Channelling Amelia and Amy
22 August 2026
This fabulously exciting experience was a long time in the planning but it was worth every moment of it.
As it turned out my trip was cut short so there was no question of the tiger moth flight.
I revisited the idea as I was planning this year's trip and my initial enquiry resulted in the response that it was possible that they would be running at the beginning of my trip.
And more correspondence closer to the time established that I needed to aim for a Friday or the weekend, so I was finally able to book for Saturday morning today!
The initial schedule time was 10:00 than a couple of days ago. I had phone calls saying could I make it Friday morning?. I'm afraid that was a definite no since I'd already worked out what to do in the meantime and that involved the night at the zoo. I did agree that I could probably get to Torquay 3:00 p.m. A subsequent message said that the Saturday morning time frames of 10:30 or 11:30 were now available. Would I prefer that? I definitely did prefer that.
This morning the pilot messaged to say there was possibly some rain coming through so 11:30 might be better than the 10:30 I had booked.
Longer to build excitement and anticipation!
The drive from my Airbnb in Anglesea a took about 30 minutes and on arrival I of course had to sign paperwork saying I understood that this aircraft has no safety standards as designated by Casa as it's classified as a military aircraft. It's not actually a tiger moth. It's the American equivalent and they were constructed in the 1930s and used for military training.
I was given a heavy leather flying jacket to keep me warm and given that the flying goggles were actually old ski goggles, I elected to keep on my sunglasses which the pilot had already told me it was sufficient. I did choose to wear my own gloves which are fur lined rather than those they may have provided.
Then it was into the aircraft. I was strapped in advised where my feet should be, warned about the joystick that would move around and the need to make room for it, given a flying helmet and then we were pretty well good to go.
It is definitely the smallest plane I have ever flown in and definitely the most open. It was a most exhilarating and exciting experience.
I think the last time I took off in a small plane on a grass strip would have been perhaps 40 years ago from Glendevie air strip in Harry Burgess' Cessna 172, I think it was.
Up in the air we flew over the rather extensive wetlands to then out over the coast and it was delightful flying at such a low altitude. Not only could I clearly see the beaches and the people walking on them but also the surf and where the surf was stirring at the sand, the shadow of reefs beyond the surf line, and of course the great extension of that coastline westwards. Cliffs beaches and rock platforms disappearing into the distance.
I had elected not to have the acrobatics option but the pilot did dip the wings and waggle them from time to time which was a rather good experience. My method of communicating with him was simply a thumbs up. I also had a signal for ease off please, but I certainly didn't need to use that.
I chose not try to take photos during my flight, the pilot had advised that the flight would be videoed and I could purchase the video on the SD card after the flight if I wished.
Back on the ground and in the office afterwards he showed me sections from the recorded video and I decided that yes I would purchase. If you wish to watch the section of my flight over the coastline, the youtube link is https://youtu.be/ttJSgZIW-QI
I was very much on a high as I left and thought about finding a cafe for lunch but with my menu challenges I thought I would just go for a wine tasting instead on the way back to Anglesea
So a glass of wine and potato crisps in two colours was a nice celebration.
I also stopped at the extensive chocolate place and purchase some freeze dried strawberries coated with chocolate. They're not actually as nice as I expected.
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