Leaderboard

My neighbor knocked on my door at 2:30 AM. Can you believe that? 2:30 AM! Luckily for him, I was still up playing my bagpipes.

Come visit some amazing bush strips in Papua New Guinea along the famous WW2 Kokoda Track where the Aussies stopped the Japanese advance to the south. Try your hand at landing & taking-off from these sloping, short strips set on mountain tops or in deep valleys. Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

That's a pretty cool resumé Neil, flying in the sim alone there gets my heart rate up. I would think that the locals would, at the least, cut some of the taller trees seen in Franks video, so they can get deliveries. Not all of them of course because they would want to prevent landslides.

Flying anywhere in PNG is challenging and very often scary. I worked fly in-fly/out in PNG for a few years, working at Ok-Tedi gold and copper mine up in the Star Mountains. Flying into Tabubil or Kiunga in bad weather was, interesting to say the least , threading the. way through the mountain valleys with cloud above and sometimes below, in a Beechcraft King Air. Also flew into Port Moresby a few times from Cairns. Neil

Drawing in history minded folks is part of my intention - so that’s great Brett. Scary landings? That’s because IRL as a recreational pilot I fly only a C172, in perfect weather, on flat strips, at least 1,000m, usually sealed etc etc etc. Very, very safety-conscious low-hours, recreational pilot! Cheers Brett.

Entertaining as always Frank. PNG is a great place to fly for us bush pilots!

One Way or Another (Blondie 1978).

Come with me to visit historic Archerfield airfield just outside Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, once the main airfield for Brisbane, now its main GA airfield. Learn about its WW2 and pre-WW2 history, and about some of the famous people who have passed through it. Also, enjoy a tour of Brisbane city center and the famous Gold Coast just south of Brisbane. Hope you enjoy. Cheers.

Thanks Frank, lot of great pictures in this one along with the history that goes with them. When OZx came out I did a bunch of flying on the East coast, checked my records and never landed at Archerfield but took off from there three times. A city nearby along with a waterway always makes for a nice flying spot and flying GA I tend to stay away from the international airports. I guess YBAF hit those criteria. Thanks again for another good one.

That's because I know what you did last Summer

Just a reminder that yesterday the 16th, was the 80th anniversary of the dam busters raid. Brilliant and skilful flying, with bravery by all.

Thanks for the ride, appreciate the amount of research needed to compile all that history. Well done ! Cheers, Neil

So true, no doubt the cost of buying and maintaining an airplane also limits the need for as many airstrips. I would have to look into it but maybe the need for more farmland might be a part of it too, along with the government not being able to sell them after the war to interested airport owners. Have always enjoyed perusing this old site for lost airports here in the states. http:// http://www.airfields-freeman.com/ I found this site after a cop killer(Eric Frein), after a long manhunt was found at an abandoned strip called Birchwood-Pocono Airpark in 2014. Me and my honey stayed

Wasn't too long ago I watched a documentary about nazi mega works that showed Valentin and its bomb damage, thanks for showing not only how it was flown but the old airfields too. Thanks for the look-see Frank, still enjoying these history journeys.

Ha ha, I regretfully used to do that with plastic aircraft! Silly boys! Must check out that movie, thanks. Cheers.

Great story to make into a video Frank, thanks for the look back. The greatest generation? I believe so. I remember seeing the PT-109 movie as a kid and thought it was so cool I made a model of the boat (Revel?). Wish I still had it but being young at the time it was eventually was destroyed by fireworks in mock action.