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I cannot find any contact details for the Augusta Aero Club, and I suspect they may be "running on a shoestring budget". The Shire of Augusta-Margaret River owns and operates both Augusta and Margaret River airstrips. No landing fees are charged at either airstrip, but landings must be emailed to the Shire. https://www.amrshire.wa.gov.au/recreation-leisure/tourists-and-visitors/airstrips This webpage may be of interest to you, if you're a regular FB user .... https://www.facebook.com/groups/322812055093251

Beware the post-COVID-19 brain fog, it will affect your decision-making AND your memory ability. And the variant of the virus makes no difference to its destructive effect on the brain. The virus actually degrades your IQ level. There are numerous studies involving a large number of COVID-19 victims which are proving repeatedly, that this virus is destructive to brain cells structure and brain function. RACGP - How COVID-19 leaves its mark on the brain WWW1.RACGP.ORG.AU Mounting research shows the disease can lead to an array of problems, including significant drops in IQ scores, writes Dr Ziyad Al-Aly.

It's not the Comimaty vaccine. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has a brand name - Comirnaty. There have been a number of studies on the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. Yes, there were some side effects, as with all vaccines. But they were far from life-threatening for 99.999% of the population. I don't know what the likes of Capt Hood expected Govts to do, as regards urgent vaccines when faced with a once-in-a-century pandemic. There wasn't time to do long periods of research and testing - plus, the technology for vaccine development has advanced enormously in recent years, meaning that long clinical trial on big groups of people, are no longer necessary. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10507236/

Beachcombers will the ones that will find anything. Something will turn up eventually.

It all comes back to the fact that when you're a multi-millionaire, and looking for investments with your spare millions - that offer a high ROI - it's easier to invest in property (any property - even farm values have gone ballistic), or into a highly profitable mining venture, to gain rapid and substantial monetary returns, than it is to invest in manufacturing, with its red tape, labour and skills problems, and difficulties with marketing and sales. You don't see Gina Rinehart and Clive Palmer investing in manufacturing. They put their money back into the easy rewards investments - which all have major tax advantages, as well. I would blame a poorly-constructed tax system for part of the problem, which has left us with a major property bubble, and a country full of great big holes, which only return their investment once, and which then leave future problems to the upcoming generations. Even our energy supplies have never been addressed properly - but at least Labor is assisting in weaning us off fossil fuels, unlike the other mob, who want us to "keep drillin' baby!" - and to keep those "rolling coal" exhausts spewing out black smoke. Cheap energy supplies will assist manufacturing industries, but the manufacturing industries must be innovative, to keep ahead of the Chinese, who play the long game.

I understand it was a factory built aircraft, as all Bristells are. Plus, it was almost new. One would expect the machines reliability to be pretty foolproof.

......go outside and howl at the moon for a number of the BO patrons, who had always been regarded as a bit strange, anyway. But bull wasn't one of them, fortunately - even though his howls from the barbs made people jerk upright in bed, with the hairs on their necks bristling, and making these people think that..........

.......it's because the CAPS key was locked on when I started typing, and I didn't realise it was, until I got to the second letter! It was the worst day of my life, when I found there was a lock for CAPS, and it was so easy to bump it! Then I hit PRINT while I was trying to unlock CAPS, and here we are! - a pocket with a word on it, starting with a Capital letter, and I couldn't do anything about it!" Const Doubtfire soothed bulls agony with a gentle............

Well, that's pretty innovative, and certainly one to mark up for future reference! My luck would be, every single thing around would be locked! They normally lock up toilets anywhere at sundown. It certainly pays to have contacts when you travel, and it's important to know about holidays and events that might impact on your accommodation plans. Esperance is very popular for the Kalgoorlie-ites, for R&R. Another little spot to keep in mind is Hopetoun (W.A.), about 190kms by road, and 88NM by air, West from Esperance. It's only a relatively small place, but mining projects in the Ravensthorpe region injected a huge amount of money into the town and region from the early 2000's. But the mining projects have faltered, and then revived, and then faltered again (typical of mining)- so Hopetoun is now more intent on chasing the tourism industry. Fitzgerald National Park is right next door and it's a Park of National significance. Hopetoun airstrip (unsealed and uncontrolled) is right on the outskirts of town, while the Wavecrest Village (accommodation) is just a few hundred metres away from the airstrip. Wavecrest even has a courtesy bus. Wavecrest have a good bar and bistro, and the town also has a decent pub. No fuel at the airstrip, but fuel supplies in town. Ravensthorpe aerodrome is 19kms N of Hopetoun, but this is a security-controlled aerodrome with RPT flights, mostly for the mining companies. As always, however, transport in these small towns is a problem, there's no car hire or taxis in Hopetoun, which surprises me. Esperance is the nearest place you can hire a car. Wavecrest Village — Hopetoun Accommodation WWW.WAVECRESTVILLAGE.NET.AU Situated in the pristine coastal location of Hopetoun in Western Australia’s southern coastal region, Wavecrest Village accommodation has been created around the natural beauty of the rural setting with...

