Flying at Camden Airfield with Curtis Aviation today!

First though, we had breakfast in Camden before driving the short distance to the airfield.

Noel went up in one Citabria, ZK-MWY, with Jim Drinnan while I went up in another Citabria, ZK-RRW, with Craig Marshall.

We practised formation flying and did some low level flying along a river with hills either side. Here’s Jim’s video of me flying. At one point Jim said over the radio to me that turning up one section he and Noel had just bypassed would result in a short lifespan as we wouldn’t out-climb it! Then we did 2 low approach and go-arounds at Yerranderie airstrip.

Me (front) and Craig in ZK-RRW.

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A photo from Jim of ZK-RRW:

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Noel (front) and Jim in ZK-MWY.

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Another photo from Jim of ZK-RRW:

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Noel in ZK-MWY ahead.

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I put my camera down during the low level river flying and Yerranderie go-around bits!

Jim recorded the approach at Yerranderie. Here’s Jim’s video.

Craig and I landed first on 10 grass unfortunately without doing any circuits while Noel and Jim did some on 06 hard. Noel taxying back.

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It was a very good flight and showed us just how much skill is required to tuck in close to another aircraft and not move in relation to it.

A Tiger Moth which had recently had its lateral tie rod Airworthiness Directive done. There had been a crash in Australia last December and cracks had been found in the lower fuselage tie rods. More info.

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Our 2 steeds.

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Noel and I went off to Camden to find some lunch, briefly bumping into our 2 instructors, then went back to the airfield where they had cooked up a cunning plan. So cunning that you could put a tail on it and call it a … stop it, stop it! 🙂 Well, it did involve tails…!

Me in front of our planes.

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Noel in front of our planes.

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A local resident who had lost its tail.

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The cunning plan was for us to fly in 2 planes over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House! 🙂

Here’s a link to the GPS log of our flight with pictures geo-located.

Craig and I didn’t formate with Noel and Jim until we got to the coast.

The Sydney Olympic Park.

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Bahai Temple to the north of Sydney.

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Crossing the coast near the Narrabeen Lakes.

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We spotted Noel’s plane and flew over to formate on it.

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Up the coast to the north is Palm Beach where “Home and Away” is filmed.

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ATC told us that we would have to hold for at least 10 mins as they were waiting for a big plane to take off from Sydney airport, south of the city. We said we’d hold so had the opportunity to practice formation flying round and round and round…. o_O

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Here’s Jim’s video of me flying.

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Photo from Jim.

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Video of Noel flying here.

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Having got dizzy from our holds we were told there would be more delay so we decided to call it a day and with ATC’s permission flew slightly closer to the Harbour Bridge before flying back to Camden the way we had come.

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Manly Beach and Harbour entrance.

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Sydney in the distance.

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Opera House and Harbour Bridge.

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Here’s Jim’s video of me flying with Sydney in the background.

Three photos from Jim.

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Harbour entrance.

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Manly Beach with Harbour entrance behind.

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Me and Craig.

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Another video of Noel flying here.

And a video from Jim of my plane.

Final photo from Jim.

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Back at Camden I had a workout practising landing wing-down on 06 hard instead of my usual crabbing technique. Me taxying back.

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What a flight! Over 2 hours of at times intense flying.

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Having arranged to go flying again on Tuesday we left the airfield and found a wifi at Camden to try to organise accommodation in Sydney. We eventually sorted out accommodation at The Rocks in Sydney so got in the car and drove there.

On the outskirts we saw this!

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Once we got to the hotel we went on the roof to look at the view.

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And then went for a walk around The Rocks and along to the Opera House.

These masts were sticking up from a ground-based restaurant!

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Harbour Bridge.

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Opera House.

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View of the Harbour Bridge from near the Opera House. Note the funfair which can be seen under the bridge on the far bank.

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Under the Opera House and beside the water there are bar areas where lots of people were standing drinking and chatting, so we thought we’d join them!

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Having walked all around the water’s edge to the Opera House we walked all the way back again and had dinner near where we had started! The moon rose as we were eating.

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And a tall ship arrived.

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