I normally do “missing” airfields as a pack, and I will eventually get around to do one for New South Wales, but this particular place has some personal history that I want to share. So, stay a while, and listen…
Back in the days, when GPS navigation was still just a figment of aviation mythology, I was getting my commercial wings with an outfit that, owing to their military background was, let’s say, a little “unconventional”. Nothing totally radical, they just didn’t follow the prescribed CAA syllabus to the letter. I might also add that I was one of the first (if not the first) trainees to undergo that course…
It was towards the end of my training and I was only missing some dual time before being able to go for my test, so when I arrived at the airfield that afternoon, my mind was mostly on getting it all over and done with. The Chief (Flying Instructor) greeted me with his usual joviality and said “we’ll do something a little different today” … as if! He exchanged knowing grins with my usual instructor…
He rolled out a Sydney WAC and made a pencil mark next to a location named “Gospers Mtn 2786“. “There’s an old airstrip up there. Your task today is to find it and assess its suitability for landing. Here’s the catch: you’re to fly not above 500 feet agl.” Dismissed (he didn’t add)…
Off I went to the briefing office (they had such things back then) to get the weather and file my plan. Since flying below 500’ agl for anything other than the purpose of landing and taking off isn’t actually permitted I entered B050 (below 5000). I also confirmed, it being a Sunday, that the military airspace around RAAF Richmond was in fact inactive. As far as the weather was concerned, I could already see that on my drive to the airport: Overcast (at 3000 as it turned out), but dry.
We departed YSBK as usual, flying up the light aircraft lane at 2000’ to get out from under the YSSY control zone. Approaching Patonga and seeing the familiar bridges at Brooklyn off our left, my instructor gave me the nod, and I turned to follow the Hawkesbury River upstream, and descended to “about” 500’.
Now, if you’ve ever looked at a World Aeronautical Chart (WAC) you’ll know that, being 1:1,000,000 scale, they’re actually not that great for down-in-the-weeds navigation. But at least I was able to use the 1:250,000 Sydney Visual Terminal Chart (VTC) until I got closer to my destination. The landscape north-west of the Sydney Basin can without difficulty be described as “Tiger Country”. Large tracts of densely forested national parks that straddle the Great Dividing Range, criss-crossed by steep and narrow gorges.
The old Bonanza was eating up the miles quickly enough, and after turning north-west to follow the Colo River’s general direction, Gospers Mountain was quite easily identified, as its tops had been cleared for grazing and were never fully reforested. Not much further on, the actual airstrip came into view … a white gash in the otherwise unbroken forest. Not much of a navigational challenge after all…
I set up for an initial slow pass along the field at around 200’. There was an apparent up-slope towards the north-east, and with the prevailing NE winds, the landing direction was also obvious. As to the strip itself: there was a bit of low scrub evident, and maybe some washouts, but overall inconclusive. I went around for a second pass, now in landing configuration. On short finals it became quite evident that the growth was probably a bit higher than initially assessed. I don’t think our intentions were to land anyway, not in a Bonanza anyway, so to emphasise the point, my instructor told me to go around. I firewalled the throttle and started to clean her up, buzzing the strip at about 100’ agl.
I was obviously concentrating on flying the aircraft and staying out of the trees, but as we approached the upwind end, I noticed several brightly coloured shapes quickly moving across the strip. My instructor had noticed them as well and starting laughing, and then yelled “Run, run you b…..!” We apparently had startled a group of bushwalkers into believing we were about to land!
Now while we had been having fun, a lone C130 was about to arrive home, and with typical military overkill they activated their entire airspace surrounding RAAF Richmond, barring our direct route back into the Sydney Basin. Looking towards the coast (where the weather was coming from) it was also evident that this was no longer even a marginal-VMC option. Out west looked more promising (the Great Dividing Range often blocks the coastal weather) so that’s where we went, hoping to slip back east over somewhat lower terrain in the Blue Mountains south of Katoomba.
Passing Lithgow and approaching the Blue Mountains from the west, it became apparent that this route was no longer an option either. Now, unlike most young commercial pilots at the time, I had actually earned my command instrument rating (ME) before starting my commercial training. Why? Dunno, just felt like it at the time. Anyway, given the option of overnighting at somewhere like Bathurst, we briefly discussed this with my instructor and decided to go ahead. But he also pointed out that this was entirely my ship now, since after having left the RAAF only recently he had not yet obtained a valid civilian instrument rating. (Having said that, I’m sure that with several thousand C130 hours under his belt, he would have taken over if necessary!)
