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Sunday, September 8, 2013: Day 15 - Latrobe Valley-Bundaberg, Australia
G'Day from Australia. After 2 days rest--allowing time to catch up on maps and approach plates, as well as a Federal Election with a change of government--we are ready to depart Latrobe Valley Airport. The people at Latrobe Valley were most hospitable in every way. There is no doubt that they envy the freedom that we currently have in General Aviation in the United States. Lets all hope we retain that freedom. As we depart Latrobe Valley (photo left) and climb to 24,000 feet, I realize how the state of Victoria has shrunk now that I am flying an MU-2. After just 30 minutes we are crossing the border of New South Wales and heading for Queensland state, which is just 1 hour and 45 minutes away. The leg to Bundaberg is 919 nautical miles and 3:04 enroute. In Bunderberg I am catching up with David McKenzie who is a friend of mine from school. David is a Veterinarian and he lives in the remote area of Queensland. He is also a pilot, and he uses his Cessna to fly to his customers in association with his job. Mike Collins will be visiting the Jabiru Aircraft company in Bunderberg. The Jabiru is in the Light Sport Aircraft category--the aircraft and its engines are both built in Bundaberg. I
was involved with Jabiru for many years as the North and South American distributor. We are now abeam Sydney at 25,000 feet with a 20 knot tailwind. Baseops had flight planned us at 300 knots TAS, but because jet fuel in Australia is about $8.00 per gallon, I have pulled the power back to save fuel and money; 66 gallons per hour is giving us 290 knots TAS and we will still be in Bundy on time.
We arrived at Bundy (photo right) on time and with the great weather, we made a visual approach onto runway 14. We are very fortunate that Sue from Jabiru has kindly loaned us a car so it was very easy to be on our way to the hotel for the night.