Plane Conversations

There’s an old song from the World War II generation that says, “Wishing will make it so…”.  Buddy DeSylva’s lyrics speak of hope, optimism, and belief.  Yet wishing can’t give you more hours in a day, or more productivity while travelling, or access to places difficult to reach.

Flying can make it so.

That being said, we need to tell our stories, ways that aviation assists us daily in carrying on our various activities and work.  This is partially because we gain strength and synergy when we see that there are others much like us who know and understand the real benefit of flying.  This doesn’t have to be a $20million dollar corporate jet.  It can be as simple as a Diamond DA-40.  It’s the story of the DA-40 that I want to pass on to you today.

Last week our company’s CEO, VP of Sales, and I took a DA-40 to visit a customer in Jonesboro, AR.  We then had a pop-up visit with a lead in Little Rock, AR.  We then lunched in Tunica, MS on our way home (no gambling, just food) and returned home in time for a local Chamber event in our hangar.

The plane, by business aircraft  norms, was really modest.  In fact, a LearJet pilot teased me as I preflighted my plane parked next to his.  The only refreshments were in the small cooler I packed with green tea, water, and peanut butter crackers on my way to the airport that morning.   The only in-flight entertainment was an iPad.   And the air conditioning?  On this 97+ degree day, it was inoperative.  So we climbed until we felt comfortable at 60 or so degrees at 7,000 feet.

And yet, even in this basic small aircraft we were able to condense over 14 hours of drive time into 6.2 flight hours.  Had we driven we would have certainly been out overnight in order to drive and have time for our meetings.  And while it was a long day, it was an easy day.  So we made our rounds, saw our clients, and returned before dark.

Yes, aircraft are fun.  Some aircraft are luxurious.  Some aircraft are expensive and some are not.  But for the businesses that operate them, they are tools.  Their value in time savings and multiplied productivity is astonishing.

Flying can make it so.

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Knowledge is power.  It’s not what you know, but what you do with what you know that matters. 

Enter social media, web 2.0, wikinomics, the digital age, the Google era-whatever you would like to call it.  The power of this enormous infrastructure and way of life, the power of social media is the sharing of knowledge by wise leaders. 

Let me briefly explain–Google shares information, but it certainly isn’t wisdom.  On the other hand, your friend, who has been listening to a podcast about a certain subject for a year now, knows you are looking for a new job in a related industry.  He knows that the host of the podcast is great friends with a guy in that industry.  A tweet is sent with a link to the podcast… Knowledge has been applied.  Wisdom has been shared.  Now connections have been made.

Enter video.  YouTube is probably the most widely known video social media channel, but there are many.  Here is an example:

What did you see? Probably a lot of things.  Did you see an acrobatic flight from the “bird’s eye” view of the pilot? A pilot getting his first lesson could learn a lot about the cross check…looking outside at the wingtips to maintain attitude, back and forth, now forward at airspeed.  These are the kinds of things that can only be learned in real time.  It’s challenging, even for an experienced flight instructor to explain this inverted.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is video worth?

Did you see Johnny’s house in the early frames of the video, just to the far side of the brown field off the nose? How cool would it be for Johnny to see his house from that angle?! Even more exciting would be real time streaming video integrated into the flying video game on his HD TV.

Imagine a student pilot getting ready to go on his first cross-country flight.  The weather between here and the destination is forecasted to be VFR, but there is a slight chance it could deteriorate.  So he types in the web address for a new, video-based “Sky Maps” website, and sees that another pilot has just flown along that route.  By clicking on the airplane symbol on the “Sky Map,” a video is cued.  Student Pilot can now see the weather for himself, adding some knowledge to his decision-making process, painting a picture to supplement the weather forecast.

Did you see the weather off to the east in the video? Scientists could tap into a wealth of data to update meteorological models, validate predictions, understand these complex (and still quite mysterious) phenomena even better.

Did you see the turbulent airflow off of the upper wing? I didn’t either, but it won’t be long until a high-tech lens attachment the size of a dime gives Schleren photography capability to this portable video cameras.  In fact, the future holds a camera that looks wherever the pilot points it and captures images at any bandwidth in the spectrum of light.

