come fly with me

my day started with great anticipation and excitement cos tis is the day we're going flying, with WT, other half's ex-classmate at uni. we arranged to meet at 11am at st. leonards train station and then he'll drive us to bankstown airport which is inner west of sydney. apparently, we were a quarter late. thus, we had to settle brunch on the road. i felt sorry that WT had to gobble up his burger cos he was the one behind the wheel while other half and i slowly had our fill in the car.

we got to basair, WT's flight school, at 12:20pm. 10mins earlier than the booking time. thank goodness we were not late or i dont know what will happen, say ask us to come back another day or something like that. we waited for WT to settle the paperwork, crosswind + fuel consumption + heading calculations before we ran off to rent headsets for other half and myself. our flight was booked for 2 hours and if we dont fly back say 2.5-3 hours later, basair will come search for us, according to the route we're travelling on. the route WT chose for today was katoomba (or where the blue mountains are) and the sydney harbour bridge.

keys to VH-ISM (registration number of the plane. okay, i know there's no number here. jus accept it. btw, VH is australia's code).


it was a short walk from basair to the plane. wow, my first time seeing a propeller plane upfront. took a couple of pics for WT cos he's always with the instructor so never had a pic taken with the plane. other half and i took some too. after the usual routine check and refuelling, we were all set to go. the takeoff went okay. no glitch whatsoever. the ride was smooth as we climbed alttitude but it started getting bumpy as we were nearing blue mountains. an expected phenomenon while flying above mountains, as i was told, by WT and other half, both experts in aerospace. i was getting scared and my palms started sweating (even though i was cold from the air coming thru the ventilators on the celing) and i wish i can hug my smelly pillow. jus then, all the thoughts and possibilities of taking flying as a hobby vanished into thin air. to make matters worse, i was also getting a lil' airsick. i cant imagine flying across all the suburbs to get to the harbour bridge. i was thinking if i should have stayed home. so bad isnt it? WT kindly invited me for the flight and i actually regretted coming?!?! what nonsense!!!! well, it was temporary. the moment i got off the plane and feeling better, i was itching for the next flight out. sadly, it wont be anytime soon since WT is going away for a while. we flew past homebush bay, parramatta, lion island, dee why, manly, and were almost nearing the harbour bridge so we requested for airspace clearance but were instructed to stay put due to a medical emergency helicopter that was taking off nearby. so we had to circle ard where we were. the circle was so tight that i felt giddy. now i know how it feels to be on a merry-go-round for continuously 10 times. we went circling and circling and then i noticed us moving ahead, towards the bridge. as we could be spotted on the radar by the traffic controller, we were warned to stay put and wait for further instructions. so we went circling again. tis time, not as tight as the one before. at tis point, WT asked if we'd like to head back, afraid that we might go low on fuel after all the circling and also the heavy traffic in that area that may hinder further advancement into the harbour bridge area. we were fine with it though i was disappointed not getting a close up view of the sydney trademark but whats more important than a plane with enough fuel to take us back safely. i'm sure we've sufficient fuel but i suppose experience tells WT that tis must be a bad day to fly to the harbour bridge and that we might have more circling to do.

refuelling.

flight manual in the seat pocket in front of me.

me trying to fake a smile despite suffering airsickness from the bumpiness.

the ventilators blowing in cold air from outside.

blue mountains.





boats...


more boats...


barrenjoey lighthouse. and thats palm beach next to it.


more beaches along the way before reaching the harbour bridge.





decided to give the harbour bridge a miss after several circling attempts. thats the harbour bridge from afar. u might not be able to pick it up from the pic. besides, my zoom is bad (as i always mention).


the city skyline (on the horizon) taken on our way back to bankstown airport.


the trip back was slightly shorter and more bearable. yeah, now i declare myself motion sick (though i thought i was improving). dramamine shall be my travelling companion next time i fly again. landing is always a concern in the aviation industry. actually, taking off is also of prime concern. cruising is the one that is less dangerous. okay, i managed to take a good video of the landing. i'm so proud of myself cos lately i found out that i suck at using my digicam. saw that the sun was setting and so i asked for the time (i didnt wear my watch). it was already 4:15pm, wow, time flies. we went back to basair to report and also to return the keys & emergency kit. somewhat, the journey back to our place at kingsford seems quite short, compared to travelling from st. leonards to bankstown earlier on.

meant to bring WT to straits kitchen but it was closed, still early to opening time for dinner. we settled for a hongkong restaurant instead. all of us didnt have the appetite to eat. probably cos our stomachs were used to the idea of eating at straits kitchen. according to WT over dinner, it was good weather today. couldnt be better. well, the fogginess u see in the pics were due to the dirty windows and also the fact that its winter now. after dinner, we proceed to a dessert shop which other half and i walked past tons of times but never once tried it. i had mango sago while other half had tis herbal thingy which we thought might help relieve him of his heatiness. WT obviously had something exotic. very typical of him. whenever his food arrived, i always wanna drool. he had tis coconut thingy which had fruits in it. desserts mark the end of the day. we bade farewell and contemplate on meeting again before he leaves for his new stint in the land with the world's tallest building (as of today). we'll miss an adventurous friend.