Final entry, sorry it's late! Sunday, March 11th, 2012 -- Wink to Mineola, TX With daylight savings time last night, it’s still dark at 7:30am, but I check the weather and we’re clear here. Unfortunately, as forecast, there’s a storm going from south to north through eastern Texas. If I take off between 9 and 10am, I should arrive after it is through the area. I actually took off at 10:30am and flew through clear skies most of the way across Texas – it’s a BIG state. I saw the storms ahead and the Mineola weather was 500 feet overcast, close to minimums. It hadn’t moved through as quickly as forecast. I was cleared for the approach from 20 miles out and got everything set up. I had asked Wayne about an alternate airport if I couldn’t get in here and Tyler was only 12 miles away, with an ILS approach. So, if this GPS approach didn’t get me low enough, I had a good option. All went well on the approach, Wayne had turned the lights on so I’d have the best chance of seeing the runway and I did with 50 feet to spare. I landed and we hugged. We had a busy afternoon going over the details of his upcoming world flight routing. We also flew in his Bonanza to test his newly installed HF radio. We had good reception from Iowa and New York but only marginal transmission to New York. A little tweaking will be required to improve the output. Monday, March 12, 2012 -- Mineola, TX to Gainesville, FL Three hours down and all the storms are behind me. Only an hour and forty minutes to go and I’ll be home!! Wow, back to normal after eleven months of traveling. It has been an amazing trip. This morning I got up at 7:15am, an hour late due to daylight savings time. I checked the weather first thing. The trip home was do-able by a northern route. The southern route was still blocked by a line of thunderstorms. But, if I went by Montomergy Alabama, I’d stay to the north of the storms and be able to get home. I filed the flight plan, packed and walked to my plane. The weather here was 800 foot overcast, so I needed a void time to get out. I gassed up, called approach for my clearance and took off. It was a smooth climbout through only one thousand feet of clouds. I was cruising on top of the cloud layer at 7000 feet with a 10 knot tailwind. I’d borrowed Wayne’s weather antenna as mine wasn’t working. I could see the line of storms ahead. They were staying south of my course. I had some minor deviations around some small cells and went through some medium rain, but most of the storms stayed to the south. Now it’s a clear smooth flight the rest of the way home. Ahh, it’s good to land at my home airport and be home.

Thursday, March 8th, 2011 California to Texas This flight has been absolutely the worst of the past year. For the last two and a half hours I’ve been flying between 105 and 112 knots into a 40 to 50 knot headwind component and it’s been very bumpy. At this rate, I’ll have to stop for fuel before I reach Texas! Incredible! Normally, heading east, one gets a 30 to 40 knot tailwind. Yesterday the forcast winds showed a forty to fifty knot tailwind. But, I wanted to spend the day with the family. I’m very glad that I did, but I’m suffering today. This continued for another three hours. As I was approaching El Paso, I saw clouds and what looked like showers ahead and the temperature was below freezing. I saw Las Cruses airport to my left, so, I cancelled IFR turned left and landed. I got gas, checked weather and filed another IFR flight plan. The weather showed freezing above 7000 feet, but not below. I questioned whether I would make it past the El Paso showers, but was ready to turn around. After that, the temperatures and rain looked compatible. Ice was my main worry. I took off and climbed to 9000 feet. As I approached El Paso the showers turned out to be a sandy haze from all the wind. No rain and the clouds were higher. I continued feeling that I would make it. After an hour, I could see lower cloud ahead. I had to get down to 7000 feet. ATC gave me a deviation and a descent to 8000 then to 7000 feet. Unfortunately, the temperature was still below freezing, not as forecast. I wouldn’t be able to get below 7000 feet until passing Midland about 100 miles ahead. I wasn’t ready to go VFR. Suddenly there was a slight shower and ice on the windshield. I didn’t want to wait for any accumulation, I’d been looking at an intermediate airport, Winkler County, and turned that way, started a descent and call ATC to cancel IFR. After landing at this empty airport, I heard a voice over the radio, “do you want avgas?” I said no, just tie-down. I walked toward the building and a man came to the door and told me to wipe the stickers off my shoes (I had walked across the grass and there are stickers everywhere). He turned out to be the airport manager, Charlie. He’s lived and breathed airports and flying all his life and has been here for over 20 years. We had a great discussion over dinner and he dropped me off at the hotel. In the morning we again had more interesting talks over breakfast and he drove me back to the airport. Many times the unexpected turns out okay. Small airports will increase your faith in the good of people. Here Charlie was most helpful and friendly. I have found that it’s the same most places in the world. I checked and rechecked the weather, waited for the temperatures to increase, called Wayne and headed out. The biggest worry was the first part with some light rain showers between here and Midland. After that it cleared up and warmed up and I could pick up my IFR flight plan and fly through rain to Wayne’s airport, east of Dallas. The first half hour was good visibility with the cloud layer above 4000 feet and the icing layer at the same place. I had to stay about 3800 feet (1000 feet above ground level) to stay above obstacles. In the oil field there are lots of towers, mostly short, but some high ones. Then I got into misty rain and low visibility. With icing above me and towers below, I made the decision to turn around. Twenty five minutes later I was back on the ground and Charlie was helping me to tie-down. If that rain south of Midland didn’t blow through, I wouldn’t make it today. I continued watching the weather. At 3pm I made the no-go decision and called Wayne. Another night in Wink, TX. This morning the cloud layer is 1000 feet above the ground and lower at other airports in the area. The temperature is 3C (37F). I won’t be going anywhere before noon. There’s still a slight chance that I’ll be able to fly to Dallas today. We’ll see. No go again today. Charlie and I had some long conversations about politics, religion, the history of the west Texas oilfield and life in general. It was an interesting day. The west Texas oilfield has been a history of booms and busts. Right now, with the new Gulf and Alaskan oil closed, it’s booming here. The flat scrub land is crisscrossed with power lines and small wells bobbing up and down. There are parallel dirt roads where oilmen check the wells daily. Pilots fly the pipelines at 300 feet to inspect for leaks. One pilot came here for fuel the other day. He wasn’t going to fly much longer due to the weather and most of the other pilots hadn’t flown that day. The local town, Kermit, is busy and restaurants are doing well. But the infrastructure isn’t good. Most kids leave after high school. Many of the oilfield workers come in trailers and don’t buy homes. They are highly transient. Normally it’s sunny, hot and dry. The rain that we got two nights ago, which was only a trace, is the first in two years. The weather channel even called this “freaky weather” with a low that won’t move. And, I get stuck here! It’s been interesting.

