Parkes, NSW Fly'n For Fun 27 - 29 March 2026 - Who is going

[coljones]

The problem with Parkes, and a lot of country strips, is the distance from civilisation fx. It is 6.2 km from the Parks Airport to Maccas by foot.

While the Narromine Golf restaurant is a bit ordinary, it is only a short (1.6 Km) walk to the airport. The Narromine Caravan park, with cabins, is pretty good and next door to the airport.  I've been into Parkes a couple of times and my attempts to visit HARS Parkes have been washouts.  

 

If nothing else Narromine lies almost on the midpoint of the track between Brisbane and Melbourne. And equidistant from Sydney or Canberra

 

Wellington,almost, lies on the midpoint of the direct track between Brisbane and Melbourne

[Thruster88]

Wild weather in central West NSW this afternoon,  lots of aircraft in holding going into Sydney right now. Lucky it has come Thursday and not this weekend.

[skippydiesel]

Parkes Weather 27-29/03/26

• Looks promising for Saturday & Sunday.
• Early arrivals Friday may have some interesting weather challenges.

The seminar schedule looks interesting & packed into a single day event

 

I note the following:

• "UNICOM or other ATS services WILL NOT be provided at Parkes (YPKS)..............."
• "Parkes is a security-controlled aerodrome. Visiting pilots must either hold a current ASIC ............"

I hope that those that attend have a great time and will get back to the Forum with all the highlights.😈

[RossK]

We went in 2024 and had a good time. Can't go this year due to family commitments.

Overall, we thought it was a good event, the ASIC issue isn't a problem if your camping underwing as they have an area set aside that is not airside.

Portaloos only a short walk from the camping - see the blue loos in the photo.

Day visitors parked airside and needed an escort if they didn't have an ASIC.

We also hired a car so we could go to town for dinner, see the dish, buy 98 at the local servo etc.

 

[skippydiesel]

Looks to be a nice day (19C & light winds), if a bit cool, at Parkes. Similar weather tomorrow (Sunday).

 

Camera 28/03/26, 08:00 shows modest attendance. May improve during the morning

 

😈

 

[Thruster88]

We flew in Saturday morning in the mighty musketeer, weather was perfect, no cloud and light wind favouring 22 for arrival and 04 departure on Sunday so need for any back tracking. 3 rows of aircraft in the air side parking with more to come. Walked to camping area not terrible, bus was available. Greek and Chinese food was pretty good, beer selection was excellent and reasonably priced. The 25 women 5 day bushcat build flew Saturday afternoon. Was all good but Narromine has better atmosphere for a flyin and better on site facilities. 

[sfGnome]

While I couldn’t go this year, I did join the Rich Stowel webinar yesterday morning. It was recorded, so I think it is worth watching if they make it available. There was nothing new and startling, but it did serve as a good reminder of a few things.
 

He gave two statistics that I found interesting. The first - that 70% of accidents occur in takeoff, manoeuvring and landing which only accounts for 17% of flight time - was no surprise. What did surprise me was that the cohort with the lowest accident rate were students, including those flying solo (so their low accident rate cannot be attributed to having an instructor next to them). His theory was that they were also the cohort who spent the most time circuit bashing, so they actually had more recency in that aspect than most ‘experienced’ pilots.

 

Food for thought. How much circuit bashing have you done recently?

[BurnieM]

I also tuned it to the webinar.

Good presentation and good reminders but not much new.

It is no suprise that taking off and landing has the most potential conflicts and mistakes.

A lot of presentations start with this and I always feel it does not tell you much (like how to avoid the error).

 

I do not think that continuous circuits teach you much except perhaps fine tuning your flare.

My first away landing was poor, probably because I was using ground references that no longer existed.

 

Leaving then rejoining the circuit is a useful learning exercise.

 

Edited Sunday at 01:38 AM by BurnieM

[Reynard]

I overheard that of the 116 aircraft registered for arrival, only 6 made it in late on Friday - the main expected arrival day. No idea if this is accurate or not.  There were regular arrivals on Sat morning when the weather improved.
What I can confirm is the weather was simply awful on Friday. No doubt this put a bit of a dampener on the weekend, but overall I think RA Aus did a pretty good job, particularly the site setup in pretty nasty weather conditions. Despite the weather, there were lots of hardy underwing campers, 6 fixed wing aircraft distributors, a number of aviation related vendors and a spread of seminars across topics.