One last application for the test pilots among us - the pilot was moving his head, large movements, and a lot of them, in other words, high frequency and high amplitude.  This data would certainly contribute to an understanding of the workload during this phase of flight.  At this point in the evolution of the technology, we don’t need six sigma certainty that it’s high workload.  We have a definitive qualitative understanding that it is.  The technology will mature, and the way we use it to collect quantitative measures of what has been previously subjectively evaluated should mature as well.

That’s what the future looks like…in HD.

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Many flight schools operate on the same paradigm used in the movie “Field of Dreams”.  You may recall Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) is inspired by a vision to build a baseball field in the middle of his Iowa cornfield.  Against the wishes of more rational minds he does it anyway following the dramatically whispered mantra, “If you build it, he will come.”

That seems to have been prevailing model for flight schools: scrounge up a couple of planes, find a few CFIs desperate for flight time, get a sign made and you’re in business!  “If you build it, they will come.”

The trouble is that many schools are learning that what worked for Ray Kinsella doesn’t work anymore for flight training.  At one time, the “Field of Dreams” model was enough to allow a flight school to keep open its doors.  But that simply isn’t the case anymore.  Today’s flight school must understand that it is competing for the attention and business of the public which is just as prone to buy a Harley Davidson motorcycle or a bass boat as it is to take flying lessons.  It must embrace a more proactive way of thinking and behaving in the marketplace in order to attract and retain the business it so desperately desires.

We need to understand target markets and red velvet ropes.  Here are a few questions that Flight Schools may want to ask:

Who is your ideal client? Review your students from the last year with your staff and identify the best students.  “Best Students” here covers a variety of characteristics.  It should include attitude and willingness to learn, financial means to train at an ideal pace, a schedule conducive to training, a sense of responsibility and professionalism.  And ask yourself who you enjoyed flying with and who responded well to the training.  The answers to these questions will help you figure out your ideal clients.  These are the people you need to actively seek in your marketing efforts.  You may fly with anyone who wanders in, but you should aim to attract those with whom you work best.

Why aim for a particular kind of client?  Because it is what is best for your business.  Look again at the traits outlined above.  Would you rather have 25 students who take a random lesson here and there, fail to show, and are lackadaisical in their attitude or would you rather have 15 hard-charging committed students who are serious about their flight training?  Then go get them!

What is your target market? Having seriously thought about your ideal clients, the question now turns to where to find them.  Your challenge now is to put your services in front of that group of people (target market) most likely to contain your perfect clients.  Begin asking other questions about your ideal clients: Do they seem to come from a particular industry, profession, or location?  Are they within a common age range, social group, or salary range?

The more common data you can piece together, the more you will see your target market emerge.  It may be that your target market has chosen you.  Once you identify your target market, you can begin to reach out to this market with intention and focus.

Why would your target market use your services? Michael Port in his book, Book Yourself Solid, notes, “You must offer what your potential clients want to buy, not what you want to sell or think they should want to buy.  You must be able to look at your services from your client’s perspective.”1

So as you look at your target market which contains your ideal clients, first try to examine why they would choose to learn to fly.  What are the underlying needs that flying meets?  What desires do your potential customers have that learning to fly will fulfill?  The answers to these questions will help you craft your approach in marketing your services.  When you begin to really study and understand your client’s motivation, then you can begin to help them see why you are the best school/instructor to provide them with these services.

All of this helps form what Port calls a “Red Velvet Rope” policy.  The image should be one of seeing your customers as VIPs arriving at an invitation-only party.  They are hand-picked.  They are the right people in the right place at the right time.  These are the people you dream of having as customers.  These are the pilot-trainees that you enjoy training.  The “Red Velvet Rope” simply is a way of being intentional about attracting, engaging, and retaining these ideal clients.  So be intentional about who you want to work with, why, and how you can best serve them with your business.

It sure beats plowing up the cornfield hoping someone will show up.

Chris Findley (CFI, CFII) is a flight instructor in the Nashville area.  He is also an author, speaker, and life/ career coach.  You can find him online at www.myflightcoach.com & www.chrisfindley.com or on Twitter @myflightcoach.

1.  Port, Michael Book Yourself Solid (John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ: 2006) Page 22

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I was just reading through some of my past blogs, and realized that I have gone through an enormity of ups and downs in my journey to becoming a pilot.

A PILOT!  I’m a PILOT!  It’s still seems surreal at this point.  Probably because the elation has not yet worn off.  But I did it.  I realized a dream.  And it’s a wonderful feeling.

