Trevor (the Cub's engineer) picks me up at 12.30 am off my flight from Melbourne (a story in itself ). Up all night with ankle / headache and now the enteritis, ‘oopazootics’ as mum would say. Eventually fall asleep but soon wake to the delicious smell of Trevor cooking bacon next to an inviting swimming pool. Off to Darwin Airport to retrieve my Leatherman knife that caused all the rumpus, the night before (ed - do tell Maurice!).
I meet up with my old girlfriend in the hangar (Liberty Girl) and Trevor goes through what work had been done, including the need for a new carburettor that I had express shipped from UK last month off my Chaffinch, a Poetenpol look alike aircraft.
Two wee test flights to check all systems a Ok…fuel supply, radios, engine and pilot! Install bean bags in Cub for buoyancy. Enough to allow the aircraft to bob up and down, with the weight of the engine causing the tail, with radar reflector tape on rudder and tail plan, to stand vertically…well, that’s the theory until I get a shark bite?
On with a few more stickers on the fuselage, including one in memory of legendary 'Solo Flight’ boss the late Glen Stuart, who came on the London Sydney Air Race, killed in a crash whilst giving instruction. His lovely wife and countless supporters have just launched a Charity to support pilot training for appropriate young folk, short of cash!
www.flyingschlarship.co.uk
File a flight plan with limited info as having difficulty obtaining charts and downloading the one third area map of the World (Pacific) from a database of the GPS system. Quick swim in the pool, supper and lots of water, as I am still not right. I feel I have just been kicked hard in the guts.
Now, till 1am I will split luggage into slow and fast piles for journey back to UK, leaving what is light enough to take in the cub, bearing in mind I had no rigorous weight loss regime this time to cross the Timor, booked for 9am, tomorrow for East Timor and many points North.