Canberra by Burley Griffin
Description: Canberra, being populated totally by government administrators, is about Kafkaesque a city as you would expect. For example, the tourist bureau is not open on Tuesday. Why?
Canberra is located quite literally in the middle of nowhere and away from all centres of trade and economic production, the result of a compromise between putting the seat of Australia’s government in Melbourne or Sydney. The compromise was not exact, as it is 287 km from Sydney and 663 km from Melbourne, which seems fair.
Physically it is quite charming, albeit totally confusing due to the circular road networks around the centrepiece that is Lake Burley Griffin. Said lake is named after the American architect who won an international competition in 1912 and designed Canberra. I’m sure it made complete sense on paper.
Australia
location_cityA.C.T. (Australian Capital Territory)
flight_takeoffYSCB Canberra
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 1
tagDam spottingThe Gong
Description: Visit 'The Gong' (Wollongong), home to Aunty Jack and the Port Kembla Steelworks, both icons to the post-boomer generation of Aussies. It was a simpler world back then with irreverant humour and school trips to the most dangerous workplaces. Great fun. Loiter over Wollongong and check out the steelworks. Then travel up one what is probably the most beautiful parts of Australia's east coast to Sydney's eastern suburbs. At Bondi Beach you will see lots of Poms and Kiwis mixing it up with the Great Whites. Just when you think it couldn't get any better, turn into Sydney Harbour and pass the Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
Australia
location_cityN.S.W. | Sydney & Surrounds
flight_takeoffYSCN Camden
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 1
tagCoastal flight
tagDam spottingBeef Capital of Australia
Description: Lismore is one of the largest regional centres in northern N.S.W. and is a locus for the boomer era counter-culture movements, much like Ballina, Byron Bay and Nimbin.
Casino is the 'Beef Capital of Australia' and has a population around the 12,000 mark. 12,000 people that is, the cattle population is much higher. It was originally named 'Cassino' after Monte Cassino in Italy, but a bureaucratic error led to the current spelling becoming official. C'est la vie.
Australia
location_cityN.S.W. | North Coast
flight_takeoffYLIS Lismore
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 2
tagDam spottingBirthplace of Australia
Description: Tenterfield is where, in 1889, Sir Henry Parkes made a famous speech calling for Australia's federation, which became a reality in 1901. Today Tenterfield is in beef country and famous for it's fine wineries.
Rangers Valley was established in on the lush New England Tablelands 1839 by Oswald Bloxsome who had arrived in Sydney from the United Kingdom ten years before. Today it runs 40,000 cattle on the 12,000 acre property under the ownership of Marubeni and supplies grain fed Wagyu beef to the Japanese market.
Glenyon Dam, which feeds into Pike Creek and thence the New England Tablelands, is just across the border in Queensland and covers a massive 1,295 km2.
Australia
location_cityN.S.W. | New England North West
flight_takeoffYGLI Glen Innes
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 2
tagBorder Patrol
tagDam spotting
tagCanyon runs & Mach LoopsOxley Wild River Gorges
Description: Explore the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park to the east of Armidale. Armidale is the Northern Tablelands administrative centre, about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and also home to the University of New England.
Oxley Wild Rivers National Park covers 1,452 km2 of extremely rugged rainforest covered terrain. Get your first glimpse of the spectacular gorges at the town of Hillgrove, and then Wollomombi Falla and Oakey River Dam. These three spots are all on the northern end of valley which are just begging to be explored by you!
Waypoints 4,5 and 6 take you down the eastern border of this area, west across the bottom and back up the western border to WP 6. I suggest you explore the wider valleys heading south and then climb to about 7,000 ft at WP 4 and enjoy the view from above. But, the world is your oyster so just go for it! Of course at anytime you can curtail your exploration and head back to Armidale.
Australia
location_cityN.S.W. | New England North West
flight_takeoffYARM Armidale
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 2
tagBorder Patrol
tagDam spotting
tagCanyon runs & Mach LoopsQuirindi, Wallabadah & Currububula
Description: Say that four times quickly!