It was a long time coming.  One year, and 19 days.  There were some obstacles which were unavoidable, like weather of course, but also the fact that I had to switch from the Cessna 152 after 10 hours of flying, to the Katana DA20 (with 7 months of no flying in between) because of an engine issue.  But looking back, switching to the DA20 was the best thing that could have happened to me.  It has a GPS!  And is a joy to fly.

The weeks leading up to my final test (check ride and oral) were the hardest I’ve had to endure in a long time.  The stress was building, knowing I would have to sit with my examiner while he asked me questions which, at the time, I was not sure I would be able to answer.  Why would anyone voluntarily submit themselves to this much pressure, I wondered.  My fear was that I would not retain all of the information that I was forcing into my head.  But my instructor went above and beyond and spent hours going over what he thought were my weak spots.  This helped enormously, and built my confidence to a point which allowed me to push on.  It’s amazing how a glimpse of success motivates you to push through the tough times.  Looking back, it’s moments like those which make me proud of the tenacity I showed.

I’m not sure how it all came together, but it just did.  I have to give thanks to my Instructor Kirk, who spent hours teaching me to aviate, navigate, and communicate.  I said it in the beginning and I will say it again, choosing a good instructor is invaluable.

So if your instructor signs you off as ready for your check ride, then you probably are.  Have faith in that.

These are some things which I found extremely useful in the lead up to my check ride:

-          Work on your weak areas – of theory, and in the airplane.

-          Fly as often as you can in the week before your check ride to be completely comfortable.  Leaving a week in between shouldn’t matter too much, but I was glad to have gotten in a few good mock check rides before the big one.

-          Nice segway:  Do mock check rides with your instructor.  This will allow you to feel comfortable with the process and to see the order of how things will likely go along.

-          If you can, do a mock check ride with a different instructor – sometimes something that they do differently may help you in your learning process if something is not sticking.

-          Know your aircraft – where everything is, and how it works.  And how it flies best (e.g trim, speeds, etc)

-          You won’t know the answers to all of the questions the examiner will ask you, but know where to find them.  Tab your books if you have to.

-          Know the area – if you can find your first few points on your mock check rides, this will take the pressure off a little so you can ensure you will not miss them.

So I did all of these things, but still, everything did not go perfectly.  But I’m happy to say I wasn’t a complete bumbling fool in the oral.  Somehow, I was able to dig the answers out of my brain.  I guess they did stick!

And just like clockwork – the weather came down after my oral.  So we deferred the flying portion to a better day.  Four days later, weather and I had coincided.

Right before my Examiner arrived in the FBO on the day of my checkride, I was sitting, looking for the millionth time at my flight navigation log, nauseous from anxiety.  Within ten seconds of Reece arriving, he had put me at ease.  I gulped and just decided to do what I had done many times before.

I went through my navigation log and my first leg to Chattanooga, explaining my check points, my heading, my altitude, the weather.  This was nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be.  Feeling ok with my paperwork he said “Let’s go terrorize the skies”.  Ok, lets!

I flew well, but they were definitely not the best take-offs or landings I’ve done.  But they were to standard.  My steep turns were great, my power on and power off stalls were pretty darn good, and I even used the VOR without messing up.  The entire check ride turned out to be fun, which was very unexpected.

It was an unbelievable experience which I will never forget.  Taxiing in along Alpha and Juliet to the ramp I could see Reece signing “S” in the columns to the right.  I can only assume “S” was for satisfactory, which would mean I had passed.  When I turned off the engine he smiled at me and said “you did it”.  Nothing could have made me happier than hearing those words.

I did it.  I am a private pilot.

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Caught in the serenity of the vivid 5 a.m. horizon, the aroma of Folger’s Columbian blend engulfed the cockpit of the Cessna 310R I fly for a small Part 91 operator.

-Climb checklist complete-

It’s moments like this that make it easy to sit back and reflect on how I find myself in the position that I am in.  There are, of course, new adventures to be had, banks to reluctantly send student loan payments to, and people to thank.  None deserve more gratitude than my instrument instructor (CFII), who took a 100 hour private pilot, and through coaching alone, dramatically improved my stick and rudder skills and confidence.

