The mission descriptions from Angel Flight was:
SUBSEQUENT FLIGHT REQUEST:Having had to undergo dialysis in Brisbane on a regular basis over many years while she was awaiting a kidney transplant, Kayla is no stranger to Angel Flight or having to endure my airmanship, having travelled with me on:A seventeen year old girl from Chinchilla who has had a recent successful kidney transplant in Brisbane is able to return home for the weekend to spend some time with her family.
Angel Flight will assist the family and fly this young girl and her mother to and from Chinchilla.
Last time I took Kayla, Earth Angel Maurie Hand was at first going to come along but had to pull out at the last moment. This time he had run out of excuses
and just had to come along.
He arrived with Kayla and her mum Amanda a little early, just as I completed the pre-flight. So I was able to load the bags in the back and give the safety briefing in short order. With a full load onboard today (I even had to leave a little fuel behind) our climb in the hot weather was correspondingly slow. We opted to climb to 9,000' instead of the flight-planned 8.000', thus being able to just skim across a deck of cumulus cloud and not having to bounce around inside.
Twenty minutes after take-off Maurie and I got a tap on the shoulder and were offered some jelly snakes - those that were notably absent last time I flew Kayla. As you can see these cheered us up considerably!
As we turned off the runway Kayla spotted her grandmother Pam and other assorted family members who had festooned the gate with a Welcome Home sign. As befits
any respectable 17 year old, Kayla shrank in her seat with embarrassment and was only too happy to wait while I sorted out the canceling of
our SAR time with Flight Watch on the notoriously screeching short wave radio.
Eventually, however, we had to face the inevitable, shutdown the engine and emerged to be greeted.
Maurie and I unloaded the bags while dogs and relatives were given hugs.
Having posed for a picture or two, Maurie and I got back onboard and headed back home.
We had a little tailwind this time, allowing us to touch down in Archerfield a little under an hour after departing Chinchilla.