Dr Kerry Delaney - Pilot

Rory Delaney - Pilot Helper

ABOUT KERRY DELANEY

A retired medical specialist now living in Tarago on a sheep farm just outside Canberra, pilot, Kerry, has seen a lot of people facing serious health conditions. Being an Angel Flight pilot is a perfect match for Kerry, as during his long professional life as a naval doctor and in public hospital practice, he was closely involved in organising air transport for seriously ill patients.

"When I saw the advertisement on television for Angel Flight, it appealed to my interest in flying and because of my medical background I saw it instantly as being really worthwhile getting involved with," he said.

"My first Angel Flight mission went extremely smoothly and I felt good being able to bring all of my background together to do something for someone else."

ABOUT RORY DELANEY

A professional Air Traffic Controller at Sydney Airport, Rory heard about Angel Flight whilst hearing planes on Angel Flight missions using the words "Angel Flight" before their normal call sign, which has been approved by Airservices Australia. This aroused his interest and after learning about the service being provided for sick people living in remote and rural areas, he quickly registered as an "Earth Angel".

"I have been a volunteer with Ronald McDonald House where my mother was a Manager and saw a lot of sick children from the country and grew to understand the hardships they were facing," he said.

"It’s an easy thing for me to fit Earth Angel duties into my schedule and I like being able to help make life a little easier, especially for children who are naturally very emotionally charged when they arrive in Sydney on their way to the hospital."

Angel Flight report by Kerry Delaney

"The country remains in the grip of a drought. My neighbours, on the NSW southern tablelands are toiling under the stresses of the drought. I am hand feeding my sheep in paddocks that are brown and bare. Next month we will probably shear more dust than wool from the sheep.

So why is it that whenever I plan a flight the weather instantly and only then turns rotten and rains?

This is Murphy’s Law, I think. It is certainly not the luck of the Irish, but that comes later.

I had been assigned this mission, M92 five weeks before the date of the flight. Meanwhile, I was also assigned M99 which I undertook on the 27 April in the BE36 Bonanza FIM that I was planning to use for M92. These were my first missions.

From my base at Canberra the trip Mallacoota to Bankstown for M99 should have been straightforward. The purpose of the mission was to avoid the burden of a 17 hour bus trip to Sydney for young sightless Zachary and his parents. But the east Gippsland weather that morning was off Bass Straight, with marginal and TEMPO below minima conditions forecast until the afternoon. I welcomed the offer for the passengers to drive to Merimbula for pick-up, where the weather was considerably better although a GPS Non Precision Approach (NPA) was my choice for arrival. This poor weather persisted, with both the sectors Merimbula to Bankstown, then back to Canberra, being Instrument Conditions (IMC).

I then returned home to the drought and hand feeding.

This mission, M92, was Broken Hill to Bankstown with patient Rachel a 15 year old with the rare bone disease ‘brittle bones’. This condition greatly stresses the muscles and joints causing pain and discomfort, so that lengthy car or train trips are very uncomfortable; impact sports and similar activities of little consequence to us can fracture her brittle bones.

Rachel was to be accompanied by her mum Linda. My son Rory, otherwise an Air Traffic Controller in Sydney and an Angel Flight Earth Angel was to be the pilot helper for this flight.

After some cliff-hanging repairs to the Bonanza’s fuel pump during the 2 days prior to our departure, and a flat battery, we left Canberra on the morning of May 8 and had an enjoyable fair weather flight to Broken Hill. Here we saw a little of the town, spending a very comfortable night in the hospitality of the Royal Exchange Hotel.

The following morning we awoke to another sunny day, knowing however that the whole of the east NSW coast was under the influence of a strong south-easterly stream. The forecast had several cloud layers, down to broken at 2800. The Bankstown terminal area forecast also held a four hour period of INTER with 5000 feet visibility, rain, and broken cloud at 1500, and needless to say our ETA Bankstown was the start of this period!

Why can’t I have fair weather for my flights and rain for my pastures?

Nonetheless we met with Rachel and Linda, and Dad, sister Erica and her partner at the airport at 0830 local, presented the Angel Flight bears to Rachel and her sister Erica, took our happy snaps, and departed with reduced fuel in deference to our all-up-weight

After 2.6 hours of smooth sunny flying, with Linda providing some local knowledge commentary on the scenery and Rory exercising all the capabilities of my GPS (my piloting performance was coming under some uncommon professional scrutiny!) we ran down the GPS NPA at Parkes to refuel, and to check again the Bankstown weather. Our plan was to fly the Watle Four Bankstown arrival, with the option of the GPS NPA if necessary. If unsuccessful we were to divert to Canberra, then fine and CAVOK, and drive Rachel and Linda to Sydney with Rory on his return. We had ample time to adequately brief Linda on these options as the Parkes terminal and café were regrettably closed.

We entered cloud soon after departing Parkes, and soon the outside temperature forced a descent to 7000. The further we went the bumpier it became, and I thought again about Rachel’s bones. But we were soon on the Watle arrival, with Rory’s colleagues in the Sydney area control assisting our descent through rain showers and cloud until we became visual near 2RN approaching our lowest-safe altitude. Then all we had to contend with was the 18 knot cross wind, but an uncomplicated landing was achieved 1.2 hours out of Parkes. Our ancestry had prevailed, the luck of the Irish obtained.

Rory and I bid farewell to Rachel and Linda at the Bankstown terminal when their friend arrived with transport. Both said the trip was a new experience for them and even enjoyable despite the weather. Both were comfortable during the trip. Rachel was a little pasty on the ground but in happy spirits and she quickly regained her colour. We wish Rachel all the best in her grappling with her condition, which she is clearly bravely and maturely undertaking at present. I would be happy to see her again on another Angel Flight.

Rory and I soon departed Bankstown in similar cloud and showery conditions which persisted nearly all the way to Canberra. The fuel pump did not malfunction at any stage (the fuel flow had been causing an over-rich mixture at idle throttle threatening engine cut-out….), and I thought back to the two ‘good luck’ if irregular radio calls I received from knowing associates on departing Canberra the day before!

Both these Angel Flights have been very rewarding in terms of the alleviation of long and distressing travel for the patient and parents. It seems that this benefit was real given the appreciation all expressed to the Angel Flight organisation. As well as giving this sense of fulfilment for Rory and myself, both trips presented operational challenges to the recreational pilot and in that sense also were very stimulating and enjoyable.

Rory is now back at his Air Traffic Control post in the Sydney Terminal area, I hope with a new appreciation of the workload for a single pilot in IMC and running NPAs, and I hope encouraging his colleagues to be kind in these circumstances to Angel Flight pilots (as indeed they demonstrably were on M92).

I am now back on the farm waiting for Angel Flight to advertise a mission in my immediate area, this being the only way I can see the drought breaking here."