For the first time on the trip we found the skies overcast on arriving at the airport. Not to worry it would mean cool air. This was a long leg over a true wilderness and our different air speeds would spread us out. We agreed to take our time and let RCN and ISB get a bit of a lead so that we could slowly catch them over the desert. We wanted to stay together as much as possible. So we took our time and waited on the tarmac while the A team climbed aboard, powered up and taxied out. The Green Lantern sported a big grin and waved out the window from the rear seat of ISB. He had his brown flying helmet on and I could see he was good to go as Anthony taxied past. RCN led, ISB followed and we waited in the cool air to create a gap that our greater groundspeed would slowly eat away. But JCU has a smaller sump than the Continental driven 182 and when we did fire up our temps came up pretty quickly. We received our taxi clearance as the others received their permission to backtrack and by the time they got to the end of that big runway (32) and took off we were at the junction. The controller asked if we were happy to blast off from where we were, and we were, and so we closed the gap almost before we had even started. It was 9:52 am
We climbed out and then rolled right tracking 111 out over the Simpson Desert for Poeppels's corner, the peg that marks the boundary between the Territory, Queensland and South Australia. It was a stick in the ground 260 nm away and we had the fourth largest desert in the country to cross but GPS navigation meant that we always had it in our sights small though it was. We tracked initially along the Mcdonnell Range, which forms a natural southern boundary for Alice, and then out over the Todd river plain. For a time we had the dwindling ranges to observe - left and right. Phillipson Sound was worth seeing but the 'mountains' Guenevere and Pellinore were nothing to speak off. Then, almost all of sudden, it was as if the landscape ceased in front of us. We entered a featureless twilight world of colours, dots and lines - all vast horizon - furred in light haze by the low light under the steady overcast. In no time we found ourselves in a wilderness in which no navigational marker could be seen from horizon to horizon.
The map has a large featureless area marked with indistinguishable squiggly brown lines running south south east and other than that it simply reads in large bold type: 'SIMPSON DESERT'. HOoorah ... it was pretty good stuff. Those long squiggly lines represent the longest parallel sand dunes in the world and we were now in remote country. Sturt was the first white guy to sight the Simpson on his last expedition in 1844-46, but it wasn't crossed by one of us invaders until just 75 years ago. The first guy to walk the length unassisted did it in 2008, but he was Belgian and so we won't mention that. Not sure when or if the aboriginals crossed it - probably never felt the need - but if they did they must have had a pretty good season.
In spite of the lack of features there was much to see if you knew how to look. The wet had transformed this desert for a short time into a subtle jewel of pastel color dispersed in the now familiar dot pattern as little points. Taken together in the long view they cast subtle greens from drab right through to saturated limes and emerald - blues through mauves, purples and violets and underlying it all the now familiar apricot and red of central Australia. Mile after mile, minute after minute it surrounded us and again we oohed and ached and wondered how we were going to communicate such splendour to those we left behind.
We had not seen the others since we passed them early in the flight on the cusp of the desert. But we could hear them on the numbers and we made an attempt to get Harry to make his first radio broadcast in the air. Maddy had vacated the copilots seat for this leg and so now it was time for Harry to have his baptism on the airways. That laconic lad is never going to trouble the administrators with excessive speech but God knows what is going to happen when Master T and the Green Lantern get their turn. It may require a dedicated frequency - one that allows spelling.
The overcast began to break up for a short time and we saw the desert dunes lit up in little patches. It did not last long. As we neared Poeppel's corner we began to encounter light showers of rain. Descending to 1000 feet we picked up a 4WD track, the QAA line, running south towards a large salt lake. The lake had a little water in it and Dustin identified it as Poeppel's, the one that sits beside the border post. We dropped another 500 and more to the very floor of the desert to see if we could identify the spot. The boy wonder was here last year on a 4WD trip with his mates and they drove the QAA line for 1 1/2 days to reach it. He knew what he was looking for and it was just as well because it is really only an information board under a square metre of corrugated iron, a small gravel path in sparse shrubbery, and 4 sticks in the ground. Not much to spot in the midst of this big Empty. Our little moving map, courtesy of OZRunways and the Ipad, was gold to us now. It put us right on the spot and so it was that we located the markers without much difficulty. Then we took advantage of our low level to have a wider look see identifying the different types of foliage responsible for the range of colours and discovering some camel tracks in the salt lakes. We Reno raced around the corner passing from the NT into Queensland and then South Australia and back again in 15 second intervals. I have now been in and out of all those States a lot of times even if most of them were all crammed into the one 5 minute period.
Andrew was a little homesick and so he flew into Queensland a little way before joining us but Anthony was bringing the Cherokee down to have a closer look and so we scooted out to the north a little to give him space. When everyone was happy we cut the corner to the north east and picked up the QAA line which ran for 60 nm in a dead straight line and from horizon to horizon and beyond -- over Big Red, the largest of the Simpson's dunes -- and into Birdsville. We powered back and stayed in company now with RCN and ISB flying directly over the famous 4WD track, oscillating gently up and down it seemed as we slipped over dune after dune after dune. The only traffic apart from us was a solitary camel walking back to Birdy on the track. When we got to Eyre's creek we could see why. The line was cut in numerous places and not long after when Big Red came into sight there was a lake across the track that you would have needed a boat to traverse. This was familiar ground to Dustin and it gave him great satisfaction to fly along it so fast and so low after the long and slow, ups and downs of the previous year.
