To fly away and to gain.

Imagine being a commercial pilot student and flying around Australia – any part of it – as part of your course. It sounds thrilling. Incredible. 

This is what’s called informally called a ‘fly-away’, and we encourage our commercial pilot students at Basair Aviation College to do them. 

Some students do trips over several days, while others do day trips.  It doesn’t matter. What does matter is what they get from them.

They’re an important part of the four-week command-building stage of their CPL, which is done around 6 months in. They help to build hours, navigation skills, dealing with unfamiliar airports, and general experience. And they provide great memories. 

Three of our commercial pilot students, Bradley Holmes, Bronwyn Holloway, and Robert Jeffereys, recently did a fly-away. (The chief flying instructor at our Archerfield, Brisbane, base also went.)

Their two-week adventure, including rest days, departed Archerfield on the 11th April at 1200. They circumnavigated Australia on-board Bravo X-Ray Zulu, a Cessna 206.

They covered 6,500 nautical miles, flew 60 hours, and burnt through 3,600 litres of AVGAS.

Their route, beginning and ending in Brisbane, was as follows:

We caught up with Brad Holmes to get his take on their trip.

What was your favourite place?

Margaret River in Western Australia mainly because it is a small surf town with amazing beaches. The approach into Margaret River airport is on the list of the best I've ever flown!

What was your biggest challenge while away?

Navigating from maps with very limited outside features to use. All you have in the outback is a 360-degree flat horizon with dried up lakes and a lot of red sand!

Of challenges faced:

Our approach to Ceduna was a challenging one. It was a non-towered aerodrome and the runway had a large incline slope at the threshold and it was narrower than what we had been used to. This tested my flying skills at an unfamiliar aerodrome

What are the top things you learnt or gained from your fly away?

My navigating techniques were built up to an even higher standard.

How important are ‘fly-ways’ as part of your overall flight training?

Flying from new unfamiliar locations everyday improves navigation techniques, and as you fly everyday it helps to enforce what you learnt the day before.

How would you rate your fly-away experience?

I would recommend anybody to try and do a fly-away, even if it is a short trip.

It was challenging and yet it was great fun to successfully use all the skills I had learnt over the last 12 months.

Getting out and seeing Australia the way I have is an extraordinary memory I will have with me for the rest of my life.

With thanks to Brad Holmes for allowing me to us his photos.