rwhsim Heads off to London in the Little Beech

R

rwhsim

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One heck of a party going on for weeks at Flemington Racecourse, commemorating the events of 1934. An Australian Oktober-November Fest of note. Got a bit drunk there last night, and dreamed later that I had flown a DC3 London to Melbourne in 1934! So was late getting to the field to do last check on my ride to London.

Courtesy of my bosses I can use the company King Air C90B, ZS-GEO. She has finished doing her contract survey tasks in Australia, and has to be ferried back to the RSA, which has to be via Saudi Arabia anyhow, so what is a few extra thousand nuatical miles! Have had some hassles getting clearance to overfly certain countries with the equipment we have on board. Still waiting for the Saudi's and the Egyptians to give the OK, but I believe they are tempted with the possibilities of archeological and water resource discoveries our thermal cameras should be able to assist with - provide it does not rain of course!

Just doing some final avionics testing, and we should be off today. Will be a push to make it in ten days!

KingAir_ZS-GEO.jpg
 
Landed WAAA

Well fair winds persisted, and made reasonable speed. Thunderstorms greeted my arrival, and after clearing the mountains and descending rapidly, still arrived too high, and had to circle back to land. Must be the most unstable approach I have ever made, with a final dive to the runway with a 90 degree turn to land. Landing was OK I thought, but I got a telephone call from the tower, so may be a bit delayed for the next leg, if they even let me continue!

FlightLog_21-59-44.JPGView attachment FlightLog_21-59-44.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=Xt0DgSINhcya11fYRcYZrYEzaUE

Flight Time: 03:30:46
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Going to refuel and press on to make use of these good winds - if not detained by the aviation authorities for reckless flying!
 
Off to Selatar

Going to try to make WSSL; range challenged so may have to divert halfway to WIOO; hopefully I will get enough of a push up at 16000 to make it - will be close!

Taking Off WAAA - WSSL (or WIOO)
 
Departing WSSL for Port Blair, Andaman Islands

Well this should be an interesting leg. Massive thunderstorm cells predicted most of the route, but have some tailwinds, so lets see if we can manage the turbulence.

Taking off in the rain WSSL for VOPB
 
Off to India

Well afraid I cannot go direct to Allahabad, would be just out of range with headwinds over mainland India. Going to have to stop at the East coast airport of Bhubaneshwar (VEBS easier). That means with the slight tailwind I have over the Bay of Bengal I can push those turbines to the max, and hopefully make up for the stop time.

Taking off VOPB - VEBS
 
Landed OPKC

Had to fly low to get any chance against the winds. In permafig all the way. Oh the wonders of modern avionics - TAWS to check clearance of the mountains as they loomed up out of the mist. ILS into OPKC saved the day, as runway was only Vis from about 600 feet up, close to MAP. And landed with 15mins fuel left, so any go around was going to be fun.

FlightLog_01-36-48.JPGView attachment FlightLog_01-36-48.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFlight.php?detail=flight&value=ixDYTB7USYKogE8Ro2B2cKgfm0M

Flight Time: 03:46:25
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Although I do not feel very safe here at this airport, will have to wait out these winds a bit before attempting to cross the gulf.
 
Off across the Gulf

After a night here, spent at the hotel seriously reviewing weather, and changing flight plans to make the best of a rather bad wind situation, decided to head to the airport early, get the bird out of the secure hanger we found, and head off before dawn. Weatherman says winds are going to get much worse in the next 12 - 24 hours!

Taking off OPKC for OMAD, on a slightly more southern route over Muscat. At least no Iranian fighters should pull up alongside.
 
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