The Un-fly Away

The troops started gathering at Royal Sandhurst AD on late  Friday afternoon in preparation for a day trip to Scone for lunch with the Scone Aero Club and see Pay’s Flying Museum.  Members of the Quirindi Aero Club had kindly invited us to join them on this trip. Gunnedah Airport was closed from 8am to 4pm on both Saturday and Sunday for the drag races.  It would have been a very close call to depart before the NOTAM came into effect so most of the participating aircraft elected to overnight at YSDT (Editors shorthand for Sandhurst AD!)

The group of flyers gathered at YSDT in preparation for the days fun around o9oo hrs on Saturday. The crew of WAW left early from GDH, got to Scone and headed back to Quirindi because the airfield was covered by cloud and flying under the cloud through the Murrurundi gap was out of the question.

We were advised to delay our departure till about 11oohrs when we were assured the cloud would break up.  Harvey and Deb promptly invited us all up to the house for morning tea – no better way to while away the time before departure.  Thanks Deb.

The group got airborne about 1100hrs for Scone only to be confronted with the earth concealed from the aircraft by cloud.  Back to YSDT we all went.

The day was far from wasted! The aviators adjourned to the Aero Club to participate in a great BBQ lunch to the sweet background music of roaring engines and smoking tyres.  Good friends. Good food. Good stories.

About 3.30pm pilots headed back to YSDT to pick up aircraft, fly them back to Gunnedah airport  and bed them down under cover.

As the title suggests, this was the fly away to have when you don’t have a flyaway.