The photo above shows Royal Flying Doctor Service Beech 65-B80 Queen Air VH-CRF parked in front of the rudimentary 'Passenger Terminal' at Bedourie aerodrome in 1980 or 1981. IATA code: BEU. ICAO code: YBIE (present).

The map below shows the location of Bedourie in remote south-western Queensland's channel country. The diagram at right shows the layout of this very basic, red dirt strip from the Departmental publication Aerodromes and Ground Aids (AGA), part of the Visual Flight Guide (VFG), current 23 May 1974.

VH-CRF was the Mt Isa-based RFDS aircraft and was in the hands of pilot Ben Dannecker. Ben comments "I didn't go [to Bedourie] often but happened to have my camera with me that day. It wasn't an emergency, just a pickup of a walking patient - so I had time (usually I didn't)."

The photo below shows VH-CRF departing the small settlement of Bedourie. This aircraft was registered in Australia in May 1974, joining the RFDS Queensland Section in August 1977 and remaining until July 1990. It was cancelled from the Register in 1993.