–“Twin Cessna One Two Tree Alpha Bravo, climb and maintain One Two thousand”–

The IO-520’s are still giving me a thousand feet a minute at 140 knots indicated.

….Cruise checklist complete

There is one story in particular that stands out in my head worth telling, that, I think instructors and students alike can learn from.

After a long day of shooting ILS, GPS (-Super NES-) practice approaches, Wes (my CFII) and I, were in a portion of the practice area where it would take another 15 minutes to land if we shot the full (procedure turn and all) approach into our home airport.  Mutually agreeing that we both did not want that, I told him, “Well, just give me vectors to final.” I was still under the hood, confident he would be looking for traffic.

“Ok, N123AB turn right heading two-four-zero, descend and maintain One thousand five hundred.”

I complied.

“N123AB turn right three-six-zero descend and maintain 800”

Pucker factor increased (“nice vector jerk”), winds were favoring runway three-six today.

“N123AB right heading 020 down to 615,” he said.

“That is the field elevation!” I chirped.

Out of my peripheral I could see trees whipping by under the wing. “That’s it!”… that was close enough. A split second later I ripped off the foggles restricting my viewing capability, to find myself crossing the runway threshold at 100 feet above the ground and 90 knots.  The trained instincts of a private pilot in this situation were screaming “GO AROUND.”  Wes had other plans.  Within a split second he queried, “How much runway does it take to land?” … “Uh, a thousand feet,” I croaked… “We have 4,000 feet, land the plane.”  Flying by the seat of my pants I grimaced, dumped full flaps, chopped the power, and pitched the airplane into a nose-high slip.  Wes then calmly but sternly muttered,

…KEEP… -[flahy-ing]-

“Twin Cessna One-Two-Three Alpha Bravo, 2 miles from MYRHH, turn right 3 zero-zero maintain three-thousand until established on the localizer, cleared for the ILS Runway 32.”

The phrase and the manner it was spoken has stuck with me as I teach my students.  These two basic words offer encouragement in the face of a trying situation in the airplane for the student. It reassures them of being capable of handling the situation when in doubt of their flying skills.  Was Wes pushing the limits and jeopardizing safety when a go-around would have been the wisest choice? Possibly. But what if you were caught single-engine in high density altitude and low IFR? Or, caught in moderate ice without de-ice or anti-ice capability, and caught a glimpse of the runway?  Are you going-around in that situation?  It is a positive thing to break training instincts in favor of creating a realistic flying environment. It is positive helping a pilot find their limits and the airplane’s limits, no matter what the rating is, no matter what the experience level is.

I ended up bouncing the airplane twice before finally firmly planting the wheels on the ground on the final third of the runway.  It would be the only time that I used the entire length of the runway to get an airplane to come to a stop.

“Twin Cessna One-Two-Three Alpha Bravo, turn left on Alpha, left on Juliet, taxi to the ramp, welcome back.”

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“I don’t see how you remember all of this stuff” John said one day as we concluded our ground lesson.

Of course, “stuff” wasn’t the adjective he used, nor would I, as we had just spent 3 hours reviewing what he had learned over the past 3 months.

His simple expression of frustration made me a bit nostalgic, reminding me of the days of what seemed to be nothing but mind-numbing memorization and a trivial understanding of physics.  It also reminded me of my perception of my first flight instructor.  To most, first flight instructors are what I call Aviation Jesus’ in the eyes of their students.  They are walking, talking *FAR/AIM AFM’s with hands and feet. They are all knowing, all seeing beings, capable of gracing the heavens with a steep turn that doesn’t deviate a single FOOT off altitude.  You don’t question their authority; because they have the capability of pulling your engine at any given point in training, and responding with a crooked smirk on their face, and the expression of “what are you gonna do now, *PIC?” They are intimidating.

Or, well, at least that was my perception.

But, does it really have to be that way? As a victim of ->POOR<- instruction received (not to mention paid for, during a portion of commercial training), I can only answer with a resounding “NO!”  

Allow me to digress for a second. If I asked you to draw me a picture of a pilot, what would it look like?  I think most would start with the sunglasses – HE, might have an awesomely stereotypical 80’s moustache, while posted up on a wall in a brown leather coat mysteriously reflecting over a cigarette and checking the time on his oversized watch. Sound familiar? Or, did you paint the mental picture of Goose and Maverick telling the story of their 4G negative dive with a MiG 28?

