
Ian and Connie Warburton in the cockpit of their plane. Photo: Connie Warburton.
You might know Connie and Ian Warburton for their Haunted House – the one in Wanniassa that literally draws crowds in the thousands over Halloween.
But have you ever seen the golden-coloured human leg that forms part of their creepy decorations?
That’s not a prop. That’s a trophy from the couple’s other hobby: flying in the Outback Air Race.
The Outback Air Race is the annual fundraiser for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, where plane owners from all over the country attract sponsors to fly more than 3800 km across the outback over 15 days and nine “legs”. (Get the reference now?)
The last one, held in September 2022, raised over $750,000 for the service and featured 85 people across 37 planes.
The upcoming race, departing from Yulara (near Uluru) on 22 August and concluding in Carnavon, Western Australia, on 8 September, has so far attracted 105 participants and 39 planes.
Ian Warburton, a retired RAAF pilot, is definitely an aero enthusiast. Not only is he building his own light plane in the back shed (the one that’s not full of Halloween gear), but he also owns two more, which are kept at Canberra Airport.
In the last Outback Air Race in 2022, the couple entered in their 1978 Piper Cherokee, a light plane with a top speed of about 120 knots (222 km/h) “with a favourable tailwind and all fingers crossed”.

Ian and Connie Warburton’s Piper Cherokee. Photo: Connie Warburton.
Here’s how it works.
“Each night you get some clues about the next day’s journey, so you’re gate out will be over the top of this building here and your gate in is over the top of a bridge there,” Connie explains.
“You figure out where those points are – your X and Y coordinates – and then you start the flight with 1800 points, and you lose a point for every second you’re early or late, or every metre you deviate from the target.”
Every two to three hours along the journey, the RFDS arranges for people to be on the ground to assist with refuelling, accommodation and food and drink.

The route for the 2025 Outback Air Race. Photo: Outback Air Race.
Win one of the nine legs, and you score a literal golden-coloured mannequin leg.
“We carried this giant gold leg around all the towns in the outback to try to get people to put money in it and donate to the RFDS,” Connie says.
Apart from being “an interesting way to see Australia”, the couple have deeper reasons for wanting to take part.
“We were in this little tiny town in outback NSW several years ago when an RFDS plane landed, and we were having a chat on the tarmac as you do at these smaller airports, and just while we were there, the pilot received three reports of different emergencies,” Connie explains.
“And my first thought was, ‘Is this how every day goes?’ And the pilot said, ‘Yep, pretty much’.”
The RFDS is in contact with more than 900 patient contacts every day.
In 2023-24, the RFDS delivered more than 4800 primary aeromedical evacuations, 3800 primary health clinic visits, 2600 mental health clinics, 36,000 dental services, 2200 medical chests and 40,000 remote telehealth consultations.
The Commonwealth Government has committed $1 billion to the service over the next 10 years (to 2032), and most recently, awarded it $74.8 million in late 2024.
But even so, Connie says the RFDS is “struggling to pay for everything they need because the funding model from the government hasn’t changed in quite a few years”.

Ian and Connie Warburton with the ‘golden leg’. Photo: Connie Warburton.
She says Canberra is a challenging place to raise funds for such a service, being so far removed from where it operates, but the couple remains optimistic that participants will meet this year’s fundraising target of $750,000. The Warburtons are already more than halfway to meeting their $20,000 fundraising target.
“Here in Canberra, it’s really hard to raise money for the RFDS, because it doesn’t impact us at all – if we want medication, we just go down the road,” she says.
“But we were carrying the leg around outback Queensland … and people are throwing $50 to $100 notes in it because ‘my brother-in-law had to use it once’. The people who can least afford it are throwing in the biggest amount of money.
“That was an eye-opener for us.”
Donate to Connie and Ian’s efforts by visiting the Royal Flying Doctor Service.