The website below outlines the pitfalls of doing business with the Chinese. A lot of Western companies have been burnt badly in their forays into China, and Chinese interests always come off best. Kind of like Trumps America at present, he loves the Chinese model. https://adepteconomics.com.au/the-china-business-conundrum-challenges-for-western-companies-in-chinese-markets/

The worst part is, the veterans illnesses from nuclear testing were never acknowledged for decades - and all the Govts, U.S., U.K. and Australian, fought to avoid accepting any responsibility, or pay any compensation to the veterans, until it was far too late for many of them. It's a pretty shameful record from people in high places, who enjoyed superior wealth, health and living conditions, compared to the men they sent into nuclear sites as human test dummies.

Agreed, Esperance accommodation is expensive, but all coastal towns in W.A. are pretty expensive. The cost will alter according to whether it's school holiday periods, and whether it's a peak holiday season period. Stayz is not too bad at finding accommodation within your price range and requirements. And airbnb is another option. https://www.stayz.com.au/search?destination=Esperance%2C Western Australia%2C Australia&regionId=1153&flexibility=3_DAY&d1=2025-08-10&startDate=2025-08-10&d2=2025-08-14&endDate=2025-08-14&adults=2&sort=RECOMMENDED&upsellingNumNightsAdded=&theme=&userIntent=&semdtl=&upsellingDiscountTypeAdded=&categorySearch=&total_price=0&total_price=800 https://www.airbnb.com.au/s/Esperance--Australia/homes?refinement_paths[]=%2Fhomes&place_id=ChIJuycfmldHWyoR0At6JDj2AAU&checkin=2025-08-10&checkout=2025-08-14&adults=1&query=Esperance%2C Australia&flexible_trip_lengths[]=one_week&monthly_start_date=2025-09-01&monthly_length=3&monthly_end_date=2025-12-01&search_mode=regular_search&price_filter_input_type=2&price_filter_num_nights=4&channel=EXPLORE&price_max=815&selected_filter_order[]=price_max%3A815&update_selected_filters=false&search_type=filter_change

It really is quite amazing that no wreckage of any kind has shown up in more than a week after they took off, along with the intensity of the search. That seems to indicate the aircraft stayed pretty intact upon arrival into the water.

Operation Teapot. It's pretty disgraceful the way the U.S. DoD used soldiers as human guinea pigs in all their nuclear testing - let alone the amount of radioactive material they released onto the ground, and into the air. Nuclear Test Film - Operation Teapot : Department of Energy : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive ARCHIVE.ORG Department of EnergyTF 0800017 doe.govNuclear Test Film - Operation Teapot1954DVD Copied by The Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Department of...

Yes, for sure, make contact with all the clubs, the aviation fraternity is pretty good as regards support. I believe Serpentine is quite good - message rgmwa on here, I understand he operates out of Serpentine with his RV-12. It's home of the SABC of W.A. and you need their permission to operate into and out of the field. Contact their committee to request permission, and advise your travel plans.

And all done via industrial espionage, patent infringements galore, and simple technical information handover via blackmail, something the Chinese are exceptionally good at. Remember, the Chinese insist you cannot start up any division of your Western business in China, unless you hand over all your companys technical secrets, and make the CCP a 51% JV partner in the business. Something that dismayed many Western companies who decided to set up in China.

Everything West of Port Augusta is expensive - fuel, food and accommodation - and accommodation is normally tight, so you need to book well ahead. I stayed at Eucla Motel last May, accommodation is good, but not cheap, and food offerings and operating hours are limited. Caiguna Roadhouse has good food and a satisfactory airstrip (when it's not soggy), and the Bight scenery is spectacular. Nullarbor roadhouse has an airstrip, but everything at Nullarbor is the priciest of all. I'd follow the coast because the main highway is never far away, and there are many station airstrips and old Eyre Hwy construction airstrips that probably still usable for outlandings. The distances are vast from Western S.A. onwards, and assistance can be a long way away in emergencies. For medical assistance help, the RFDS is superb. Keep friends, associates and authorities notified of your movements. I believe you'll find Myrup at Esperance is welcoming to aviators. Esperance is very scenic, the beaches are spectacular. Nearly all W.A. wheatbelt towns of any size have good airstrips, but you need to arrange transport once on the ground. Pick late Summer/early Autumn as the time to go, you can still camp out comfortably in that weather. Acquire a really good camping mattress, and always carry a few litres of water. Be aware that weather conditions can change dramatically within a short period across the "long paddock", especially if it involves a sharp wind direction change. You can go from 40°C to 20°C in a couple of hours, with a wind that swings rapidly from N to S. You can also get steep temperature drops overnight from fine hot days, even in mid-Summer, if the tip of a cold front moves in. Watch out for major headwinds travelling West, try and pick when a big high pressure system is in the Bight, or forming in the Bight, a typical Summer pattern with light winds. John Langmead has a good blog about doing an East-West-East trip in a Cessna 182RG in 2007. Some things have probably changed a bit in the intervening 18 years, but his information is still largely valid. He had the advantage of pretty good airspeed in the Cessna. Flying Memories – Chapter 10 (the final chapter) – South SOUTHERNOCEANBLOG.COM WA trip in VH-MWL with Liz. As I reach the end of this record of my flying memories I want to record in some detail an account of at least one trip that I remember as being simply a great trip in an aeroplane...

