MM - General Aviation - Duke Bound for a Sunburned Country

[MM]

This is the Beech Duke VH-TKE in which Australians Denys Dalton and Terry Gwynn-Jones set a piston-engined round-the-world record of 122 hours in 1975. That East-bound record has since been broken by an Aerostar while the West-bound record is held by a Cessna 414A. Significantly for our event, VH-TKE still holds the London-Darwin and London-Brisbane records. In all, Dalton set seven world records in the 1968-built aircraft. It now hangs from the ceiling in Brisbane's Queensland Museum.

To honor those achievements, we have "virtually borrowed" the aircraft from the Museum and are now rebuilding the Lycomings and refitting the ship with modern instruments. (The repaint is by "Squeeker" and can be found at OZx: http://www.aussiex.org/index/news.php.) When prepartions are complete and the crew becomes available, VH-TKE will take off for the "Sunburned Country."

[Great Ozzie]

Mike...

You picked some very expensive engines to overhaul... I hope the museum is paying for all this. :

[salt_air]

Gorgeous aircraft Mike.

Fare well on your way.....

[MM]

Well, after so many hours in the "cozy" cockpit of the Mew Gull, it will be a pleasure to cruise along in Beechcraft comfort. The Duke, though not especially suited for racing, has real style.

Refurbishing the aircraft ... hey, it's only money.

Let's see if we can get VH-TKE back to Oz. This first leg aims to reach Budapest.

Active Sky Advanced.

[MM]

Routine flight in Modern General Aviation. Gosh, with these GPS things, navigation seems pretty tame stuff. All was fine with good tailwinds, a cakewalk really.

The only interesting moment came with 23kts crosswinds on landing at Budapest. But Rob Young's beautifully modeled Beech aerodynamics came through nicely under duress. Great stuff, that.

[MM]

Hungary? Maybe some Turkey?

Early morning departure for Ankara.

[MM]

Long routine flight over Romania and the Black Sea. Landed in hill-encircled Ankara. Happy that the cloud cover dissipated to reveal the nearby elevations before they scraped aluminum shards off the bottom of the fuselage.

Another 16kts crosswind on landing. ASA is adding interest.

[MM]

A splash of fuel for the aircraft and a pit stop for the crew...and we're off for Baghdad.

[MM]

Quick trip over mountainous Turkey and then gazing at the rivers and sands of Mesopotamia.

Into Baghdad.

[MM]

Toddling down the river and over the pond to Bushere (OIBB).

[MM]

Routine leg with mixed winds and haze over the Gulf...but worked out well in the end.

[MM]

Headed out of Bushere over Iran to Khuzdar in Pakistan. With Bry's warning about ASA acting up, switching back to standard FSX Weather (with 15 minute updates). Not sure what's happening, but when flying over inhospitable territory, discretion is the better part of valor.

[MM]

Tailwinds all the way made for an enjoyable easy trip that otherwise would be marginal on fuel. Approach to Khuzdar requires weaving around a hill but no problem during daylight. Beautiful little city nestled in the mountains against a desert lake.

[MM]

Out of Khuzdar, Pakistan for Allahabad. Hoping for acceptable winds--giving REX2 a chance with 60nm updates.

[MM]

Down safely in the perpetual smog and haze of Allahabad.

[MM]

Where goes Willy, opportunity calls. Leaving VIAL for VEBS.

Continuing with REX 2.0 Real Wx. (Gosh. Forecast is 1SM viz at VEBS. Hope the ILS operators are not on strike.)

[MM]

Down into the fog-enshrouded Bhubaneswar. Good to have modern equipment operating today.

[MM]

Following Willy across the Bay of Bengal to the old penal colony at Coco Island.
--
Stormy weather over ocean. Diverting to larger airfield at Port Blair. Forecast viz is 3SM without ILS or working NDB. At least VOPB is longer and without trees on the threshold.

[Willy]

I hope you have better luck with the winds than I have had the past few flights.

[MM]

Halfway to Coco Island the METARs showed a local storm with 3SM viz...not good for a small plantation airstrip. So diverted to Port Blair VOPB with its longer runway and VOR off the field. (The METAR also showed 3SM visibility.) During the trip over the Bay of Bengal, the storm passed through Port Blair leaving fog -- which led to me to execute some careful positioning for the GPS approach.

Happily, all this was unnecessary. When I got to Port Blair it was a splendid sunny morning. All was good with the world...

[MM]

Early start from Port Blair over the Adaman Sea toward the island state Penang. (VOPB-WMKP)

[MM]

An early morning departure gave views of the sunrise over the Adaman sea. Unfortunately, unexpected headwinds came with the morning light. The long flight over water was capped with a beautiful approach into Penang.

The island was part of the British colonial Straits Settlements before becoming part of Malaysia after WWII. Originally swampy and malaria stricken, it was known as the "White Man's Graveyard." Neverthless, the capital George Town became one of the region's commercial and financial centers during the 19th century. Now, having been a free port, the island has generated one of Asia's largest electronics manufacturing industries and still attracts Chinese and European immigrants.

[MM]

After a quick brunch at the Eastern and Orient Hotel (one of the great colonial era hotels), leaving for Singapore and Raffles (the most famous of those grand hotels).

[Bry Rosier]

Me Too :ernae: I think you`ll arrive well before me so I expect a nice cold Pint of Tiger on my arrival Please

[MM]

Thunderstorms over Malaysia...anyone surprised. Looked pretty ominous after a while, and it turned out to be a ride. Happy that the weather cleared for a routine final into Singapore. A familiar sight to us all. Now to see the man at Raffles for a spot of refreshment.