Desert Air - 22. DA Ch 22 - Twin Otter

When my siblings get home, they will be allocated jobs, with the twins to bring cold water and snacks to the hut every two hours, and to help out either Mum or Dad with any extra chores, while Wynn and Julia would remain at home and remain close to the radio, in case of any emergencies.

When not at the gate hut, the other adults would be assisting me as guides around the airbase, and once we were happy with the planning for the weekend, we finished up our dinner and relaxed in the lounge area, but only until the house phone began to ring and Dad went to answer it.

“Yes hello,” he said in a bit of a grumpy mood, as he hated getting phone calls late at night, “Oh really, just a moment, I will put you on loud speaker so the rest of the team can listen in… ok say that again please,” Dad said and by now we had all moved towards the kitchen to listen.

“This is Alice at the Holiday Park, I am not sure if you are aware of it or not, but we and also the hotel have been receiving calls all of today, enquiring about accommodation for two nights over this long weekend, and they are all here to check out your airbase museum on Saturday and Sunday,” the lady said.

“Hi Alice, it is Hedley speaking, how many have you got booked in so far?” Hedley asked, “We will be nearly full for tomorrow night, 32 caravans or camper trailers and 16 campers so far, and I have spoken to the hotel, and they are already booked out all 6 hotel rooms and 6 motel rooms,” Alice replied.

“Goodness me, sounds like we did too well with our promotions of the Airbase opening to the public, well thanks for the heads up Alice, goodnight,” Mum responded, “Goodnight all, and thankyou for this sudden influx of business, it is a welcome sight,” Alice said before hanging up.

“We had better get the computer printer going, to print some more brochures as I have a feeling we may run out very quickly,” Joyce stated. “I will call the printers in Port Hedland in the morning, and get them to print another thousand, and with the 500 we already have that should be enough,” Dad said.

“That brings us to the next bit of news, son you know how I mentioned that Dad has chartered a plane to fly the kids back home from Hedland, well that is not quite the truth,” Mum said to me. “With some of the money we got from the sale of Hillside station we decided to invest in an aircraft for you to use for your veterinary practice once you have graduated,” Dad announced.

“But I already have a plane,” I stuttered in shock, “Yes, but this one is more suited for veterinary work, as it is a lot more modern and faster,” Dad replied, “we decided that it would be a good investment, and that you can also help us out with transporting the little ones to Port Hedland and pick up supplies for us when we need them,” Mum said.

I was not sure what to say, I opened my mouth then shut it again and repeated the process, still trying to process the news, and eventually I spoke up, “What sort of plane is it?” I asked.

“A DHC-6 Twin Otter, with a range of 1,420 kilometres, cruise speed of 160 knots, and can carry up to 12 passengers and 120 kilo’s of cargo, and it even has a small bathroom,” Dad announced.

“Wow” was all I could say, still in shock, and everyone was smiling, “I thought we might leave a bit before lunch time, so we have time to look at her and take her for a bit of a spin, before the other kids arrive,” Dad said to me, and I nodded my head in agreement.

“The small addition to the back of the operations shed, is that really a fuel store?” I asked after a short silence, “Yes, it contains drums of diesel and avgas, but Hedley and I thought it might be best to move them over to the fuel store at Corunna Downs, so when the planes need fuel, you just land there, oh and we may store the Twin Otter over there too, since it wont fit in with the history theme of the museum,” Dad replied.

“We have already had the station staff install tie down points near the main shed, over there so it is ready for when the twin otter arrives tomorrow,” Hedley added. “Thanks, I will be happy with that, and I think the Biplane can stay where it is in the aircraft pit under the netting, for storage and as a feature of the museum, even if it was built a decade after the war ended,” I said.

“Did you get a chance to do what I suggested before you left in late January?” Dad asked,” “No, because I ran out of time,” I replied, “Well you can check it a lot easier now, just go through that back door, and you will see,” Dad said to me, and I nodded my head in understanding.

The next morning, I was eager to get to Port Hedland, so I could see my new plane, and so Dad agree to us leaving in the morning, once we are sure all planning has been completed for this weekend. At 8 am, Dad and I took off in the Biplane, heading for Port Hedland, which in this plane takes 2 ¼ hours while the new plane it will only take 1 hour and 35 minutes.

I had let Dad take the controls for the journey north, as he would be flying the children home, so as to give me time to get used to the new plane, before carrying passengers. Once we had parked the biplane its usual bay, I glanced around to see if I could see my new plane, but it was not anywhere to be seen, as we climbed out and locked up the canopies.

“Is it in the hanger?” I asked Dad once we were on the ground, and Dad smiled and shook his head no, as I began to hear an approaching aircraft coming from the north, and I strained my eyes to get a better view of it, and the closer it came, I recognised it to be a Twin Otter.

“Is that my plane, and who is flying it?” I asked Dad, “Yes it is and Ben is bringing it down from Broome for us,” Dad replied, as we watched the plane circle once before coming in to land, and taxi towards us. “Wow, she looks fantastic Dad, I like the looks of her already,” I commented, as the plane came to a stop in front of us, and we waited for the engines to stop.

