High flyer

Former station hand Nick Tully becomes deputy head of RFDS flying operations in Queensland.

Story Anabelle Brayley  Photos Katrina Lehmann

It’s late in the afternoon and the Bulloo Bandits – Nick Tully and his co-driver Carl Jungmann – have just pulled into Hahndorf, SA, after barrelling down back roads from Charleville in south-western Queensland in their $1,500 Tangerine XH Ford Falcon ute, otherwise known as Val. They’re on their way to join the Shitbox Rally Autumn 2024 and Nick, who is deputy head of RFDS flying operations in Queensland, is hurting in places he hadn’t known he could hurt. Laughing, he says, “The suspension in Val’s got about as much give as a block of cement”.

The youngest of 10 children, Nick grew up on Bunginderry, his family’s grazing property in the Channel Country between Quilpie and Windorah. He well knows how vital the RFDS is to the people of the outback but, despite a plane being one of his family’s primary sources of transport, Nick says he never really imagined making a career out of flying. He got his private licence after he left school, just because he thought it would be a handy qualification to have.

He started with the RFDS on his 28th birthday. Eight months later, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The necessary chemotherapy after surgery meant he was grounded for 6 months before CASA passed him fit to fly.

As soon as they did, he got back on the tools and, as one of 3 pilots at Charleville Base, settled into a routine of 3 days/ 3 nights on duty doing clinic runs interspersed with retrievals, followed by 3 days off. There was only one plane at the base, there was no tasking authority and, while there were fatigue guidelines, the pilots flew the hours they needed to fly to get the job done.

Now, he says, a lot has changed. “We’ve got a dedicated clinic-run plane and 2 planes to do retrievals and hospital transfers. As a rule, you can’t over-run your shift, which means if there’s a call out in the last couple of hours of your shift, the next shift gets called in early and we juggle the crews to accommodate it.”

As senior pilot for the past couple of years, Nick is responsible for training new pilots in Charleville. His brief includes educating them about station life, outback people and bush airstrips.