December. We circumnavigated Efate, the main Island and did a few touch and gos at an old WWII airstip!! Then, after my flight Pip, the Chief Pilot, had a charter with a seat to spare so I headed out again with Pip to Tongoa Island!! AWESOME!!Its a pretty big gallery this time!!! And don't forget to read my diary entry about this fantastic experience
Click on all photos in this Gallery to enlarge 
Map of the route that I flew around Efate, the main Island in Vanuatu
Pip Schofield was the Chief Pilot of Air Club Vila at the time. She is now in Australia flying out of Emerald!!
Air Club Vila's 172N, YJ-RV14
Running through the checklist ready to take off
Cleared for Takeoff at Bauerfield International Airport
Rolling runway 29 at Bauerfiled International Airport
Overhead view of Port Vila. The Island in the middle is Iririki Island.
Overhead view of Hideaway Island where I spent the morning snorkelling before heading to Air Club Vila
View of the coastline of Efate. The colours were amazing
Overhead view of a crashed Corsair from World War II. Two of these crashed coming in for landing at Quoin Hill (seen in next photo). On a previous holiday we had visited this wreck by boat and those photos can be seen further down the page.
Quoin Hill Airfield, established in WWII and not really in use today, except by pilots like myself. We did two touch and gos here but first had to overfly the strip to make sure that the grass wasn't too long!!!
I strayed a bit on the first take-off but if you look closely you'll see that the strip meanders a bit!!! No excuses, and I did better for the second touch and go
Turning final at Bauerfield International Airport. We joined circuit behind an Islander and then a 737 joined circuit and had to wait for Cessna traffic - what a thrill!!
On the ground after the great hour around Efate. Thanks to Pip Schofield and the lovely 172 RV14!!
I took this flight as an In Charge Under Instruction flight so Susi's mum and Susi were passengers. Here's Jan supervising the tie down!!
Pip had a charter to Tongoa Island, located in the Shepherd Group of Islands, and with a seat to spare I got another great flight
Close up of Tongoa Island.
Pip's passenger was Robert 'Bob' the builder
Approaching Tongoa Island and on the look out for the airstrip
Landing strip at Tongoa, more grass!!
Lots of the local kids ran out to help Bob unload
Twin Otter at Bauerfield International Airport, Port Vila, Vanuatu. Photo Taken 2005. This photo is also featured on Jetphotos.net. Click here to see a full size version of this photo
Air Vanuatu 's ATR-42 at Tanna Airfield, Tanna Island, Vanuatu. Photo Taken 2005
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This museum is located near the village of Baofatu. When you visit you can see some relics from American occupation during WWII. A highlight is a guided boat trip (paddle) out to two wrecked FU-4 corsairs.
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The corsairs ran out of fuel coming in to land at Quoin Hill. The closest corsair lies in only a few feet of water and can be easily seen.
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The wing structure was in surprisinglly great condiftion
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Time has really taken it's toll on the massive radial engine!
Many thanks to Pip Schofield, Chief Pilot, at Air Club Vila. This was truly one of the highlights of my (albeit short) flying career.They say that you never forget your first solo, that’s true, it is still clearly in my head, but this day will be one I’ll never forget either!!! Read my diary entry for my about this great day.
If ever you have the chance to visit Vanuatu, then taking a flight with Pip is an absolute must!!!