March 4th, 2012 – Hawaii to Stockton, California Four and a half hours down, less than twelve to go. The winds haven’t been as forecast. I was supposed to have very slight headwinds changing early to tailwinds. I’ve had 10 to 15 knot headwinds all the time. I certainly hope they change. I had originally scheduled to depart at 1am to get into Stockton before dark. But decided that I needed more sleep, so changed my departure to 3am. The alarm woke me up at 2:05. I’d slept well. I checked winds and weather and the handler, Air Services Hawaii representative Shanna, picked me up at 2:20 am as planned. I preflighted the plane as we waited for the USDA representative to come and sign me off. Finally I jumped into the cockpit and started the engine. I couldn’t reach Honolulu departure from the ground, but it was VFR, so I could depart and get my clearance in the air. Everything was good with the run-up, so I lined up and took off. It was pitch black with overcast skies at 4000 feet. I stayed on the instruments and followed the published departure procedure. I reached Honolulu departure, they gave me my clearance and I climbed to 7000 feet on my way. I had a few bumps going through clouds and when I turned my head to look left behind me, I saw an orange three quarter moon in the western sky. By its light, I could tell that I was above a cloud layer. Honolulu wanted me to confirm HF contact prior to losing communication, so I reeled out the antenna and called. No answer on either frequency. I called back on VHF and told them that I didn’t have contact. He gave me a third frequency to try which worked beautifully. I heard him loud and clear. Honolulu stayed with me for another half an hour, then handed me off to San Francisco radio and wished me a good flight. I figured out my first few reporting points and gave them to SF radio. It was cold and dark, I turned on the heat and checked the winds; terrible, a 10 knot headwind component. I didn’t want to do much while it was dark, I would change batteries, charge the satellite phone and download the JPI when it got light. I didn’t want to move things around and maybe drop something in the dark. So, I looked outside and enjoyed the stars and moon. I called SF radio at the first reporting point but didn’t hear a reply. I tried again, then tried the secondary frequency. Nothing. I called on VHF, but no-one was within range. A few minutes later an airliner called me on VHF, it wasn’t easy to hear, but I got the information across and he transmitted it to SF radio. I looked up and saw a bright spot on the eastern horizon. Yeah, daylight, already. I knew I’d feel better as night turned into day. It was a beautiful sunrise with a few reddish clouds and blue sky above. At the next reporting point again I had HF transmission problems and a New Zealand airliner relayed the information. Afterwards, he asked what kind of plane I was and how long I had to go. I got the idea that he didn’t like the idea of sitting in a small plane for 15 hours. Finally I have good HF communication and I continue reporting twice an hour. As seven hours approaches running on the ferry tank, I start feeling how much gas is left and watching the fuel pressure gage. I want to use as much as possible without running it dry. After seven hours and twenty six minutes I finally switch to the left-wing tank. Now I can relax and I’ll only switch tanks on the hour. I’ve got over 11 hours of fuel remaining for less than eight more hours of flying. The HF with San Francisco continues well. I also try Scott, a ham radio buff in Hawaii that I’ve been trying to reach all across the Pacific. Unfortunately again today, we can’t hear each other. I eat half my sandwich and a few macademia nut cookies that Air Services Hawaii gave me and drink water. I’m feeling pretty good and keep doing my leg exercises. After my last HF reporting point I couldn’t reach the VHF controller nor the HF controller. Two airliners tried to relay, but the controller just replied that I’d reach him soon. Finally he relayed a squawk code. Then he asked me to ident and finally we were in communication. It was night as I came over the brightly lit bay area. San Francisco and Oakland airports were to my left, San Jose and others were to my right. The controller kept pointing out Boeings and Airbuses descending around me and going above and below me. He did a great job. Someone had advised them that I was at the end of a 15 hour flight and they took good care of me. I was finally handed off to Stockton tower who brought me in ahead of an MD80 and another jet. I landed and he welcomed me to Stockton. After shutting down, I got out on wobbly legs and was greeted by Larry, a Bonanza pilot that I’d met at Oshkosh (he’s a friend of another earthrounder, Wayne). Larry got me to the hotel, had a beer with me and then I slept soundly. Monday, March 5th, 2012 – Top Gun Aviation and to LA The reason for flying to Stockton was to visit Top Gun Aviation and to get my gear actuator fixed. In Perth, we’d put an “old” spring into the actuator. Since that time, Tom, at Top Gun, had obtained a new spring and we’d set this date for it to be installed in the Mooney. They are knowledgeable and quick. I was out by noon. Larry and I had spent the time talking about flying around the world. He’s going to be flying with Wayne, in Wayne’s Bonanza, later this year. It’s a charity flight for Wings of Hope. More details will soon be available. I’d already filed a flight plan this morning to head to Brackett Field in southern California so that I could spend a few days with my brother and his family. It’s so easy be back in the US. I just pulled up www.fltplan.com, entered my information and voila, the flight plan is complete. I checked the weather and notams and I’m on my way. Boy, is it good and easy to be back home!

Thursday, March 1st, 2012 – on Christmas Island I’m using the local phones and can’t reach anyone. The Kiribati oil company contact isn’t answering his phone and the airport manager isn’t available. Finally I reach the Kiribati switchboard and explain that I need avgas today. She seemed to think that I wouldn’t arrive until later today. That might explain why they weren’t at the airport to give me fuel when I landed yesterday and why they didn’t contact the airport about my arrival which they said they would do. Hmmm. I asked that they contact me at the hotel for refueling today. This is only a small island with about 5000 people. Captain Cook is the only hotel and everyone knows what’s going on. It wasn’t too long before the woman at the desk knocked on my door to say that the van with the fuel was here to take me to the airport. Off we went. Refueling was quick, efficient and expensive. It’s almost the most expensive on this trip, just behind Muscat and ahead of Djibouti. $1010 for a barrel. That’s $18.30 per gallon. I’m looking forward to filling up in Hawaii at ONLY $7 per gallon! While I was gassing up a man came up and started asking questions. He turned out to be the former Airport Manager and I went to see him after completing the refueling. His name is “Weather” and he is extremely knowledgeable and friendly. He was the airport manager for 14 years and loves the airport. Although retired, he still works as the “tower” controller most days. He lives at the airport and can’t believe that the current manager is allowed to live 20 kilometers away without any transportation to the airport. She works from her house. It seems there are a lot of politics in play here. Weather called the airport manager and I explained that I’d spoken with Brian and he was okay with me departing at 6:30am on Friday morning (tomorrow). She asked about avgas and I said that I had already been refueled. She said that she needed time to check with others and would contact immigration and customs and get back to me this afternoon. It was 11am. Weather called the customs person and he confirmed that he was awaiting the airport manager’s approval before completing the paperwork for my departure. I walked the old taxiway that I would be using to get from the ramp to the runway. Brian’s crew was tearing up the normal taxiway for resurfacing. There was lots of grass growing and some small trees starting, but I cleared off the worst stones and it looked good enough for me to taxi out. I returned to the airport “hut.” Weather and I talked on and off. Then he asked what I was going to do tomorrow, if the paperwork wasn’t approved. I acted dumb, although I’d been thinking seriously about my options. He said that I could give the customs payment to Brian and depart without paperwork. I agreed but said that it would be better if the customs guy would come here for the payment. Also, I didn’t want to put Brian in the middle. Weather was definitely on my side and would help me to depart. That was positive. Friday March 2nd, 2012/Thursday March 1st, 2012 – to Hawaii Mark and Brian gave me a wonderful send off. Mark drove me to the airport and checked the runway while I loaded the plane. “Weather” wished me well and I wished him all the best in his future job and in New Zealand. Brian stopped by to show me a picture of the Mooney that he used to fly. We all took pictures by the plane and said goodbye. I checked everything, started up, taxied out and took off. I circled back and waggled my wings at the group that was waving. After all the angst of yesterday, I’m on my way and smiling. I could see dark clouds ahead right away. Very little showed on the storm scope, but I deviated slightly left to avoid the worst of it. I was in medium rain for a while and came out the other side, but saw another cell ahead. Again, little was showing on the storm scope but I deviated again. This time the rain was stronger and lasted longer. Finally the clouds started to brighten and I came out the other side to blue skies. I’d tried reaching San Francisco radio after takeoff, but I’d reeled in the antenna before entering the stormy areas. Now I reeled it out again and heard them right away. I received my clearance and gave them the next reporting point. Several minutes later they requested my position which I gave them. The winds are over 30 knots out of the east, which was forecast, but I only have a 10 knot headwinds component, so I’m cruising at 136 knots groundspeed, which is slightly faster than I’d flight planned. That felt better than the last flight leg. I email Wes to report on the HF reception and settle down for the flight. Several minutes after my next report with San Francisco radio, they call me back again and ask for my present position. I’m beginning to wonder what’s wrong, but I didn’t ask, I just gave them my latitude and longitude. I called Air Services Hawaii and advised them that I ‘d be about 45 minutes early and could they advise customs. Coming into Hawaii airspace I was given a new squawk code and started talking on VHF with Honolulu approach. Things were familiar again. They handed me off to tower and I did a visual approach into the 10,000 foot long runway on the west coast of the big island of Hawaii. I was happy to be back in the USA.

