Mission 4141 - Theodore to Rockhampton and return

Background

On Thursday the 14^th of May 2009 I flew Mission 4141, making it my 116^th and 117^th Angel Flights.

The mission descriptions from Angel Flight was:

SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST (11^th & 12^th Angel Flights):
A gentleman from Theodore has oncology appointments in Rockhampton for treatment of bowel cancer.
The road journey is becoming difficult for him and an Angel Flight would be of great benefit.

Leg 1: Archerfield to Theodore

It was a clear day as I headed north to Theodore to pick up my passengers. Nary a cloud was in the sky and we had quite reasonable visibility.

So even yours truly was able to find Theodore today, where Phillip and Gigi were already waiting for me. The inimitable Jane Goodland was also there to supervise the loading.

I had to quickly dash to the local facilities, paying close attention not to interfere with the resident wildlife.

Leg 2: Theodore to Rockhampton

With both Phillip and Gigi on board we did the short 45 odd minutes dash to Rocky where I parked outside the Rockhampton Aero Club. I had just discharged them and escorted them to the other side of the building, when, right on cue, Earth Angel Tara Manning pulled up outside to take them to the hospital.

We agreed to meet up in about 2 and a half hours time.

I spent some of this time topping up the tanks with about 60 odd litres so that I could make it home without running the tanks dry. I then settled in at the Aero Club having a bit of a chat to the staff and some members and scoffing their offered cakes and coffee.

They soon got bored with me and left me to do a little bit of work on my laptop computer.

Leg 3: Rockhampton to Theodore

Right on time Tara turned up to deliver her charges and we headed back south toward Theodore. A little cloud had built up by this time so we had to change levels twice in a effort to remain as clear as possible of the worst of it.

Another ¾ of an hour or so later, Gigi and Phillip alighted at Theodore for their short drive home.

Leg 4: Theodore to Archerfield

I headed back home at initially 9,000', but again changed levels to 7,000' to avoid some clouds. I landed some 1½ hours later at Archerfield.

Summary

I was back on the ground in Archerfield after having

spent 4 hours and 48 minutes in the air and taxiing
consumed 314 litres of AvGas,
completed 4 take-offs and landings
covered 652 nm, 750sm or 1,208km