Oz And Beyond!

After a couple of days layover we headed back east to ZUBD. Nice flight over some very rugged terrain. That 21kt crosswind on landing didn't help much though as I had to land kind of sideways which threw the ILS all off.

Anyway there's some talk about earthquakes and pandas here. I'm not sure if the earthquakes cause pandas or pandas cause earthquakes. My Chinese isn't very good. All I do know is that if there's earthquakes here, then I'm glad I put new shocks on the plane....
 
Here's the pics from the last couple of legs. I forgot to post last night.

Looks like we're heading out of China
 
Willy said:
Here's the pics from the last couple of legs. I forgot to post last night.

Looks like we're heading out of China
Click to expand...

What are the red cross hairs above the dash in the cockpit photo?
A flight director of some sort?

Thanks.
 
You got me... I have no idea. The panel came with the Turbo Connie. I've just learned to ignore them.
 
We put China behind us and landed in Mongolia's capital. Nice flight and I think we're going to take a day off here and enjoy the BBQ.

I did find this little Russian number at Ghengis Khan's Used Camel and Aircraft Sales. Looks like just the thing to fly to Russia in.
 
Wings of the Red Star!

Wonderful mad dash over Lake Baikal to UIII Irkutsk. Was a busy morning over at Ghengis Khan's Used Camel and Aircraft Sales.

2nhhidf.jpg


xbdz52.jpg
 
Tagging along with Moses and Taco...Red Stars over Siberia.

Nice to see Taco's Douglas Boston to join my Bell Cobra as lend lease aircraft...along with Petlyakov's great Pe-2 flown by Moses. Some shots of the aircraft, Lake Baikal, and the turn into finals at Irkutsk. (Lake Baikal has 20 percent of the world's unfrozen fresh water! Thirsty?)
 
Finally caught up with the guys at UIII. I was having difficulties yesterday with a rather stormy Mongolian customs agent who seemed to think the Polikarpov was some kind of national treasure. Anyway we were soon off to UIBB (don't ask me the names of these places, I can't pronounce them let alone spell them). This I-16 is a tricky devil to fly but with a little practice I've come to really like it. Although with this open cockpit in Siberia I'm hoping the heater works. Anyways, it was a nice flight although traffic got a bit congested on landing.
 
A few more shots from Irkutsk on Lake Baikal to Bratsk which lies deep in the Siberian forest on the Angara River. The Bratsk hydroelectric dam has allowed this remote Siberian city to grow and become a major producer of aluminum and chemicals. Unhappily, the resultant pollution has made the city one of the thirty "dirtiest" in the world. Wikipedia: "The extent of mercury pollution in the ground around the nearby Usolye chemical plant is equal to half the total global production of mercury in 1992."

Don't drink the water. Drink the vodka...without ice.
 
We headed on west into a thunderstorm that turned into a snowstorm on our way to UNKL. With this open cockpit, I got to looking for a snow shovel. Anyway it was a nice flight with a full crew.

(pics are reversed)
 
A fun filled flight to Bratsk. Found a Pe-2 with only 30,000 hrs on it. Engines needed some work, but as you can see, the dive brakes work just fine!
 
We headed on to UNNT. Nice flight although the headwind was getting a bit tedious and I had a couple of self inflicted CTDs before I figured out what was causing them. Let's not mention a crash on take off that left me skidding along on my side and another one while slowing down after landing. All in all, an "interesting" flight.
 
Some Kodaks of the turbulent weather on the way from Krasnoyarsk to Novosibirsk. Bell surely made a beautiful ship--you could fall in love with a wicked girl like this and then have to pay the price...
 
We flew on to Omsk? (UNOO). Most of the flight was through blizzards, but it cleared up before we got there. Great flight with no netstorms or other unfortunate incidents.
 
We took off at 0430 for a predawn flight to USTR. Nice low level flight in the darkness. But there sure was a lot of traffic on the roads at that time of morning.

Anyway, I'm about tired of freezing in this open cockpit. I'm heading over to the pilot's lounge and see if anybody has anything for trade.
 
:salute:Howdy all,

Not a bad flight from UNOO to USTR, but we did run into some rough air and fig. For some unknown reason, since flying in Russia, the weather on approach and landing has been just great. Unlike the normal bad weather that Flight 19 usally gets as we prepare for landing. Just a few photos of our early morning flight.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top