Mother-and-son duo, Mitchell and Kym Purcell, take to the skies for Outback Air Race

Australia Broadcast Center

26-07-2025

Sitting in the pilot seat of his late father's shiny aeroplane, Mitchell Purcell is about to take off on an epic cross-country flight.
His dad, Terry, a businessman and proud grandfather, was just 53 when he died of cancer.
He had lived life to the full: riding motorbikes, travelling the world, and buying a 1980s Cessna aeroplane — the "workhorse of the sky".
"I first got my dad involved in flying with a Father's Day gift of a one-hour introductory flight, which he enjoyed and loved, and he ended up getting his pilot's licence," the 34-year-old said.
In the cockpit next to Mr Purcell is his mother, Kym.
The Purcells, from Gladstone in central Queensland, have entered the 3,881-kilometre Outback Air Race in honour of the late Mr Purcell, who competed in 2018.
They are among more than 40 planes taking to the skies for the 18-day flying challenge to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
Beginning in Yulara, in the Northern Territory, and ending in Carnarvon, in Western Australia, with pit stops in several small towns in between, competitors will cover more than 2,000 nautical miles.
The triennial event raised more than $750,000 when it was last held in 2022.
Ms Purcell first took part in the competition in 2018 with her husband.
"When we went down past WA … to see the coastline is spectacular from a smaller aircraft because you obviously can't get as high as the big planes … and the views are magnificent."
At the Gladstone hangar, she held back tears as she remembered her beloved husband and explained the pride she had for her son.
"It's nice to spend that quality time … doing this together is really, really enjoyable."
Under the team's name "210 Fast & Furious", the Purcells will fly together in Terry's Cessna 210, a six-seater single-engine plane that was built in the 1980s and has undergone a series of upgrades, including to the propeller and fuel tank.
"I can definitely see why Dad chose the Cessna … 'the workhorse of the sky' people call it," Mr Purcell said.
"There are newer planes you can buy that are very similar to the dimensions … but they can't carry as much."
Mr Purcell uses the plane to travel with his young family and for work, transporting workers and equipment across central Queensland.
He is the managing director of an engineering business in Gladstone, which, among its work, services mines in the region.
Outback Air Race manager Stuart Payne said the two-week event was run by volunteers and took years of planning.
He first flew in a race in 2006 and was hooked.
Mr Payne said, in the bush, the RFDS was life-changing for people who would otherwise not be able to access routine or emergency health care.
"We're very happy to be supporting the charity, but also as pilots and people in the aviation community, we get to tick the box of being able to indulge our passion to go flying," he said.
"We have a very, very high demand for the event; it sells out very quickly."
Mr Payne said the race was set up as a timed navigating trial, where pilots are challenged by having to locate and fly over particular points, such as the corner of a paddock or a tower.
"A lot of the legs are decided on the basis of a second or two of timing accuracy and typically less than 50 metres positional accuracy, so it's very competitive."
Mr Payne said, after the event, money was distributed to different RFDS divisions around the country, so participants could give back to their own region.
Mr Purcell said he wanted to fundraise for the RFDS as it was an important cause in Gladstone because many people in the community, including his own family, have used the service.