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 – Pago Pago to Christmas Island, Kiribati I’ve flown almost five hours and have five and a half to go. This is the first break I’ve had to write anything. Right from the start, I’ve been zigzagging around clouds to avoid thunderstorms. Everything went well for the departure. The airport was empty as no commuter planes were scheduled. The security guard stopped me as I was entering the customs and immigration area. I explained what I was doing (and I had my captain’s shirt on), so he let me go. I’d already cleared everything with customs, immigration and the airport police last evening. I took off from runway 05 with an eight knot wind down the runway and climbed over the island to the northeast. Already, on the east side of the island I could see my first thunderstorm. The weather this morning had shown only one major cell and the forecast was for dissipation. This one looked like it was in its final stages, but I still wanted to go around and not through it. On the other side I could see a buildup ahead. And this continued for the first four and a half hours. In between storms, I reeled out the HF antenna and tried to make contact with Auckland Radio. Faleolo, the Samoa control around Pago Pago did not answer when I called after departure. It must have been too early for them to start. So, I didn’t have an IFR clearance. Yesterday evening I made another modification to the HF, recommended by Wes, and I was convinced it would work today. I could just pick up the Hawaii time announcement on 15,000 Megacycles. But it was faint. I made calls to Auckland Radio, assuming that they could hear me (which they have been able to do on the past few flights). The only good thing about these storms is that I have an overcast layer of clouds keeping me cool. I remember this flight leg in 2003, I roasted in the cockpit, it was so hot. With the thunderstorms behind me, the sky is clear and it’s starting to get hot. I have sun shields covering the windows where the sun is coming in and hopefully I won’t roast this afternoon. Unfortunately, the headwinds have been a little stronger than forecast. Not impossible, I don’t have to turn back, but making the flight about 40 minutes longer than planned. I’ll still arrive before dusk on Christmas Island. I’ve heard other stories of pilots circling the island to alert someone to turn on the NDB and lights. Every 30 minutes I would call on the air traffic control HF frequencies and listen. Once I heard San Francisco radio very clearly. I tried calling, but he didn’t hear me. I had also set up a schedule with a ham radion operator, Scott, in Hawaii. We’d talked during my 2008 flight to Guam. Unfortunately, I had no contact with him either. One hour and thirty minutes before my arrival I finally talked with San Francisco radio. It was very clear and he heard me clearly. He gave me my clearance and I explained that I couldn’t reach Faleolo on departure and hadn’t talked with anyone until now. We kept in contact until I reached Christmas Island by VHF radio. A commuter was departing and I would arrive about 20 minutes after he left. Perfect timing for having people at the airport as most airports are only manned when commuter flights are scheduled. What a beautiful site, this small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 10 and a half hours from Pago Pago! I was happy to stretch when I got out. Immigration, customs and quarantine met me at the plane and I gave them all my paperwork as well as my departure forms. The airport manager came to see me, “we have a problem” she said. In her office she explained that there is a landing permit required and I didn’t have one. I agreed and explained about the process that I had gone through to get information and to contact this airport. I showed her the list of phone numbers that I had tried over the past three weeks and which didn’t respond. I told her about the email contacts and the last one with the avgas representative who said that he would contact the airport about my arrival. The only good news is that Wednesday, today, is the only day that arrivals and departures are permitted. Phew, lucky for me. But, she told immigration and customs not to stamp my paperwork for departure. I walked out to the ramp and tried her direct phone number again from the satellite phone, it still wasn’t working. Within the island, the phones worked, but not from outside. I told her that I often work with pilots doing long-distance flights and if she could help me to get this information, I would pass it on to others to avoid this situation in the future. Unfortunately, she gave me no further information. I asked for an email address where we could obtain airport information, notams, contacts, etc. She could give me no internet address. She said not to worry and started working on my hotel reservation. We loaded my bag and me into the back of a pick-up with 5 other people and drove me to Captain Cook hotel. During the evening I met Brian. He’s the project manager for the runway reconstruction. Apparently there is a notam for the runway closure. Unfortunately, even the people in Tarawa approved a US coastguard plane to land here last week. Also, three days ago, a ferry flight landed. Each time the workers are required to pull off the runway, increasing costs. His company is threatening the airport manager with charges for their cost over runs due to these issues. Each time they pull off it costs them $10,000. Luckily for me, they don’t work on the runway on Wednesday due to the commuter flight. He said that I didn’t cause any problems, but that the airport manager is getting stressed about the situation. He knows that the airport and island phones don’t work (from outside the island) and his company has its own communications set-up. He said that a Friday 6:30 am departure would be good for them, before they start putting equipment on the runway.

Monday, February 27th, 2012 – Tonga to Pago Pago I had an early breakfast and the shuttle drove me to the airport. The first plane was at 10am and I arrived at 8am, so people were just starting to arrive. One person from Airport Operations drove me from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. Here was the office for flight planning and payment and I’d parked my plane on this ramp. I filed my flight plan and paid the fee. On the ramp I talked with the avgas people and told them that I’d taxi over. I’d emailed Sam, who works for Chatham Pacific and had confirmed avgas for me. While I was preflighting a person started walking towards the plane. It had to be Sam. I got out and he gave me a very warm and friendly greeting. Sam is very big, like most Tongans, and very helpful. He was flying off to Fiji, but took the time to meet me. He said everything with the avgas and payment was prepared. I gassed up and paid then taxied over to the international terminal to get stamped out of the country. I thought all was going well until I was intercepted on my way to the immigration office. A man said that I had to come to his office to fill out paperwork. I said that all I needed to do was see immigration and I was ready to depart. My departure time was in 20 minutes. I continued walking. He said that I had to come with him to prepare the General Declaration. I said that I had mine prepared and asked if he was a handling agent. When he said yes, I said that I’d paid my airport fees and didn’t need his help. Inside, the ground services person who helped me on arrival saw me through security, took my paperwork and passport and said he’d handle it, but that I had to go with this man to pay the bills. They were exorbitant, totaling $600. I told them that I’d paid the fees at Airport Services, so they reduced the bill by $100. I was able to depart, only 10 minutes late. I’d seen the satellite weather forecast yesterday evening and later in the day the storms were predicted to get worse, thus the rush to get off as early as possible. While taxiing, the tower asked if my HF was working. I said that I’d done the work recommended by my expert and we’d test it after take-off. When we did the test, I could hear the reply and was ecstatic. Finally it’s working. Hawaii would not let me depart their airspace, to fly to California, if HF wasn’t working, so this was critical. This flight was less than four hours and I had plenty of avgas, so my only worry was the weather. I saw the first storm, very black clouds but no lightning strikes. It also looked like it was dissipating and I was worried about down drafts. I deviated west where it looked lighter and more open. There was a little rain and no bumps; ahead there were some isolated cells that I could deviate slightly left and right to get around. I saw several Tongan islands below me; they looked peaceful and relaxing; what a get-away with such hospitable people. After several deviations it was pretty clear ahead. I had been in VHF radio contact with the airports on the various islands as I crossed over and when I was transferred to Faleolo (Samoa) airspace I asked for another HF check. We tried twice and he heard me, but I didn’t hear him. Hmm, back to Wes after arrival at Pago Pago. When I landed in American Samoa in 2003, there was a tower controller. As I looked at the available frequencies now, it doesn’t show a tower. Faleolo approach and tower was with me until I changed over to Pago Pago Unicom (open frequency where everyone reports their position) then I was to call them back once I landed. The runway was the same, but the taxiways have been added and are enormous. I remembered the layout of some of the buildings, but no-one was there to marshall me to parking. I saw some small planes and parked by them. Customs didn’t come out to see me, so I got out and walked to find someone. I was actually at the wrong end of the terminal, later I found where I’d parked back in 2003. There is also a new hotel, plush, nice, expensive. There is a new military reserve unit next to the airport and this new hotel caters to the military at $139 per room per night. Now I had to get down to work and get avgas confirmed on Christmas Island or find another option to fly to Hawaii. I checked my emails and had one confirming avgas, but it was on Tarawa, a different Kiribati island, about 1000 miles further west. Kiribati island cover a large area in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Christmas Island is one of their eastern most points, Tarawa is far to the west. Having avgas there wasn’t going to help me. They now understood that I meant a different airport and gave me phone numbers and an email address for avgas at Christmas Island. I sent out emails and tried calling, but the “lines” were not working, none of the calls would go through. I was developing a flight plan to go through Tarawa; which required a 10 hour flight there then a 15 hour flight to Honolulu. I didn’t want to do this, but it was my last option. Finally, mid-afternoon, I received an email from the Kiribati Oil representative on Christmas Island confirming avgas. I gave him my arrival time and prepared my flight plans. Phew, finally. This would only be a 10 hour flight then 8 hours to Kona, Hawaii, a much better option. I headed to the airport to file my flight plans and to gas up for tomorrow’s flight.

