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Today I finally had the chance to operate a flight that used the privileges of my PPL. It arrived in the mail a week ago and now I finally had some time when everyone’s schedules met for a quick 85 minute trip around the bay. The planned route was to fly from Moorabbin past the city on the recommended VFR route and around to Avalon, where I would get airways clearance and fly over the runway. From there, we would go to Geelong, then over my former home airfield of Barwon Heads before stopping at Tooradin for a lunch break, and then making a short hop back to Moorabbin.

With passengers in the form of my parents onboard, I found myself constantly checking and scanning the TAFs, ARFORS, NOTMAS and other information to make sure the trip would go off without a hitch. I was worried about low cloud, but it was forecast to lift. Luckily we could only fly in the afternoon due to other commitments which would be enough time to give the cloud a chance to lift and break up. The ride was C172N VH-RLG, an aircraft that I now had many hours in.

The day continued to be cloudy as we travelled to Moorabbin. On arrival, I got the latest weather, fuelled up the plane, got permission from Tooradin to land there and lodged a plan via NAIPS. The cloud wasn’t lifting but it would be OK for the trip. I recorded this as the first PVT flight (instead of AWK) and signed of the maintenance release for the first time. A PPL flight outside the training area requires many formalities and extra planning that wasn’t required for the quick GFPT trips. The more ground work done, the smoother the flight should go in the air.

I pre-flighted the aircraft and we finally made our way out to the run-up bay by 2:40pm. The checks went off without a problem and we were soon cleared to taxi to G2 for 17R with information victor (just some useless information).
The run-up bay

We departed and headed up past Southland towards the city. The clouds were staying at around 2500’. There were some good views of the city as we flew past and headed around Williamstown.
The city


The Westgate


Another aircraft with an advertising banner


A glace at Avalon showed that we wouldn’t get above 2500 which is required to be in Class E. Also, a quick listen on Avalon Approach indentified three RPT aircraft, which would probably limit lower Class D clearance. Rather than adding to the controller’s workload, I decided to turn right at the Laverton BOM Tower and track towards Werribee- a course that would take us around the back of the You Yangs and past the vehicle testing ground.
Vehicle testing ground

We flew along Bacchus Marsh Road passing Barwon Prison and the city of Geelong. The territory began to feel familiar again as we passed over Geelong (Grovedale) Airport and Barwon Heads.
Shell Refinery


Geelong’s urban sprawl


Sadly, GA traffic no longer flies out of Barwon Heads. A landing there would be possible, but the flight school and aircraft hire is all recreational only. Passing the heads showed an inbound container ship, the two ferries and other small boats.
The Heads

Incoming traffic

Turning

We passed Arthur’s Seat and Tyabb before starting a decent into Tooradin. Chatter on the CTAF meant that Runway 22 was in use, which corresponded with the south westerly wind at Moorabbin and while aloft. Traffic was temporarily light, meaning the whole circuit was ours and we touched down on the generous paved runway (wide and long).
Final approach into Tooradin
I taxied onto the grass and shutdown and locked up. After checking that the selected parking location was OK, we hit the ‘Wings and Fins’ restaurant, only to find that lunch was over. We still enjoyed the $300 bowl of chips and coffee though.

All too soon, it was time to get back in the plane for a short hop home. I quickly pre-flighted, checked fuel and oil and then called on passenger help for the pushback.

Expected flight time was around 15 minutes, and we departed and headed for Carrum. At Carrum, it was a usual arrival on Runway 17R- the only hitch was a Seminole had to go around behind me as we were a little to close. This ended a great flight that was more than just an extra 1.8 hours in the log book. It packaged many small symbolic achievements- landing at a foreign airport without passengers, venturing outside the training area, the first non AWK flight and signing the maintenance release. The PPL has been three years in the pipeline and I look forward to the next adventure (something is planned for next week).