For my trip around the world I had decided to keep things as real as I could. I flew with
real weather with update, I flew a leg each "game" day, my aircrafts were loaded at the
minimum (about 1000lbs of "cargo" plus the pilots) and with maximum fuel.
The starting point was Edmonton Intl. Airport. I took off in a cold winter morning with my
Fokker 100 (Project Fokker F100 v3) towards Alaska. I landed in Anchorage (Ted Stevens
Airport) with a refuelling stop in Whitehorse.
The second day I took off from Anchorage and I flew to Anadyr (Ugolny Airport), the
following day from Anadyr to Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky (Yelizovo Airport).
The following day I continued to fly south. From Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky to Sapporo (New
Chitose Airport), where I stopped for refuel, with final stop in Tokyo (Haneda Airport).
The following day I took off from Tokyo and disaster strikes: an unforcasted downdraft hits the airport while I was taking off, I couldn't climb and my Fokker was slammed to the ground. I sold the Fokker for scrap and after some days spent in Tokyo I found another plane: a local collector sold me a Vickers Vicking (FSDS2 Vickers Viking v 1.0 by Rick Piper).
From Tokyo I flew to Taipei (Chiang Kai Shek Airport) where I stopped for refuel,with final
destination Hong Kong Intl.Airport. In Hong Kong I managed to sell the Vickers to a local
collector for a beautiful Avro Lancastrian still in RAF markings (Avro Lancastrian by
Manfred Jahn and Paul Edwards). The great range of the Lancastrian helped me to reach the
Middle East really quick. The following day I flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok Intl. Airport,
the following morning I flew from Bangkok to Mumbai (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport).
Stop for the night in Mumbai, the following morning I took off for Abu Dhabi.
I stopped in Abu Dhabi for about 10 days, a rich guy bought my Lancastrian and included in
the deal I got a another piece of history: a Caproni Ca310 Libeccio (plane by F.Giuli).
When I took off from Abu Dhabi I flew a short leg to Ryadh (King Khaled Airport). From
Ryadh I flew a very long leg, I flew to the island of Malta (Luqa Airport) with a refulling
stop in Tabuk and in Sidi el Barrani. It was sunset when I landed in Malta, the sky was
clear, it was so nice and peaceful.
The following day I took off heading North, I flew across Italy and I landed in Mattarello
Airport near Trento. The runaway was barely long enough for my twin engine and the
mountains are really really close. It was a challenging landing. The local museum bought my
nice Caproni and lended me an Aviat TD (Aviat Husky v2 by Steven Grant) that I took to
Torino (Torino Aeritalia Airport). Talking to a mechanic at the airport, I found out that a
friend of his has a plane that he is restoring. Interesting! He contacted his friend and he
was willing to selling it to me for a Cessna Titan. I accepted the deal, so from Torino I
took a flame red Cessna Titan (Cessna 404 Titan by Mike Stone) to his place, Interlaken
Airport in Switzerland.
I stayed there for 3 months and on May 3rd the restored airplane was ready. It was a
beautifull Savoia Marchetti SM74 in Ala Littoria livery, I-ROMA was ready to fly again
(Savoia Marchetti SM74 by Manuele Villa).
I took off in a freezing morning, it was hard to try to gain altitude with the Alps so
close to you. That day I flew a long leg, from Interlaken to Stornoway Airport in Scotland
with just a refuelling stop in Southampton Intl. Airport. In Stornoway I loaded in the
cabin two 50gal drums of fuel that I connected to the aux tanks of the SM74. I will need
the extra fuel from now on for reaching Canada. The following day I flew from Stornoway to
Keflavik in Iceland where I stopped for the night.
During the following day I flew a very long leg: from Keflavik to Iqaluit (Canada) with
refuelling stops in Kulusuk and Nuuk in Greenland. I didn't have icing problems in
Greenland even if in Kulusuk it was snowing while I was refuelling. I found the weather up
there often windy and cold even in May.
The following day I flew another very long leg: from Iqaluit I flew to Fort McMurray
Airport with refuelling stops in Kimmirut and Rankin Inlet. During the flight from Kimmirut
to Rankin Inlet I registered an OAT of -45C at 10,000ft....good I still had my winter coat!
The flight from Rankin Inlet to Fort McMurray was at the limit of the range, I landed with
just 48 gallons left in my tanks! I stopped in Fort McMurray for the night, the following
morning I flew back to Edmonton Intl. Airport. The wind was really strong in Edmonton and
at one point I lost control of the plane. I barely avoided a collision with the ground and
after 3 go around I managed to land my SM74.
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