Saturday, February 25th, 2012 – off to Tonga I got up early to check the weather; everything looked good, including the winds at 5000 and 10000 feet. The last few days had showed a relatively strong headwind but this morning it shows a slight tailwind at the start of the route changing to a slight headwind as I get closer to Tonga. The intertropic convergence zone with thunderstorms has been to the north of Tonga and the satellite weather is still showing it there this morning. A beautiful morning to fly! I make tea and check emails. Arthur has made it home and is happy to be back in his own bed, but has wonderful memories of New Zealand. We had a fantastic time, especially flying in the mountains on the south island. I’m so glad that we could share it. Actually, I’m glad that I had a number of different co-pilots on the trip. They each enjoyed their time doing some international flying and each learned something new. It was great to share their experiences. Jo, the customs inspector, called to say that she was free and could come to the airport earlier than planned. Great, we packed up and headed there straight away. She was efficient and I was pre-flighting in no time. All set, big hugs to the family and I hope it’s not another nine years until we see each other again. I hop in and fire up. Everything looks good, I run on the ferry tank for a while to make sure there is no air in there and I back taxi to the end of the runway.   Chapter 19 – from New Zealand to Hawaii With the wind and cool temperature, I climb quickly, rock my wings as I pass over the terminal and turn left on a northerly heading. Christchurch information gives me a squawk code and says there is no reported IFR traffic on my route. I climb to 5000 feet and settle in for the trip. At my first waypoint, KALAG, I called Christchurch Information on VFR, but had no response. Time to switch to HF. I reeled out the antenna and the frequency was the same as coming to New Zealand, 8867. I didn’t hear much static and throught that I might still have a reception problem. Wes, my HF guru, had emailed me a potential fix, which I’d done, but not tested. Now it looked as if that wasn’t the problem. I called Auckland Radio and gave my position report. No answer. I tried fiddling with several buttons and reeled out more antenna. Still no reception. I gave “operations normal” transmissions and listened on 121.5 on my VHF radio, in case anyone tried to call me . After a while I realized that it was an assumption on my part (since it had been the case with my previous HF transmissions) that Auckland could hear me. If they couldn’t they might send out Search and Rescue people. I had to make sure they could hear me. I called on 121.5 to ask if anyone could make a relay for me. A New Zealand airliner answered and made the relay. They confirmed that Auckland was receiving my transmissions. I thanked them and said that I would continue making “operations normal” reports. Well, that feels better. Now I know they can receive; but I still need to work on my reception. I had seen two potential stormy areas forecast for my route. Now I can see them ahead. With a slight left deviation I can pass behind them and not get any bumps. With less than four hours to go, it’s time for a little lunch. Helen has prepared homemade cheese, which is delicious, and garden plumbs, which are very juicy. That’ll keep me going. Well, I passed through them with no trouble at all and I’m over half way there still with slight tailwinds, yeah. The fifth hour was about two hours long. The groundspeed kept decreasing from 150 to 145 to 135 to 129 as the winds changed. Everytime I looked at the GPS, the estimated time enroute stayed the same. Now I have less than two hours to go and things seem to be stable. I called Wes, my HF guru, on the satellite phone. He was out dancing with Sandy for their Friday night out. He gave me a few things to try, but I still couldn’t receive anything. Then, when I returned to 8875, I heard a voice giving a report. I couldn’t understand all the words, but I had reception. As I look ahead, there are low clouds, but no cumulonimbus growing. That’s great; let’s hope it stays that way. The people of Tonga are extremely friendly. The ground crew escorted me to immigration and customs. Then I taxied the plane over to the domestic ramp to park and they drove me back to the international arrivals. I was walking up and down looking for an information booth or hotel information and another person helped me, made the reservation and got me a taxi to the lodge. Most helpful here. Amazingly the lodge is between groups and I have the place to myself!! The waves are breaking on the beach as I write; it’s relaxing and beautiful. Unfortunately, their internet isn’t working. Maybe that’s a good thing now-a-days. I’ll relax and enjoy the scenery! I chose a small lodge on the south coast away from the major town. This is very relaxing, but without a car, there is no touring. However, with just a day, I can enjoy the beach, waves pounding on the rock formations, and talk with the locals. Using the satellite phone, I finally reached someone at Kiribati airport. I’d tried many times from New Zealand, without luck. I’d reached the tourist phone and they’d tried to send a message to the airport. I explained that I wanted to land there for avgas. Although the connection was very bad, I heard him say that they didn’t have any avgas. He was trying to give me a number for more information. After several repeats, I finally got the number. I’d been texting Wes about the HF, so asked him to contact Thom, another earthrounder pilot about avgas in Kiribati. Hopefully I’ll have news this afternoon. Without internet, communication is difficult. Right now the power is out for three hours. When it comes back on, the manager will pick me up and take me to her office to use her internet connection. These people are most hospitable. I finally got the number for the tower in Kiribati airport (or so I thought). The tower controller, a woman, will check. When I call her back, she confirms avgas. Great, now I feel better. But, there were people in the background and she was giving instructions to a plane. Christmas Island airport usually isn’t that busy. I started to think that maybe it wasn’t the right tower. When the owner took me to her work place so that I could use internet, I checked the satellite weather and forecast. It wasn’t all that bad. Some cells, but not too big. If I needed to deviate, it should be to the west around them. Wes had sent a recommended fix for my HF reception problem and a lot of people from New Zealand sent best wishes for my crossing and were watching the SPOT as I made it to Tonga. Sorry I didn’t have time to respond, but I will when I get a good internet connection.

Monday, February 20, 2012 – heading north in the Mooney With a big hug to Jo, we climbed into the plane and fired up. I was back in the Mooney after a week in the Cessna 172 and we were heading into a valley to cross the Southern Alps in the Mooney. We’d mapped out the course with Megan yesterday evening and Matt had called with the weather this morning. It was looking good here in Wanaka and on the coast in Haast at the other side of the pass. Overall the clouds over the mountains looked pretty high, so off we went. At 3000 feet we flew over Lake Wanaka and everything looked as it had each day that we’d flown in this area. We headed up the river and over the airport of Makarora and made our radio calls. As we started up the valley, I stayed to the right hand side and we looked ahead. The valley narrowed and we could see the saddle that we needed to pass over. There were lower clouds on the other side and mist and rain. It didn’t look good. I dropped the gear and flaps and slowed down (as Matt had taught us) as we approached the saddle. I stayed as far right as possible and started a slow turn to the left so that Arthur could look into the pass as I continued turning. He said “no, it doesn’t look good.” So, I continued turning and we returned down the valley, heading back. Better to be safe. We’d seen conditions like that with Matt and Arthur didn’t think a Cessna 172 would have made it through there. We were bummed, but started on plan B which was to cross the Lindis Pass and follow the high-tension lines around Christchurch. It took a while to get our bearings, as we hadn’t done the detailed planning on this route, but found a road, crossed the pass, found the wires, and headed northeast. The mountains got lower and we felt good. Entering Christchurch airspace, we made our radio calls and continued north-north-east. Ahead we had a choice, to go around the coast or to try another pass through these eastern mountains to Nelson on the north coast. I found a valley on the chart and discussed it with Arthur. There was one high pass, but another valley to the east looked lower which then joined the western valley a little further north. That looked good to us both. As we got close it took a while to pick out the right entrance but once we were sure, we headed into it, following a road, river and wires. At the top end, we turned left then right and joined the main valley. The mountains were higher, about 7000 feet, we were below the clouds at 5500 feet and descending as the clouds got lower. We received the Nelson weather which was 3000 feet broken and 4000 feet broken. We hoped that the clouds would stay high enough until we got out the north end of the mountains. But, we always had plenty of room to turn around. Arthur stayed on the chart, I followed the terrain on the GPS and after two turns the valley got wider. We were down to 3500 feet as we came out the north end of the valley into the open area just south of Nelson airspace. We had a slight deviation around restricted airspace, then set a course directly to Motueka. Even though we were below Nelson airspace, we gave a call to let them know where we were. They said to stay clear of their airspace which we had planned to do. Ten miles from Motueka, we started calling on their frequency. There were several training planes in the area and we saw one in the pattern. We followed it in, landed and parked. We were proud to have done our first VFR flight through the mountains alone. Now we have a day in the Abel Tasman National Park before heading north to Auckland.

