Arnhem Land ferry flight

Earlier this week I was given the job of flying a GA8 from Mareeba, where it had been in for maintenance, back to its home in Gove, the main base of MAF's Arnhem Land programme.

This was a journey of 813 nautical miles (about 1500 km) - longer than the North Island and South Island put together!

Video available here.

My route shown in red on the MAF aircraft tracker, v2track

Loading the plane with cargo the day before

Departing Mareeba, 6:45 am

My cargo included a staff member's bicycle

First refuelling stop: Normanton

Cloud starting to build up along the coast, Gulf of Carpenteria

Second refuelling stop: Borroloola (about 40C on the ground - much cooler at altitude!)

Pretty patterns at Limmen Bight River estuary

Birany Birany - a typical airstrip and community that MAF serves in Arnhem Land.
Note the cloud buildup in the distance

MFX home again!

I made it!

Thanks to favourable winds (up to 30 kt tailwind at times) I arrived in Gove around 3:00 pm, having left Mareeba at 6:45 am. Two short fuel stops en route and a total flight time of 7.5 hrs.

There's a chance I may get to do other flights like this next year... watch this space!