Sorrel gets ready for a flight in Broome.
Broome Trike Flight.
What a magnificent view.
Take an adventurous trike flight over the Broome Peninsula, cut the engine and glide down to the beach!
Charles Batham and Stuart Howe own Broome Trike Flights and offer introductory flights over the Broome Peninsula for half an hour or longer, with student passengers participating in the flight.
Charles is a true adventurer. Born in Britain, he bought a red London double-decker bus, shipped it to Australia and drove across the Nullarbor Plain from NSW to Western Australia, pulling the trike behind him. The bus has been completely fitted out and is now Charles' home.
He holds a CASA-approved microlight licence, and as he now takes trainee pilots up, he had a further 200 hours of training to become an instructor. Initially he was petrified of flying, but has overcome this fear and gets a buzz every time he goes up. He sits at the front and the student at the back, with the propeller behind the student.
The purists' name for the aircraft is a microlight weightshift aircraft, but it got the name "Trike" because it looks like a trike with its three wheels. Despite being designed and built in Australia, its popularity here is lagging behind the interest from overseas buyers: 90 percent of the Gloucester factory output is exported.
The aircraft weighs 198kg and has a wingspan of 13 metres. It is extremely easy to transport as the wings fold up like a hang-glider. It flies at about 450 metres but altitude is weather-dependent. Conversely, it can fly quite close to the ground. The aircraft is very safe, and if the engine should stall, it can land by gliding.
When two trikes are being flown, they must stay at least 30 metres apart, but they can stay in radio contact.
The flights go over the town of Broome and head out to Gantheaume Point where dinosaur footprints have been found. Flying above Cable Beach is particularly beautiful and once you are in a remote area — weather permitting — the engine can be cut and you can glide down onto the beach. Then, of course, you take off from the beach, climb to 300 metres and head back to the airport.
