The problem was of the stuff that engineering nightmares are made
from.

In the heat and dehydration of a 40 degree day I had made a change to
a PLC program, instead of tracing the code back to the input bit I had
mistakenly edited the change into an intermediate bit in the logic.
A single line of code was stuffed.

On another site 20 miles away I needed to add two parameters to a
Cisco router to get a network access point functioning and then add
two lines of parameters in an initialisation file.

While we were contractually obligated to do the work the logistics
were staggering. $1,200 potentially for the airfare, $120 a day for a
car, $95 a night in the camp, days spent negotiating access. Two
people for remote work for safety and those changes to 4 little lines
of code 578 nautical miles away in the outback looked like costing up
to a thousand dollars a line.

They were potentially the final touches to the entire job but even so
there was great reluctance to commit to the work. It was all so
staggeringly expensive for what was to be achieved.

While contemplating the dynamics of the problem while sitting in my
bean bag one night it struck me that the sites were all on christmas
break and one of the few remaining for caretaking over the break was a
friend I'd worked with on half of the job. I quietly rang him up that
evening and asked whether he'd be phased if I just arrived one day and
we trundled out to the site and simply did the job. stuff the permits,
stuff the approvals, tell no one and just do it. he agreed that for
the sake of getting the job completed he was amenable. when the time
came just give him a call and he'd be happy to devote the time to
help.

I broached the problem of the dynamics of the task with my project
manager and the boss. they agreed that the dynamics were horrid.
So what if I took a day off and when I came back it was done I asked?
With a look of nervous anticipation and some trepidation at what they
were getting into both agreed that maybe it would get the firm out of
a pickle. However both wanted to know what I was up to, it had them
intrigued and they wouldnt be snowed by platitudes.
Well, I explained, 578 miles at 120 knots was just 4 hours 50 minutes
flying time. it was feasible to do that in a morning. the job on site
couldnt be more than an hours work which meant that I could fly there
and back in a day.
"what you mean hire an aircraft?"
"no I'd fly my own"
"what, you own an aeroplane?"
"yep"
"oh I dont know ....there's liability and insurance and worksafe and
and and..."
"Ok, what if I took a day off and when I came back it was magically
done?"
"hmmmm, ...no,...no, ...no I dont want to know anything about this
until you come back ...when would you do it?"
" I'd just have to wait for this opaque weather to blow past ...um
would tomorrow be ok?"
"uh, ...no I couldnt answer that until you came back ...for gods sake
dont kill yourself."
"can I have tomorrow off?"
"ohhh, ...dont ask me that until next week ok? ...by the way, if this
magically occurred what would it cost"
"hmmm 10 hours by 20 litres by a dollar fifty, say three hundred bucks
tops"
"what, is that all?"
"yep"
"...............ask me next week, ok?

That lunch time I bought the last WAC chart needed and planned it out
fully.
perth via mt dale and northam to meekatharra, refuel, meekatharra to
newnam and refuel.
do the 3 changes.
newman to meekatharra and refuel again then meekatharra to perth via
northam landing just an hour before last light. long day but a piece
of cake and the pleasure of having the engineering torture behind me
and maybe the job finished.

Up before sparrow fart the next morning, breakfast and off to the
aircraft. the aircraft was all packed ready to go just on sunrise.
bugger!
in the morning light the enormous amount of low cloud around became
evident. none of it showed on the weather radar or the satellite
photos.
the route I was to follow showed as light area of cloud so maybe there
was a clear lane out, maybe Hewie the god of weather was going to be
kind to me after all. With a well warmed exhaust pipe I took off to
explore hewie's offering. It showed hewie's nasty streak but heavens
it was beautiful. Over past the ranges the cloud vanished into a
neutral grey murk. Below me just skirting the ranges were light whispy
clouds.
From each of the valleys there streamed a plume of cloud blown leeward
by a gentle breeze. The beauty of this effect masked, as Buck put it
in his book, some of the most treacherous conditions known. The whisps
of cloud below indicated that the entire region of sky was just a
gnat's whisker off reaching dew point and becoming solid cloud. Still
the way forward was clear and the area of cloud I was heading to had
light from behind. Hewie must have laughed heartilly as I rounded a
cloud and discovered that the murk forward was cloud blowing through
the grass. Nothing but nothing was visible beyond the wedge of cloud
in front.
Nothing for it but to try up the coast.
When the coast became visible it was evident that that route was
clagged in as well. Curses, there was a slow moving mountain of cloud
blowing toward tthe airfield. The die was rolled and it hadnt come up
sixes. nothing for it but to go in to work.
Frustrating, but flying before work is kinda cool so not all was lost
:-)
Back at work they seemed relieved to see me walk back in.

Later that day, just before lunch, I was talking to a colleague about
the state of another part of the job. I must have looked quite vague
as I realised that out through the window past his shoulder the cloud
base was now looking like 3,000ft and the cloud was slowly breaking
up. A quick phone call to my mate on site confirmed that it was still
clear blue sky at the other end.
A quick download of the weather and a peek at the latest satellite
shot confirmed the view out the window.

"boss I need to take this afternoon and tomorrow off :-) that ok?"
"ask me next week :-) and dont kill yourself"
"I've been a pilot for a long time mate"

The trip down the freeway to the airfield seemed to take no time at
all. With the aeroplane still packed from the previous attempt it was
just a matter of a water test, a quick once over and light the
fires...

continues later...
Stealth Pilot