Mission 5860 - Emerald to Archerfield

Background

On Monday the 13th of December 2010 I flew Mission 5860, making it my 147th Angel Flight.

The mission description from Angel Flight was:

SUBSEQUENT TRIP REQUEST:

A lady with a series of complex medical issues has previously had eye surgery in Brisbane and needs to return for further check ups, a surgical procedure and some new appointments for Renal problems.

Due to the distance and fatigue caused by a long road journey, Angel Flights will make things a bit easier for her and her carer.

Archerfield to Emerald

I did a visual departure north out of Archefield, but soon had to climb into some broken cumulus clouds. I did not emerge from these until reaching 7,000' as I headed first toward Gayndah, passed Theodore and finally found Emerald.

I taxied to the fuel bowser and added some 143 litres of Avgas to the tanks. Then I went looking for my charges. While I had been sweltering in the 35+°C heat they had been enjoying the airconditioned comfort of the terminal building.

Emerald to Archerfield

Neither Ranui, nor her husband Sam wanted to wear hedsets, so communications were a little limited.

Both of them took turns to have little snooze along the way. We again set atop a layer of cloud, occationally brushing along the top. We tracked via Taroom and Oakey toward Archefield and became visual at about 5,000' still west of Amberley. The air traffic controllers still kept us on an IFR plan and our arrival into Archefield was basically a slight turn onto final for runway 10R.

Earth Angel Lindsay Bell was already waiting for his charges in the terminal building. I handed my passengers over into his care and headed back to the aeroplane to refuel and tie her down.

Summary

We were back on the ground in Archerfield, after having