I wish I could remember the pilot's name. She was only 30 when this footage was taken and she was astounding. Arrest your panic: I speak in the past tense only because the footage was taken a while ago. She could flat turn this Cessna most effortlessly, making it corner like it was on rails. This is no mean feat when the only resistance to it's incredible inertia is just thin air. The flat turn changes the planes direction (yaw) without it having to bank over. It was totally astonishing. I guess I need to explain what we were doing and why.
We were doing aerial bird surveys of the wetlands and floodplains associated with the Ord River. This took in RAMSAR wetlands (the highest conservation category wetlands), estuarine mudflats and the mightly Ord River itself.
The idea is that you fly really, really low over flocks of waterbirds and as they take to the wing you estimate their numbers. Quite a task! Two birdos (ornithologists), one either side of the plane and me up front on the GPS: the ultimate aerial rally navigator.
The footage you will see in the link was of us flying the lower Ord River from the mouth at West Arm Estuary (Wyndham) to Ivanhoe Crossing near Kununurra. Unfortunately you have to endure the first minute or so before you get to truly appreciate this girl's level of skill at the helm of this modest little aircraft. If you can hold out to the end you will get a clear picture of just how low we were flying when you see the wing (which sits atop the fuselage) below the tree-line. Top Gun
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