February 2013 - Royal Aero Club of Western Australia

6
A Scenic Flight over Sydney Harbour
help thinking what a perfect day it was for a flight over
Sydney Harbour. It was 11am on the 31st of December
2012, not a cloud in the sky, mild conditions and I was finally
doing what had been on my “bucket list” for some time – a
flight over the harbour with the promise of spectacular views
of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House and surrounding
areas. A work colleague was joining me as passenger and official
photographer! Following is an account of the main elements of
the flight from a pilot’s perspective.
Being relatively unfamiliar with Sydney airspace, planning for
the flight commenced a week or so before the actual flight.
As can be found in the ERSA, a Sydney Harbour Scenic flight
commences at Long Reef which is north of the Sydney Heads
and Manly Beach. (See figure 1 below). ATC will at their
discretion, provide clearance for either a Harbour Scenic 1 or 2.
Route 1 takes you straight
to Sydney Harbour Bridge
where you can conduct
two left hand orbits before
tracking for North Head
and Manly Beach, while
Route 2 takes you west
to the Chatswood CBD
for two left hand orbits
and then direct to Manly
Beach. All routes are flown
at 1,500' and the orbits
have to be conducted
within a prescribed area
as outlined in the ERSA or
as directed by ATC.
Extract from CASA's Sydney Basic Visual Pilot Guide
Flying Fun As I departed Bankstown in VH-KKB (C152), I couldn’t
As a clearance isn’t issued until you are in the air, it is important
to be familiar with both routes and be prepared for one or the
other.
Another issue to deal with is how to get to and from Long Reef.
As I was flying from Bankstown, the most direct route is to fly
north to Parramatta following the lane to Hornsby and then
east to Baha’i Temple near the coast. Figure 2 below shows the
planned route.
Sydney VTC extract - Bankstown to Long Reef
After submitting a flight plan to NAIPS (at the Schofields Flying
Club), we settled into KKB and requested a taxi clearance from
Bankstown Ground (119.9) calling “unfamiliar”. The ground
controller was very helpful and provided guidance to the runup
bay and holding point.
We departed on 29R which necessitated a crosswind (right
February 2013 Tarmac Topics
turn) departure to the north to an altitude of 1,000 feet. Unlike
Jandakot where departures are always 1,000 feet and arrivals
are 1,500 feet, at Bankstown departure and arrivals altitudes
are different depending on the runway in use. For runway 29,
departures are 1,000 feet and arrivals are 1,500 feet, but for
runway 11 departures are made at 1,500 feet and arrivals are at
1,000 feet. (Check the ERSA for details).
Once outside of the Bankstown control area, I climbed to 1,500
feet and set course for Parramatta and the lane. It is essential
that you familiarise yourself with the visual references such as
Parramatta CBD, Rosehill race course, Pennant Hills and Hornsby
including the Hornsby hospital as it is easy to inadvertently fly into
controlled airspace. West of the lane is the Richmond (military)
control area and above is Sydney control area at 2000 feet and as
low as 700 feet to the north east. As you can see from Figure 2,
there is little margin for error when tracking in the lanes.
I had the benefit of going up with an instructor from Schofields
earlier in 2012 who showed me the visual references and I would
highly recommend
doing this if it is your
first time into and out
of Bankstown. Good
sources of information
are CASA’s Sydney
Basin Pilot Guide and
CASA’s On Track which
has pictures and videos
showing you what to
expect.
Baha'i Temple
At Hornsby I turned east and headed for the
coast and Baha’i Temple which is a good visual reference - see
picture. When tracking to and from the coast, it is important to
stay well clear (north) of the 700 feet and 1,000 feet steps of the
Sydney control area. A track from Hornsby direct to Baha’i Temple
will ensure this.
Once established on track to Baha’i Temple, I requested a clearance
from Sydney Centre (125.8) and was assigned a transponder code
(0553). As we approach Baha’i Temple, I was handed off to Sydney
Approach (126.1) for a final clearance. To our delight we got a
Harbour Scenic 1 clearance which provides the best views of the
harbour. I then tracked from Long Reef to Sydney Harbour Bridge
where I conducted two left hand orbits.
To say the scenery is spectacular is an understatement and I wish
we could have done a few more orbits. We had a terrific view of
the entire harbour and CBD and confirmed what I already knew
that Sydney is truly one of the world’s most beautiful cities. The
“official photographer’s” memory card was quickly filling up!
As it was New Year’s Eve, preparations and anticipation for the
fireworks were well and truly underway and there were quite a
few helicopters (mainly television crews I think) flying below us.
The return to
Bankstown was
uneventful and
essentially a
reversal of the
outbound course.
The only difference
being an intercept
of the entry lane
at Round Corner to
track to Prospect
Sydney Harbour