The mission description from Angel Flight was:
INITIAL TRIP REQUESTA 3 year old Moree girl with Cerebral Palsy requires transport to Sydney Children?s Hospital, Randwick for medical and therapy appointments.
Assistance with transport will alleviate physical, emotional and financial stresses on the family.
Although strictly speaking not part of the Angel Flight Mission, this leg was the reason why I flew the mission. My parents Annelie and Klaus had come up to Brisbane
to look in on their grandchildren Harry and Max as well as my wife Heather, and I was now taking them back home to Taree.
Not wanting to waste the empty seats on the way back, I cast around on the Angel Flight web site for a mission that could be flown on the way back north. It just so happened that Larry Jenkinson was having trouble filling this mission.
The weather for our 10:15am departure out of Archerfield was CAVOK (Cloud and Visibility OK - no significant cloud). Approaching Coffs Harbour we encountered some cloud which became solid by the time we were at our descent into Taree. After descending through 5,000' we became visual and could circle in for landing.
I disgorged my parents, bade them farwell and made use of the facilities, before getting airborne again some 15 minutes later.
The winds from the west were signficantly stronger than forecast, resulting in a ground speed reduction of some 15 knot. Nonetheless, having padded my times sufficiently, I arrived at 2:10pm for a scheduled 2:30pm departure.
I had just refuelled the plane when I spotted Earth Angel Jane Braithwaite with her charges.
Elizabeth and her mother Saini paid close attention as I gave the safety briefing. Actually Elizabeth, crouched under the trailing edge of the wing, was paying close attention to the right hand landing gear, while Saini listened to me.
We taxied out on time, but had to endure the usual 10 minutes delay in the run-up bay that one has to expect at Bankstown.
This time the instrument departure was in the general direction of our first waypoint, Richmond.
We encountered some turbulence on the climb to our cruising altitude of 10,000', but once on the level, it was smooth. Approaching Tamworth we were alerted to the development of unforecast thunderstorms ahead. As we were clear of cloud at the time, I could see these well ahead and managed to steer around successfully.
Saini and Elizabeth spent most of the time snoozing in the back while I kept the flight log, changed fuel tanks and radio frequencies up front.
The strong westerly winds again slowed us down, adding some 20 minutes to the flight time. We arrived in Moree at 4:55pm. I helped Saini carry her bags to the terminal and made sure that her lift was on the way.
Thus the last leg was accomplished in some 10 minutes less than planned, putting me on the ground just after 6:30pm.