Will Meet A Narromine Historic Aerodrome West Of Sydney

Pilots will meet in April in Narromine, located approximately 200 NM west of Sydney, Australia to establish the first chapter of the IMC Club International on that continent.

IMC Club, through its worldwide chapters, provides organized “hangar flying” focused on building proficiency in instrument flying. It’s the only organization of its kind. The IMC Clubs concept is to bring together IFR-rated pilots who fly in the real-world “actual IMC” and provide them with an opportunity to share stories, network with the larger pilot community, and gain valuable insights and tips for their IFR flying. All stories and scenarios produced by the club for use during chapter meetings are real and based on submissions from by their members. IMC Club Meetings provide a forum for promoting participation and discussion of IFR flying.

Since its inception just four years ago, this organization grew from 4 pilots in Norwood, MA to over 2,700 registered members globally.

The first meeting of the IMC Club Australia group will be held in April of this year at the Narromine Aerodrome, which is the host of the IMC Club Chapter there.

Narromine is an historic aerodrome that is home to the oldest regional Aero Club in Australia. It was an operational and training base during WW2, providing the bad weather alternative for international flights to Sydney prior to the installation of the ILS. It was also a training base for Qantas Constellations and HS748s and is now a major gliding and recreational aviation centre.

Narromine has a significant place in Australia’s aviation history and has been visited by Chuck Yeager and by Buzz Aldrin. The latter dedicated the Wright Flyer replica that was constructed locally and has been successfully flown and is now on display at the Narromine Aviation Museum.

Murray Feddersen (pictured) is the president of the newly created IMC Club Australia chapter. Murray learned to fly in 1990 at Moorabbin airport in Melbourne, Australia, realizing a long held ambition and encouraged by his wife Linda.  His initial private pilot qualification was quickly followed by constant speed prop and retractable gear endorsements, along with his night rating.  His Command Instrument Rating was achieved following the Feddersen’s move to Canberra in 1991, where he became President of the Canberra Aero Club.

“As a pilot, I have learned and continue to learn from the experiences of others, which I believe that most pilots do.  The IMC Club will provide the opportunity to help and benefit the IFR aviators in Australia.” said Mr. Feddersen - “The introduction of Performance Based Navigation to be followed by progressive decommissioning of ground navigation aids in Australia and mandatory fitment of ADS-B are part of a rapidly changing operating environment and it is hoped that establishment of the IMC Club Chapter (…) will provide a forum where pilots can interact to improve the safety and efficiency of their operations” - he added.

Murray’s first aircraft was a Trinidad TB20.  He had flown 2,000 hours in that aircraft, many in IMC, mostly flying business trips on the eastern seaboard between Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. The Trinidad was followed by a Seneca 2, and now he flies a Beechcraft Baron 55. Although flying less hard IMC than he used to, he continues to enjoy the discipline and satisfaction of instrument flight.

“I want to say thank you to Murray for volunteering his energy, time and resources and I can’t express enough how excited I am. We’re about real, human face-to-face contact. By creating these groups, we allow pilots to learn from one another on the global scale and show that there are no borders when it comes to the pilot’s community” - said Radek Wyrzykowski, the IMC Club President - “IMC Club addresses a forgotten group of pilots. Too often, pilots after obtaining their IFR rating don’t want to go to get their commercial license, they drift away and fail to remain current and proficient. We want to bring them back with help of other experienced and proficient pilots.”

Opening of the Australian Chapter brings IMC Club presence to over 120 chapters and five continents.

(Images provided by IMC Club)

FMI: www.imcclubs.org