Damn that was fun.

For those unfortunate enough not to have been on the Porepunkah fly-away on the weekend, here is a brief synopsis of the trip.

Seven plane-loads of people watched a very dreary sky over Lilydale on Saturday morning that was a serious threat to our plans to commit serious aviation. However, the forecast was for improvement, which sort of contradicted what our eyes could see. After some waiting and a bit of pacing up and down, Essendon Tower finally came through with the news that the Kilmore Gap looked visual. It was like a Le Mans start watching crews and passengers sprint for planes that we’d prepared earlier. Two planes: David and Vicki Marty in Bonanza BIM and Dave Long and Cath Lincoln in Archer UQK went IFR to Wang and VFR in from there. Those two were on the ground before the VFR-onlys left LIL.

The weather in the gap was indeed VMC (no-one even thought to go any other way; grey sheets of marauding cloud were smothering the range), with a bit of dodgeball being played on the way to Mangalore. Despite some inconvenient showers, all got through to Benalla or thereabouts and turned for Myrtleford and the entrance to the Ovens Valley. With the monolith of Mount Buffalo filling the windscreens to the east, big-picture navigation (and a bit of magenta-line following) got everyone into the valley and overhead YPOK.

Once all were on the ground, a three-car convoy got everyone to our digs at the Bright Velo and such much needed stomach-settling lunch in the cafe downstairs. The day’s program was a bit upside down thanks to the delays, but we got to two wineries and a brewery in the afternoon, sampling the local produce with much enthusiasm before taking in the local Italian cuisine at dinner that night. Everything was within walking distance, which tired legs appreciated very much.

Breakfast in the cafe started Sunday morning, with a faultless weather forecast dominating the conversation. The convoy shuffled off to (Mount) Buffalo in the afternoon to explore the lookouts, old chalet and waterfalls underneath a sky made for aviating. The breathtaking vista east included unimpeded views of Hotham, Feathertop, Bogong and, as a grey pyramid in the distance, even Kosciuszcko (did I spell that right?). Lunch that arvo was at Wandiful Produce at Wandiligong: fresh gourmet pizzas made with chestnut flour and dessert cakes to make you forget about your waistline. Geoff, Meagan and Zoe at Wandiful Produce had been generous enough to lend us a car for the weekend, and their food just topped off the trip nicely.

Weather was simply not an obstacle on the way back. Most tracked almost direct for Lilydale under a high canopy of strata-cu, with stunning landscape such as Mount Buller, Eildon Mt Torbeck and the Cathedral marking progress back home to YLIL. The most challenging part was LIL circuit! As someone remarked on the CTAF … it was like Bourke Street.

Analysis: Damn that was fun. So far, everyone on the trip has put their hand up to make this an annual event. Ask as ye shall receive.

Standby for all the pictures …

Lilydale Flying Club has been offered the chance to tour the GippsAero factory at Latrobe Valley Airport on 20 February in the morning. This is a great opportunity to see how the Airvans are made, what’s happening with the turbine Airvan 10 and have a look at some things in the hangar they call “Dreamland.”

It’s a quick fly down to LTV and there’s a great aero club there that we can put up our heels and drink coffee in later on. They might even have a spare sausage for us.

Get your name on the starters list now by sending an e-mail to Steve Hitchen hitchy@iinet.net.au

LFC’s pilot photo shoot day went fantastically well yesterday. Eight pilots and aircraft formed-up on C172 ISD for the cameras and we got some pretty reasonable images that we weren’t going to get any other way.

Heaps of thanks to formation pilots Jock Folan, Murray Gerraty, Dave Woodland, Bob Irvine and Craig Hammond. Without your professional flying skills this would have been absolutely impossible to do.

We’ll probably have to do another shoot sooner rather than later, so if you’re interesting in getting a great high-res shot of yourself in the command seat, give your details to Steve Hitchen hitchy@iinet.net.au as soon as your ready. We’ll set a date once we know there’s more interest is what is a great fun exercise for all involved. Have a look at some of these images of LFC members.

LFC is developing a mentor program specifically for PPLs, GFPTs and students. The idea is to help newer pilots with guidance on how to develop themselves as PPLs. If you feel you would benefit from a mentor (and all pilots generally do), you can register yourself with mentor co-ordinator Steve Hitchen hitchy@iinet.net.au and a mentor will be assigned to you.

This is something that people new to flying should consider. It is said that pilots start out with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience, and the trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck runs out. A mentor will help you fill that bag of experience by contributing their own to your stocks.