Air Safety

The Night Nobby’s Luck Ran Out

Nobby Roach was not a particular friend, but I knew him well enough after the manner of casual aviation acquaintances. He often flew his Comanche into Barracoola and I used to see him from time to time in the bar of the aero club when flying was finished for the day. The general aviation community is a small one anywhere in Australia and at a minor regional airport like Barracoola, it’s inevitable that you get to know the other pilots pretty well.

Just what Nobby did for a living I’m not sure. He was some sort of distributor or sales representative I think, because I’d often see him unloading stuff from his aeroplane after he’d flown in from Wollongong or wherever it was he came from further up the coast. Whatever it was, he seemed to use his Comanche quite a lot in his line of business.

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