The mission descriptions from Angel Flight was:
SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST: (5th and 6th Angel Flight)The lady in question was Beverly, whom I had had the pleasure of conveying from the Gold Coast to Hervey Bay after her operation a mere month before on Mission 897.This lady from Hervey Bay has recently had a right hip removal and replacement with a prosthesis.
She has a June 8 follow up appointment at the John Flynn Hospital at Tugun on the Gold Coast.
I arrived in Hervey Bay at 12:15pm and found Beverly and her daughter Chris already waiting for me.
It was good to see that since I last dropped her off about a month earlier, she had discarded her walking frame and had instead armed herself with two walking sticks.
Peter Driver's step ladder again came in handy as I helped her up the wing and eased her into the passenger seat.
Angel Flight pilots are not supposed to accepts any gifts, payment or gratuities from their passengers. While I normally abide by this rule, there are times when they have to be broken, especially when they appeal to my penchant for jelly snakes. Beverly, herself very partial to these reptiles, produced a big bag and we were soon competing to see who could eat the most! With in-flight provisions like these, Beverly is welcome anytime.
With the duty runway at Gold Coast being 14 and our heading 150, we were cleared for a straight in approach and landed about 10 minutes early. Shutting down in the short term parking bay we could already see Earth Angel Barry Weston and his wife waiting for us.
They soon had Beverly ensconced in their limousine, and took her off to the doctor.
I organised some fuel for both the aircraft (129l of AvGas) and myself (hamburger and a can of coke) at the Bistro right next to the gate and then went for a wander to spend more of my sons' education money on trifles such as VNCs (Visual Navigation Chart) at a local pilot supply shop.
So after a few more minutes of waiting we soon put Beverly back on board, made sure that we had a good supply of jelly snakes remaining and fired up the engine for our trip back up north.
Again the weather was beautiful and the only bump encountered was my landing at Hervey Bay at 4:30pm.
Having forgotten to ring her daughter from the Gold Coast, Beverly had to rustle her up after our arrival. When she was assured of a lift I left her sitting on the verandah of the aero club and climbed back aboard FWL.
As I headed home to my next-of-kin I was pleased to realise that I had taken Beverly to the doctor and back home in one hour less than it would have taken her just to drive to the doctor, never mind the hour spend at the appointment and the return journey.