CAGIT and Natfly 2011

There was an ever so light chill to the Queensand air, which meant Natfly 2011 was approaching and it was time to dust the cobwebs from the WAC charts and head off again. Ever since Ian and I bought our Flight Design CTLS registered 24-5445 two and a half years ago we have followed with interest the travels of the CAGIT (Come And Get It Trophy) and toyed with the idea of collecting it ourselves. Unfortunately, until now, our plans never quite gelled.

The trophy is sponsored by RAAus and can be claimed by any pilot flying an RAAus registered plane who flies a minimum distance of 100nm to claim it. The current location of the trophy can be found on the RAAus web site and it has travelled all over the country. If you manage to claim it, you have the privilege of put an engraved plaque on it and waiting for the next claimant to turn up at your airfield.

This year we checked on its location early in the year and saw that it was residing in Lethbridge YLED. That made for the possibility of interesting plans. We could fly from Gympie to Lethbridge and claim the trophy, then continue down to Flinders Island and along the north coast of Tassie before returning north via the Grampians to Temora for Natfly over Easter.

With planning well underway we tried to contact Michael Pendergast, the holder of the trophy, and then read with surprise that it had moved. Diana Jemsen had claimed it and it was now in Murray Bridge YMBD. There is nothing like flexible planning. We would still do the Tassie leg, then continue along the south east mainland coast to the mouth of the Murray, up to Murray Bridge to claim the trophy and across to Temora via the Grampians for Natfly. A phone call to Diana sealed the deal, we arranged a day and time to meet in Murray Bridge.

We left Gympie YGYM and spent our first night in Griffith and the next in Tyabb. We were ready to cross Bass Strait the next morning but the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray when dependent on weather. The skies were blue but the forecast was not favourable, so with great reluctance and in hindsight with great wisdom we headed south-westwards from Tyabb instead. That day was the day Melbourne had its wettest day for more than 40 years, thanks to two low pressure cells forming directly on the route we would have taken.

Port Fairy and Robe were 2 beautiful places we stopped in since we now had time to kill before our appointment with Diana. We flew along the Coorong and Young Husband Peninsular and finally over the mouth of the mighty Murray River, which thanks to flood waters further north, was flowing out to sea for the first time in over a decade. The mouth of Australia’s longest river is pathetically small – and a sad sight to see as the ending of such a majestic river steeped in early Australian history.

When we were in Goolwa Diana called us to say she had had an ‘incident’ with a ladder and was unable to drive or fly, however some friends had offered to drive her to meet with us and hand over the CAGIT. It suited her to be driven from her home in Adelaide to Goolwa rather than Murray Bridge, so we made a couple of phone calls to alter accommodation reservations and enjoyed the sights of Goolwa for one more day.

As I claimed the CAGIT from Diana the obligatory photos were taken and a pledge to try to reclaim it was made. A warning to those who wish to claim the trophy – it might be a trophy for ultralights but ultralight it is not! It weighs in at over 2kg, which is surprising for something not very large.

With CAGIT safely stowed we flew from Goolwa to the Asses Ears Lodge in the Grampians, which is a great destination for aviators. For $30 a night each you can hire a cabin beside the grass runway, park your plane out front, commune with the wildlife, buy a drink from the bar and cook your meals in the canteen.

Next stop for CAGIT was Echuca for the evening, and then Temora for Natfly 2011, which once again was a very pleasurable experience. From Temora we flew eastwards with CAGIT to Wollongong for fuel and then made use of the VFR route “Victor 1” up the coastline past Sydney Heads at 500’. What a fantastic coastline, with so much expensive real estate tottering on the edge of endless cliffs.

We continued coastal to South Grafton, and the next day returned to Gympie.  Our trip to Goolwa to claim CAGIT had covered 1560nm and our return trip via Temora was 1245nm. Our average fuel burn was 19.7L/hr, with a total flight time of 22hrs 55min. Average ground speed on the trip to Goolwa was 117kts and on the return journey 130kts.

I can fully recommend to any pilot the fun of following the travels of the CAGIT around the countryside and claiming it for yourself. I feel I won’t be the custodian of the trophy for very long, especially as the more settled weather of winter is now with us.

Happy flying and safe landings.

deb