Australia is a BIG place – at 3 million square miles, it is roughly the same size at the continental USA. Comparing it with Europe, a flight from where I live in south east Australia to Perth is about the same as flying from London to Istanbul.

The Mooney has a higher cruise speed that most small GA aircraft (~290 vs 200 km/hr) so it is ideally suited to the long distances involved in a typical trip. Even so, a trip from Melbourne to Perth will take about 10 hours flying time.

In inland Australia the route taken will often depend on what locations supply avgas. With a capacity of 250 liters and a consumption of about 40 liters per hour, the Mooney also has a better fuel endurance that most GA aircraft. Trips to most parts of Australia can be done with one or two fuel stops.

In the time that I’ve owned it VH-VDH has been to most parts of Australia at least once as well as a trip to New Zealand via Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.