Air Safety

There But for the Grace of God

“Clearto go,” my passenger intoned through the Gosport speaking tube from the front cockpit as the steady “green” from the controller’s Aldis lamp shone out from the tower windows.

I eased open the throttle of Tiger VH-AZP, feeding in left rudder to counteract the swing. The tail came up, but the run seemed longer than usual before we lifted off from Bankstown’s all over grass field.

It wasn’t surprising. With a three month old private licence and the princely total of 90 hours aeronautical experience, I was off on my first major cross country and the Tiger was fully laden, including an extra 10 gallons of fuel in the auxiliary tank fitted above the passenger’s legs ahead of the front cockpit.

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