Taking flight for the Royal Flying Doctors

Back when the terms ‘selfie’ and ‘twerk’ were added to the dictionary in 2013, my friend Sam and I were in the backyard of his parent’s home in Bomaderry welding a frame for what would become an A330 simulator. This aircraft simulator (or the sim as we call it) has done six circuits around the world within seven days for an annual fundraiser event called WorldFlight.

The idea of virtually flying around the world as a fundraiser started in the UK, and now involves teams from all over the world. Each team must have a full-sized simulator and must be able to complete every take off and landing around the world. This is usually about 40 flight ranging from one to four hours. Worldflight’s purpose is to raise funds for aviation related charities, and in Australia teams have raised over $220,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service over the past 20 years.

The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) provides a critical services to remote locations across Australia. Services including emergency care, dental and mental health and patient transport, which are all vital services for Australians in remote areas.

While the RDFS does get some government support, they also depend heavily on donations from businesses and everyday Australians. These funds help provide nurses, doctors and other medical staff, along with pilots, maintainers and all the supporting staff needed to fly doctors and nurses around the country. Along with all the staff, the donations additionally provide the needed equipment on the ground and in the air.

Worldflight participants get to experience what it is like to be a captain or co-pilot, and talk to individuals from all around the globe as they enter and exit controlled airspaces. All the flights are managed via Air Traffic Control. That means when teams fly into the US, they are speaking with people in the US, providing a virtual Air Traffic Service.

Aside from the excitement and the team banter, it's satisfying to know the flights are supporting a real organisation which affects lives on a daily basis.

I am lucky enough to work for a company that values contributing back into communities. Easy Agile is committed to pledging 1 per cent of its revenue, but also time to make communities better.

Easy Agile has given me the time to participate in this year's event; paid and supported by Nick and Dave. Like all the staff at Easy Agile, I wanted to give back to the community.

If you would like to donate, here is our Worldflight Team Airbus everyday hero page or you can donate directly to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. All donations are tax deductable.

My eleven flights this years are (time are AEDT and Worldflight starts on Saturday the 1st November):

• Co-pilot on Adelade to Perth (Sat 12:00pm - 15:40pm)
• Pilot on Surabaya (Indonesia) to Kuching (Malaysia) (Sat 23:12 to 1:10am)
• Co-pilot on Kurching to Kedah (Malaysia) (Sun 2:00am - 4:15am)
• Pilot on Shanghai to Beijing (China) (Mon 4:00pm - 18:05pm)
• Co-pilot on Beijing to Incheon (South Korea) (Mon 18:55pm - 8:45pm)
• Co-pilot on Anadyr (Russia) to Nome (USA) (Tues 10:05am - 11:45am)
• Pilot on Seattle to Denver (USA) (Wed 12:05am - 2:30am)
• Co-pilot on Denver to Los Angeles (USA) (Wed 3:20am - 5:40am)
• Co-pilot on Orlando to Little Rock (USA) (Wed 5:40pm - 8:05pm)
• Co-pilot on Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) to Sabah (Malaysia) (Sat 3:55am - 6:05am)
• Pilot on Cairns to Brisbane (Australia) (Sat 3:40pm - 18:10pm)

If you’d like to tune in all the flights are streamed on the Simflite YouTube channel. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​