kevb

Hey Guy's,

We should have Pilot's accommodation up and running at MKT airfield in Darwin NT within the next couple of months.

Kev.

Hey Frank,

I always try to have an out if things turn to poo, I'm usually high enough to get to a clay pan and there are plenty of track's ect around to be able to land on, be pretty messy this time of year with all of the rain at the moment but at least it's better than the alternative. I do get a few butterfly's if I'm over country and all I can see are trees and rock's, or water, so I tend to stay fairly high and zig zag a bit . At the end of the day I fly for fun and if it takes me a little bit longer to get to where I'm going, all the better I reckon.

Don't tease me Frank, I've been thinking about it, only thing that's holding me back is the amount of snapping handbags I've seen jump.

Hey Frank,

Here's a couple of pic's of this weekends efforts, managed to sneak in between the storms.

Cheers,

Kev

Hi Alex,

I'm on the bandwagon with the rest of these guy's, time for you to move on, it certainly doesn't hurt to fly with other instructors and pick up on the knowledge, passion and experience that the majority have,but at the end of the day you have to feel comfortable and enjoy the experience, pretty hard to do that when your sitting next to a cranky bugger while trying to learn. I bet your not the only one feeling the same way.

Hi Everyone,

Tried to fly to the Adelaide River Wetlands this morning, however due to a band of low level cloud and a few scattered showers I decided to reverse course and, after overflying MKT, I ended up tracking to the lower reaches of Darwin Harbour and Bynoe. All up it was a good morning for a flight with hardly a bump and the scenery was fantastic. Here's a few pics.

Kev.

Hi Everyone,

I have been pretty busy this weekend getting ready to move house, my wife requested that I slow the flying up for a bit to get ready for the move, however after watching the bottom lip quivering through the day and the whistful looks skywards she relented and gave the go ahead for a fly Sunday Morning on the condition that she had dibs on the back seat. Couldn't get to MKT quick enough, piled the wife into the back seat and took off for Bynoe Harbour tracking over Middle Arm, the township of South Port and headed towards the mouth of Bynoe Harbour. The wife mentioned that she was hungry so we headed to Crab Claw for a Bacon and Egg Sandwich and coffee meeting up with another club member while there. Anyway it was another great day for a fly and here are a few pics.

Welcome

Hi Guys,

The wife was starting to do job lists this morning so I did the only sensible thing and headed out to MKT, was lucky as there were a couple of club members keen for breakfast at Crab Claw once again the Hornet was dragged out of the hanger for another day of fantastic flying, After another great breakfast we tracked over to Batchler, checked out the airstrip there and had lunch at the pub. Took the long way home tracking over Darwin River Dam, Manton Dam and surrounds.

Here's a couple of pics of Crab Claw today, always worth a visit.

Got home to a hot beer and very cold wife. Worth it but.

Hey Frank,

Yep, we were lucky that the mud had no rocks ect in it, the strip that we looked at was cut into a clay pan and we were looking at it as a potential camping spot for the dry season up here. We left the mud to dry while we had a cuppa at the dundee lodge and then lightly tapped the around it and it just fell off, gave her a good looking over and off we went.

Mate.

Thats the drifter look for sure.

Love your posts frank. Puts a smile on my face even during a work day.

Kev.

Hi Everyone,

A few of the Pilot's from MKT Darwin ducked across to Crab Claw for Breakie this morning, (three Drifters and a Gyro).. The flight across was fantastic and the bacon and eggs on the deck at crab claw overlooking the water even harder to beat. Did a run over Indian Island and popped into Dundee for a cold drink before heading home, tried one of the bush strips in the area and found the upper crust a little thin, no harm done though. Here's a couple of pics of the flight.

Hi geoff

She's a great little aircraft.I am loving flying her around up here.I hope to keep her flying for many years to come.

Cheers

Kev.