Friday, February 17th, 2012 – Stewart Island After a very successful morning of fishing and touring the forests of several smaller islands around Stewart Island, climbed back into our trusty Cessna 172 and headed north. We followed the coast for a while seeing rugged and jagged cliffs alternating with beautiful beaches. There are very few houses along this coastal area, but a few hardy souls enjoy life here. After Nugget Point we turned north and inland and followed the Clutha River. The southern area is fertile with lots of farms, then we saw orchards and finally we returned to the dry area that we’d seen several days previously. After gassing up at Alexandra we followed the Manuherikia River northeast to St. Bathans, a very small mining town, then crossed over a pass and down the valley back home to Gordie Hill Station. Saturday, February 18th, 2012 – to Mt. Cook The weather looked like it was going to deteriorate as the day progressed, so we opted for an early start to get the best possible conditions to see Mt. Cook. We took off and headed north, through valleys and over saddles with Megan explaining what we were seeing and where to head. We kept climbing as the terrain to the north was getting higher and we needed to finish at about 9,000 feet altitude. There was not much wind and the air was relatively smooth. After we crossed over the Landsborough River, we could see the Mueller Glacier to our right and the Douglas Glacier on our left. The whole time we could see Mt. Cook ahead, which kept getting bigger and bigger. As Mt. Cook passed off to our right at 12,316 feet, we could see a helicopter letting passengers out for a walk around on the Fox Glacier. We continued around Mt. Cook to the north and east sides, over more glaciers before descending down the Tasman Glacier as we headed to Mt. Cook airport. The views were spectacular. Being mid-summer, the glaciers are a little “dirty” with a layer of soil and rocks on top, but still huge. We landed at Mt. Cook airport and headed into the village to read all about the history of its discovery and attempts to climb it: Aoraki / Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand, reaching 3,754 metres (12,316 ft). It lies in the Southern Alps, the mountain range which runs the length of the South Island. A UNESCO World Heritage site and popular tourist destination, it is also a favorite challenge for mountain climbers. The first European known to see Aoraki / Mount Cook was Abel Tasman, on December 13, 1642 during his first Pacific voyage. The English name of Mount Cook was given to the mountain in 1851 by Captain John Lort Stokes to honour Captain James Cook who first surveyed and circumnavigated the islands of New Zealand in 1770. Captain Cook did not sight the mountain during his exploration. The Southern Alps on the South Island were formed by tectonic uplifting and pressure as the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates collided along the island's western coast. The uplifting continues, raising Aoraki / Mount Cook an average of 7 millimetres (0.28 in) each year. However, erosive forces are also powerful shapers of the mountains. The severe weather is due to the mountain's jutting into powerful westerly winds of the Roaring Forties which run around approximately 45°S latitude, south of both Africa and Australia. The Southern Alps are the first obstacle the winds encounter after South Africa and Australia, having moved east across the Southern Ocean. The height of Aoraki / Mount Cook was established in 1881 by G. J. Roberts (from the west side) and in 1889 by T. N. Brodrick (from the Canterbury side). Their measurements agreed closely at 12,349 feet (3,764 m). The height was reduced by 10 metres (33 ft) when approximately 12-14 million cubic metres of rock and ice fell off the northern peak on 14 December 1991. Mt Cook lies in the center of the distinctive alpine fault, a 650km long active fault in the Southern Alps. It is responsible for the uplift of Mt Cook and is considered to move every 100-300 years . It last moved in 1717. Sir Edmund Hillary spent a lot of time in this region and used it when getting prepared for his Mt. Everest climb. He is revered in New Zealand and his face is on the NZ $5 bill. Clouds were starting to appear and the wind was picking up out of the west. We took off and headed south down the east side of the Tasman River and Lake Pukaki. The land is relatively flat and barren but they have salmon farms in the lake and river. We landed at Omarama for a gas stop and watched gliders being towed up. This is the center for glider flying in New Zealand and competitions are held here annually. From here we could follow the high tension wires home to Gordie Hill. We were extremely lucky with the weather. Megan said she’d never had such a smooth flight around Mt. Cook (and two days ago she’d said the same thing about Milford Sound). Both can have a high density of sightseeing planes and helicopters but on both days we had the places to ourselves.

Thursday, February 16th, 2012 – to Milford Sound and Stewart Island What a morning! We flew between the peaks and over glaciers to the west coast; there were magnificent views of the glaciers and mountain lakes, some with waterfalls. Then we landed on a beach at low tide and finally flew down the coast into Milford Sound. This is very narrow by the shore, but opens a bit after that. We hugged the south shore as departing aircraft stay close to the north shore. The visibility was great and the air was unusually smooth. We could see the runway ahead and there was no traffic so we continued past the airport a little way into the valley beyond, still hugging the south shore and descending a little. Then a relatively tight left turn to set ourselves up for final. Power off as we descended to the other side of the trees, then ready to add power if we hit sink before the runway. Endng with another smooth landing by Arthur. Here we sit at the end of Milford Sound with towering peaks all around us. Amazing! After a light lunch we climbed in again and headed down Arthur pass and wound our way between valleys, around two big peaks, Mt. Irene and Coronation Peak and over George, Caswell and Charles Sounds . Ending up over Doubtful sound, named by Cook because he thought it was just a bay and not a sound, we turned east, descended, flew over a low pass, descended over a hydro plant that supplies energy to Invercargill and finally landed at Manapouri. It looked like Wyoming with a flat valley but mountains on one side. It was beautiful. After gassing up and having tea and Jo’s date cake, we took off again and flew south to Stewart Island. This flight was over a rich farm valley between low hills on each side opening up to bays on the Southern Ocean. There we flew about 15 miles across to Steward Island, flew down the rugged east coast and landed at the airport on a quiet bay. The small town on the bay had maybe 50 houses and Megan told us the whole island only had 8 kilometers of road.

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 – Flying around Wanaka to Milford Sound Matt is educating us while we are flying. He’s quietly and systematically explaining about contour flying and staying on one side of the valley, tight to the hill, to allow plenty of room to turn around if necessary. As we approach a saddle he explains as he starts his turn that we do this to allow both a crossing of the saddle or a return up the same valley if the next valley doesn’t look good. He’s always keeping his options open. The views are spectacular and I’m videoing left, right and straight ahead to capture the mountains, valleys, lakes and small mountain strips. We fly over a lake as Matt heads towards another sheep station strip. We fly around once as he explains the lay of the land, the strip and how to fly the approach to make the most use of the available space. We fly low over the hills and make a descending turn before lining up with the runway and landing. We get out to stretch our legs and take some pictures. Walking up a little we see a hangar nestled between two small banks. The walls are only 3 feet high and the ramp descends to the floor between the hills. Small, economical and excellent protection against strong winds. Take off and fly down the valley to Wanaka. Matt makes the radio calls, Arthur flies and I take videos and pictures of the views. After gassing up and checking the weather, we head towards some valleys that will take us to Milford Sound, but are ready to turn around if necessary. As we head up one valley and the clouds are looking pretty low ahead, Arthur asks if he should descend. Matt answers no. I ask when we make the decision to turn around. Matt says in a few miles. Obviously Arthur and I are unsure of the situation. Matt starts to explain how to safely explore in these conditions. He says to slow down to about 70 knots with 20 degrees of flaps; the Cessna 172 flies happily and smoothly with low power in this configuration. We proceed slowly forward, staying on one side of the valley, close to the mountain. There is one saddle that we can’t get over, so we continue to look at another to the left ahead. It looks ok, but Matt says that we’ll continue to keep our options open as we turn. We proceed into the next valley staying close to the right side. As we look ahead, the clouds are lower and it doesn’t look good. We have plenty of room to turn around and return back up the first valley. Arthur and I both feel comfortable and safe with this method of exploring although neither of us have done it before. We return over another lake, up another valley and decide to land on another sheep station strip. Actually this is a red deer station. Red deer are a large deer that is farm raised for its meat. The history of this is fascinating: Sir Tim Wallis (born 9 September 1938) is a New Zealand businessman and aviation entrepreneur. He pioneered live deer capture from helicopters, which led to a significant industry in New Zealand. He was a leader and international representative of the deer farming industry. Wallis also founded the Alpine Fighter Collection and the Warbirds over Wanaka air show. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994 for services to deer farming, export and the community. Pioneer of the live deer recovery industry in New Zealand's South Island, Wallis built an aviation empire around helicopter operations, pulling valuable animals out of the rugged high country.[1] For many years he held monopoly over the rights to commercial hunting in Fiordland National Park. Moving into deer farming during the 1970s, he was among the first to see the potential of the industry in New Zealand and his farm, Criffel, became a centre of excellence for high quality genetics and served as a model for many other farmers. The world's first deer auction was held on his farm in 1977.[2] His company, Alpine Deer Group forged trade relationships in Russia, Korea and Hong Kong that saw exports of velvet, antler, pizzle and even live deer to Asia. The strip was difficult to identify with all the brown grass but we landed and got out to walk around and look at the deer fences which need to be about eight feet high to keep the deer in (or out – off the runway). We returned to Wanaka for lunch and visited the museum, then returned home for tea. It was an amazing day for the sites we saw and for the mountain/valley flying that we are learning. The weather this morning looked low overcast and I figured we weren’t going anywhere, so I started working on emails and documentation. Matt called on the radio to say that we’d meet at 9:30am for coffee and discussion about today’s flying. Once there, he said the weather further south was looking much better and that we could make it to Mandeville and spend the day in their shop and museum. We headed out to the planes (another couple from England, Bob and June, were in the second Cessna 172 and would also fly to Mandeville today). We headed down one valley at about 3000 feet with excellent visibility. Matt called Queenstown information and tower with position reports and we continued over their airport and turned south east over a beautiful lake nestled between two mountains. At the end of the lake we flew over an old steam train that was making its way back to town – the engineer waved to us! Slowly the clouds descended and the visibility deteriorated. We descended to 1900 feet, stayed below the clouds and close to the right side of the valley. Ahead it looked like a small rain shower. Matt pointed out the saddle we would normally pass over but it was a little tight to the clouds, so we continued down the valley and the long way around. All was quiet in the cabin as Matt slowed the plane, dropped the flaps and focused on the weather ahead. I was filming the whole time and felt comfortable that we always had enough altitude and visibility. Finally we saw the valley opening up ahead and knew that the airport was within reach. I asked Matt afterwards and he said that we were almost at his limit before turning around. One must always keep a healthy respect for the weather and mountains. A Tiger Moth was departing as we were landing, then Bob and June arrived. We had an enjoyable hour touring the Croyden Aircraft Company Ltd. They have a Beach Staggerwing restoration well underway. A Fox Moth and several Tiger Moths are in process with about ten fuselage structures already welded. There is a Comet which is progressing slowly and a number of planes stored in the adjacent hangar waiting to be started. The museum hangar houses several Tiger Moths and Rapides, a Fox Moth, as well as a selection of other old aircraft. They have a replica Pither which is believed to be the first powered plane in New Zealand. Although it is undocumented, there is much anecdotal evidence and many believe that it flew before 1911. Who would believe that all this could be on display in the south part of the south island of New Zealand! We had a great time. Off again, heading north and back to Gordie Hill Station. The weather had improved, but we had a little rain on the left side of a valley as we stuck to the right side, heading north. We circled a gold mine/dredging operation as we arrived at Alexandra for a gas stop. Another amazing day of flying in the valleys of the south island.

