The mission descriptions from Angel Flight were:
Mission 3559 - INITIAL TRIP REQUEST:I had flown Roy previously on Mission 2620 in February and Mission 3194 in July.This gentleman from Theodore has suffered a broken pelvis and requires bladder reconstruction.
The distance he needs to travel to the Royal Brisbane Hospital would be very painful and uncomfortable by road. He is ambulatory and has a walking stick. An Angel Flight will enable him to attend his review appointments in Brisbane.
Mission 3593 - SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST (15th and 16th Angel Flight)An eighty year old man from Theodore has been diagnosed with ischemic heart disease. He has had a pacemaker implanted as well as valve replacements. He is required to attend specialist appointments in Brisbane for ongoing treatment and review.
Mission 3548 - SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST (379th Angel Flight)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
Kayla has had to suffer me on about 10 previous occasions, most recently on Mission 2857 in April this year.
While I was talking to John, Kylie Grünes, discovered that she had a similar predicament. The pilot assigned to take Kayla back home to Chinchilla had looked out the window and decided that the passing showers would make it impossible to complete the flight as well.
So I signed up for two Angel Flights - one with 2 pax to Theodore, and one with another 2 pax to Chinchilla.
After having been given the weights and doing some sums I realised that I would have to leave about 60 litres of fuel behind lest we exceed the Maximum Takeoff Weight. This, however, posed a secondary problem - I would not have enough fuel to complete the flight without refueling somewhere. While it would have otherwise been logical to fly Archerfield, Chinchilla and then Theodore, the absence of fuel in the Theodore area meant that I would fly the other way round, with a stop at Toowoomba on the way home.
Kayla and Pam were already sitting on the steps outside the terminal building at Archerfield when I arrived about an hour before departure.
I left them sitting in the shade while I proceeded airside to wake up the aeroplane and get a little fuel added to each wing. As I did this a couple of very brief showers came through, enough to wet my gray hair, but not enough to dampen my feet or spirits.
By the time I had finished and returned to the terminal building Kayla and Pam had company, so I thought we had a quorum. But, alas, it turned out that it was only one passenger, Roy, and his Earth Angel Daniel Kennedy. The other passenger, Paul, was still to come. So it turned out I was flying three missions and not just two.
So this Rememberance Day became a little bit more memorable for me.
Earth Angel Allan Hall did drop off Paul in time and we all proceeded to board the aircraft. Kayla, being the slimmest, drew the short straw and had so sit in the very back with the luggage. Pam and Roy occupied the middle row, while Paul drew the second shortest straw, having to sit next to yours truly.
By 2pm, as we took off, the sun was shining and there was a layer of cloud at about 5,000'. We climbed through this and set course in a generally northerly direction on top at 10,000'
About an hour and a half later we had to descend toward Theodore. We were clear of cloud at 4,000' (about 3,000' AGL) and joined downwind for runway 17.
After alighting from the aircraft both Paul and Roy unfolded their walking stick in a concerted action that was worthy of The Three Musketeers.
The waving about of 'swords' did not seem to faze local Earth Angel and Angel Flight Provocateur, Juanita Goodland, who was there take the two gentlemen home.
Considerably lighter this time, and with Kayla sitting next to me, we climbed a lot quicker than before and were soon settled in at 7,000' skimming just above a layer
of cloud. About an hour later I affected a straight in approach to runway 14 at Chinchilla.
Kayla and Pam, having been given the scenic tour of South East Queensland, now could head home for a cuppa.
On the way to Chinchilla I had tuned the engine to lean operations and, having reviewed the fuel consumption and conferred with Flight Service about the weather situation at Archerfield, decided to skip the fuel stop at Toowoomba.
I was soon settled in at 9,000' with the engine again operating lean of peak and kept a careful eye on the fuel consumption. So a little over yet another hour's flying I was lined up for a straight in approach at Archerfield's runway 10.
After battling the winds trying to secure the cover on the aeroplane, I too now could head home - for a stubby.