I scribbled some notes on the flight to Laverton.
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1:50pm, taxiing. We're all a bit nervous and animated about flying on what appears to us as a tiny plane. I've not been on such a small aircraft before. I feel okay. The pilots are only a few metres away, literally within arms length of the first row of passenger seats. This is a nine seater plan - we stowed our luggage in the nose of the plane, a flap lifting from one side of the nose like a car boot. We taxi past the QANTAS and Virgin Blue terminals. We've been taxiing for about 5 minutes now. Suzanne, ever the photographer, is taking pics of the pilots from where she's seated - this is an open cabin with no separation between pilots and passengers.
We turn to prep for take-off. All set. Go! Deafening noise. Good thing I have earplugs in. The plane seems to swing from side to side. Feels like we're being thrown around - there's a strong wind. I feel a little queasy. Big breaths Nic! What a view! This is so much better than what you'd see in a jumbo. Wow, I'm lifted off my seat and jolted back down. You really feel turbulence in a small aircraft. The plane is small and light, we get tossed around. We're already above the first layer of clouds.. a clear distinction of a few hundred metres or so and now we're in whiteness. The world is white. Ahh! so beautiful. The clouds are like solid, definable objects. Perth is so beautiful from the air.
Well we're at 12000 ft (I can read the dials from where I'm sitting) and we'll cruise at 27000 ft. We're now going through another layer of cloud. Each layer separate and distinct from the others, clear space for a few thousand feet in between. Each time we experience more turbulence. The clouds are so definable! I find it amazing they're just floating there like that. The girls are all reading, already so different to just 10 minutes ago when we took off. I think everyone said a prayer at that point.
I called Pascaline before boarding and told her that I love her. What a terrible thought, that there is a risk you might crash and die, so you need to express again how you feel so you're sure they know. Well, I feel a bit silly for worrying (I was okay, but the thought occurred to me), I've heard statistics that say you're more likely to die in a car than in a plane (**reading this now, this makes obvious sense but still, I wrote it at the time), but surely that would depend on the type of plane... small planes more likely to crash? Anyway, we're now at 26000 ft and cruising nicely. I'm now thinking about what to do for the next 90 minutes to occupy myself. A last thought to finish off - there are no miners on this plane, only the 2 pilots and my 5 volunteers. What an awesome program this is and what generous support the mining companies are providing. Even though there were no miners to go up today, they've still chartered a plane for us. This is no small trip either, it's around 1000kms out to the middle of nowhere.
3:10pm, we're still in clouds, we've probably flown over 600kms of clouds now. The air is dry so my nose is running and my throat and mouth are dry. I've yawned about a million times - not small yawns either but big, violent ones!
3.15pm, we're descending, 24000ft.
3.25pm, we've just descended 16000ft in 10 minutes. Complete whiteness the whole way down, no visibility whatsoever. Okay at 10200 ft now and sorta getting some visibility (phew!) -> the red dirt of the outback, spotted like a sesame seed bun with green trees.
3.35pm, touchdown, nice and safe. Sweet ride! Now for the drive into town!
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1:50pm, taxiing. We're all a bit nervous and animated about flying on what appears to us as a tiny plane. I've not been on such a small aircraft before. I feel okay. The pilots are only a few metres away, literally within arms length of the first row of passenger seats. This is a nine seater plan - we stowed our luggage in the nose of the plane, a flap lifting from one side of the nose like a car boot. We taxi past the QANTAS and Virgin Blue terminals. We've been taxiing for about 5 minutes now. Suzanne, ever the photographer, is taking pics of the pilots from where she's seated - this is an open cabin with no separation between pilots and passengers.
We turn to prep for take-off. All set. Go! Deafening noise. Good thing I have earplugs in. The plane seems to swing from side to side. Feels like we're being thrown around - there's a strong wind. I feel a little queasy. Big breaths Nic! What a view! This is so much better than what you'd see in a jumbo. Wow, I'm lifted off my seat and jolted back down. You really feel turbulence in a small aircraft. The plane is small and light, we get tossed around. We're already above the first layer of clouds.. a clear distinction of a few hundred metres or so and now we're in whiteness. The world is white. Ahh! so beautiful. The clouds are like solid, definable objects. Perth is so beautiful from the air.
Well we're at 12000 ft (I can read the dials from where I'm sitting) and we'll cruise at 27000 ft. We're now going through another layer of cloud. Each layer separate and distinct from the others, clear space for a few thousand feet in between. Each time we experience more turbulence. The clouds are so definable! I find it amazing they're just floating there like that. The girls are all reading, already so different to just 10 minutes ago when we took off. I think everyone said a prayer at that point.
I called Pascaline before boarding and told her that I love her. What a terrible thought, that there is a risk you might crash and die, so you need to express again how you feel so you're sure they know. Well, I feel a bit silly for worrying (I was okay, but the thought occurred to me), I've heard statistics that say you're more likely to die in a car than in a plane (**reading this now, this makes obvious sense but still, I wrote it at the time), but surely that would depend on the type of plane... small planes more likely to crash? Anyway, we're now at 26000 ft and cruising nicely. I'm now thinking about what to do for the next 90 minutes to occupy myself. A last thought to finish off - there are no miners on this plane, only the 2 pilots and my 5 volunteers. What an awesome program this is and what generous support the mining companies are providing. Even though there were no miners to go up today, they've still chartered a plane for us. This is no small trip either, it's around 1000kms out to the middle of nowhere.
3:10pm, we're still in clouds, we've probably flown over 600kms of clouds now. The air is dry so my nose is running and my throat and mouth are dry. I've yawned about a million times - not small yawns either but big, violent ones!
3.15pm, we're descending, 24000ft.
3.25pm, we've just descended 16000ft in 10 minutes. Complete whiteness the whole way down, no visibility whatsoever. Okay at 10200 ft now and sorta getting some visibility (phew!) -> the red dirt of the outback, spotted like a sesame seed bun with green trees.
3.35pm, touchdown, nice and safe. Sweet ride! Now for the drive into town!
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