Quickly now we found ourselves in red country, Birdsville was on the radio, and sunny Queensland had shed the overcast. We cancelled our sartime, climbed to circuit height and flew a loop over the town before landing amidst the birds of Birdsville for gas and a beer at the famous pub. Touchdown 12:39; flying time 2 hours 47 minutes.
For the first time on the trip we found the skies overcast on arriving at the airport. Not to worry it would mean cool air. This was a long leg over a true wilderness and our different air speeds would spread us out. We agreed to take our time and let RCN and ISB get a bit of a lead so that we could slowly catch them over the desert. We wanted to stay together as much as possible. So we took our time and waited on the tarmac while the A team climbed aboard, powered up and taxied out. The Green Lantern sported a big grin and waved out the window from the rear seat of ISB. He had his brown flying helmet on and I could see he was good to go as Anthony taxied past. RCN led, ISB followed and we waited in the cool air to create a gap that our greater groundspeed would slowly eat away. But JCU has a smaller sump than the Continental driven 182 and when we did fire up our temps came up pretty quickly. We received our taxi clearance as the others received their permission to backtrack and by the time they got to the end of that big runway (32) and took off we were at the junction. The controller asked if we were happy to blast off from where we were, and we were, and so we closed the gap almost before we had even started. It was 9:52 am
We climbed out and then rolled right tracking 111 out over the Simpson Desert for Poeppels's corner, the peg that marks the boundary between the Territory, Queensland and South Australia. It was a stick in the ground 260 nm away and we had the fourth largest desert in the country to cross but GPS navigation meant that we always had it in our sights small though it was. We tracked initially along the Mcdonnell Range, which forms a natural southern boundary for Alice, and then out over the Todd river plain. For a time we had the dwindling ranges to observe - left and right. Phillipson Sound was worth seeing but the 'mountains' Guenevere and Pellinore were nothing to speak off. Then, almost all of sudden, it was as if the landscape ceased in front of us. We entered a featureless twilight world of colours, dots and lines - all vast horizon - furred in light haze by the low light under the steady overcast. In no time we found ourselves in a wilderness in which no navigational marker could be seen from horizon to horizon. 
In spite of the lack of features there was much to see if you knew how to look. The wet had transformed this desert for a short time into a subtle jewel of pastel color dispersed in the now familiar dot pattern as little points. Taken together in the long view they cast subtle greens from drab right through to saturated limes and emerald - blues through mauves, purples and violets and underlying it all the now familiar apricot and red of central Australia. Mile after mile, minute after minute it surrounded us and again we oohed and ached and wondered how we were going to communicate such splendour to those we left behind. 
We had not seen the others since we passed them early in the flight on the cusp of the desert. But we could hear them on the numbers and we made an attempt to get Harry to make his first radio broadcast in the air. Maddy had vacated the copilots seat for this leg and so now it was time for Harry to have his baptism on the airways. That laconic lad is never going to trouble the administrators with excessive speech but God knows what is going to happen when Master T and the Green Lantern get their turn. It may require a dedicated frequency - one that allows spelling.
The overcast began to break up for a short time and we saw the desert dunes lit up in little patches. It did not last long. As we neared Poeppel's corner we began to encounter light showers of rain. Descending to 1000 feet we picked up a 4WD track, the QAA line, running south towards a large salt lake. The lake had a little water in it and Dustin identified it as Poeppel's, the one that sits beside the border post. We dropped another 500 and more to the very floor of the desert to see if we could identify the spot. The boy wonder was here last year on a 4WD trip with his mates and they drove the QAA line for 1 1/2 days to reach it. He knew what he was looking for and it was just as well because it is really only an information board under a square metre of corrugated iron, a small gravel path in sparse shrubbery, and 4 sticks in the ground. Not much to spot in the midst of this big Empty. Our little moving map, courtesy of OZRunways and the Ipad, was gold to us now. It put us right on the spot and so it was that we located the markers without much difficulty. Then we took advantage of our low level to have a wider look see identifying the different types of foliage responsible for the range of colours and discovering some camel tracks in the salt lakes. We Reno raced around the corner passing from the NT into Queensland and then South Australia and back again in 15 second intervals. I have now been in and out of all those States a lot of times even if most of them were all crammed into the one 5 minute period.
Andrew was a little homesick and so he flew into Queensland a little way before joining us but Anthony was bringing the Cherokee down to have a closer look and so we scooted out to the north a little to give him space. When everyone was happy we cut the corner to the north east and picked up the QAA line which ran for 60 nm in a dead straight line and from horizon to horizon and beyond -- over Big Red, the largest of the Simpson's dunes -- and into Birdsville. We powered back and stayed in company now with RCN and ISB flying directly over the famous 4WD track, oscillating gently up and down it seemed as we slipped over dune after dune after dune. The only traffic apart from us was a solitary camel walking back to Birdy on the track. When we got to Eyre's creek we could see why. The line was cut in numerous places and not long after when Big Red came into sight there was a lake across the track that you would have needed a boat to traverse. This was familiar ground to Dustin and it gave him great satisfaction to fly along it so fast and so low after the long and slow, ups and downs of the previous year.
Quickly now we found ourselves in red country, Birdsville was on the radio, and sunny Queensland had shed the overcast. We cancelled our sartime, climbed to circuit height and flew a loop over the town before landing amidst the birds of Birdsville for gas and a beer at the famous pub. Touchdown 12:39; flying time 2 hours 47 minutes.
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