 It seems, since the dawn of aviation, pilots have suffered from numerous personality (superiority) complexes. Flight Instructors and pilots alike often times are egotistical, macho, and invulnerable.  These attributes often come off to students as intimidating, and what most do not realize is done so as a means of “saving face”- to protect their image and ego that has been constructed by previous generations of pilots (and pop-culture).  These complexes have often resulted in students feeling inferior, unworthy or “not cut out to be a pilot”, because their instructors cannot elementarily explain a subject (or in most cases, don’t understand it themselves) and intimidate their students into memorizing what the book says (not necessarily understanding what was said).

As an instructor, there isn’t a bigger disservice to a student than “saving face” because your ego, and that little card with Orville and Wilbur’s face in your wallet, demands.  And, as a student, let me assure you that you CAN get your certificate, even if you can’t cut as pretty of a steep turn as your instructor (remember the *PTS is the judge), or have a full conversation using only acronyms and mnemonics.

I responded to John shortly after with, “I don’t remember everything, man.”

There is only so much the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and Airplane Flying Handbook can convey to get the reader to understand.  The instructor’s role is to generate an understanding that the student could not get on their own, or from a book.  For me, that means reviewing the night before, so that 40 dollars an hour is worth 40 dollars an hour to the student, and so that the student is confident and competent in their technical subject areas.

Not to be cliché, but, “keep it real” with your instructor if you’re a student.   Pretending to understand jargon or “nodding your head and singing along” doesn’t help your cause.  Be active in your quest to obtain whatever license is desired, call your instructor’s bluff, and don’t be intimidated by an Aviation Jesus – I promise they are mere mortals that have been in your shoes.

*FAR/AIM Federal Aviation Regulations/Airman’s Information Manual

*AFM- Airplane Flight Manual

*PIC- Pilot in Command

*PTS- Practical Test Standards

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09/24/10

It’s Friday Down Under - the last day of our General Aviation flying adventure.  The nearly one hour drive from mid-town Sydney to Bankstown Airport gave us plenty of time to discuss today’s mission.  Unlike other mornings, this day began with a crisp, blue sky and light winds.  And, with a high pressure system keeping all clouds away, we were really pumped up for the flight.

Tim chose to fly a reversal of our previous flight.  This time, we toured Sydney first, before heading off to the south for some low level (500 foot) coastal flying.  We finished up with a trip inland towards the Blue Mountains and the gorgeous views the ravine flying provided.

Today, Bankstown Airport seemed to be as busy as Atlanta’s Peachtree DeKalb Airport.  There are three parallel runways at Bankstown and all three were in use. We were number five for take-off on Runway 29 Right or just the “Right” as they say here.  We heard the new call from the tower of “Line Up and Wait” just as we called “ready” at the Holding Point, or the Hold Line, as we say in the States.  Almost immediately, we were cleared for take-off directly behind a older Cessna 172 which was lifting off.  The Cessna planned to depart in the same direction that we did; so, since the SR22 is quite a bit faster than the 172, Tim had to make allowances to keep clear of the aircraft before overtaking it.  Off the ground, we overtook the 172 even before exiting the Class D airspace and beginning to look for our visual ground reference points. 

Within ten minutes, we were over the Pacific at 1,500 feet awaiting our clearance into Sydney Harbor, which came right as planned.  (We had filed a VFR flight plan before departure to let them know we were coming.) Inbound on the Harbor Scenic One, we were advised to watch out for an Airbus 380 that had just departed towards our direction.  We picked it up visually at about ten miles - quite a distance, but at 747 big, the Airbus isn’t hard to see.

Making our two orbits over the harbor, we departed back towards the coast and were cleared for our low level coastal flying.  We flew down past Botany Bay and Jibbon Point before heading on to Seacliff Bridge.  This time we saw no whales, but the views were still magnificent.

Maintaining a listening watch on Sydney Radar 124.55 and with a right climbing turn, we now headed west towards Lake Burragorang that sits surrounded by the painted canyons of the Blue Mountains. We crossed the ridge on the south side of Lake Burragorang, then dropped below the ridge line and flew up the lake.  The only hazard we had to watch for was a power line draped over the north end.  We saw absolutely no one on the lake and no signs of any development at all.  Talk about getting away from it all…we were there!  We agreed that today was the best flying day of the trip.

