Bankstown Saturday 7th March

[Grahame Hutchison]

I was out at Bankstown again this morning, taking BVM up along the Northern Beaches for some GPS familiarisation. There was early morning low cloud and fog patches however after topping up the tanks, I departed around 0815 and headed north. Climbing out over Parramatta towards Hornsby things looked fairly bleak, cloud below 2000ft and an all over foggy haze with limited visibility. I could only see about half way to Hornsby so I decided to turn back and try again another day. By about 0930 the skies began to clear and things started to look quite nice. All was not wasted, I used the Garmin 430 for Coms and some brief Nav, and my approach and landing were smooth as.

After completing the paperwork I headed out for a walk around the airport.

N214JL Bell 214B-1 (28066) - Bank Of Utah Trust - parked next to the DC-3 and Catalina


N214JL Bell 214B-1 (28066) - Bank Of Utah Trust - the rotor blades on the 214 are incredibly wide.


VH-EAK Pacific Aerospace 750XL (110) 2004 - operated by Australian Aerial Surveys - basically a Fletcher fitted with a PT6A-34 and
larger cabin. Normally there is only one seat in the rear for survey work, but today they had five fitted (and two up front).


VH-EAK Pacific Aerospace 750XL (110) 2004 - operated by Australian Aerial Surveys


VH-LRE Cessna O-1A Bird Dog (21491) 1952 - from the Temora Air Museum - in Bankstown for maintenance. Looked to have electrically
operated missile launchers under each wing. One seat up front and one in the back.


VH-TEA Piper PA-44-180 Seminole (44-7995119) 1979 - Avair Aircraft Rentals


VH-NEQ Cessna 510 (510-0029) 2007 - Skypac Aviation - parked in the hanger next to Schofields with a Robinson R-22.


VH-YEP Bell 47G-3B1 (2779) 1962 - Helicopters Pty Ltd - heading out for a joy flight.


VH-LIY Tamarack TH-1F (66-1236) 1966 - McDermott Aviation - parked on the northern perimeter along from Aerospace.


N238HL Bell 205A-1 (30161) 1974 - Bank Of Utah Trust - parked on the northern perimeter along from Aerospace.