There and Back dedicated to Aviation, Airmanship and the Craft of Flying - by Owen Zupp & Robert Brus

After a fantastic day off with my family, it was back to the skies today. The little Jabiru had rested the night in the hangar at Mittagong and was soon refuelled and ready to fly on its first short flight of today. A mere hop to the east, the flight was a terrific opportunity to [...]

Today’s the day! It’s dark here, but I can see stars out my window. My fingers are crossed that the weather will play the game so that ‘There and Back’ will make a a scheduled departure at 10am. One last ‘Thank You’ to everyone for their messages of support and donations thus far. Also, to [...]

So after all of the planning, the day of departure finally comes tomorrow. And I can’t wait! Today was spent attending to all manner of details. There was practice at changing a wheel and ensuring that the cowlings held no mysteries about what lay beneath. Then there was the media. The phone started at 7am [...]

With ‘two sleeps’ to go until departure, sleep is a treasured item. Today was spent at Jabiru’s facility and my first meeting with the ‘There and Back’ Jabiru J230 in its new scheme. The day was spent familiarising myself with the various small details relating to the aircraft that, if overlooked, could lead to inconvenience [...]

Here she is! The first shot of the ‘There and Back’ Jabiru J230D in its special scheme for the upcoming flight around Australia. The team at Jabiru produced the tailored scheme on-site at their Bundaberg facility and the aircraft looks fantastic as the date of departure nears. To be honest, I can’t think of a [...]

The media attention for ‘There and Back’ seems to almost be reaching fever pitch. The website has been bombarded at previously uneseen levels, but the major breaking news is upcoming coverage with the Ten Network. They are keen to see the ‘There and Back’ Jabiru in all its new glory and I suspect grab a [...]

Hi All, ‘There and Back’ has its own Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/There-and-Back-2010/292125897435 So why not come on board and check out the updates as May 5th looms large. It would be great to hear from you all as well. See you on Facebook. Cheers

Hi All, Well the ‘There and Back’ Jabiru was completed and ready to test fly this week. Unfortunately, the weather intervened and the first flight was not possible as evidenced in this photo from the team at Jabiru. With the aircraft ready and other aspects of organisation in full swing, the around Australia flight now [...]

Hi once again, It’s hard to believe that 3 weeks ago, the ‘There and Back’ Jabiru was a maze of components on a hangar floor in Bundaberg. It is now standing on its own undercarriage with its wings attached and systems being connected. Over the coming week it will commence its test flying program and [...]

Firstly, thanks for all of the emails. The support and input for the upcoming flight has been greatly appreciated. The flight route has been finalised and there are some remote, yet very significant points of interest along the way. These landmarks will contribute greatly in portraying the human face of our history, set to the backdrop of [...]