Last weekend I had the great opportunity to fly down to Kangaroo Island for a night. Friends of ours were staying down there and had offered to provide us with accommodation, food and transport. All we had to do was get there. As if we’d say no!

I had originally planned to fly down in a 172S however, as happens in aviation, the plane went u/s on the day of our departure. I have to say a huge thanks to Tam for helping find an alternative. The other 172S and 172R weren’t due back until mid afternoon which would’ve meant we’d get down there too late to do much in the afternoon. I had noticed JDG, a 172RG sitting on the tarmac so I enquired about that. I had the appropriate endorsements, however I hadn’t flown since the start of the year. After a few quick circuits with one of my instructors (thanks John for helping out!), we were good to go. We loaded JDG up with everything but the kitchen sink it seamed and were on our way.

VH-JDG - A 1979 Cessna 172RG

At the runup bay I called Parafield tower for clearance. My plan was for a departure via Port Adelaide, then climbing to 2500 (due to cloud) and tracking down the coast. Things appeared to be falling into place as we got our clearance as far as Port Adelaide. However, by the time we’d gotten to the hold point of 21R (all of 60 seconds later!) everything changed. We were instead told to track out via St Kilda and remain clear of Adelaide airspace.

Passing Adelaide Airport as we commence our very long climb to 8500ft

At St Kilda I contacted Adelaide and they gave us clearance to Grange Jetty at 1000 ft. As we approached we got put into a holding pattern. During the second circuit I offered to fly higher if it would help. It didn’t, they still had to allow for missed approaches to runway 23 at Adelaide. They appeared to have a constant stream of traffic heading in and out. As we started our third orbit (and getting a little frustrated), we were given clearance to track via the city, then Marino Lighthouse. This was unexpected, but it had us heading in roughly the right direction again. We’d made it about two thirds of the way to the city when they then gave us clearance direct to Marino Lighthouse.

Passing the clouds as we track down the coast to Cape Jervis

I could see all down the coast that the weather was fine just off the coast, but cloudy at around 7000ft over the land. I requested a climb to 8500ft for the crossing of Backstairs Passage, which was granted. In hindsight I should’ve settled for 6500ft. It took until around Sellicks Beach to reach 8500ft. We were pushing a bit of a headwind, so that slowed us down even further. By the time we’d reached Cape Jervis, I started a gradual descent to Penneshaw, then continued to descent as we tracked for Kingscote airport. It wasn’t long before we were joining base for runway 24.

The north eastern tip of Kangaroo Island

Parking was simple and as an added benefit there was an old luggage trolley to put all our bags on. Our friends helped unpack and we were soon on our way to town to explore for the afternoon. Exploring done, we returned to the airport. I did the sums and determined that I could take both friends on a scenic flight back to American River. My partner would drive their car back and meet us there.

My partner and I, complete with plane, luggage and luggage trolley!

We took off from 24 and (as a mistake only realised in hindsight) commenced a right turn to track north east to the township. I should’ve departed over head off a left downwind. Thankfully there was nobody else around, or at least I didn’t hear anyone (it’s a CTAF-ARFU). At Kingscote we followed the coast around at 1500ft to American River. We joined a long final for runway 21. I didn’t realise it had a rise in the middle as it crossed runway 14. As a result we landed fairly firmly. As we were backtracking our taxi service was just arriving.

The Bay of Shoals near Kingscote

We tied the aircraft down for the night and settled in for a nice BBQ, cheese, a penguin tour at Penneshaw and a game of Balderdash.

JDG tied down for the night at American River

The next morning my fear of being stuck in KI for another night was resolved by a quick check of the forecast. It wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I was expecting, although the cloud was only around 2500ft. After a big breakfast we were back at the strip loading up the plane for the next leg to Aldinga. Our friends left to get their gear as they were checking out the same day. The returned a little later after I’d completed the daily inspection. Of course, now that there was an audience, something had to go wrong. The 172RG is not fuel injected, and it had been a fairly cold and wet night, so starting it was never going to be easy.  I gave it a couple of goes of the primer and tried to start her. The prop turned, but that was about all. A couple more goes and it was starting to sound like it wanted to start, there was the odd kick, but then nothing more. In the end I figured I’d probably flooded it. I pulled the mixture back to idle cut-off and tried again. It started just like a 172S would have. There were celebrations all round.

American River as we head towards Penneshaw

Our trip back via Penneshaw and Cape Jervis to Aldinga was uneventful. My landing at Aldinga in a bit of a gusty crosswind made up for my efforts at American River. My parents and grandma had driven down to meet us for a coffee at the flying school. Coffee and brownie consumed, we were soon on our way again. This time my grandma was joining us for the final leg back to Parafield via the coast at 500ft. We offloaded most of the bags to my parents and departed shortly after.

The ferry terminal at Cape Jervis

Clearance back via the coast was a simple affair this time. Our initial limit was Brighton Jetty, but as we neared they let us through if we could pick our speed up. I gave it all she could give and we were soon through the centreline for Adelaide Airport’s runway 05. Nearing Outer Harbor we climbed to 1500ft and contacted Parafield. I was expecting to join downwind for 21R but instead was given instructions to track for base for 21R. This was a little confusing and as a result I got a little closer than I’d expected to Edinburgh’s control zone. A friendly reminder for a slight right turn came over the radio…oops. Not long after we were pulling off runway 21R after a fairly reasonable landing. My grandma again thoroughly enjoyed the trip. It was something a bit different from the last time I’d taken her up.

Passing Glenelg and Holdfast Shores at 500ft

For the whole trip up the coast we’d had the sun blaring through the front window. It was great to get the windows opened after we’d landed to cool things down. I should’ve done it sooner but was too busy making sure I got all the radio calls and answered correctly. It’d been several months since flying out of Parafield and even longer since flying through Adelaide Class C airspace.

Outer Harbor as we track for Parafield

Overall the trip was 2.6 hours. It’d been a fantastic trip and the first time I’d hired a plane overnight. I can’t wait to do more!

Here are the links to the flight paths: Parafield to Kingscote, Kingscote to American River, American River to Aldinga, Aldinga to Parafield.

Thanks for reading.

Brett