Mission 1131 - Archerfield to Bundaberg

Background

On Thursday the 13th of July 2006 I flew Mission 1131, making it my 40th Angel Flight.

The mission description from Angel Flight was:

SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST: (5th & 6th Angel flights)

Paige, a six year old girl with Smith-Magenis Syndrome, has doctors appointments and various examinations under anaesthetic planned for her when she visits Brisbane.

Developmental delay and problems associated with this syndrome make road and rail travel very difficult.

Driving from Bundaberg to Brisbane would normally take about 5 hours.

I had previously carried Paige and her mum Georgina on Mission 411 a year before.

Archerfield to Bundaberg

Jo and Ian were the Earth Angels again and, together with Jo's brother, dropped off Paige and Georgina a little earlier than I had anticipated; I was still doing the daily inspection when they turned up.

But it was not too long before I had the luggage stowed and passengers seated and we started to taxi. However, the circuit was very busy and we were number three in line to take off, trying to squeeze in between students attempting to do touch and gos. After about 10 minutes (right on time at 10:00) we took off to the west, headed for Indooroopilly Bridge and thence further north.

The weather was picture perfect again (albeit quite hazy), and our climb to out cruising altitude was nice and smooth.

Paige, however, due to her condition, was getting very anxious and distressed. I received several kicks in the backside and heard loud banging on the window. Georgina tried her level best to calm her down, but it seemed to have little effect.

We arrived just after 11:00 at Bundaberg with Paige very much more tired, Georgina still remarkably stoic, and yours truly having a slightly sore back side. I helped Georgina strap Paige into her wheelchair and assisted them to get landside with their luggage.

I was glad to have been able to carry Paige and make her trip so much shorter than it would have been, had she been stuck in a car for five hours or longer.

Bundaberg to Archerfield

I got airborne at about 11:30 and was back on the ground at Archerfield at about 1:00pm

Summary

During this flight, we