Lake Eyre Flights

Submitted: Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 18:33
ThreadID: 138221 Views:5445 Replies:10 FollowUps:6
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Hi all,
We are planning doing a flight from Marree or Williams Creek. Latest info on Forum is 2011!
Birdsville was the plan but out now.
Has anybody got recent info / experience with flights?
Any help appreciated.
Steve
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Reply By: Zippo - Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 18:50

Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 18:50
Did one a couple of years back.Wrightsair is the outfit you want. Trevor Wright runs a pretty good operation.

Well worth it, even in dryer seasons, so with the added water currently it should be even better.
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Reply By: mechpete - Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 19:16

Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 19:16
Flew over it 2 wks ago the reports of the water in
It are very very exagerated . It has even got full coverage of the base area yet
Cheers mechpete
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Reply By: rocco2010 - Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 19:45

Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 19:45
Worth doing even when lake is dry in my view.
Did it from Marree a few years ago and only flew over south lake.
William creek closer to the main lake which will have the water this year.
Enjoy it.
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Reply By: Peter_n_Margaret - Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 20:06

Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 20:06
Wrights Air at William Creek is the go...
We flew in a private self launching glider in 2009.
Spectacular.



Cheers,
Peter
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Reply By: RMD - Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 23:25

Friday, Apr 26, 2019 at 23:25
Steve
Best to check which aircraft you are going up in. Not recent, but I and a few others flew with Wrightair and we all thought the planes on the ground looked/were ok. BUT, when it came time to fly we were loaded into an old, what can only be describes as a "dunger of a plane", a very old Cessna which flew in. The engine exhaust noise inside made everyone sick and no communication between passengers could be had although wearing headsets. The doors had hinges, totally stuffed, but the catches were very loose and the left door didn't close properly at all. I got photos of the desert through the gap large between door and airframe. Door was bent in the past, I could put half my hand outside while flying. Didn't feel safe but engine kept running.
The young lady piloting did a great job and we saw an amazing amount of the lake and surrounds. Worth the flight. There was 13 other aircraft flying around the lake at the same time so many checks for safety/height and direction reasons.
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Reply By: Motherhen - Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 21:28

Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 21:28
Reports are that water from cyclone Trevor should reach the lake in about six weeks time. Expected to get more water in that any time since 1974. I wonder how long it will remain in the lake for? I really would love to take a flight over. Wrightsair advertise two; $295 pp for a one hour flight over the lake, and $470 for a two hour flight including the inlet channels.
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Follow Up By: Peter_n_Margaret - Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 22:07

Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 22:07
We flew over Lake Eyre in 1974 in an F28 Fokker Friendship on the way to Alice Springs (and then drove back to Adelaide in a VW Kombi camper with 4 adults and 2 kids on board, but that is another story).
There was absolutely no doubt that it was FULL.

Cheers,
Peter
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 22:10

Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 22:10
How long does the water stay at a significant level Peter?
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Follow Up By: Peter_n_Margaret - Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 22:26

Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 22:26
No idea really MH, but in 1974 I reckon it was months not weeks.
Some of the rivers on the W side flow in either direction depending on where the rain falls, others might do the same, so that might be interesting too...

Not sure where this pic shows (it was south of the previous pic) but there were very large areas of water outside the normal lake boundaries. The main lake seemed to be clearer water.

Cheers,
Peter
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Follow Up By: Peter_n_Margaret - Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 22:32

Sunday, Apr 28, 2019 at 22:32
When you can't see the other side from an F28, you realise just how big it is.

Cheers,
Peter
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Follow Up By: Ron N - Monday, Apr 29, 2019 at 00:15

Monday, Apr 29, 2019 at 00:15
I can remember Winter 1974 in the S.E. Wheatbelt of W.A. as a Winter of constantly flooding rains.
We had a dry Autumn, and I can remember building our 60' x 40' workshop in the approximately first 3 weeks of June 1974 - and every day of those 3 weeks was sunny and fine, giving us superb working weather.

We finished the workshop on the 19th of June - and on the 20th June it started to rain - and it virtually never stopped raining, until the end of September that year!!

The S.E. Wheatbelt crops in the regions between Narembeen, Kondinin, Hyden, Lake King, Lake Grace, Dumbleyung and Wagin, went under water for kilometre after kilometre, until they looked like rice paddies.

I can recall driving along the Karlgarin Hill North Road, about mid-August 1974, from the Kondinin-Hyden Road to Whyte Road (a distance of about 15kms) - and the floodwaters rarely got below halfway up the doors of my HQ Holden ute, for that entire 15kms.

Huge sections of the S.E. W.A. Wheatbelt were in similar condition. Major hwys throughout the region were closed for weeks, as the floodwater flow took ages to subside.
Crops were an absolute wipeout in the S.E. that year, quite a number of wheat receival points never even opened through the area.

Funnily enough, that disastrous 1974 W.A. Wheatbelt flood followed on the heels of the even more disastrous Jan 1974 floods in Brisbane.

I seem to recall the flood that filled Lake Eyre in 1974, came from the same weather system that flooded Brisbane?

Cheers, Ron.
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Follow Up By: Motherhen - Monday, Apr 29, 2019 at 00:21

Monday, Apr 29, 2019 at 00:21
Interesting Ron, I thought back to 1974. We were living in Lake Grace at the time but I do not remember flooding. I think we moved to the very dry Merredin in 1975.
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Reply By: Teraa - Monday, Apr 29, 2019 at 20:00

Monday, Apr 29, 2019 at 20:00
You’ll be fine with Wright’s air, new planes I heard.
Can you go wrong - no
It’s one of those iconic awe inspiring places and I don’t think there is a bad day to see it wet or dry.
Here’s yesterday Sat. Image of the Lake
Also check the sat images showing Goyders Lagoon a couple of days apart, something running in there from two inlets the Diamantina and the Eyre. These creeks run like the rain falls. And without on ground rain it simply won’t last. But you never know about that rain....[gi]165616[/[gi]
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Reply By: Candace S. - Thursday, May 02, 2019 at 11:23

Thursday, May 02, 2019 at 11:23
BOM: "We think around three-quarters full might be where the lake ends up in June.

"Then given the large amount of water accumulated in Lake Eyre, we think it will still be around right through winter and well into spring."

23 April ABC article
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Reply By: Member - Phantom0 - Thursday, May 02, 2019 at 14:48

Thursday, May 02, 2019 at 14:48
Thanks to all who have responded.
We have now booked our flight for Sunday with Wrightair from William Creek.
Steve
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Reply By: Nomadic Navara - Thursday, May 02, 2019 at 17:17

Thursday, May 02, 2019 at 17:17
Keep an eye on the Lake Eyre Yacht club's - Lake Status



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