Bob
Last time I was there was 2009 and I dont know what has transpired. I just had a look on the website and it says its closed. There is a ranger there, not sure how you would get on.
Here is an article
http://cooberpedyregionaltimes.wordpres ... utback-sa/

ok so an update on my progress regarding location so far. its easy to bring in a single plane to a bush strip and camp but to bring in the 10-15 planes I already have interested is proving to be a challenge. I will go over the issues Im having first then I will go over the soloutions.

first of all none of the larger more commercial strips, even bush strips are all to excited about us showing up for insurance reasons. They are fine for the flying, But you are not supposed to be staying at those sites, and to have probably 20 or so people camping around 15 planes for a couple of days is stretching friendships a bit. Yes we could sneak in just do it and theres not alot that can be done about it, but I really want to keep things very much above board, as even though this is an unofficial fly in for the site, I firstly dont want to do anything to give it a bad name, plus I also would like to see this become an annual thing and I dont want to burn our bridges. on an annual basis we could look at changing locations year to year, but we still dont want a bad name getting around that we cant find another location.

this brought me on to stations ect that are insured for accommodation. However of those I have been able to find that are happy to let us use there strips, they are
a) hesitant about the number of aircraft coming in.
b) not to sure about letting us have games on the strip, eg stol contest, flour bombing ect
c) not at all keen on the idea of us conducting any take off or landing operations off the strip.
the other issue is the only really good sites are typically a bit far for our Melbourne contingent which is looking reasonably well sized.

so then they takes us to alot of the really more remote strips, which in some cases people wouldn't even know who looks after it! for example Milparinka is one I was looking at and one I have alot of connections for. but that then that raises the questions of food and most importantly out there, WATER! (Milparinka wasn't a great example there as I can organize it at that site but you get the jist!)

one suggestion that has come in from Michale Poole who is rallying together the Victorians who want to come was Middlebrook station in the hunter valley (near scone). Now I looked into this early in the piece and blew it off very quickly thinking that scone was hardly bush flying, however I have been finding out a bit more about the place and think its worth serious consideration. Hamish Henderson is the son of the owners of whom I have just got off a half hour phone call from and who is quite excited about the prospect. They have a main strip, but also a few small ridge and bush strips about. plus He knows of plenty of other great bush sites around. There is cabins to sleep up to 24 plus on site camping. It is very easy for everyone to get to including those flying in from over seas as getting there from Sydney airport is no worries. plus it will lead to a much larger turn out. they are more than happy to allow us to have competitions ect, its got everything going for it really, oh and I should defiantly add, the owners have 3 cubs including one 150 super cub on 31's......so that immediately proves our hosts have there minds in the right place!

Anyway would love to know your thoughts on it as a location?

http://www.middlebrookstation.com/

raiding the national airfield directory and various maps today I also came up with Nymagee as a possible solution. thoughts on that gents? its a public strip run by Cobar shire council so I will have to check regarding details with camping on the field ect, But if not its only 700 - 800 m walk out of town. Thoughts gentlemen!?

DrifterDriver wrote:ok so an update on my progress regarding location so far. its easy to bring in a single plane to a bush strip and camp but to bring in the 10-15 planes I already have interested is proving to be a challenge. I will go over the issues Im having first then I will go over the soloutions.

first of all none of the larger more commercial strips, even bush strips are all to excited about us showing up for insurance reasons. They are fine for the flying, But you are not supposed to be staying at those sites, and to have probably 20 or so people camping around 15 planes for a couple of days is stretching friendships a bit. Yes we could sneak in just do it and theres not alot that can be done about it, but I really want to keep things very much above board, as even though this is an unofficial fly in for the site, I firstly dont want to do anything to give it a bad name, plus I also would like to see this become an annual thing and I dont want to burn our bridges. on an annual basis we could look at changing locations year to year, but we still dont want a bad name getting around that we cant find another location.

this brought me on to stations ect that are insured for accommodation. However of those I have been able to find that are happy to let us use there strips, they are
a) hesitant about the number of aircraft coming in.
b) not to sure about letting us have games on the strip, eg stol contest, flour bombing ect
c) not at all keen on the idea of us conducting any take off or landing operations off the strip.
the other issue is the only really good sites are typically a bit far for our Melbourne contingent which is looking reasonably well sized.

so then they takes us to alot of the really more remote strips, which in some cases people wouldn't even know who looks after it! for example Milparinka is one I was looking at and one I have alot of connections for. but that then that raises the questions of food and most importantly out there, WATER! (Milparinka wasn't a great example there as I can organize it at that site but you get the jist!)

