Thread: AviationTV
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Old 29th August 2014, 12:23 PM
Michael Cleary Michael Cleary is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Sydney and Taipei
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Having lived in PNG many years ago (early 1970's), I can vouch for it being a rather 'interesting' place for flying - and that's just as a passenger. The island of New Guinea is very mountainous - up to about 14000 feet - and it usually clouds in by the middle of the day, hence most of these flights are in the mornings.

With the exception of the "Highlands Highway" from Lae to Mount Hagen, roads (even the 4WD variety) don't go very far inland from the coast. Hence there are little airstrips wherever space can be found, along ridges, uphill etc - not for the fainthearted. Most of those villages depend on those flights for everything - air being the only way in apart from a long Kokoda Trail like hike. For most of the passengers, it's all they know.

VFR is the norm and those who get bold and decide to fly through cloud run the risk of meeting something solid within it. A very good place for a pilot to gain experience - or die if he/she makes a mistake.

There was an old saying in PNG - There are Old Pilots and Bold Pilots, but no Old Bold Pilots.
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