Nice looking neighbour

This little hawk is a resident of our hangar. He and his mate have a nest in the rafters and will soon have chicks to feed and care for. About the time the chicks are leaving the nest, the hangar will be torn down as we have three new hangars over the other side of the apron that we will be moving into next week. I guess the hawks will have to find a new home for next year....

Good looking oldie

Ok, here's something you don't see every day. This Sweringen Merlin 3A was in Pt Augusta for three hours with visiting government ministers for some kind of meeting. The Merlin was designed and built in the late 70's and this one is in excellent condition. They look like they're going a million miles per hour just sitting there. Actually, this one cruises at around 275 knots, just a little faster than the PC12. I couldn't resist a photo or two.

More scenery

I went to Coober Pedy yesterday, via the long way around Woomera restricted airspace because there were air force F111s messing around in the airspace and it isn't really too safe at times. The weather was hot an bumpy, with very strong winds on the ground and also at altitude. We were cruising at 24,000 feet when I snapped this shot of the salt lakes north of Tarcoola in (lower) central South Australia. We had rain very early this morning - though not very much - associated with some noisy electrical storms. It had all blown over by 0600 and the day just got warm and windy from there. On the way back, we got hit by a couple of really good bumps that would have put us all on the roof if we hadn't been strapped down. Gave us all a bit of a fright, especially the patient! It feels worse when you're lying down.