'OZ at last!'

'OZ at last!'

Mike Mahon remembers arriving in Australia and his first impressions of the country.

Mike Mahon

Trinity College Dublin

1969

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Mike Mahon

Work and Employment

Life Story

Australia

1960s

Got a quick 30 min turn around and headed straight for Darwin. OZ at last! But our troubles were not over. As we got in range ATC informed that there were heavy thunderstorms in his area and the airfield had had a lighting strike and they were now operating on standby power. We landed in torrential rain, so heavy that we had to delay running in to clear customs. We were greeted in Irish, 'Failte roimhe isteach', the customs guy was from Dublin! Again , after paper formalities complete in record time airborne for Alice Springs jus t ahead of Air Race 46. I took six hours to get to Alice, the distances in Australia amazed me. On the return trip we spent a few days there and got to meet some of the local pilots. They had developed a unique form of navigation, the topographical maps of the Australian outback were almost featureless so these guys converted them to what they called 'mud maps'. This was explained to me; as they flew over desolate landscape the colours on the earth's surface changed and the pilots colored in the various shapes they observed on the ground in colored crayons on their maps. Onward to Leigh Creek and the quickest turn around ever, keep just ahead of the Aussies, and finally airborne for the last leg into Para field (Adelaide). We managed to get clearance through a RAAF restricted area and landed at 1650Z, giving us a total elapsed time of 107. 04 hrs. ( or 4 days 11hrs 04 mins. ) and airline pilots complain about excessive duty hours! As I emerged from the cramped cockpit I was greeted by a Belfast women brandishing a beautiful bottle of Guinness. 'Sure ye must be parched dear' she observed, as I lowered the best pint I had ever tasted. Great reception from the Aero Club, few beers and finally exhausted to bed in Travelodge for 12/14 hours of sleep

Irish Research Council for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (IRCHSS)

Dr Kathleen McTiernan (Trinity College Dublin)

Dr Deirdre O'Donnell (Trinity College Dublin)