With a population of around 3,000, Quirindi is typical of many small country towns in Australia. Like many place names in Australia, Quirindi is a word from one of the 400 plus Aboriginal languages. It's meaning is not agreed upon.
Wallabadah, population ~ 300 is named after an Aboriginal word meaning 'stone'. Wallabadah Airport appears to be a grass strip NE of town.
Currabubula, population ~ 300, named after a word from the Kamilaroi language.
Australia
location_cityN.S.W. | New England North West
flight_takeoffYQDI Quirindi
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 2
tagDam spottingBathurst Gladiators
Description: The Bathurst races have been a fixture of Australian culture for as long as I can remember. They fuelled the aspirations of many an Aussie teenager as they saved their pennies to get 'into the race' with their own version of an Aussie Supercar.
Traditionally the battle was between Holden and Ford. The current incarnation of this gladiatorial contest is a 1,000-kilometre race on the gruelliung Mount Panorama Circuit.
Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in Australia. Ben Chifley, born in Bathurst, was a train driver who became Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949.
Australia
location_cityN.S.W. | Central West & Orana
flight_takeoffYBTH Bathurst
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 2
tagDam spottingMad Max, the Road Warrior
Description: Broken Hill, as far west as you can get in NSW, is famous for two things: the BHP mining company and Mad Max 2, the greatest road movie ever made. Director George Miller cast a young Mel Gibson as the eponymous road warrier in iconic the post-apocalyptic Mad Max trilogy. Generations of Aussies grew up driving too fast as a result. But all in good fun. One of the household names in Australian industry is Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP). It began mining in 1885 with silver, lead and zinc mines in Broken Hill and evolved into a major force in iron ore, copper, oil and gas, diamonds, silver, lead, zinc and steel manufacture.
Australia
location_cityN.S.W. | Far West
flight_takeoffYBHI Broken Hill
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 3
tagBorder Patrol
tagDam spottingWellington and Lake Burrendong
Description: Discovered by John Oxley’s Lachlan River expedition in 1817 at the junction of the Bell and Macquarie Rivers, Wellington is the second oldest New South Wales settlement west of the Blue Mountains. Named after the Duke of Wellington, in 1823 the government established a settlement there with 12 cows and 40 sheep. The colony fell into some disrepair and was revived ten years later by the arrival of Lutheran missionaries. The man-made irrigation reservoir at Lake Burrendong was built over the period 1946-1967 and now holds more than three times the water of Sydney Harbour.
NOTAM: Wellington Airport YWEL runways 13 and 31 are inoperative as of May 2023 due to maintenance.
Australia
location_cityN.S.W. | Central West & Orana
flight_takeoffYMDG Mudgee
airline_seat_recline_extraAustralia 3
tagDam spotting
tagCanyon runs & Mach LoopsHavana to the South Coast
Description: Take off from Jose Marti International Airport in Cuba's capital city Havana and explore the countryside down to the south coast. Along the way familiarise yourself with the location of three other airports.
The lake at WP 1 is a good reference for approaching RWY 24, being 3 miles from the threshold.
Return trip options:
20 nm: San Antonio de los Banos Airport MUSA at WP 6
34 nm: Batabano Airport MUBO (Agricultural) at WP 5
40 nm: Lake at WP 1 and the dam at WP 2
56 nm: Juan de la Cruz Airport MUGU at WP 5
75 nm: Entire route
Cuba
location_cityHavana
flight_takeoffMUHA Jose Marti
airline_seat_recline_extraCaribbean 2
tagCoastal flight
tagDam spotting
tagAiportsSan Fernando and the South-West Coast
Description: Explore the many coastal towns and beaches in Trinidad's south west. The Point-A-Pierre POL (Petroleum, Oil, Liquid storage facility) is at the north end of the large coastal city of San Fernando. Follow the coastline all the way to Icacos Point which is the southernmost point on Trinidad.
