Around Australia by DC-3

Around Australia by DC-3 A celebration of 80 years service by one of the benchmark designs in Aviation history.

On the face of it, this may look like a routine blog of a virtual flight around a continent. However, from past experience, I know that as soon as I begin to write about the things that engage me the most, I unconsciously begin to reveal far too many of my personal idiosyncrasies. When these peculiarities are displayed in a public place such as Facebook they are often the cause of much ridicule, w

hich is fair enough I suppose because the way that I see the world is quite strange to many people. If I can generate a laugh at my own expense I don’t mind just so long as I have personally engineered the situation. You see: after just one paragraph I've already revealed how much of a control freak I am.

14/03/2026

Update: It's been eleven years since we completed our tour of Australia in a Douglas DC-3. After moving to a new Flightsim program (MSFS2020) four years ago, we have finally come to terms with the intricacies of operating the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner. With this aircraft we can travel the entire world, above the worst weather and at breathtaking speed. This video is gives an insight into how enjoyable it is to fly such a complex and capable aircraft. All the best from Captain Bill Smith and First Officer (W)alter-Ego.

Leg 65 (Part 3)Friday July 10thArriving at Darwin (YPDN)If this was a reality TV show, our descent into Darwin would be ...
11/07/2015

Leg 65 (Part 3)
Friday July 10th
Arriving at Darwin (YPDN)
If this was a reality TV show, our descent into Darwin would be accompanied by swelling music carefully chosen to tug at the viewers' heartstrings. There would be slow-motion hugging and crying as a video montage re-capped the highs and lows of our journey. In reality, our arrival was accompanied by the deafening roar of the two huge radial engines, almost drowning out the radio calls from Darwin Tower. We touched down, taxied and parked, just as we had done dozens of times over the past six months. We disembarked, dragged our luggage to the taxi rank and waited for a ride into town. We've covered six states and two territories. We enjoyed tropical sunshine and battled rain and turbulent air. We've explored some first class Orbx FTX scenery add-ons but most of all, I have stared intently at a computer screen here in my study for hours at a time. That's all; nothing more to see here folks...

Leg 65 (Part 2)Friday July 10thLeaving Western Australian airspace...At last; 6 months after we departed Darwin, we are ...
11/07/2015

Leg 65 (Part 2)
Friday July 10th
Leaving Western Australian airspace...
At last; 6 months after we departed Darwin, we are re-entering the Northern territory.

Leg 65 (Part 1)Friday July 10thDeparting Kununurra (YPKU)Holy crap; we just survived 5 nights in Kununurra. Do we get a ...
11/07/2015

Leg 65 (Part 1)
Friday July 10th
Departing Kununurra (YPKU)
Holy crap; we just survived 5 nights in Kununurra. Do we get a medal or some kind of certificate for that? Today's leg is the very last in our national tour. Let's get going...

Leg 64 (Part 3)Sunday July 5thArriving at Kununurra (YPKU)This is our last stop in Western Australia and our next leg (b...
06/07/2015

Leg 64 (Part 3)
Sunday July 5th
Arriving at Kununurra (YPKU)
This is our last stop in Western Australia and our next leg (back to Darwin) will be the last leg of our national tour.

Leg 64 (Part 2)Sunday July 5thFlying over Lake Argyle.We head east to Argyle Airport then turn left and head north over ...
06/07/2015

Leg 64 (Part 2)
Sunday July 5th
Flying over Lake Argyle.
We head east to Argyle Airport then turn left and head north over the western shore of Lake Argyle towards Kununurra.

Leg 64 (Part 1)Sunday July 5thDeparting Gibb River (YGIB)Nothing to see here; let's move on to Kununurra.
06/07/2015

Leg 64 (Part 1)
Sunday July 5th
Departing Gibb River (YGIB)
Nothing to see here; let's move on to Kununurra.

Leg 63 (Part 2)Sunday July 5thArriving Gibb River (YGIB)Approaching this isolated airstrip, we were surprised to hear a ...
05/07/2015

Leg 63 (Part 2)
Sunday July 5th
Arriving Gibb River (YGIB)
Approaching this isolated airstrip, we were surprised to hear a radio call from a Piper aircraft inbound 10 miles behind us. We back- taxied and cleared the runway in just time for him to land on runway 07.

Leg 63 (Part 1)Sunday July 5thDeparting Derby (YDBY)Only two more stops before we head back to our start point, Darwin.
05/07/2015

Leg 63 (Part 1)
Sunday July 5th
Departing Derby (YDBY)
Only two more stops before we head back to our start point, Darwin.

Leg 62 (Part 2)Saturday July 4thArriving Derby (YDBY)This is not a tourist town so we don't plan to stay here for very l...
04/07/2015

Leg 62 (Part 2)
Saturday July 4th
Arriving Derby (YDBY)
This is not a tourist town so we don't plan to stay here for very long. My uncle Ray was based here in the 1950s when they flew DC-3s (C-47s) for Western Australia's "Air Beef" scheme.

Leg 62 (Part 1)Saturday July 4thDeparting Broome.(YBRM)The weather forecast for Broome is: clear skies, light winds and ...
04/07/2015

Leg 62 (Part 1)
Saturday July 4th
Departing Broome.(YBRM)
The weather forecast for Broome is: clear skies, light winds and 28 degrees Celsius. The current outlook is expected to remain valid for the next 3 months.

Address

Perth, WA

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Around Australia by DC-3 posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category