Mission 897 - Gold coast to Hervey bay

Background

On Tuesday the 9th of May 2006 I flew Mission 897, making it my 33rd Angel Flight.

The mission description from Angel Flight was:

SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST: 4th Angel flight

Beverley Beckwith from Hervey Bay, has had a right hip removal and replacement with a prosthesis.

This was performed at the John Flynn Hospital, Gold Coast on April 19. She is now able to travel home to Hervey Bay.

Leg 1 - Archerfield to Gold Coast

It was a beautiful day and the trip from Archefield to Gold Coast, all 17 minutes of it passed in no time at all. Beverly and Earth Angel Eddie Bech were waiting for me as I taxied in.

Peter Driver and his Cessna 180 had originally volunteered to fly this mission, and only when he found that the aircraft was not available was the mission assigned to me. While Peter might be disappointed that he could not do the flight, he will be pleased to know that he still did help us. I still had the step ladder that he left behind on Mission 366 in June of the previous year.

With a little support from me Beverly climbed up the ladder, over the wing and into the back seat.

Leg 2 - Gold Coast to Hervey Bay

Again the flying conditions were pretty sweet as we went up the coast, straight over the top of Brisbane Airport at 9,000', thence Mackay, before commencing our descent into Hervey Bay, with Fraser Island on our right and Maryborough passing on our left. We landed after a little over an hour of flying.

Beverly was very cheerful, having been released from a 3 week hospital stay and very much looking forward to see her children and grand children again.

Beverly's daughter Chris was waiting for us, and the transfer from plane to ground was again achieved thanks to Peter's steps.

Leg 3 - Hervey Bay to Archerfield

The arrival of a Virgin Airlines 737 delayed my departure by a few minutes, but the flight back home at 10,000' over mostly scattered cloud was again very pleasant.

After a little over an hour's time, I did a visual arrival into Archerfield, having passed on the western side of Mt Coot'ha.

Summary

I was back on the ground in Archerfield after having