Darwin to Alice

[jankees]

I drove part of this last year for a geologic fieldtrip, let's see what it looks like from the air..

 

We took off from Darwin Airport, gained altitude over the ocean and now head south

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Reasonably green up north, lots of mango trees..

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but things dry out pretty quickly

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after 300 km we see Katherine (where I lost a toenail, that hurts, I can tell you!), with Tindal airbase in the background and Katherine Gorge in Nitmuluk National Park on the left

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another 100 k down, and we see Mataranka. If you're ever in the neighborhood, don't forget to try the thermal pools here!

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we continue, and come up to Daly Waters, a bit of a backwater, but with a nice outback bar

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It's also the turnoff for the Heartbreak Hotel and Borroloola, but that was a different trip..

 

We arrive over Elliott, where we fixed our tires, and where we found ourselves with a police escort during our geologic filedwork in the area. The policeman was interested in rocks, and didn't have anything better to do I think..

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We fly past Lake Woods, which, like so many Australian lakes, is usually dry, although there was a bit of water when we were there

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Renner Springs Desert Inn, which is about as far as we went on our trip

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we arrive at the folded rocks of the McDonnell Ranges

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more in the next message

[jankees]

IFR: I follow roads, railways, rivers, take your pick

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Finally, Alice Springs!

Only to discover that ORBX has not yet updated this scenery to P3Dv5..

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We're going for a cold one!

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[flightsimg]

Much like your interpretation of IFR! :):):)

[Rupert]

Nice shots! And yes, we've flown IFR in the manner you describe for probably as long as planes took cross-country hops. I belonged to AAA for years to get their maps more for IFRoads flying than for any other reason.

 

A VFR supplement is nice, but a AAA map showing the roads and towns you pass is often more helpful. And if you're unsure of where you are, fly around the water tower. They often had town names on them. Known railroad lines are also hugely helpful! But take my word for it, DON'T SCARE THE TRAIN CREWS!!!

Most of my cross country flying back in the 60's was done on "ferry flights" moving choppers which were not yet accepted and approved by the Marine corps. So we typically had a hard ceiling of 1,000' AGL, which was below TACAN beams from about 15-20 miles out.

 

Though at night Clear Channel AM radio stations were great for triangulation, on unapproved aircraft the Ferry Hops were daylight VFR only! We also were known to land near a gas (petrol)station, go in and order cokes and chips, then ask the clerk where we were.

 

Michael

[DAVIDSTRAKA]

Pilotage can be a fun adventure for sure. Love the shots and narrative!