Mission 1773 - Archerfield to Chinchilla

Background

On Monday the 2nd of April 2007 I flew Mission 1773, making it my 60th Angel Flight.

The mission descriptions from Angel Flight was:

INITIAL TRIP REQUEST:

A four year old boy from Chinchilla who has Congenital Cataracts and Glaucoma requires multiple specialist visits in Brisbane.

His mother has been driving to these appointments taking up to 3 days for the return journey as the children do not travel well over long distances in the car

Angel Flight Pilot John Raby had used his Bonanza to bring Caleb, his two year old sister Shakayla and mum Kim to Archerfield in the morning.

Archerfield to Chinchilla

There were no problems about the weather today; not much cloud about and the forecast was correspondingly brief. I also had the loaner transponder installed - pending repairs or upgrade of my unit (see Mission 1641 and Mission 1728).

Having completed the fueling and the pre-flight, I ambled over to the terminal building to find Earth Angel Kylie Watters already ensconced on the lounge suite with our charges.

This being a same day return, there were no bags to be stored, so I merely lifted both Shakayla and Caleb into the rear seats, and had Kim climb in next to me.

We got away ten minutes early, climbing first to 8,000' and then, to avoid some cloud, 9,000'. After a reasonably uneventful flight (Caleb and Shakayla were engaged in the usual internecine squabbling, but that was about it), we were on the ground at Chinchilla at 2:15pm.

After a quick photo snap or two, the family headed to their car for the 10 minute drive into town, ready for afternoon tea.

Leg 2: Chinchilla to Archerfield

The flight back, again at 9,000' was uneventful, as flights should be. I was back on the ground at 3:30pm, making this one of my quicker Angel Flights.

Summary

I was back on the ground in Archerfield after having