one suggestion that has come in from Michale Poole who is rallying together the Victorians who want to come was Middlebrook station in the hunter valley (near scone). Now I looked into this early in the piece and blew it off very quickly thinking that scone was hardly bush flying, however I have been finding out a bit more about the place and think its worth serious consideration. Hamish Henderson is the son of the owners of whom I have just got off a half hour phone call from and who is quite excited about the prospect. They have a main strip, but also a few small ridge and bush strips about. plus He knows of plenty of other great bush sites around. There is cabins to sleep up to 24 plus on site camping. It is very easy for everyone to get to including those flying in from over seas as getting there from Sydney airport is no worries. plus it will lead to a much larger turn out. they are more than happy to allow us to have competitions ect, its got everything going for it really, oh and I should defiantly add, the owners have 3 cubs including one 150 super cub on 31's......so that immediately proves our hosts have there minds in the right place!

Anyway would love to know your thoughts on it as a location?

http://www.middlebrookstation.com/

Hey DD, I saw this suggestion earlier today and had a look, but didn't get a chance to reply earlier. As far as I am concerned you may be on a winner here. As well as the on farm strips here, there are a lot of fun super strips in the hills around Scone. Infact I had my first OH F#{k moment as a young cocky ag pilot on one of them strips.... Let's just say I managed to go around after landing ( through good luck, not good skills) on a one way strip just Sth of Scone.... Cleared the fence and the loader truck by inches. I can still remember seeing the WIDE open eyes of the loader driver as I scooted past. My first real learning experience of many. Maybe Hamish could help organise a fly out to some of the tamer strips around there. I also remember flying out to Murrumbo (sp?), a pretty cool crater like clearing in the middle of the ranges with some fun strips. There is definitely some country around there to be respected. During my ag training my instructor pointed out all the aircraft wreckages scattered around the sides of the valleys to drive home the point about respecting the weather and the hills. I reckon I will have another few fellows keen to come along as well.

I have 2 major things i want to achieve with this fly in. One is to encourage more aussie users. I think this is the best venue to achieve that. But the other and the biggest priority is for our existing members to get together. if this is to far out of the way for rob or ash let me know and I will keep hunting, if you are keen on the idea, ill get talking with the owners and start some organising

Scone is still 7 hours of flying for us and the Victorians but I can probably live with that if enough are interested
Cobar would be great as an alternative but I can work with everyone, let me know the outcome
Sounds like a great idea

My vote goes to Middlebrook Station but as previously stated, I don't really care even if you decide on the Kimberlies count me in.

As much as I like the idea of Middlebrook station, there's no guarantee I can go. It will depend on work at the time. Although that is traditionally a quiet time. I am open to whatever suits everyone else. One of the other guys I thought might be keen has just become the Australian dealer for Just Aircraft and has taken delivery of a superstol kit.

ok guys, sorry to have disappeared off the radar for so long regarding this, but I have been so flat out with work this time of year, plus I got a new boat, so given its been a bit windy for flying lately, Ive been spending my spare time feeding fish!

So I havnt had much luck at this stage with scone, I put forward a few ideas, what we would like to do ect and havn't heard back since. Now having said that I havnt lost hope, as I havnt chased them up either, its most likley that they, like me are to busy at the moment to even think about june next year.

In the mean time though I have come up with an alternative location near where I'm working here in Brewarrina. I went and checked out this strip today to see if I could use it for mustering and got talking to the property manager. His going to confirm with his CEO monday but thinks it would be no hassle at all for us to use it. camping, fires, games, off airport ops all no worries, theres also dongers we can use if we want (4 of) its right near the bogan river with awesome yellow belly and cod fishing. there is also another 78 000 acer place down the road, the owner of that is a mate of mine, we are welcome to land where ever we want to land on that place. also he loves takeing people out shooting, pigging ect on his place if we want to head out. his a black fella that owns that and also loves taking people out to cut and make didgeridoos, collect bush tucker ect.

there is also a BMX track right next to the strip if anyone wants to bring out kids. there is a drug and alcohol rehab center near by, the residents are great blokes (its where im working at the moment), they would love to come out and have a look at the planes ect, watch us have comps which would be great for them. also to the rehab center has a bus that runs to town each day and we are welcome to jump on that anytime, they can also run us out anything we want like food or whatever. the area isnt to barron, its got an even mix of red and black soils, not to hot, not to cold, and the strip is awsome!

what you think of the idea?

