A week after the extremely successful Open Day some hardy members took to
the skies for a leisurely jaunt down the
Our day started on a positive note as it was a definite plus to be able to
open the north gate in the normal manner, after the recent spate of vandalism.
A short briefing at 0900, we pre-flighted and departed Wedderburn. We elected
to take the scenic route and headed for the coast, popping over the escarpment just
to the north of
As we reached Kiama I started looking for the purple dots that we needed to follow when tracking through Nowra military airspace. I didn't see them but wasn't too worried as there weren't any NOTAMs indicating that Nowra would be active. We monitored the MBZ frequency just in case though, and flew where we thought the dots should be. ;-)
Just as we reached Ulladulla, there came the inevitable "Are we there yet?" from the younger of our two pax. Thankfully this wasn't repeated until we were passing over Batemans Bay and starting to think about our descent to circuit height for Moruya. On arrival we discovered two Wedderburn aircraft on downwind and finals for RWY36. After overflying Moruya from the east and expecting to join downwind for 36 we found the wind was now favouring 18, so back out over the sea to join the circuit for a landing on 18.
At the Moruya Aero club we were greeted by some of their members, and enjoyed a welcome coffee while waiting for the mini bus taxi into town for lunch. Lunch was at a small waterfront restaurant. The restaurant staff quite happily seated all 19 of us and proceeded to produce a great lunch. After regretfully declining desert we hopped back into the minibus for the airfield.
Those that required fuel, filled up, and I realised what a great deal we have at Wedderburn when it came time to pay for the Avgas at $1.32 per litre! I'm no longer so jealous of those who fly behind a big radial, but not enough to stop wanting one ;-)
After gazing at the clouds and wondering what the crosswind might be like back at Wedderburn we elected to leave Moruya and had two disappointed pax after mean 'ole Dad wouldn't allow them to go down the beach. On departure we climbed to 1500' and decided to maintain this altitude as it was extremely smooth. Trimmed for hands off flight I spent a little time gazing down at the brilliant blue sea changing to a bright green nearer the beach. Fifteen minutes out of Moruya as I wondering whether the kids might have been able to go to the beach after all, we found some lumpy air that accompanied us all the way back home to Wedderburn.
We passed an Aeronca Champ just before home and after landing watched Dave Thomas make beautiful landing despite the stiff crosswind. What a fantastic Day.
My heartfelt thanks to the organisers, who did a fantastic job yet again, despite being interstate and not returning to Sydney until Saturday evening.
Photos from the day:
Line up of Wedderburn Aircraft at Moruya.
Another view of the Aircraft Looking back to Moruya Aeroclub.
Everyone enjoying Lunch main table and overflow table.
View from the restaurant
Relaxing back in the Clubhouse at the end of the day
Don Harvie
