Come and try microlight flying, one of the greatest adventure experiences you will ever have. Microlight flying, is one of the fastest growing recreational sport in the world. It is also very safe, hugely exciting and incredibly spectacular. We are on the coastline amidst beautiful countryside in quiet, uncluttered airspace within a few minutes' flying time of famous Byron Bay and Mount Warning.

We offer a menu of introductory air experience flights and also provides full microlight pilot training courses. For anyone wishing to go further it will be the first step into general or commercial aviation career. For our trial flights and flying training refer to pages on this website or call Richard 0407 281 687

Come and see for yourself!

I was moderately sceptical when Airborne asked me to train Sam Payne to fly a microlight in just a few days. The resident of Arnhem Land in NT bought himself a new XT-912 Outback and wanted to fly it back home!?
Well, a trip not many undertake, a great experience and… it jogged my memory of my first flight from Tumut to the Simpson Desert right after completing the X-Country endorsement.

Sam completed his training converting from flying fixed wing aircrafts to the weightshift microlight type in a very short time. The minimum requirements by RAA Ops Manual were sufficient and the very intense few days of flying gave me the opportunity to check his readiness to fly a microlight safely and  pass on all my practical experience flying a  trike on long distances in outback Australia.

Sam was exposed to aviation when he was 14 flying ultralights with his father and later completed formal training on 3x aeroplanes. His additional experience flying a Cesna 172 , his GA training as well as his recent hang gliding training show versatility in his pilot skills. (RT)

Monday, 19 July 2010

Well I wasn't planning on leaving today but I was forced to due to weather. If I didn't get inland today I could have been stuck in Newcastle for the next three days!

I didn't get all the stuff I needed but you gotta do what you gotta do. I made it to Narrabri today,
app 175 NM along the way of a 2300 NM trip. Flying out of Newcastle was a little tricky because I had a lot of rain and cloud to dodge. Had to fly through some light rain on the way but all is good. So after having a light coating of water I had to climb to 5500 feet to clear the range. Not to bad I thought until it got a little chilly when it dropped to 4 degrees. Not too cold but after about 10 minutes I was frozen! After I cleared the range I very quickly descended to about 1,800 feet (about 500 feet above ground level) this is as low as you can legally fly. This was much more comfortable as it was a nice balmy 12 degrees.

I enjoyed flying along over paddocks of what I think was wheat, plenty of landing options so it was safe flying. I made it to Narrabri with about 15 minutes till sunset (carefully calculated). Shortly after I landed they turned the lights on. All safe on the ground I tied the trike down and headed into town to try to find some accommodation, not an easy task! Turns out all those huge holes I saw dug in the ground were coal mines so the mining companies basically book out all the motel in town. I managed to find a motel with one room left, a deluxe room with a spa, I didn't really care as I had a nerve racking day. Expensive at $160 a night but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

I'm really happy with the trike and fuel economy, its averaging 11 litres an hour for around 60 knots (app 110 km/h) ... not bad. I may trim it a little faster later on when I have more experience.

Anyway my spa bath is full, I'm going to relax and settle the nerves! Off to Roma in the morning then hopefully make it to Emerald or Moranbah if the winds are kind! No photos today as I was busy dodging weather, polishing my trike flying skills and trying to defrost.

To read more about Sam’s trip back home click here.

Byron Air Experience Flight - new option for you

This is a compact and inexpensive ($100 only) flight for those who just want to find out what microlighting is about. Being airborne in a two-seater microlight is probably the nearest thing to what the essence of flying might be.

You are not "hovering" 100 metres back and forward over the same dune. You're comfortably seated, exposed to the elements where the view from the cockpit is unbelievable.
A profound sense of being in another world is, quite simply, life-changing.  See Flights for details.