Air Safety

We won but Only Just

Our light twin had been chartered for an IFR flight from Melbourne to Canberra, departing late in the day.

The area forecast was for a strong westerly stream, with cumulus and strato-cu cloud between 4,000 and 9,000 feet. Drizzle was expected on the highlands, but with the exception of a little icing in the cloud tops, the weather seemed quite reasonable. Flight planning at 9,000 feet, I had no hesitation in selecting the direct route- Eildon Weir, Albury, then via the RNC route to Canberra.

It was almost 1800 hours and quite dark when we set course, but the sky was almost clear, with only isolated patches of stretch. As we headed north, however, the weather began to thicken. I had to alter course to avoid a towering cumulus on track and by the time we passed over Eildon, we were on top of about six eighths. A few minutes more and the cloud tops began reaching to our altitude.

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