Hi Farri,

Went for a fish at Gunn point and Vernon Islands Darwin this morning..fishing was crap but the flight was fantastic. The wetlands look great at this time of year.If only the barra would play, still a great morning though. Here's a few pics

Terrible news.My condolences to their families and friends.

Hi Brett,

The Yellow Hornet is going great, since arriving in Darwin in May she has clocked up close to 80 hrs and hasn't missed a beat. She's flown Kakadu, Litchfield Park, Dundee Beach and a host of other great locations. If you make it up to Darwin I would be more than happy to hand you the keys for a flight. Enjoy your holiday and stay safe.

Cheers,

Kev.

Batchler's a fantastic strip Nev, quite a few aircraft are based there. Kev.

Hi Guy's

I thought that I would give an update on the Hornet now that she calls Darwin Home, yesterday the members of the Top End Flying Club ( TEFC ) were invited to attend and provide a static display on open day after the two week exercise Pitch Black held every two years in the top end and attended by a host of different country's military forces. A big hat's off to the RAAF and CASA in the top end to enable us to fly into Darwin Airport,flying a Drifter into an international airport is an experience that I will never forget. The club attended with nine aircraft, three Drifters, three Jabiru's, a Trike , Gyro and Lightwing. Pretty much as soon as we set up the aircraft we were kept busy with interested people making the most of the opportunity to get up close to the aircraft, I reckon that the Hornet would have had at least 400 plus kid,s photos taken from the front seat and plenty of dad's and some mum's wanting to go for a fly in the back seat. All up it was a fantastic day and a great way to promote RA-Aus and the Drifter with plenty of people expressing their interest in what we have to offer. Sorry about the lack of pic's of aircraft at pitch black, we were kept pretty busy and didn't get a chance to look around that much. Cheers, Kev.

Hi Nev,

Batchler's a great place, there is flight training, parachuting and I do believe that there are a few gliders as well. The town is great, locals friendly and the pub seems like a great place for a cold beer and feed. I have been out to Coomalie a few times as well and it is a great strip. There are plenty of old WW2 strips about and I have been slowly exploring them. I fly most weekends and have been finding a lot of the old bush strips around the area. Couldn't think of a better way to spend my weekends. Kev.

Hi Everyone,

Did a flight to Gunn Point East of Darwin this morning, apart from the smoke haze a great morning for a flight. Heaps of people out camping for the show long weekend. My wife came for a run as well and snapped a few pics as we meandered over Adelaide River (Home of the Jumping Crocs), to the mouth of the river and then over to Gunn Point. A great way to spend a morning. The wife wants to go to Dundee Beach tomorrow for lunch, don't think that she will have to twist my arm too much.

Boonah to Avalon, wow what a trip that would be,there are quite a few Drifters up here and hopefully we can organise a few trips in the future. I would love to fly down to at least one airshow a year, work permitting.

Lol, yep, its been fantastic, didn"t need to do the camping thing this time as the missus was ground crew for me. It sounds like a great idea for future adventures though.

Hi Everyone,

Finally got down to Bundy to pick up the Yellow Hornet, I have tracked from Bundy and am currently in Katherine in the NT, its been one great trip so far and I"m making many special memories that you can only make while looking at the world from the front seat of a Drifter. Here"s a couple of pics and I will post more pics and movies of the trip once I

I found it a great aircraft to re learn all of those rusty skills on, I was hanging out for the weekends so I could go for a fly and tried to make the most of each lesson. I was doing what you have just said and was taking each opportunity as it came and tried to enjoy it as much as possible, even the endless circuit training. I hope that you enjoy it and get as much fun out of the training that I have.

Cheers, Kev.

Hey mate,

welcome, I did pretty much the same as you, gave up flying for around eighteen years due to family, work ect. I have redone my license and gained a few endorsments in a Jab 230 and a drifter have enjoyed every aspect of flying again. I hope that you have a great time during your training and that the weather gods are kind and you can smash a few hours out.