Saturday, February 11th, 2012 – Masterton to Omaka After lunch with Kerry and a look at the weather, we headed out, VFR across the Cook Strait to Omaka. The ceiling had lifted and it was looking brighter. With a good briefing from Kerry and looking at the charts, we only had to navigate down a valley, under Wellington airspace, across the strait to Omaka airport. Less than an hour. The fields in the valley between the higher tree covered hills to the west and the lower brown hills to the east were a beautiful scene. Everything was neat and pretty. The farm-boy in Arthur was enjoying it. I called our position as we reached the first visual reporting point on the coast, then at the second reporting point. There were no responses, so we continued over the airport then landed on runway 12. There were three grass runways which were a little difficult to pick out as everything was brown in this area. But, all around we could see the green vineyards of the famous Marlborough wine area. After shutting down, we walked to the open aeroclub hangar and found Chris and John, two locals who were manning the phone and holding down the fort until the chief pilot returned. There were two completely rebuilt Tomahawk airplanes in the hangar – they looked new. Their panels and interiors had been complete redone and they had new paint. John explained that the 300 member club needed new trainers, but couldn’t find anything better than their existing Tomahawks for these grass runways, so, in Kiwi fashion, they rebuilt them completely and now have two almost new looking Tomahawks. The museum was close-by, but would take several hours to visit, so we’d save that for tomorrow. When we started talking about accommodation they suddenly remembered that there was a wine festival going on and all hotels would be booked. Travis, the chief pilot, had returned and he started calling some hotels, John started calling some B&Bs and both worked frantically to find us a place for the night. After lots of “sorry, no vacancy” Travis found a room and reserved it. We jumped into John’s car and he drove us there before we lost it. What helpful local pilots. Arthur sees this as aviation the way it was in the US in the fifties – only low wooden fences around the airport, small hangars with knowledgeable and helpful people working in aviation, and the spirit of aviation at every field. He’s really loving it here in New Zealand. In the morning we visited the museum – it’s world-class. Absolutely superbly done. Each plane is in a setting where it brings out the plane, its history and the type of flying it did. So far the museum covers WWI planes, but a second hangar for WWII planes is in the planning. The planes are beautifully restored and displayed starting with an Italian Caproni Ca2, which is a parasol monoplane, built in 1913. They have a fabulous depiction of Baron von Richthofen’s plane being looted after finally being shot down by an Australian gunner. Incredibly, many of the items have been recovered and are displayed in various museums. One of the pilots from the AeroClub, John, invited us to lunch on his vineyard. His wife, Jenny, prepared a simple but delicious quiche, salad and desert, all with homegrown vegetables. Their house overlooks the airport and vineyards. But, they call this “moving into town” as they used to live and work on a sheep station further south. Although we would consider this still country living, for them it’s “in town.” Following the wonderful lunch and vineyard tour, we loaded up and flew around the coast and south to Kaikoura which is renown for whale watching. The airstip is 2200 feet long and narrow (for me) with an approach close to hills and luckily a good wind down the runway. There we were again welcomed by the local aero club. Had tea and muffins together and chatted. Sunday, February 13th, 2012 – Kaikoura to Wanaka After tea and chatting with the local pilots, I tried calling several motels for accommodation. Unfortunately, for different reasons, things were not working out. Babara, the president of the aeroclub, said, “I have a solution, you’ll come home with me!” We tried to refuse, to no avail. We packed our bags into her car and headed home. She said we could use the car, go shopping for anything we needed, have a beer by the beach then return home for dinner as she was having some people over! We did all that and had a fantastic time. The beach area is beautiful with mountains on one side and black pebble beach in front of the town. It was a little cool, but we enjoyed a beer while listening to the waves. At dinner we met some paramedics, friends of Barbara who’s a nurse, that had moved from congested old England (64 million people) to free and open New Zealand (only four million people in about the same land mass). They’ve been here for ten years and love it. The next morning we went whale watching. We agreed that we are glad that we did it, but wouldn’t go out for a second trip in the afternoon. It’s checked off our list and we’ve seen a whale. After an interview with the local press, Barbara drove us back to the airport. The weather is forecast to deteriorate tomorrow. I’m torn as we had emailed another woman pilot and were going to visit her and her husband’s air park, just west of Christchurch. But, if we go there tonight, there’s a chance we won’t be able to depart the next day and get into Wanaka. We have a seven-day tour of back-country flying lined up. We can’t risk not making it to Wanaka. So, I filed an IFR flight plan to Wanaka and send Pam and Ces a “sorry I can’t make it” email. Pilots understand these weather decisions, but it would have been nice to meet them. We thanked the people who helped us at the Kaikoura, Barbara, Ernie, and Nick. Nick is new to the area and has just qualified as the Whale Watching pilot. He’s personable and helpful and a great new asset to the aeroclub. We climbed to 8000 feet as we received our clearance from Christchurch information. We were on top of clouds which became pretty solid as we proceeded. After Christchurch, we climbed to 10,000 to stay above the minimum safe altitude and continued southwest. As we approached our arrival descent intersection, I asked the controller if we could plan to start the arrival procedure. He said no, there would be a significant delay and to stay outside of controlled airspace. Although the clouds were mostly scattered in the direction we would be proceeding, I didn’t like the idea of trying to stay VFR, descending between mountains with potentially more clouds into an area with which we were not familiar. Arthur agreed, so I started a hold procedure. I called the controller explained what we were doing and asked when we might expect a clearance. He said to contact Queenstown tower and we’d receive one. That wasn’t such a “significant” delay. We were cleared by the tower to commence the arrival procedure and report entering controlled airspace, which we did. We were in clouds during part of the descent, then below clouds with good visibility. We followed the approach between two sets of mountains and into the valley beyond and Arthur spotted the airport. The active runway was opposite our arrival direction, so we turned away from the airport to continue our descent and join the downwind for runway 11. Someone called us to advise us that Matt, our host from Flyinn, was on his way to pick us up. Everybody is friendly and helpful around here. We landed parked and unloaded.