So, I contacted Flight Service to request an IFR clearance into Bankstown, which was soon granted. From the Bindook VOR onward we were basically IMC, and given 34 was the active runway at YSSY we were given clearance via the 07 ILS, a segment I had flown several times during my instrument training the year before. We eventually broke out of the overcast at around 1000’, just abeam Bankstown airport, and were given clearance to visually proceed to YSBK, which by that time was already closed to VFR traffic.
My instructor’s comment during the debrief: I probably ought to have turned back before even reaching Gospers, because technically we were no longer VMC, but he praised my overall decision making and, given my instrument rating, the conclusion of my flight in IFR.
So, what’s the lesson out of all this? I could mention low flying, or operations into marginal VMC etc, but I won’t. Instead, the main lesson is that you ought not hike up old airstrips, no matter how disused they look, because you never know… (just kidding … all of the above)
A week or so later, I’m happy to report, I passed my commercial test ride. My “Examiner of Airmen” was also ex-military, RAN to be specific, and he insisted on a trip to HMAS Albatross (the naval air station at YSNW Nowra). He also pulled the mixture on me while near our waypoint at YCRL Crookwell on the return segment and made me carry the forced landing all the way to the ground. But that’s another story…
As far as “missing” airfields are concerned, it’s understandable that it’s not available in the default sim. The strip is defunct in real life, only good for a once-off forced landing! It took a bit of chainsaw work to recreate this one for you. It’s only simple a scenery, but it allowed me to do a bit of reminiscing…
Oh, by the way, if you find any old Caribou sitting around up there, let the Air Force know, will ya!
A bit of history: Gospers Airstrip was built by the Australian Army over a few weeks in 1963 for Exercise Sky High 1 and was subsequently also used by the RAAF for DHC-4 Caribou training flights from nearby RAAF Richmond. The place is surrounded by National Parks, but the strip itself is actually on freehold land. The vehicle tracks (also built by the Army) are however closed, so the only way to see Gospers Airstrip in real life, is to hike there.
And a sobering afterword: in October 2019 a lightning strike ignited a forest fire near Gospers Airstrip that, by the end of December, had burned more than 500,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres), or 80% of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. It wasn’t fully extinguished until February, during a torrential rainfall event. It’s the largest ever forest fire recorded in Australia, to date…
DHC-4 model courtesy of 3DWarehouse/William Thompson
What a story! I will try to do that in my Bonanza at 500 ft. Since I am not accustomed to that area, I will have to plan it on some other map first. By any chance, can you please share your flight plan for that day in a .pln file? Or is that too much to ask for?
Looking forward to more packs from you. A suggestion: please mark your airstrips with stars or exclamation marks or any symbol of your choice, so they are easy to find in MSFS World Map.
And thank you, for your stories and your work, and your service, sir.
1 years ago
Thank you. I'm away from my Flightsim computer for a few weeks. I'll add a .pln when I can.
1 years ago
gunther
ZILL
Gunther mate I thouroughly enjoyed reading that story. I'm sure you have thousands just like it mate, good stuff.
2 years ago
JBeamMachine
Thanks for a great effort. I flew in and out safely in the Twotter and found it to be very challenging but also great fun. I am not a real world pilot but to be able to go to places like this in the sim allows me to experience places that I would never get to go to in the real world. Thanks again...The work you do is much appreciated.
2 years ago
Staggerwing
What an excellent story - you're very good at it. Hopefully you've got a few more...
Times in Aus have certainly changed, even 25 years ago when I did mine things were a lot tighter.
Always keen for a trip to a sloped strip - time to check it out!
2 years ago
Parorng
Really amazing and interesting story behind the airstrip! Pleasure to read it and enjoy all your beautiful addons for MSFS
2 years ago
iceaxe
Great backstory Gunther! Love a ripper yarn to get me in the mood to scud run to a bush strip.
Brings back memories of my CPL training in Tasmania! Coincidentally, many of which are only present in sim because of your hard work. Many thanks for your effort!
2 years ago
Dusty744
Amazing work!
2 years ago
sarahymac