32 Melbourne - Sydney
3. Marts 2007
Saturday it was time to depart for Sydney.
I had some nice days in Healesville, and also made a trip in to Melbourne itself. Friday I took my host family, The Lacy family, for sightseeing flight over Healesville – one at the time, as the rear seat was replaced by the ferry tank.
Friday, my friends from the Australian Customs, also showed up in Lilydale. They brought me a clearance for me to relocate the plane to Sydney – and reminded me, that it was very important, that I contacted the customs once in Sydney, for further clearance.
As it happened, there was an air show on in Lilydale Saturday, and I watched for a while, before taking off from this very friendly airport, where the plane was tied down for free!
I was taxiing to departure with other GA aircraft that was taking children, affected by cancer, for charity flights.
I climbed to 7500 feet along the Great Dividing Range, heading for Bankstown airport, a large GA airport in the inner western suburbs of Sydney. Circumventing the Canberra airspace I flew VFR all the way. 100 miles out of Sydney I got flight following, first by Melbourne Center and just out of Sydney, by Sydney radar.
I was asked if I was familiar with the area, and when I said no, I was guided in a very friendly way to the VFR reporting point, the radio mast 2RN, that is an entry point for the circuits for the 3 parallel runways at Bankstown airport. There is a restricted military airspace close to my track.
Coming in over the south of New South Wales the landscape became quite greener, and coming in over the Blue Mountains was a very pretty sight.
Being transferred to Bankstown Tower, I was given the option of a full circuit to runway 11 left – or direct to right base for landing. I chose direct, and having the guide for the Sydney Basin on my computer, I could follow the VFR routing (1000 feet agl) for the runway.
On the ground I was given progressive taxiing to the Schofield Flight School, where my good friends, Peter and Michelle, had arranged a tie down for me. Met by my friends, and a friendly staff at the school, we had a beer in the licensed club house, before heading down town.
