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Today we're flying over to Mareeba which is where most of the general aviation from the
Cairns region is now located. Mareeba is a town on the Atherton tablelands to the West of Cairns
just over the ranges. It's about 70 k's and takes about an hour by car or 15 minutes by air.
Well I've just arrived at Mareeba aerodrome we've got quite a busy schedule we're going to check
in with Sally from North Queensland Aero Club and we're also going to check in with Dave, he's going
to tell us about some amazing journeys he's had right around this big beautiful country of ours.
So how long have you been in aviation for Sal? I've been in aviation for about 25 years.
So I got into it when I was fairly young, about 15 and it's a passion. What brings you out to Mareeba?
The flying school's been based in cairns for the last 66 years, however due to the cost of rent on
Cairns airport and the volume of traffic that's around Cairns airport now we've decided to move
the entire base up to Mareeba. We've had satellite bases in Mareeba on and off for the last 15 years
and it's a really great place to fly because it's much drier up here and there's nowhere near the
volume of traffic. So if somebody was coming into Mareeba for the first time, what
what do you tell them? Probably one of the main things to be aware of on the Atherton tablelands
generally and in Mareeba is the density altitude. So Mareeba aerodrome is 1500 feet above sea level
and Atherton aerodrome to the South is two and a half thousand feet above sea level. So significant
density altitude issues particularly in summer time so the density altitude in summer can be
upwards of five six thousand feet in this area so from a performance point of view aircraft
performance you have to be very careful and aware of what your density altitude is because if you're
flying a heavily loaded aeroplane out of a shorter strip on a hot day at elevation, your
density altitude is significant so that's one thing to be aware of. Mareeba also has
fairly bad bird issues we've got a lot of birds in the area around Mareeba aerodrome particularly and
Atherton and there's a lot of cropping and farming in the area, so of course that tends to attract
birds so you have to keep a particularly good lookout for those flying into both Mareeba and
Atherton and Dimbulah to the West as well. And what do you instill into your students about
early decision-making and just being onto stuff nice and early? Yeah well it's it's
um particularly a flight from Mareeba to Cairns it happens very quickly and there's a lot going on so
decision making is important and being prepared is important before you even get in the airplane.
As I've said you've got your flight plan submitted, you've spoken to air traffic control, you know
that the gap is safely open and if if any of those things aren't lined up just don't leave because
It's better that you're on the ground in Mareeba waiting for an appropriate time to go
than than trying to fly up and down the ranges trying to find a hole in the in the mountains to
get through. That sort of pressure can lead to poor decision-making. Make the decision on the ground as
to whether you can get through or not and don't leave until you're sure that you can. Ultralights?
Yes, lots of ultralights particularly on weekends. Saturday morning on a nice day
they're everywhere most of them are on the radio even our microlights they are on the
radio as well. There are some ultra lights particularly west of Mareeba
that that don't have radio so as always remain vigilant. And what about agricultural operations?
Obviously being an agricultural area a lot of cropping there is ag ops operating out of Atherton
and they do a fair bit of spraying in the Mareeba area particularly around Mareeba airport there's
a lot of banana plantations. Those guys are on the radio maintaining a listening watch so again it's
it's all about maintaining that good lookout. and often those guys will actually be spraying within
the circuit area and often on downwind base and final as well and they'll just work in conjunction
with your arrival but they're always on the radio, particularly at Mareeba. This is a pretty busy base
in terms of people getting supplies and stuff for out West? It is yeah Mareeba is the largest town in
the region so from here there's no real supply towns West to the Gulf of Carpentaria which is
260 70 nautical miles away and to the North Cape York Peninsula is 430 nautical miles away.
So there's a lot of station aircraft that come in and out of Mareeba, there's a couple of maintenance
facilities here where station aircraft will fly in to get their maintenance done, do supply shopping
and things like that. So it's it's a real hub for for general aviation so it's quite an active
and active place for North Queensland. Active place and a great place for students to learn. Absolutely!
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