TEFC                     

 I went for a flight the other day to get some pictures of Darwin from a distance and captured some other evidence that Darwin is emerging from a backwater status to an economic contributor.

The President of the United States arrives in Darwin tomorrow and I thought that seeing that all flights by non-essential aircraft are not permitted during his visit I would provide an aerial view of the surrounds of Darwin taken in very recent times.

I have marked some of the locations on a google map

I will start with the new detention centre being built out along the Channel Island road. I took quite a few pictures of the centre which is looking very nice. Here is one from the album. Click on the picture to view the entire album of shots.

New Detention Centre in Darwin

To get photographs of Darwin I had to use a 200mm lens which in a digital camera takes it out to about 300mm. I hadn't used this lens for a while and I am almost inspired to buy a 28-300 Nikkor lens with vibration reduction after seeing the shots this old lens produced.

So here is a photograph of the existing Gas Plant with Darwin City in the background. Apparently the large tank in the foreground has a floating roof that rises and falls with the gas that is stored within the tank.

From Darwin, Gas Plant, Wharf and Palmerston

 Although this doesn't look like an island, this next shot is Channel Island where our power station and aquaculture research facility are. There is also a boat ramp there that will see you into the mouth of the Blackmore River quite quickly - and it is bitumen all the way. The power station is gas fired and the aquaculture centre breeds barramundi as well as exotic items like the sea cucumber and giant clams.

East Arm wharf is where our cargo and livestock shipping occurs. There has been some controversy with the temporary banning of live cattle exports which genuinely affected the livelihood of many folks. Hopefully the disruption led to a genuinely positive outcome in relation to the humane treatment of animals otherwise it will go down as a failed action on the local and international stage. A couple of cranes have fallen over or come adrift and then there was the spillage of ore into the harbour although on that one I would prefer to be in Darwin Harbour than in harbours surrounding the failed nuclear plant in Japan. The wharf will only continue to become busier with all the development that is going to happen in the resources sector.

From Darwin, Gas Plant, Wharf and Palmerston

The small island in the middle of East Arm is called Catalina Island. The Peninsula behind the island was occupied during WWII with the presence of Z Force on Catalina Island.

From Darwin, Gas Plant, Wharf and Palmerston

Site of the new INPEX project in the foreground and Darwin in the background.

From Darwin, Gas Plant, Wharf and Palmerston

 Darwin in the background with the new detention centre in the foreground. Vacant plot of land is partially for the INPEX site. East Arm Wharf on the right and on the far left the edges of the existing Conoco Phillips gas plant.

From Darwin, Gas Plant, Wharf and Palmerston

 Finally to Darwin, the place of my birth and much changed over the 50 years I have been around.

From Darwin, Gas Plant, Wharf and Palmerston

From Darwin, Gas Plant, Wharf and Palmerston

Welcome to Darwin Mr. President

This entry was posted on November 16, 2011 at 7:43 AM and has received 241 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

 A week ago we held our first meeting on a Sunday in a long time. I liked it for a number of reasons. I was able to come down to MKT, go for a flight, come back and attend the meeting where a new member joined the meeting and after we concluded Armin prepared the classic bacon, toast, sausage and eggs breakfast (and devilled kidneys) which was a pretty fine way to spend a Sunday morning.

It might be good for catering purposes for folks to place an order via email (or something like that) when meetings are held, so that if Armin is available and willing to cook up a storm, he has an idea of how many to cater for.

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This entry was posted on October 3, 2011 at 8:34 AM and has received 193 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

 I may have found out what that experience is like, but luckily a friend who had just bought a drifter and was looking at my aircraft for similarities noticed that my left rudder cable had frayed to a point where there were only 2 out of six strands holding the cable on. The how or why isn't important but the second set of eyes is.

Norm Turner who was the CFI of our club always used to have a peek at other folks aircraft and it is this professionalism that keeps people alive. I welcome people having a look and pointing out potential or existing problems with my drifter because it helps keep me alive.

Anyway I put together a small video to show you what the cable looked like...

I have purchased like cable for both sides so I know that both rudder cables have the same life in them.

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This entry was posted on September 1, 2011 at 10:39 PM and has received 237 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

We had a great AGM on Friday night with Armin cooking up a sensational barbeque for all who attended. One of things decided at the meeting following the election of office bearers was to move end of month meetings back to Sunday morning.

Although there will be formal minutes of the meeting posted to the website, here is my quick rundown of some of the key events of the evening.

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This entry was posted on August 28, 2011 at 9:38 AM and has received 333 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

I have today tendered my resignation from the RA-Aus board. I have enjoyed my time on the board and will continue to be a supportive member. The reason for resigning is the lack of time I can commit to the board due to family obligations and the need for someone with more spare time to step in to make a differnce.

This entry was posted on August 21, 2011 at 9:07 AM and has received 364 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Firstly apologies for not writing much recently. I look at my annual flying hours in my little drifter and think that maybe my priorities are a little skewed. Speaking of drifters, Greg, my boss is now the proud owner of a drifter and joins the vintage ultralight owners brigade. I look forward to posting photographs of slow journeys to the Tiwi islands and beyond.

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This entry was posted on July 15, 2011 at 10:39 PM and has received 320 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

As you may be aware, our good friends in the defence force have been using MKT for exercises for over 25 years and ther is another intersting exercise coming up. This Friday at our club meeting at MKT ther will be an informal briefing by one of the members of the defence force.

So if you would like find out what interesting things will be happening in and around MKT over the next period of time, make sure you are are at MKT this Friday evening for the meeting.

For those folks who are recipients of this blog entry and not from MKT - it is great that we have trikes, RAA, GA and military all welcome and operating in harmony from our little 1.2 km strip up here in Darwin.

This entry was posted on May 24, 2011 at 8:12 PM and has received 284 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

This is a copy of the Queensland Ultralight Association's latest newsletter. Great pictures and stories from Queensland.

Thanks Arthur and all who put together the magazine.

This entry was posted on April 5, 2011 at 7:55 AM and has received 232 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Vince, a good friend and member of the club here in Darwin posted via email a link to a great flight planning package from CASA for low hour VFR pilots.

'Plans are nothing - planning is everything'

Safety Promotion as part of its range of aviation safety information materials has just released a Flight Planning kit.

It costs 15 dollars which basically just covers the freight and contains

The Flight Planning Kit is designed to assist low-hour VFR pilots with good flight planning habits. Includes a handbook outlining eight stages of a flight; kneeboard; flight planning notepad; personal minimums card; time in your tanks card; durable A3-sized manoeuvring maps of Archerfield, Bankstown, Camden, Jandakot, Moorabbin and Parafield; and more.

The Flight Planning Kit is available to industry via the CASA online store http://casa.cart.net.au/details/3383840.html 

I reckon that a box of these at Natfly for giveaways to attendees (okay - a really big box then) would be a fantastic idea and I hope our office team in Canberra can make the call to organise some of these kits. But in the meantime, jump online and check out the kit and order one - I am going to.

Thanks Vince

Because this should also be about what we love... here are some shots taken recently over Fogg Dam in the Northern Territory. The aircraft is our training drifter flown by Greg with photos taken from my drifter.

From Drifters

This entry was posted on April 1, 2011 at 4:49 AM and has received 538 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

As the time for Natfly draws closer, the program is being tweaked and refined. Ther have been some substantial changes to the program. To view these please click on the "More" link below. This is the most comprehensive program yet. Please take a look.

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This entry was posted on March 29, 2011 at 8:20 AM and has received 270 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.