rwhsim Heads off to London in the Little Beech

[rwhsim]

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!

[rwhsim]

After some real-life delays, finally getting going.

Taking Off YMEN for YBCV

[rwhsim]

Heavy crosswinds at planned altitude (15000ft) little bit better at 9000ft, only bumpy!

FlightLog_00-08-53.TXT


http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...8rnWH4BFIeFDac

Flight Time: 03:06:56
Routine Ground Time: 00:00:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Refueling, a bite to eat and then off to Mt Isa.

[rwhsim]

Off again YBCV - YBMA

[rwhsim]

Good smooth and fast leg - slight tailwinds.


FlightLog_04-00-25.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...DcBwGmXDketfhU

Flight Time: 02:15:30
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Going to stop over here and get a bit of sleep.

[rwhsim]

Departing YBMA for YPDN

[rwhsim]

FlightLog_17-24-11.TXT


http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...2MH2F9N6QRZ2K8

Flight Time: 02:59:31
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

May the winds remain as they are for the Timor crossing.

[rwhsim]

Taking off YPDN for WAAA

[rwhsim]

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.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...1fYRcYZrYEzaUE

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!

[rwhsim]

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)

[rwhsim]

Made it to Selatar: Good tailwinds but had to resist pushing hard, and keep fuel flow down. Heavy thunderstorms over southern Borneo with some nasty turbulence.

FlightLog_03-42-10.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...qImMUzNVdcgfGw

Flight Time: 04:18:36
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Spending the night at Raffles and press on in the morning

[rwhsim]

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

[rwhsim]

As predicted, very turbulent, rain and thunderstorms pretty much all the way till near the Andaman Islands. Good wind though, but I am afraid they may be the last for a while on this trip.

FlightLog_20-58-22.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...yj1nVTJi3dRIu0

Flight Time: 03:47:58
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

[rwhsim]

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

[rwhsim]

FlightLog_00-45-48.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...hcrSR2TFPza2Vk

Flight Time: 02:54:14
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Back in the smog/fog/dust

[rwhsim]

Departing VEBS for VIAL (NOT Z13T!)

[rwhsim]

Landed at VIAL. Looks like my run of good winds is over! Hard to get any speed out of this one in a 8-10kt headwind.

FlightLog_18-55-21.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...uzHWbQvUprznn0

Flight Time: 01:53:50
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

[rwhsim]

Taking off VIAL for OPKC

[rwhsim]

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.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...E8Ro2B2cKgfm0M

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.

[rwhsim]

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.

[rwhsim]

Well I guess the more southerly route did help; managed to get up to 229Kts GS on a long stretch which would have been impossible further north. Only problem passing over MUSCAT I got the shivers - ICAO code OOMS, is not something a simmer wants to see spelled out. But VAS was happy at over 1.8GB. Having watched the Abu Dhabi GP this last weekend, I am also sure that OMAD looks a lot more "upmarket executive" than this default depiction in P3D!

FlightLog_01-28-34.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...IFCUjdO9252xoo

Flight Time: 03:18:11
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Have to stop here for a day, take in some shopping and see how the very wealthy live.

[rwhsim]

Cannot wait around anymore. Westerly to northwesterly winds are persisting - nothing to be done about that except select the most favorable flight level.

Taking Off OMAD-OEHL

[rwhsim]

Safely down at Hail. No hail but dang these winds!

FlightLog_11-15-57.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...LCErRGJuWbNZQg

Flight Time: 03:26:27
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00

Off to the MET office to see what can be done about the next leg to Alexandria and forecast for beyond

[rwhsim]

Not hanging around any longer in this oasis surrounded by a sea of sand. Met office also reports winds en-route to HEAX are likely to get stronger form the WNW. So off to the historical city of Alexandria.

Taking off OEHL for HEAX

[rwhsim]

Enjoyed that leg; some more scenery to look at once getting to the Sinai Area. Israeli jets left us alone as we skimmed just clear of their airspace. Scared up many camel caravans over Saudi Arabia as we zipped just overhead to dodge strong headwinds above.

FlightLog_01-32-49.TXT

http://fs-duenna.com/flights/ShowFli...aTDVaVKS1CmnaE

Flight Time: 03:06:04
Routine Ground Time: 00:45:00
Special Ground Time: 00:00:00
Penalty Time: 00:00:00