As the door opened, Ben the chief mechanic smiled to me broadly, “She is a beaut fly, you are a lucky man Jexon,” Ben said to me as he shook my hands, “Thanks mate, I look forward to many flights with her,” I replied, as I headed for the steps and climbed into the plane.

I was expecting to see a row of single seats on one side and a row of two seats on the other, but instead there are a row one each side, with the seats being a lot more comfortable, with arm rests and a cup holder in each, with four seats facing each other, with a table in the centre, as I made my way forward, and I sat in the left chief pilot seat, as I heard the door closed and Dad came forward and sat in the second pilot seat.

“Right, lets take it for a spin, I have already filed a flight plan, we have just over 4 ½ hours before the kids arrive, so I thought we might go for a very short spin, then come back here, so I can collect the Biplane and I will follow you home, before we fly back to collect the kids,” Dad suggested.

“Sure, that sounds good,” I replied, and we were soon in the air, and I was loving my new plane right away, “This is totally awesome Dad, thanks heaps,” I commented once we had levelled off a little as we flew over the ocean for a little way, before we turned back.

Once back at the airport, Dad headed for the Biplane, and once he was in the air, I had to wait for about fifteen minutes before taking off to follow him home, as some supplies arrived for the airbase, which Dad had ordered, and once in the air, I climbed to 18,000 feet so as to be well clear of the biplane when I passed him, and when I arrived at the Airbase, I flew over the complex once, before turning and landing on runway two.

“Corunna Airbase to Tango Juliet 1959, over,” I called over the radio, “Tango Juliet, receiving you son, over,” Dad replied, “Dad I suggest that you land on Runway One East, the wind is westerly, and taxi straight to the Aircraft pit, over,” I said, “Copy that Airbase, over,” Dad answered.

After unloading the supplies, which was forty packs of 600 ml bottles of water, with 24 bottles in each pack, I sat in the operations shed and waited for the half an hour until I heard the Biplane approaching, before stepping outside to watch him land and taxi in.

Once the biplane was back in its home pit, Mum arrived with a lunch pack for us both, before we climbed into the Twin Otter, with Dad taking the lead seat this time, for the trip back to Port Hedland, and we landed about fifteen minutes ahead of the aircraft coming in from Perth.

We watched as it taxied towards the main terminal, and like all rural airports, passengers have to walk on the tarmac to get into the terminal, and as soon as we saw the twins and two younger ones stepping off the plan, Dad gave a loud whistle that caught their attention.

“Hey Dad, are we flying home instead of driving?” Rhodes asked, “Yes we are, this is your brother’s new plane, but I will be piloting as he has only flown in it once just a few hours ago,” Dad replied, as I went to collect all of my siblings luggage, which was being offloaded the much larger aircraft.

Once I had loaded all of the luggage into the cargo bay, and my siblings were all seated and buckled in, I closed the door, while Dad started up the engines, and I took a seat in the co-pilot seat and it wasn’t long before we were in the air and heading for home.

Once we had levelled off, I moved back to speak to my siblings, “We will be landing at Corunna Downs in about 1 ½ hours, there is a bathroom at the back, I’m not sure what else we have back here yet, and Mum will be picking us up from the homestead,” I announced to the siblings, before we chatted about what has been happening at boarding school.

When we landed at Corunna Downs’s airfield, Mum and Joyce were there in two vehicles to collect us, and take the siblings to the complex, while Mum, Dad and I transported a spare fridge from the homestead over to the operations shed, so as to keep the bottled water cold for the visitors over the weekend, once that was done, we headed back to the complex.

My siblings were surprised to see the huge courtyard out the back of the complex with all the new trees planted, and Dad said that he would be getting some shade sails made up to cover the courtyard for protection from the sun.

With everyone now home, the complex was full of activity plus a few dramas, with the boys causing a few arguments, which I was asked to deal with.

Over dinner that night, the siblings were given their chores for the next few days, which would include selling bottles of water to the visitors, and everyone will need to be up at 6.30 am, with the twins to be dressed in their new uniforms and completed breakfast before 7 am.

I was awake at 5 am, and after a cup of tea and some toast, I headed to the Hawkei, to start my first patrol staying on the north side of the creek, I headed for the car park, and after passing through the barrier gates, I made my way towards the front gate, where I was surprised to see some vehicles already lined up waiting for the gate to open up.

Leaving the Hawkei inside the property, I walked along the access road, and I counted a total of 17 vehicles in the line, which look like they had arrived sometime during the night, which we had not expected, as I returned to the Hawkei and travelled back to the car park, this time crossing over the creek, and heading for the sheds.

With my torch in hand, as it was only just starting to get daylight, I headed into the operations shed, and unlocked the back door, before entering and closing the door behind me, and a quick look around, I found the light switch and turned it on before looking down towards the trapdoor in the floor, which now opened easily.