Round trips:
24 nm: WP 1 Camden Airfield TTCO 3742 feet
38 nm: WP 1 and 2 to San Fernando
112 nm: Entire route
150 nm: South East Region. Trinidad's south eastern area is sparsely populated and covered by forest. If you want to experience that region then fly to WP 5 at San Francique, turn east and follow the coast. After about 40 nm the coast turns north at Galeota Port and continues for another 43 nm to Galera Point.
Trinidad and Tobago
location_citySan Fernando
flight_takeoffTTPP Piarco
airline_seat_recline_extraCaribbean 4
tagCoastal flight
tagDam spottingThe Effect of Greenhouses
Description: The area around Lelystad is a testament to human ingenuity and labour, being 3 metres below sea level.
Visit two enormous complexes where the controlled environment allows year-round production of flowering plants and vegetables: WP 2 - De Tuindershoek is a large complex of greenhouses run entirely by robots. Apparently. WP 3 - Grimme Groencentrum in Luttelgeest is a nursery covering more than 2 hectares.
There are also hundreds of wind turbines between WP 5, 6 and 7.
At WP 7, Houtribsluizen is a lock at the start of a 26km road on the Houtribdgk dam.
Netherlands
location_cityLelystad
flight_takeoffEHLE Lelystad
airline_seat_recline_extraEurope 3
tagCoastal flight
tagDam spottingMosul and Duhok Dams
Description: The first two legs to the Mosul Dam make a nice 50nm flight.
Either fly in a straight line to WP 1, or you can take a leisurely flight along the Tigris River in the shade of the palms.
If you have the time or the available speed, carry on to a second dam at Duhok and return through the lush valleys found in this part of northern Iraq.
Following the road after WP 3 will take you slightly S of the track and set you up nicely to fly through the gap in the range to Duhok Dam.
Iraq
location_cityMosul
flight_takeoffORBM Mosul
airline_seat_recline_extraMiddle East 1
tagDam spotting
tagCanyon runs & Mach LoopsIzmir on the Agean
Description: Izmir is the second largest city on the Agean Sea, after Athens and the third largest population centre in Turkey.
Explore the broad valley to the east, and the resorts and shoreline to the north and west.
The second half of the flight is a coastal run which takes you over the colourful alluvial flood plains to the NE of Izmir.
Take off from Adnan Menderes Airport, fly past Sirinyer Racecourse and Kulturpark Izmir to Izmir Docks at WP 1. Then fly east to the major centre of Turgutlu and NW past Manisa to Guselhisar Dam.
Return distances:
19 nm: Izmir
40 nm: Manisa at WP 3
56 nm: Turgutlu at WP 2
60 nm: Guzelhisar Dam at WP 4
62 nm: Coastal route to Foca and the alluvial flood plains
121 nm: Entire route
Turkey
location_cityIzmir
flight_takeoffLTBJ Adnan Menderes
airline_seat_recline_extraMiddle East 2
tagCoastal flight
tagDam spotting
tagCanyon runs & Mach LoopsIstanbul, Back to the Bosphorus.
Description: Your first waypoint is the Hagia Sophia which was built in 537 A.D. by the Roman emperor Justinian I.
Fly along the mighty Bosphorus River from the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea in the north. Pass the three main bridges on the Bosphorus river: Bosphorus Bridge, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge.
Explore the Black Sea coast to Sile, fly south past the Darlik Dam and to the Osmangazi Bridge on the Gulf of İzmit.
Fly past Gebze, Darica, Tuzla, Pendik and Kartal as you return along the coast of the Sea of Marmara, back to the Bosphorus River.
16 nm: WP 1 - Mouth of the Bosphorus / Mosque: Hagia Sophia
42 nm: WP1,2,3 and return
44 nm: Along the coast of the Gulf of Izmit to WP 6 and return
104 nm: Entire route
Turkey
location_cityIstanbul
flight_takeoffLTBA Ataturk
airline_seat_recline_extraMiddle East 2
tagBridges
tagCoastal flight
tagDam spotting