Eager Beaver goes to the Real Centre

 The Eager Beaver goes to The Real Centre          1997

To check out the C of G of our continent .

2700nm, 5000km

What a secure feeling! Waking up from a peaceful sleep on that solid red earth, next to Central Mt. Stuart, at the very center* of the Australian continent. I have some concerns about the stability of this continent, which well go into later, so it sure is comforting to be right at the very middle of it.

* Central Mt. Stuart is 110nm north of Alice Springs. This is the 'geographical centre' of Australia, as determined by that excellent explorer, McDouall Stuart in 1860. Modern day surveying now puts that point farther south, but I wanted to see what Stuart saw…...

I was still 'high' from the excitement of landing in this little clearing yesterday afternoon. Outlandings in the bush are always risky, despite what I've written before - "…every clay pan is a landing strip..."." I should have added, "…and every one is also a potential trap.... ". They're nearly always much rougher than they look, and often with nasty surprises that could knock a wheel off. The landing gear on this Beaver is an excellent sturdy design, which I've strengthened even more, and added wide tyres for this trip, so it's about as ready as it can be. Even so, it's a very tense time, circling above and deciding if that little clearing down there is a suitable risk, especially if it's in a remote location.

I've long wanted to spend a night right at the very center of the continent, so every time I met someone who had flown in this area I'd ask about the possibility of outlanding there. Answer was, "not much chance, it's thick mulga country". Yes, it certainly was pretty scrubby down -there, but sure enough, there was a clearing just big enough for this 'trail bike' aircraft.  
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Problem was that it looked pretty rough, with deep cattle tracks, and maybe soft, like it hadn't yet dried out from recent rain. The sun was very low, so maybe the shadows magnified the holes, but was it really as soft and muddy as it looked???? Only way to find out was do a touch-and-go, but be very careful      if it's mud it could very quickly turn into a touch-and-stay! Circling didn't show up any significant wind, so set up for an approach to the longest dimension. Power at idle, a steep approach in a half-slip at 45 kts, well above best glide speed - so there's lots of reserve if encounter sink or need to extend. Skim over the last trees, then into a full-slip, and come down like a hawk on a mouse.

Now, touch-and-goes are never a welcome prospect in a small clearing like this, because it means climbing out again under full power over thick bush with nowhere to go - the most dangerous part of the whole exercise. So this time, when I round-out near the ground, and can see that it's really dry and firm after all, and not too rough, it's time for a quick change of mind and turn this into a landing. Hold the full-slip right up to the flare to bleed off this speed quickly, then straighten up and touch down as sweet as you please, with the nose way high and the stick right back. The wheels roll to a stop on the firm red soil. What a relief after all that built-up tension; there's even a bit of an adrenalin rush afterwards! Some fliers chase that adrenalin rush by dangerous maneuvers like low flying and showing-off, but this is my way.

Camped near Central Mt Stuart

2

Next morning, I had planned to climb the mountain, but woke up to a coming weather front clouding the sky, and a few specks of rain already. Must pack up quickly and get away before this soil really does turn to mud! Once again face the hazard of climbing out with nowhere to go except the clearing just behind me. So immediately after lift-off, break right and out over the bush, then into a climbing left-hand turn at 45 kts, with the clearing always visible in case a turn-back is necessary. Sure am glad I've practiced this many times at my home airfield, where I know that I can make a U-turn with not much more than 100 feet loss of altitude - if it's a carefully balanced 45° bank turn at best glide of 37 kts. Continue the upward spiral over the clearing until high enough that other options are in reach, then head for the big airstrip at Tea Tree for-fuel, steak breakfast and watch this weather front.

So how did my slow little aircraft and I get so far from our home base at Kilcoy, S.E. Qld.? Well, an old adage for long journeys comes to mind: "Step 1 -Ya' start out, Step 2 - Ya' keep goin"til ya' get there…." Sounds easy enough, but that first step is the difficult one; countless commitments, entanglements, preparations and excuses will get in the way if you let them. I've had a lot of experience in setting out on long journeys, but I still find that I really have to set a deadline and stick to it. Once on the way, it gets much easier, provided the preparation was adequate. And preparation is the key to making it a fun adventure rather than a struggle, or maybe a disaster. More on the details of preparation for both pilot and aircraft another time, but the most critical decisions on a trip like this are in regard to fuel management and weather sense.

First stopover was Isisford, near Longreach, to meet some of the many station ultralights in the area. It seems that every old Drifter ever built ends up out there. Some are pretty rough and ready machines, but they really do fly a lot more than any that I know of along the coast. In fact, one of them buys his 2-stroke oil in 205 litre drums! That same flier removed the passenger seat and built a cage to carry his sheep dogs with him; he reckoned the dogs didn't like the flying very much at all, but being loyal dogs they'd go with him rather than be left behind. I got to watch some of that sheep mustering from the air, and it sure is impressive. An ultralight in the air and a couple of bikes on the ground, all with UHF radio, and it flows like clockwork, with no strays left hiding in the bush.

On to Boulia for the first annual Camel Races. But it turned out that I had my dates wrong, and the races were last weekend! The town was still buzzing from the good time they'd had, so I'll sure try and make it on time next year. On to the Georgina River and land by some old cattle yards, to camp for the night, and dream about all the mobs of cattle and the drovers that have come this way in the past. The Georgina Stock Route runs from Lake Nash in the Northern Territory to Bourke in N.S.W., and was one of the major stock routes in the country. I've long been fascinated by this particular stock route, and some day I want to fly the length of it. So it was particularly interesting to land at Tobermorey Station next day, and meet an Aboriginal stockman who had been on one of the last drives down the river, and would go again if he had the chance.

Stopped at Jervois Station for  fuel. Had to taxi in on a bush track for more than a mile, and at one point had to lift one wing at a time over the gate posts of a narrow gate....

