Fly-away to Port Fairy 02/2025

Destination: Port Fairy [YPFA]

Distance: 110nm direct

Date:01/02/2025

Aircraft: 4

Crew: 6

Bacchus Marsh Aero Club members and friends took a relatively short trip down to Port Fairy for a bit of relief from the summer heat. The day started with four planes leaving just a little after 8am, departing direct from YBSS and keeping below the wide area cloud base of 2000ft.


The journey direct to YPFA is one of flat country and many many wind farms that seem to be ever growing in size and number. They once provided good navigation assistance but may soon be too numerous to be distinct from one another. Cloud gave way quite quickly and a bit of extra altitude resulted in quality tailwind to move us along. 


Approaching YPFA, one could be forgiven thinking that the runway is remarkably (too) close to a large body of inland water, sandwiched between the beach. No wonder why it seems to be not in use for half the year due to moisture. All four planes seemed to land within a few minutes of each other, which is nice to see.


The planes tied down and we were off to town using the local cabbie who dropped us near the central shops. Straight in for a coffee/bakery sit-down was the best way to start. Now off down the street to wander/explore/saunter about the local area and take in some scenery and cool breezy weather. The local waterways and nearby lighthouse took the party of six on a one hour walking trip including some nature spotting and a further sit down for coffee/lunch. Port Fairy has some very nice old sandstone buildings and a pretty river walkway worth the visit. 


After getting back to the airstrip, the focus was on departing safely by carefully inspecting the strip and making plans to ensure a soft-field takeoff was conducted accurately for each pilot and plane. Being conservative and calling out the problems we might encounter, the conditions and aircraft performance turned out to be quite acceptable and there was no undue issue, except for climbing up to cruise altitude and finding that a very large covering of smoke haze had taken over the whole area. It was quite surprising and quickly seen that any continued climbing was  as good as going into IMC. So down to visual levels we went and 3000ft seemed to work initially. 

On return to YBSS, the heat of the day was immediately felt after touchdown. Port Fairy was sure “fair” on weather. 

Check out all the other pictures here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/y9NiyFvPqBsC1euE8