours later, something new appeared on the horizon.

Sydney.

The distant skyline gradually rose ahead of us and not long afterwards we landed uneventfully at Bankstown Airport, southwest of the city.

There were no flies.

The Outback had been magnificent, and the stage set by Spirit to enjoy it was incredible; but I think everyone agreed it was rather nice to be...

Back In from Out Back.