Refueling at Jervois Station.

Then took off right from the front yard.

Next stop was the Boxhole meteorite crater on Dneiper station. It doesn't look like much from the ground, but from the air it's fascinating. This 'high-clearance trail bike' sure is the best way to view the wonders of the land. Ultralight flying sure is the most fun for the dollar that I've ever found!

On to Bond Springs airfield near Alice Springs for some fuel, but turns out it's 20km to the nearest fuel, and no easy way to get there. So transfered every drop of remaining fuel into the seat tank, did some careful measurements, then took off and headarnorth along the Stuart Highway, headed for Aileron Roadhouse. Fortunately, I'd done accurate fuel burn tests before, so knew the most economical cruise speed for my aircraft. At normal cruise of 48kts, no wind, I get 4.8 nm/litre whereas at best economy speed of 40 kts it's 6.3 nm/litre, - that's a 31% increase! That difference was just what I needed to get to the Roadhouse with a safety margin. Landed on a grader track nearby, and taxiied in to the pumps. Received excellent hospitality; the manager even insisted on blocking traffic along his access road so that I could take off on the bitumen. Next stop Central Mount Stuart.

Now, to this matter of the stability of this continent. As I gather it, the Australian continent is basically a large flat rock floating on the molten magma inside the earth; sort of like a big raft. It's supposedly all very stable, but any of us who have ever mucked about on rafts know that if you all stand on one side you're liable to get your feet wet. More and more people keep coming to this east coast side of our big 'raft', and as I fly along it I see masses brick and concrete just about everywhere. Could it be enough to tip the balance and start a tilt? Will that eastern coastal plain someday be part of the submerged continental shelf, and all those houses and high-rises be just obstacles to snag prawn trawlers' nets? Will the Blue Mountains become prime seafront property? I don't know, but I sometimes wonder about it…..  I kind of hesitate to raise this issue, and maybe worry all those people living on the coastal plain, but by the time your feet get wet it could be too late. Of course you don't hear about it in the media, at least not yet, but if they ever got into sensationalizing it like they . tend to do, then it would certainly change the CofG of property values if nothing else. If you live on that coastal plain maybe you should think about selling up and moving to some higherground..... But then again, maybe it won't ever happen at all; I'm told that there's also lots of bricks and concrete going up on the West Australian coast; maybe not quite as much as this side, but then it's at a longer moment arm, so the effect on the CofG might still cancel out     hopefully.

Anyhow, I'm not really worried about it, particularly since I live up in the hills, but I do wonder about it sometimes, and I do like to be prepared. So when I was on the ground in that clearing I marked a waypoint on my GPS and labelled it 'CENTRE'. So, if I ever feel that 'tilting' sensation coming on, all I have to do is hit GOTO and follow the arrow right to the middle of the 'raft'. And that's a good secure feeling........

Fueled and fed at Ti Tree and now headed north along the Stuart Highway to the rock formation named The Devil's Marbles then to the Wauchope Hotel for fuel. Then headed east against increasing headwind so landed at Kurindi Station. By next morning the wind was howling and continued for two days so I stayed sheltered where I was, and did some laundry and maintenance.

Finally able to go on to the Aboriginal settlement of Epenarra. It was the day that they receive their pension cheques, so the shop was very busy with everyone spending the money on all sorts of junk from the shop. 

Refueling at Epenarra

Fueled up then headed north to Barkley Road House, one of the clip-joint roadhouses that are so common along Australian highways now..... Just before I took off, the Flying Doctor aircraft arrived to pick up an injured stockman, so he'll be in hospital in an hour. Sure is a valued service in those remote parts.

Then on to Alexandria Station. Along the way I noticed an interference beep beep beep in my radio. Thought, "...that sounds like someone's Emergency Locator Transmitter nearby.." Switched to the emergency 121.5 frequency and it was blasting in..... It's my ELT that's on! It was a surplus airforce unit that had a test switch without an interlock and I had accidentally knocked it on..... Switched it off and continued. About an hour after I landed at Alexandria they got a phone call from Canberra asking if they knew of any aircraft that could be in trouble...... I explained what had happened and they cancelled the alert. But it sure was impressive how quickly they had zeroed in on the signal and then got in touch with the exact people who would have been able to help.

Then flew over some pretty rough country with only a narrow track for emergency landing, to Adels Grove near the Lawn Hill Gorge. But lots of tourist caravans so flew over to the nearby Flying Doctor strip to have a quiet camp.

Then to Burketown. Exciting to see the sea! Flew out over the mud flats looking for crocodiles but no luck.... Then on to Burke and Wills Roadhouse for fuel, strip right behind the service station. Then on to Gleeson Station on the Leichhart River and landed on a very rough old airstrip. They land on the road.... Good hospitality on a very well run family station. Tom still wearing spurs after a day in the saddle and shoeing a horse when I arrived.

Next up into the Selwyn Range, following Burke and Wills' track. Very steep and rocky terrain that really knocked their poor old camels around and damaged their feet. That sure was the wrong route to take camels over, but they insisted on just following the compass north. There's a much easier route not very far east of here. If they'd stayed on the Diamantina River to it's headwaters near Kynuna, they could have crossed over to the headwaters of the Flinders River with no rough country inbetween. Then they would have had easy going and water and grass all the way...... But of course they couldn't have known that at the time.....

Then on to Combo Waterhole, reportedly the 'billabong' referred to in the song, 'Once a Jolly Swagman Camped by a Billabong'. No real strip but found a nearby clear area to land on and then taxied to a campsite right by the billabong'.

On to Longreach for fuel, then on along the route through Blackall and Roma back to my home airfield at Kilcoy. Feels strange to be back in familiar surroundings, after all those adventures....