PCDU Episode 76: Air Wilpena

A few episodes ago we introduced Kathy Mexted as a new member our group of occasional PCDU contributors and this episode she’s back with some great content. She recently took a few friends in a Bonanza out to Wilpena Pound in South Australia, a trip that would usually take many days to achieve by road but, thanks to general aviation, only required two 90 minute flights to get there. Originally intended to be a trip to Ayers Rock, this adventure was trimmed down to something more manageable and a journey to just south of Lake Eyre was planned.

We spend a bit of time discussing the flight, the scenery, air sickness, some geology and what it was like loading four ladies into a high performance single then blasting off to out back of beyond. Kathy also discusses staying at Mungo Lodge, the Wilpena Pound Resort and Trevor Hancock, their tour guide while they were there.

While staying in outback South Australia, Kathy and her friends caught up with some of the pilots from Air Wilpena and recorded a discussion with them about their backgrounds, the flying they’re doing and what it’s like to be flying in outback Australia.

After this we play a few interviews from our recent visit to Coldstream Airport including:

• A chat with Judy & Andrew Doak, the owners of Coldstream Airport (YCEM)
• Dr Bruce Searle, CEO of ACMA
• Andrew Temby, aerobatic display pilot flying his Yak-52TW

We then move into reading some listener emails and discussing some future events on the calendar, including:

• Keane Bourke is 12 years old & wants to be an airline pilot
• Ed Stubbs recently attended the SAAA fly-in at Langley Park in Perth
• AusAirServices are having a Wings Night dinner on the 22nd October
• Bas sent us information about the Port Augusta Open Day that’s coming up
• Moorabbin Flight Services are having their Wings Night dinner on November 19th
• ErrolWi in NZ points us to a list of Kiwi aviation events at the ProBoards Calendar
• We then cut to a discussion about the upcoming Holbrook Ultra Light Club’s fly-in.

Our backing music for this episode comes from “The Groove Press” by Ron Soo.

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