Saturday, February 11th, 2012 – Masterton to Omaka After lunch with Kerry and a look at the weather, we headed out, VFR across the Cook Strait to Omaka. The ceiling had lifted and it was looking brighter. With a good briefing from Kerry and looking at the charts, we only had to navigate down a valley, under Wellington airspace, across the strait to Omaka airport. Less than an hour. The fields in the valley between the higher tree covered hills to the west and the lower brown hills to the east were a beautiful scene. Everything was neat and pretty. The farm-boy in Arthur was enjoying it. I called our position as we reached the first visual reporting point on the coast, then at the second reporting point. There were no responses, so we continued over the airport then landed on runway 12. There were three grass runways which were a little difficult to pick out as everything was brown in this area. But, all around we could see the green vineyards of the famous Marlborough wine area. After shutting down, we walked to the open aeroclub hangar and found Chris and John, two locals who were manning the phone and holding down the fort until the chief pilot returned. There were two completely rebuilt Tomahawk airplanes in the hangar – they looked new. Their panels and interiors had been complete redone and they had new paint. John explained that the 300 member club needed new trainers, but couldn’t find anything better than their existing Tomahawks for these grass runways, so, in Kiwi fashion, they rebuilt them completely and now have two almost new-looking Tomahawks. The museum was close-by, but would take several hours to visit, so we’d save that for tomorrow. When we started talking about accommodation they suddenly remembered that there was a wine festival going on and all hotels would be booked. Travis, the chief pilot, had returned and he started calling some hotels, John started calling some B&Bs and both worked frantically to find us a place for the night. After lots of “sorry, no vacancy” Travis found a room and reserved it. We jumped into John’s car and he drove us there before we lost it. What helpful local pilots. Arthur sees this as aviation the way it was in the US in the fifties – only low wooden fences around the airport, small hangars with knowledgeable and helpful people working in aviation, and the spirit of aviation at every field. He’s really loving it here in New Zealand. In the morning we visited the museum – it’s world-class. Absolutely superbly done. Each plane is in a setting where it brings out the plane, its history and the type of flying it did. So far the museum covers WWI planes, but a second hangar for WWII planes is in the planning. The planes are beautifully restored and displayed starting with an Italian Caproni Ca2, which is a parasol monoplane, built in 1913. They have a fabulous depiction of Baron von Richthofen’s plane being looted after finally being shot down by an Australian gunner. Incredibly, many of the items have been recovered and are displayed in various museums, including this one. One of the pilots from the AeroClub, John, invited us to lunch on his vineyard. His wife, Jenny, prepared a simple but delicious quiche, salad and desert, all with homegrown vegetables. Their house overlooks the airport and vineyards. But, they call this “moving into town” as they used to live and work on a sheep station further south. Although we would consider this still country living, for them it’s “in town.” Following the wonderful lunch and vineyard tour, we loaded up and flew around the coast and south to Kaikoura which is renown for whale watching. The airstip is 2200 feet long and narrow (for me) with an approach close to hills and luckily a good wind down the runway. There we were again welcomed by the local aero club. Had tea and muffins together and chatted.

Monday, February 6th, 2012 – Whangerei to Auckland The weather was not good the morning of my departure to North Shore, near Auckland, so I filed an IFR flight plan over the phone. At the airport I added some avgas, kissed the family goodbye and climbed into the cockpit. Interestingly, part of the clearance was information on a flight coming into Whangarei and its location, altitude and time at three different points. I calculated that I would be below it and wasn’t worried. I took off and circled the airport as I climbed and then crossed over the airport and headed south. Christchurch Information gave me updates on the other plane then handed me over to Auckland approach. I’d picked a point where I could continue VFR and the clouds were breaking up, but still below my altitude. ATC let me continue my descent to where I could cancel my IFR flight plan. I was listening to North Shore airport’s frequency and there were a few planes in the pattern, but not too many. I called in my position and intentions, joined the pattern and landed. Sue had given me taxi instructions, then I saw her car and she guided me to their hangar. Richard was there and I gave them both a huge hug. We only took a few minutes to talk as we’d planned to do my next oil change here. We pushed my plane into their hangar, next to their Mooney, and started the job. Richard also greased the undercarriage and checked over the engine to make sure everything was looking good. Then we headed home for lunch. Sue and Richard are both pilots and I asked lots of questions about VFR flying in New Zealand. It’s a great help to have local knowledge when flying in another country and I picked their brains for two days. We poured over charts and they gave me some recommendations on good places to visit as I headed south. The next day Sue took me on a tour of Auckland and I saw the beauty of this harbor city from Victoria Point, a high-point on the north shore. We had lunch at the Ardmore Aero-Club with Dee and Edith, two more women pilots and 99s. We swapped stories and Edith took us to the New Zealand Warbirds hangar to see all the planes and history. We also met Rob in his hangar as he was unloading a Yak that he’d just bought from England. We had a look at the Electra that he was rebuilding – it looked magnificent with all the polished aluminum. There were 13 years work in it and he figured another two to go before he’d be flying. The next morning I had a very short flight around and under Auckland airspace to Ardmore Airport. It was sunny and perfect for this VFR flight. I videoed the cliffs, the harbor, the city of Auckland and the hills that I flew over as I approached Ardmore. Sue had briefed me on the reporting points and I listened for traffic and made my calls. There were about four planes in the pattern. I joined on the non-traffic side, did a pattern and landed. Luckily it was not too busy. I found Harry’s hangar and parked next to Max’s Cherokee Six. Max was there to meet me, gave me a huge hug and reminded me of what I’d said when I first landed at Ardmore in 2003. I’d just crossed the Pacific Ocean, was happy to be down safely and said that I’d never do that again! I’d stayed with Max and Anna in 2003 waiting for my Dad to arrive by the airlines. This time they are hosting me as I await my mechanic/pilot/friend, Arthur, to arrive. He’ll be joining me for my tour of New Zealand, both islands this time. We spent all afternoon chatting and catching up; it was great to see them again. The next day Arthur arrived and wasn’t jetlagged; he’s slept extremely well on the plane and was ready to discover these islands. Today we just walked the Botanic Gardens as he’d been sitting for almost 30 hours and needed some exercise. With Max and Anna he learned about New Zealand life and history. After a great night’s sleep we spent a day at Ardmore Airport. Arthur was thoroughly amazed. He’d never seen so much outstanding workmanship and so many different planes being restored in one place. Everywhere we looked there was a restoration project going on. On hearing a plane take off, he turned around and there was a Spitfire climbing out. Later we’d be standing by its hangar when it returned and he got a closer look at it. During the afternoon he saw a Mosquito restoration project and received a guided tour and explanation of the project. This, when finished, will be the only flying Mosquito in the world. Earlier he’d been in a hangar that makes parts for P-40s and was doing a 100 hour inspection on a Corsair. During the day we also visited the NZ Warbird museum and he learned all about their war years, part of history that he hadn’t heard before. It was a fantastic day topped off with an evening of discussion with Max and Anna. When traveling, staying with locals is always better than being in a hotel. One can really learn about everyday life and what’s going on in a country. This was a great introduction for Authur. Saturday, February 12th, 2012 – from Ardmore heading south For the first time in about four days I woke up to cloudy skies and rain. This was forecast, but not what we wanted for our first flight heading south over the beautiful New Zealand countryside. I started to work on the IFR flight plan, it was obvious that I wasn’t going to be able to fly below the clouds, VFR, and see the beauty of this country on this first leg. But, the forecast is for clearing as we head south, so we’ll land at Masterton and hopefully things will be better. Max drove us to Ardmore and we met John, a journalist. He interviewed us both, especially Arthur and his impressions of the Ardmore Airport. Then we loaded up and jumped in the cockpit. I gave Arthur a briefing of the route, charts and exit procedures. We received our clearance from Auckland on the ground and off we went, into the clouds at 600 feet. We were just on top at 6000 feet, going in and out of clouds from time to time. After about an hour, we could see a peak to our southwest and a volcano crater to the east, both sticking out of the clouds. Further south the clouds became broken and we could see rolling hills only a few thousand feet below then a beautiful farming valley with fields and a town. That only lasted a few minutes and we were back in solid clouds. The controller called and told us that we were out of radar contact, there was no IFR traffic around, we could change to the local frequency and cancel our IFR flight plan on the ground. I confirmed that we’d be doing an approach and descending through the clouds and did he want that communication on the local frequency? He confirmed. Based on the minimum safe altitude, I knew there were hills on the east side of the approach, so down we went and I kept checking the terrain page in the GPS. The hills appeared behind us as we descended below 3000 feet and we finally saw the ground at 2000 feet. We circled the airport and landed on runway 06. As we taxied to the ramp, we saw some people by the hangars, although with the overcast and rain, not many were around and no-one else was flying. When we got out of the plane, Kerry, 99/instructor and vintage plane pilot, greeted us. Sue had given me her name and I’d called her this morning. She was going to be at the airport anyway, so she waited for us to land. Two others, Clive and Paul, reporters and photographers, were there and got our story. Then Kerry walked us to the museum and gave us a guided tour. It is full of flying WWI planes, all in beautiful condition. Kerry flies three of them in airshows. My favorites were the Sopwith Triplane and the RAF FE.2b a two-seat pusher fighter bomber with the pilot and gunner seats in front of the 160 Hp, six cylinder engine. Even Arthur hadn’t seen many of these planes before; it was an amazing tour.

