SAFA Skysailor Magazine

16 SKY SAILOR November | December 2024 Making new friends, adventure, birds, fun, wildlife, sunsets, crocodiles, UFOs, outback, trees, pubs, exploring, and camping were the key experiences pilots remember from an expedition in Far North Queensland (FNQ). The flying was great too. Whilst on a driving tour to Karumba in 2023, James Banner (CFI for East Coast Paragliding) thought the skies looked fantastic for cross- country flying. He began planning for the FNQ Towing and Tag-along Safari, with the inaugural event held 17 to 27 August 2024. Five pilots and three support crew started at Charters Towers and finished at Karumba, with two other pilots joining us for the first two days. The ‘Croc Jumpers’ team arrived at Charters Towers airport to sunny weather and blue skies. Thermals were sparse till 3pm, when the longest flight was 38km, so the team decided to set up camp at Fletchers Creek and return to Charters Towers the following day. On the second day, one pilot got close to the first goal, and another landed at the camp to a welcome beer, made specially for the safari! A feature of the trip was the many birds that joined us while flying. Kites were abundant, with whistling kites (Haliastur sphenurus) in the east and more black kites (Milvus migrans) in the west. We quickly found they were quite useless as thermal markers because they were so curious they just followed us. On day two, one pilot was lucky enough to soar in a thermal with two pelicans. Wedgies were regular thermal companions, no attacks occurred as they seemed confused when they saw us. The worst encounter was one having a large bowel movement in front of Mark’s wing! FNQ Safari – Croc Jumpers have fun by Gavin Milne