Turning towards home, Bankstown, the pattern was just as busy as as it had been when we left an hour and a half earlier.  It sure was comforting to have the Cirrus Skywatch Traffic system alerting us to other aircraft. Tim used this to pick up the closest threats before slowing to blend in with the other approaching traffic.  We were number four for landing!

As we rolled out on final, the controller cleared us for the Center runway and that was that.  Tim greased the landing and taxied us back to Regal Air to say our good-byes and to give our our thanks to our new friends and to the aircraft that gave us such incredible views of Oz.

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C.S. Lewis once noted that, “You are never to old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.”  In teaching high school students, I have also found the opposite to be true –you are never too young to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.  As a pilot and advocate for General Aviation, I believe that helping people dream dreams of flight is one of the our greatest responsibilities.  It is also a great privilege.  Recently I took our high school Aviation Club (organized through scouting’s Aviation Explorer  program) to tour Corporate Flight Management’s facilities at the Smyrna Airport.   

It was an excellent visit.  It gave our kids an overview of the aviation world.  We saw a major refurbishment shop at work as well as a behind the scenes walk-through of how charter operations work.  Of course we were able to hang around the planes including sitting in the cockpit of a LearJet.  The kids walked the ramp as our tour guide (PlaneConversation’s Jon Anne Doty) explained the charter system and pointed out features and uses for different aircraft.  One of the most important parts of the afternoon was hearing an explanation of the benefits and uses of corporate aviation.  This is something that many of the kids had never heard.  They have only heard the mainstream media’s criticism of general aviation.  I saw the lights go on for several students as they considered how aviation can save time and money and actually serve its customers. 

CFM’s staff took a lot of time with us on this tour which lasted more than two hours.  The kids talked all the way home about how this was the best tour we had received.  

One student wrote me the next day saying, “I really liked learning about the different aircraft and their different features.  I enjoyed seeing how flights are arranged and what the airplanes look like when taken apart. I liked the nice people who gave us the tours. It was fun getting on the jets and getting to go into the cockpit. When I learn to fly I would like to learn here. Thanks for the tour.” 

Notice the “When I learn to fly…” statement.  

The power of visits like ours to CFM Smyrna may not appear today or tomorrow.  But I am convinced they will be remembered.  Who knows what seeds may have been planted?  

No, you’re never too old or too young to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.  

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09/22/10

Tim’s concert in Sydney was a smash hit with an overflow crowd.  After that incredible experience, he was able to make another flight around the beautiful Australian countryside.  With expert help from Regal Air and Peter Edwards, we planned a journey West via the Blue Mountains where there was some fantastic flying and scenery along the canyons.  We weren’t more than 20 minutes away from Sydney, but there was effectively no population at all.

Turning back to the east, we climbed up over the hills and made straight for the coastline in the hopes of catching a glimpse of whales again and to set up our arrival for the Harbor Scenic One flight around Sydney Harbor.  As we flew along the coast at 500 feet, one of Tim’s daughters spotted a whale.  Although, this one did not stay surfaced as long as the ones up north had, it didn’t matter.  The most important thing to her was that she saw a whale and that made her trip. 

Crossing the controlled airspace boundary to the north, I radioed in to get what, in Australia, is known as an “Airways Clearance” to fly the Harbor Scenic One.  That is just a clearance much like what we get in the United States to fly into controlled airspace.  The Australian version has very specific visual check points and a strict altitude of 1500 feet.  We orbited twice over a check point before receiving our proper transponder code and clearance.   I  hope that the video I shot of the route turns out well – the flight was beautiful.  This tour took us directly into Sydney Harbor approaching the famed Opera House and Sydney Bridge.  We made two, 360 degree turns to the left before departing to the northwest.  Once clear of the airspace, we dropped back down for some more coastal flying.

We navigated visually to the Brooklyn Bridge (they have one here too), which is the starting point for the visual arrivals into Bankstown.  We proceeded to Prospect Reservoir for the final check-in with the tower.

Tim had a 15 knot cross-wind on final and he greased the landing.  After a few photo ops, we were back in the car and headed back to the hotel with some happy passengers, as well as two happy pilots who are still amazed to be flying in Oz.

Cheers!

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