The mission description from Angel Flight was:
SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST (6th & 7th Angel Flights):I had previously flown Annette and Bob on their maiden mission two months before.This lady continues her chemotherapy sessions in Toowoomba.
Angel flights will ease her discomfort and allow her to attend her sessions without the fatigue and stress that a 10 hour drive or 12 hour bus trip each way would inevitably occur after such a journey.
This time I would stop off in Charleville on the way in order to have sufficient fuel to get them back to Toowoomba.
I had just switched to Brisbane Radar frequency to arrange clearance when they made a general announcement advising of the closure of all of Amberley's control zones. It appeared that they had some sort of emergency there. So I had to turn left to try to fly around the control zone. The wind, forecast to be blowing at 40kt at altitude was pushing me south at an enormous speed even in the climb.
By the time that I could turn for Oakey again, with Amberley re-opened, I did, however find myself in a climb with a ground speed of only 60kts! Even when leveled out in the cruise at 10,000' it stayed in double digit territory. Having run the figures of air speed, ground speed, heading and track through the computer, I deduced that I had a 65kt head wind.
I felt like unplugging my headset, climbing out and whipping the steed with the headset cord to get a move on. Only the requirement to man the radio kept me in my seat.
You rarely have to face the full force of the wind, as it usually comes from an angle. So for a 40kt wind you might get a 30kt head wind component. Today it seemed like I was getting a 75kt component off a 60kt total wind.
The forecast did call for about 40kt head winds with stronger winds above 10,000' and a SIGMET for severe turbulence below 8,000'. So I was stuck between a rock and a hard place - should I proceed very slowly, or should I descend into hopefully lesser winds and get bounced around like a marble in a washing machine?
In the end, I decided for the latter, and found that by descending to 8,000' the ground speed increased to a more respectable 125kts (so did the fuel flow, but at a slower rate than the ground speed), while the forecast turbulence did not manifest itself.
So some three and a half hours after take off I landed at Charleville, where 210 litres of AvGas were used to replenish the tanks.
Being wise as to the condition of the dirt strip which was NOTAMed off limits anyway, I landed on the sealed strip this time for a much less cacophonous arrival than last time.
Annette and Bob quickly got on board and we headed toward the east, anticipating a good push along by the strong winds. But, alas, the winds had moved south and only gave us a 25kt push this time. Still, it was better than having to battle into the wind again.
After two and a quarter hours we arrived overhead Toowoomba, just as four other aircraft did, causing my neck muscles to be well exercises as I scanned the area for conflicting traffic.
Earth Angel Kirsty Maclean was already waiting for us and helped carry the bags and other stuff to her car.
I fired up the engine for the last trip of the day, a mere 22 minute flight to Archerfield. But even this was not to be. Another aircraft, a SR20 Cirrus, had taken off just before me and it, too, was heading for Archerfield also at a planned 5,000'. The air traffic controller made me do two orbits inside the Amberley control zone to increase the spacing.
When I finally arrived at Archerfield I got the preferred runway (28 Right) and, with the strong winds, managed to turn off by the first taxiway.
It was with a sigh of relief that I shut down the engine after a very long day in the saddle. However the manifest thanks and good humour of my passengers more than made up for any hardship.