Mission 2327 - Theodore to Archefield

Background

On Tuesday the 16th of October 2007 I flew Mission 2327, making it my 74th Angel Flight.

The mission description from Angel Flight was:

INITIAL TRIP REQUEST:

A 72 year old from Theodore with Chronic Lymphatic Leukaemia is required to travel to Brisbane to have further ongoing treatment for this condition.

Archerfield to Theodore

It was another beautiful day as I headed north toward Theodore. The only fly in the ointment being some haze due to some bush fires that spoilt and otherwise nice view.

I tracked via Kilcoy and Gayndah NDBs before doing a left dog leg toward Theodore.

Waiting for me on the ground were Eddie, his lift from the hospital and local fundrasiser for Angel Flight, Juanita Goodland as well as some other well wishers.

With only a small bag of clothes to store, I soon had Eddie installed in the right seat, and given him his safety briefing.

Return leg - Theodore to Archerfield

On the way back south all was fine, and, with the sun behind us now, visibility was marginally better. Eddie kept on remarking how surprised he was at the smoothness of the flight. I was only too pleased to take full credit for this.

As we neared Brisbane and started our descent and headed around the back of Mt Coot'tha for Archerfield, we did get some turbulence. This time I was more than happy to blame this on the convective turbulence - nothing to with my flying thank-you!

Already waiting for us was Kerry Duce, wife of Angel Flight pilot Keith Duce. Keith also has a Bonanza and is the president of the Australian Bonanza Society. So poor old Eddie had to stand in the sun while Kerry and I discussed the merits of the IO-520 vs the IO-550 engines that can be found in our aeroplanes. Kerry further lambasted me for not being a member of the society.

So some time later Eddie was taken to the hospital for his appointments.

Summary

During this flight, we