The 2018 Outback Air Race (OAR) held in August raised $514,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), surpassing the target of $500,000.
Running from 19-30 August, this year's event took a fleet of 28 aircraft and 90 competitiors from Archerfield to Broome via Bundaberg, Longreach, Mt Isa, Adel’s Grove, Daly Waters, Katherine/Tindal and Kununurra.
Victory spoils this year went to Coffs Harbour's Show Me The Mooney, with team Tait Auto Group grabbing to top of the fundraising ladder with a contribution of $62,000.
"The event has been a great success for this our 10th Outback Air Race, in this special 90th birthday year of the RFDS," Race Manager Stuart Payne told Australian Flying.
"Race participants, about half of which were new to the event, quickly found new friends with whom they could enjoy the special places, scenery and wonderful people you meet in Outback Australia.
"We are thrilled to again deliver a safe and enjoyable event that delivers much needed support to such a worthy and iconic charity as the RFDS.”
The OAR has been held every two or three years since 1996, bringing together flyers from right around Australia for two weeks of spirited friendly competition that carves great memories for the participants and organisers alike. It is a GPS-based navigation time trial where pilots are scored based on their ability to predict the time taken to fly each leg (timed down to fractions of a second), and their accuracy at flying over visual start and finish points.