The strip





its not clear, but thats the BMX track, its actually really good, but I didnt have my camera with me when i got near it



The river





A few shots around the place showing the area type

You had me at "bush tucker"

Just giving this a bump to see if anyone is still keen? the people with the Brewarrina strip are really keen if we want to head there

I won't be able to make it to anything for a while. I'm in Canada until the end of Sept, then back down to the Riverina for Oct / Nov.

I'm in Canada too!! Terrace, BC.

Nice one Ted. I'm working in Ab but hope to do some touring around the Rockies and BC in Sept before I head home.

51C170 wrote:Nice one Ted. I'm working in Ab but hope to do some touring around the Rockies and BC in Sept before I head home.

Noel, please let me known if you get out West? I will be flying the Scout back to Oregon in a couple weeks. Then either L.A. or back to Hawaii...

Thank you again (both you and Tim) for the bonzer time Downunder!! You guys are my best Mates.

Anyone have experience with what is required to keep Oz faa types happy to fly an experimental with Canadian registration down there after pulling out of the shipping container?. Here I would get mechanic to ensure that left wing was on left side etc and sign logbook myself. Same as if I flew it there? Import duties or bond? Insurance?

It is my belief that you can fly a Canuk registered aircraft in Australia with a Canuk licence but short of immersing myself in the hideous nightmare that is Australian flying regulations I can't really say for sure, and even if I did immerse myself I doubt that they would be understandable enough for me to work it out. The big thing in your favour is that experimental aircraft are handled by an independent organisation called the Sport Pilot Association of Australia. It is them that you should contact first.

My guess is you will also have to pay some sort of bond or tax to ensure you don't sell it while over here but again, you would need to deal with the Australian Taxation Office, another entity with rules that even the holder of a degree in law can't decipher.

Finally another guess, if your machine arrives and you do get to fly it you may just enjoy yourself! Good luck, there are a few Aussies on this site that would be only too happy to meet up with you when you arrive, myself included.

cbfraser wrote:Anyone have experience with what is required to keep Oz faa types happy to fly an experimental with Canadian registration down there after pulling out of the shipping container?. Here I would get mechanic to ensure that left wing was on left side etc and sign logbook myself. Same as if I flew it there? Import duties or bond? Insurance?

I don't know the answer but my guess is it would be very difficult, especially given that it's experimental. To fly an Australian registered aircraft you can apply for a foreign validation, this is similar to what TC have given me to fly in Canada. I don't think its that difficult to obtain. Normally when someone brings a plane into the country the registration is changed to Australian. This means getting an export C of A from the original company then getting an Australian C of A and then C of R (registration). This is a long and normally expensive process which involves a major inspection of the aircraft and documentation and compliance with Australian ADs. And that's with aircraft whose type is already approved in Australia. Commercial operations (airlines etc) can operate here under foreign registrations because they gain approval in the form of Australian operation certificates which outline there approvals and methods of compliance. In other words, everything they do is strictly regulated. There is also the issue of maintenance... You would need a Canadian certified engineer to carry out any maintenance (assembly) in accordance with Canadian regulations.

There is also the cost to consider, I would be surprised if you got out of it under $10000 each way, that's being conservative. It could be double, it will depend a lot on what's involved in disassembly and reassembly.

So given the manner in which foreign aircraft are controlled, I'd be surprised if you could bring your plane and fly around at will. Having said that, I really can't say for sure. The best way to find out would be to see what you can find on the CASA website or just email them.

just throwing it out there guys, this isnt the fly in I was planning but it is another one Im having anyway, My wife and I are looking at other dates to go the the states since my 30th puts it in the dead of winter, so in turn, Im having an all planes welcome (bar those containing CASA reps!) BBQ, spot landing contest and flour bombing competition, and a day of deep sea fishing on the weekend of the 19th/20th of december! would love to see you there.....well your planes atleast, not fust wither way if you join them....

DrifterDriver wrote:just throwing it out there guys, this isnt the fly in I was planning but it is another one Im having anyway, My wife and I are looking at other dates to go the the states since my 30th puts it in the dead of winter, so in turn, Im having an all planes welcome (bar those containing CASA reps!) BBQ, spot landing contest and flour bombing competition, and a day of deep sea fishing on the weekend of the 19th/20th of december! would love to see you there.....well your planes atleast, not fust wither way if you join them....

Sounds good to me Tim. I'm not too sure at this stage where i'll end up for the summer, but if I'm around I'll definately try to make it over.