Australian Flying reader Martin Hone reports that the annual Gatton Airpark Breakfast fly-in held on Sunday May 29 was blessed once again with sunshine and light breezes despite weather forecasts of showers and thunderstorms. 54 aircraft, some from as far as Mangalore in Victoria and Tamworth in NSW, defied the weather predictions and general economy to enjoy the Gatton Airpark surrounds and warm weather. Although numbers were down from the 76 attending aircraft of the previous year, the Lions Club served over 150 hot breakfasts, which were particularly appreciated by the hardy bunch of trike pilots that flew in from the coast. Trikes, gyros, GA, ultralights, home-builts and antiques made up an interesting variety of aircraft, and their owners took the opportunity to drop in and see the airpark concept first-hand while mingling with like-minded aviation enthusiasts.
The FAA reports this week that a woman with no flying experience whatsoever managed to pilot a Cirrus SR22 for 40 minutes after her pilot husband blacked out at the controls. The unidentified couple was en route from San Bernadino, California to Colorado Springs on May 17 when a Denver Center air traffic controller noticed the pilot was unintelligible and slurring his speech. The controller suspected the pilot was flying too high in the unpressurised aircraft and was suffering from hypoxia, but when he told the pilot to descend to a lower altitude to get more oxygen he got no response. But to the rescue came the pilot’s superhero wife, who got on the radio and politely said she had no idea how to fly. With the help of a nearby airline crew who came on the frequency and provided a detailed explanation of how to descend using the autopilot, the wife did just that and remained at the controls until the aircraft descended to a safer altitude and her husband recovered and landed safely in New Mexico. I guess there's some truth after all in the old adage that behind every great man is an even greater woman!
Airservices Australia numbers indicate that most of Australia’s metropolitan secondary airports have suffered a major decline in movements over the last couple of years; and early data for 2011 indicates a continued drop in activity, albeit at a smaller rate. Bankstown Airport has employed some initiatives to stimulate flying activity over the last six months, but the result has been “limited benefit”.
The Sunshine Coast Daily reports that Queensland Air Museum (QAM) volunteers were fuming when they were forced to pack up the Spitfire LZ844 proudly displayed as the centrepiece of their exhibition for the past four years following its sale to an international buyer in the UK. “The big disappointment for us was it was sold to a private collector in the UK without anyone else being given the chance to tender for it,” QAM President Cliff Robinson lamented. “No other aircraft has the cache of the Spitfire, but we will be putting another aircraft into that space.” The loss of QAM’s Spitfire two weeks ago dampened enthusiasm at the facility, but volunteers are now celebrating news its lease will be extended beyond December 2014.
The Weekly Times Now has a fascinating story on its website about a farm boy from Mulwala Station on the NSW/Victoria border being credited for helping to pioneer flight in Australia. It’s too long and interesting to do it any injustice in abbreviated form here, but you can read the story about Douglas Sloane in full by clicking here.
Gatton Airpark. (Martin Hone)
