Air traffic

Seen from the homestead at Charles Darwin Reserve the afternoon sun reflects on a shiny hut and a tall radio tower atop Mt Singleton, 35 km away to the north-east. This is a major civil aviation signal tower. Not only is Charles Darwin Reserve on the main road route north from Perth, it is also alongside the main commercial flight path from Perth to Newman or Broome. From the air, the cleared paddock at the homestead is visible.

The first aircraft arrived in the Murchison pastoral and goldfields region to the north of Charles Darwin Reserve in the 1920s. Airstrips for light aircraft, suitable for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, were later cleared and graded at Ninghan, Mt Gibson and Wanarra stations. They were unsealed. An airstrip was also built at the corner of the Great Northern Highway and Wanarra East Road to service the iron ore mining exploration at the Mt Gibson range. Proposals for the iron ore mine in 2006 included relocating the airstrip south of Wanarra East Road, to provide for a fly-in /fly-out workforce accommodated at the mine. The last airstrip to be constructed was part of the development of the Mt Gibson goldmine in the 1980s.

After a tourist died on Whitewells Station, an attempt was made to construct an emergency airstrip for the Royal Flying Doctor Service across the cleared hay paddock near the homestead. This was not completed, and the designated emergency airstrip for Charles Darwin Reserve is at Wanarra Station.