Skippy - Will Owen from the S.W. of W.A. owns one of your favourite ultralights, and has done a West-East-West trip in recent times. He posted some details of his trip on here, but I can't find it now. He should be able to provide useful trip information, and he may even be keen to join you for at least part of your trip, and I'm sure he can get you up to speed on what's what in W.A. Unfortunately, I can't even recall what his username is on here, someone else may know. He's a nice bloke, very helpful - I know him because my best friend worked on his farms, and I visited the main farm, and met Will, several years ago. He's leased out his farms, and I'm not sure what he does on a daily basis now, but I think he still flies regularly, however I'm not sure if he still instructs. https://www.facebook.com/willflyhire.com.au/

Greg Vaughan had mates watching and listening for him, and associates working in a nearby hangar, so its not like any calls he made wouldn't be heard. In a rural region, you'd arrange for a friend or associate with a radio to check your transmissions were coming through. And if you were in such a remote spot that there's no-one within a 100 kms, then all you can hope for is an aircraft nearby at altitude that's listening.

What highly experienced pilot takes off without a comms check, and ensures he has working communication? This whole episode gets stranger by the day. Their aviation friends were so concerned about the lack of a departure call, they were initiating a search within half an hour of departure. Airservices Australia are not looking too good here, too lazy to even look up if there had been a call, when their friends inquired. Early search action might have had success.

One would think, a fully loaded European plastic fantastic, carrying 100-120 litres of fuel, would catch fire, if it crashed on island or mainland terrain, would you not? I STR the last Bristell that went down in a flat spin, at Redesdale in Sept 2024, burnt to a crisp. Plus, over land, there are a lot more eyeballs to view a falling aircraft. Over a 250km wide stretch of open ocean, not enough eyeballs there, to see it come down.

......which was a local dance specialty, devised by "Woomera" Turbine, a legend of the local indigenous community, an Elder, and a qualified pilot as well. "Woomera" Turbine devised the dance as an alternative to the more boring local corroboree dances, after he saw Cappy hand prop his Drifter with the throttle advanced, the brakes off, no chocks or tiedowns - and the machine took off with alacrity with no-one in the seat - with Cappy doing a fine old high-stepping dance, trying to avoid spinning prop blades, wings, wheels, and other various airborne flying parts, as the........

The search is winding down and the Tasmanian Police will soon turn the case into a "missing persons" crime case. The fact that not a single piece of wreckage or flotsam has been sighted seems to indicate the aircraft entered the water in a flat spin, typical of the "unrecoverable" Bristell spin. I believe this would lead to the aircraft tending to stay in one piece, as compared to a more destructive high angle approach to the water. No matter what the approach angle, the crash would disable the occupants, by losing unconsciousness at the very least, and I doubt whether they could recover or escape before they drowned A witness has verified the dog was not being nursed in the passengers lap, so it must have been secured behind the seats - thus making the "dog interference with controls" scenario much less likely. All that remains for crash reasons, is medical incapacitation, or sudden and catastrophic in-flight breakup, possibly at relatively low level, stopping the chance of any Mayday. Search for missing light plane enters sixth day - Tasmania Police WWW.POLICE.TAS.GOV.AU The search for a missing light plane and the two people on board is resuming for a sixth day, with a Tasmania Police helicopter crew today conducting searches off the north coast of Tasmania. Pol Air has been...

The Bleriot 125 of 1930. It's a push-pull twin, with seating for 12 pax, 6 in each fuselage. Sheer luu-x-uurry!! Wicker chairs to sit in, too, I'll wager! 😄

The Soviet Unions crazy "Zveno Project", using a "mothership" bomber to launch smaller fighters, which extended their range. Only five were built, some carrying five aircraft, and some carrying only two aircraft. Zveno project - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG