donlimpio/Beech D18S/Golden Age

D

donlimpio

Guest
First Leg completed. I got on the way a little late, so the first flight was in complete darkness. Mind you, this is my first time I'm not using all the fancy stuff we're so used to. Just a view NDB's over Europe at night and some interesting weather over Austria made for a nice challenge, but hey at least I saw Lake Balaton, though it wasn't really planned that way. Oh and funny Frankfurt Airport was easy to spot, even through the clouds, blinking lights all around. Off into the bunk now for some rest and waiting for sunrise...

happy landings
olli

P.S.
The error messages in the log file are coming from a little problem with my internet connection which resolved itself after a minute or so, resulting in the error message for real weather cannot be downloaded popping up periodically a few times.
 
Nice to see another Beech driver here. I'm going to start out with mine once I get the Cessna to Melbourne.

BTW, I don't have that paint. Where could it be found?
 
She sure is fun to fly and looks oh so beautiful. The paint is a simple one I made for myself a while ago.
 
Leg 2 Sunset over Istanbul

On a bright afternoon the second leg took us to Aleppo. All in all a very nice flight, though ground visibility was limited and only at Istanbul it brightened up. Unfortunately the sun was starting to go down, earlier as expected and so the flight over Turkey was in a pitch black sky. Still, navigation was easy. Only god knows the true range of the NDB at Haymana. The signal seemed to keep on forever, nice opportunities for lots of cross referencing. Running low on fuel, due to headwind all along, I dropped a bit of sweat when I should have been well in range of Aleppo NDB and still no signal. Finally I could see the lights of the city and the beacon jumped in, engines out with 4.29 gallons left. I guess that's why I came in a little high, just in case...

And I pressed p for pause instead of print screen accidentally for only two seconds, guess that'll cost me 10 minutes now.

Sleepy now, enjoy
olli
 
Leg 3 Desert Storm

With the first few rays of sunlight we took off heading for Baghdad through what turned out to be a major thunderstorm. A faster sprint leg with a steep approach in cruise speed and a huge welcome in Baghdad under clear blue sky.
Another short leg to Iran tomorrow before we're trying to go straight for Karachi.
 
Leg 4 Gentle push to Bushehr

And off we go for the 4th leg, another sprinter it was. Tailwinds all along flying the river to Basrah and a short stretch of water over Kahark Island straight into Bushehr.
 
Leg 5 Mountain Desert

The 5th leg took us to Gwanda, changed plans and not going to Karachi in the end. I came in quite fast and just made it on the ground without knowing so did a touch and go and after a quick 360 turn landing in the wind, tally-ho
 
No flight today as social obligations led to a close encounter of at least a kind of third kind with some Guinness. And I'm still wondering where they came from deeply entrenched in Pakistan...hmmm
 
The sun is about to rise and we're heading for Jodhpur (VIJO)
 
Leg 6 Hazed out

Just landed in Jodphur. After a beautiful sunrise and a beautiful flight over desert mountains the sky covered up with thick haze, sight was down to maybe a mile or two, Had to fly over the airport on the first approach and saw the runway just in time to touch down with a bit of croswind.
 
Thanks Mike, and the sun rising over the desert was something special that should not be missed.

I didn't make it further to Allahabad yesterday. Instead we decided to give the old lady and us some rest as today we're planning to reach Singapore. We shall see. Now grabbing the baton and heading for VIAL, still foggy in Jodhpur but the sun is already lurking around the corner.
 
07 East of Africa

Almost the entire leg we were engulfed in juicy clouds or was it haze or maybe nothing? Certainly not flying visual and hoping for the NDB's to come in. Only 40 miles out it cleared up landing on a sunny morning in Allahabad with a hearty portion of tail and cross wind, that was the fastest landing so far, hope the tires are not going to twirl all around me sometime.
 
Short stop, tires and oil level checked and heading for Kolkata
 
08 Out of the Mist

Again a misty approach in Calcutta. Hit the outer marker NDB but struggled a little to keep on track. Made the runway in the end, but not without some hectic steering and not watching my descent rate...a little overspeed, but all well, think I'll have a little drink while refueling now before getting on to Yangon. What a ride!
 
Leg 9 Eastbound and Down

Down we are in Yangon and the goal to reach Singapore must wait for tomorrow as again the sun was coming down fast. Weather wasn't getting any better and the reports for Malaysia even worse, might get some interesting Thunderstorms tomorrow. Dinnertime it shall be then and a glass or two.
 
3.45 am, that's in the middle of the night! Luckily I've got loads of coffee, anyhow, engines are warming up, METAR predicts surprises at Alor Setar, so off we go
 
10 Thunderstorm Madness

Packed the inflatable, bit of extra weight, but a few stretches of water coming on. Down and safe in Alor Setar. A bumby ride and visibility going down as we were closing in. Second breakfast now I guess.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top