There was a free shuttle bus to/ from town, and a free breakfast for all pilots on Sunday morning.  All in all, a good weekend, despite experiencing the coldest March day in Parkes since 1973.  I don’t have a point of comparison with other locations, so wont comment on Parkes as being any better or worse than any where else.

If you stay within the Fly n for Fun grounds at Parkes, you don’t need an ASIC.

 

The pic of the yellow bird is just for Skip’s enjoyment.

 

[skippydiesel]

Reynard

 

"If you stay within the Fly n for Fun grounds at Parkes, you don’t need an ASIC."

 

Its not about ASIC per say, its that Parkes Airport is Security Controlled, meaning, for the most parked, aircraft must be parked  far away from the centre of action.

 

This negatively impacts;

• The public who can not wonder the flight line, talk to owners about their aircraft - one of the main features of past RAA's events.
• Pilots must leave their aircraft, out of sight and either walk or wait for the occasion bus to/from the event itself.
• Pilots leaving their aircraft must either have an ASIC or wait to be escorted to/from their aircraft - hardly a relaxing/convenient arrangement.

If this were unavoidable, there would be no complaint but is avoidable - change the location to a non Security Controlled airfield.😈

Edited Wednesday at 09:43 AM by skippydiesel

[skippydiesel]

On 29/03/2026 at 9:13 PM, Reynard said:

 

The pic of the yellow bird is just for Skip’s enjoyment.

 

 

Thanks for that pretty little Sonex.

 

Mine is just boring white, with a tail emblem.😈

[Thruster88]

1 hour ago, skippydiesel said:

Reynard

 

"If you stay within the Fly n for Fun grounds at Parkes, you don’t need an ASIC."

 

Its not about ASIC per say, its that Parkes Airport is Security Controlled, meaning, for the most parked, aircraft must be parked  far away from the centre of action.

 

This negatively impacts;

• The public who can not wonder the flight line, talk to owners about their aircraft - one of the main features of past RAA's events.
• Pilots must leave their aircraft, out of sight and either walk or wait for the occasion bus to/from the event itself.
• Pilots leaving their aircraft must either have an ASIC or wait to be escorted to/from their aircraft - hardly a relaxing/convenient arrangement.

If this were unavoidable, there would be no complaint but is avoidable - change the location to a non Security Controlled airfield.😈

My casual observation was that most aircraft in airside parking were not raaus aircraft. We camped and could have taken the musketeer into the site but the no propeller rule ruled this out, I am not going to push a heavy aircraft.  We returned to the musketeer thru the "pool" gate to collect some things without having an asic, I did not renew last time.

 

I agree, Narromine is better.

[skippydiesel]

Thruster 88

 

"I agree, Narromine is better."

 

As was Temora.

 

I am not particularly attached/attracted to any location, just apposed to any Security Controlled airfield, as I feel that the accessibility of the visiting aircraft/pilots to the, potentially aspiring aviator, public & other pilots is an essential part of a successful RAA event.

Further just the potential for the long arm of the authorities, to slap a non ASIC holder, with a mighty fine,  is a mood dampener in itself.

😈

[facthunter]

There are bigger challenges in Life and ways around it.. Temora doesn't have the Money it used to have to fly stuff.  Nev

[Reynard]

There was direct public access to the Fly n forFun site. However, I also think Narromine would be better.  Although there was a free shuttle bus into the Parkes township, at least at Narromine you could walk.

 

[facthunter]

I think there Might have been "something" with the Council at one time. They didn't keep an eye on My Citabria (like they assured Me they would) when I flew it into Avalon to Put on their stand.. Nev

[skippydiesel]

😈

Members News Letter, 02 April 2026

 

"FLY'N FOR FUN"

(Parkes)

 

 

"We can’t wait to do it all again in 2028."

 

".....2028. " typo or intention??

 

😈

Edited 49 minutes ago by skippydiesel