Dash to Port Macquarie

As can be expected we keep an eye on the weather forecast for the next 4-5 days over our intended route.  When we were in Longreach it became clear there was a deep low sandwiched between high pressure areas over continental Australia and New Zealand.  This sets up a fast moving stream of air up the east coast of Australia with high winds and lots of rain.

On Thursday night we made the decision to skip our stop at Lightning Ridge on Friday night and make a run direct from Charleville to Port Macquarie with a stop mid route at Moree for fuel.  We would then hunker-down at Port Macquarie and sit out the storm.

We were at the airfield early and departed at 7:45am.  The forecast for the 459nm route wasn't flash with low cloud and rain (but not much wind) and we had agreed multiple "escape" options to the east coast if the weather precluded tracking direct to Port Macquarie.

After leaving Charleville we encountered low cloud and rain within 20mins of leaving and Dave and Bill, who were ahead of me, reported there was no way through.  I use the AvPlan EFB flight planning and electronic Flight Bag application (which is awesome).  AvPlan allows the rain radar to be overlaid on the moving map so you can steer around weather.  I could see a 60 x 30nm rain band extending west from St George right over our track.  We elected to track east around the rain band ensuring that we always had an escape to the east if the rain band extended further than thought.  As it happened the rain was exactly where it was depicted on the moving map and it was easy to steer around it.

I know there's people who are critical of discarding traditional aviation charts in favour of tablet based flight applications.  They believe pilots who are over-reliant on such applications will get into strife if the application fails or the tablet goes flat.  Sorry I don't agree.  The situational awareness AvPlan provides makes me a far safer and informed pilot and the benefits far outweigh the risks.  Amazingly throughout most of our route through the outback we've had cellphone coverage which allows up-to-date METARs (actual weather conditions) at airports to be retrieved at any time using AvPlan and weather radar and situation maps to be available.  The risks associated with a technology failure can be mitigated by carrying a second synced iPad as I do (or charts), and a means to keep the devices charged from the aircraft.  In areas I'm unfamiliar with my procedure of noting all headings and times as I cross each planned waypoint ensures that if there is a total blackout, I have a fair chance of finding my destination by using a compass and watch.  

Once we cleared the rain around St George we had a clear run to Port Macquarie.  The crossing of the Great Divide was accomplished at 6,500ft on top of scattered, puffy cumulus clouds.  Port Maquarie had clear skies and negligible wind.

As there was storm warnings in place for the Australian east coast we managed to find hangar storage for our aircraft so all three are tucked up, warm and dry which is a considerable relief.

As I write this the weather in Port Maquarie is wild - just as forecast.  It has rained heavily and there's been nasty rain squalls passing through most of the day.

We're resigned to sitting it out here until the current front crosses the Tasman Sea and we will cross behind it in the arms of a nice big high pressure area with tail winds.