A team of central west pilots have raised more than $42,000 towards a million-dollar effort for the Royal Flying Doctor service.
Forbes' flying pharmacist Jack Buckley, Grenfell farmer John Johnson and Cowra farmer Brad Shephard completed the 13-day Outback Air Race from Uluru to Canarvon
Team 3GenPharmers spent spent 47 hours in the air, covering 9500km, to be part of the 3500km challenge.
One of the highlights for Shephard, also known as the Farmer From Down Under for his social media presence, was meeting a Royal Flying Doctor Service team at work in Port Hedland.
“We stopped in to get fuel, the RFDS was over there and they invited us in for coffee,” he said.
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Speaking with doctors and nurses about their work, the team posed for photos with the RFDS plane and were soon all back in the air – but it brought home the importance of the effort they’d been involved in.
The Outback Air Race takes to the skies every three years, challenging teams of pilots and their passengers to fly over some of Australia's most geographically challenging and stunning landscapes whilst raising critical funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The challenge started at Uluru, competitors visiting Alice Springs, Daly Waters, Tennant Creek and as they headed to the remote north west of the continent and the top end to the finish line in Canarvon, WA.
It’s not as much about speed as it is accuracy: teams needing to fly over a target and ranked on being closest to their nominated time for each leg of the race.
From those initial views flying out over Uluru and Kata Tjuta across the ever-changing landscapes, the views were amazing, Mr Shephard said.
Grenfell’s John Johnson described the challenge as “an absolutely wonderful experience”.
“We met a lot of great people and saw a lot of Australia from the air,” he said.
“The west coast of Australia is just beautiful – some of those blue waters, the white sands and then the red of the desert.”
The only disappointment a lot of smoke over the Kimberley, which he’d driven through and hoped to see from the air.
Team 3GenPharmers accounted well for themselves, Mr Johnson said – fifth in the fundraising and ninth in overall race standings.
“Of those eight, seven have done the race before … so overall I think we went pretty well,” he said.
They met a lot of good people and got to spend time in some great communities, he added, it’s hard to pick a highlight because the whole trip itself was an experience.
“Having 39 planes arrive at a location was quite incredible,” he said. “Some of the places we went to it was really great.”
Some communities waived landing fees for the fundraisers and even put on welcome receptions, drinks and food.
But the mood in the camp was most certainly at a high when – on the final day of racing – they received news that overall funding had reached $1 million, the highest for the challenge in its history.
All funds raised support the RFDS nationally to continue providing emergency aeromedical and primary health care services to people who live, work or travel in rural and remote Australia.
Stuart Payne, race manager, said every aircraft, crew and supporter was part of this year’s success.
“The Outback Air Race is about more than flying. It’s about connection, generosity, and keeping the spirit of the outback alive for the communities who need it most,” he said.
