First student solo

Congratulations to my student Nikembu, who flew the aeroplane solo for the first time today!

Andy Little congratulates Nikembu on his first solo flight

Onwards and upwards!

I should have toad you...

It's been raining a lot more recently, which means the cane toads are multiplying.

Here's a picture of one I saw on my front porch near the air conditioner outlet pipe.

I also managed to squash one with my car, for which I was congratulated at work the next day when I described the incident...

Simulator dedication

Last week we had a dedication ceremony for our new flight simulator. It even made page 7 in the local paper!

Here are some photos from the event.

Morning tea

Plaque unveiling

Posing for a photo for the paper

Bats

You may have read news articles about bats taking over towns in Queensland...

There are certainly a lot in Atherton too!

Several times last year while visiting people there you would see groups of maybe a hundred or so flying past in the early evening. But last night when I drove up for music practise there were so many it was impossible to guess how many. I wouldn't be surprised if it was over 100,000.

A small part of the bat swarm

Close up so you can see they are bats, not birds!

Bats seen at Ingham during my weekend trip there last month

Dead bat at Ingham

Goodbye to P2-MFT

A few months ago the three MAF Twin Otters that were operating in PNG were retired from service and brought to Mareeba for refurbishment prior to sale. The first of them departed this afternoon, heading for a new life in Switzerland.

The last time all three Twin Otters will be together

MAF staff gathering in the shade to farewell P2-MFT

P2-MFT taxiing for the runway

Ready for take-off

Au revoir!