Monday, January 30th, 2012 – Lord Howe Island to New Zealand We got a great night’s sleep listening to the wind rustle through the palm leaves. The driver picked us up to return to the airport by 7am. Stan was there and did the exit procedures very quickly. The avgas man showed up (our apartment manager’s dad) and emptied his tank. I’d already received all but five liters of what I’d planned, so we had enough for the flight. Luckily we’re departing the country, so tax comes off the price and it only cost A$2.53 per litre instead of A$2.88. On the mainland I’d been paying only A$2 per liter (US$8/gal). The runway is 10 (almost easterly) and the wind is very strong and gusty out of the northeast. The first part of the runway is protected by a hill then we would be really buffeted by the winds. I advised Taylor what would most likely happen on departure. With the wind, we climbed like an elevator and were only bounced around a bit, then it was a smooth climb to 7000 feet. Brisbane Center wanted to make sure we were in HF (high frequency) radio contact prior to losing VHF radio contact. So, I put out the antenna and made the call. I could barely hear the reply. Brisbane center called us on VHF and said that they could hear us clearly on HF. Even though we couldn’t receive very well, they let us go. I was worried that they’d make us return until we corrected the reception problem, but was happy that we could continue. I checked with Taylor, that she was ok with the situation, and we continued. We flew on top of an undercast for most of the flight. It was very smooth and Taylor enjoyed the peacefulness of the long flight – she wasn’t worried or bored. We ate muesli bars and chocolate covered macadamia nuts – yum, yum. Five and a half hours later we came over the northwest coast of New Zealand as Taylor commented on the wave quality for surfing. I was in contact with Christchurch information who said “no reported IFR traffic” and we started our descent through the clouds. The weather was good VFR, so I didn’t plan to do the approach. There were other planes in the area, so we all reported our positions and kept good separation. After landing I taxied to the ramp, saw two official looking people and shut down the engine. We sat in the plane with doors and windows remaining closed. New Zealand, like Australia, is very serious about customs and making sure no bugs, seeds, plants or other foreign materials enter their country. Normally Kerikeri airport is not an airport of entry but the harbor is. My cousin’s wife, Helen, had contacted them and I’d filled out the appropriate paperwork to be allowed to enter here. It was much easier and more economical than flying all the way to Auckland then back north to here. The biosecurity person motioned for me to open the pilot’s window and he leaned in with the spray can and sprayed the cockpit for a few seconds. He gave us the immigration forms to fill out and said we could do that while we waited. Then in the office they did all the forms asked about our trip and what we were bringing into the country and wished us a good stay in New Zealand. I confirmed with them that I could also depart from this airport later this month. That would make the trip to Tonga much easier. Helen was there to greet us and gave me a huge hug. It had been nine years since my last visit. Their grandchildren were here also, a big change from last time. We chatted non-stop. My cousin, Richard, had been out diving and fishing and came home with dinner. We had a fresh lobster dinner and fresh fish for breakfast the next morning. They have always been interested in aviation and the eleven year-old grandson is getting that way also, so one afternoon we all went flying. It was fantastic for Gareth who spotted lots of things on the ground and had an amazing sense of direction and location. Helen loves plants and has a part-time job as a guide in the Puketi Forest nearby. We did a day and a night walk and she showed me a diversity of plants and birds. The Kauri tree was logged for timber and tapped for its gum. They grow very straight and tall and were perfect for ship masts and the gum was used for varnish. Only 2% of the trees remain and they are now protected. We saw a fantail bird as well as a tomtit heard many other birds. On the night walk we saw many spiders, very active at night, and weta which are similar to very large crickets, but brown instead of green. Another cousin lives in Whangerei, where my aunt (my dad’s sister) used to live. Dad and I visited during my 2003 world flight. It’s less than 30 minutes between the two airports, so I flew down and stayed several days with cousin Susan. Other family members were visiting, so I also met cousin Christopher and partner Laura and cousin Rebecca, Richard’s daughter. Susan and I shared many stories about our parents who had only seen each other twice since World War II. Once for a Garratt family reunion in England in 1987 and then in 2003 when Dad and I flew to Whangerei. Susan had her memories and stories from her mom and I had my dad’s stories. It was fun sharing and we both learned more about the family history.

Sunday, January 29th, 2012 -- Byron Bay to Lord Howe Island, Australia Unfortunately it continued to rain for the next two days. We went on walks, swam in the bay and caught up on all the news. Rusty is a surfing instructor and was a world champion surfer. He’s one of the early “greats” in the surfing world and surfing culture which started over 40 years ago. On my last night there was a live band performing with the 40 year old film “Morning of the Earth” by Albert Falzon. As Rusty was in the film and going to be performing with the band, we had tickets to the event. For me it was amazing to be involved with this surf culture that I had only been aware of from a great distance in the 1970s. Insiders all knew Rusty, the history, the movie and songs, everything. It was great to get a peek into another culture from a close range and to see the movement being carried on by the next generation. The next morning Taylor and I were departing for Lord Howe Island. We all drove together to Ballina airport under cloudy skies with no rain. Arriving at the airport, only two helicopters remained; so I guess the major disaster is over. Rain is still expected for another five days, but not in the same quantities as during the last week. We push the plane to the gas pumps and I fill up the main tanks and show Taylor the preflight preparations. With all the rain we’d had, I checked the tanks for water before gassing up and I start to check them again after gassing up. Unfortunately, the first quick-drain doesn’t close correctly and continues to drain gas. I plug it with my thumb and start thinking. I ask Taylor to plug the drain while I get the tools. As I’m doing that, I explain the problem to Rusty and Tricia so they don’t get worried. I take the quick drain plug out and Taylor again holds the hole plugged while Rusty and I examine the quick-drain. There is a tiny piece of sand in one of the holes holding it open. We pop the sand out it moves normally, so I check the o-ring and reinstall it in the tank. I check the other tanks and there is one very small drop of water that I show to everyone. Thomas, a friend of the family and German balloon pilot and glider pilot, arrives in his motor glider. He’s going to take pictures as we fly past the Byron Bay cape and lighthouse. With hugs all around, we jump into the cockpit. I explain all the safety equipment and exit procedures to Taylor as we’ll be heading straight out over water. She’s excited and not in the least bit worried. We call for our clearance and takeoff. The beaches are beautiful from the air and I hope that Rusty got some good photos as we flew together past the cape a few times. Then we say goodbye, turn and head southeast as we call Brisbane Center again and let them know that we are on our way. There isn’t exactly a clearance here; they say “no reported IFR traffic in the area” and I continue per the flight plan. They did ask for an additional “operations normal” call between waypoints and we were able to communicate on VHF all the way. Taylor hadn’t flown in a while but picked up the feel again very quickly. She did the climb, level off, and straight and level with visual and instrument references. We flew through a few clouds to give her the sense of what it’s like without visual references and with bumps. We reviewed the instruments, navigation and communication. It was a busy two and a half hours. Then we saw the islands in the distance. Actually, we saw the volcanos first. They were under the clouds, but still big. Then we picked out Ball’s Pyramid to the east. There was a plane departing Lord Howe Island and flying our direction to Brisbane, so we gave position reports until we were clear of each other. Then we flew around the island and Balls Pyramid to take pictures before landing. The water colors around the island changed from a very deep blue to a light green along one beach. The vegetation was a lush green. They’d received plenty of rain. The approach was rocky with gusty crosswinds as advertised. I put it down solidly and we taxied to the busy ramp. There was an ambulance plane ready to depart and a small commuter ready to start up. We were marshaled to a grass parking spot. Our apartment manager, Gay, was there to greet us and drive us to the lodging. There are no taxis on Lord Howe Island, so each accommodation picks up and drops off its guests. It also provides transportation to dinner and the restaurant provides the return transportation. The island is very small and bicycles are available to rent, but we just walked everywhere. First stop Ned’s Beach. Taylor had brought two facemasks and snorkels, so in we went. The water is about 24C (78F). Even before we started swimming, we saw two different types of fish. Once we looked through the masks, we saw many varied colorful fish, including parrot fish, two types of Wrasse fish, pencil fish, Kingfish and many others. We even saw a very small reef shark. The coral was extremely colorful with dark green seaweed moving with the swells and yellow, orange and red algae attached to the coral. We swam around the bay and were constantly amazed every direction we looked. Back on the beach we talked with some of Taylor’s friends from Byron Bay who had just finished snorkeling also. We all recognized how beautiful this untouched bay was and how lucky we are to be able to enjoy the sea life. Mellissa recommended that we also swim in a bay on the other side so we walked over there. It was only about 20 minutes and we were back in the water again. This bay is more sheltered and the water was slightly warmer. Unfortunately, the coral isn’t as vibrant and the fish match the browns of the coral. But we did see a Cod fish, which is poisonous. It would put out its fins as we swam close and it was hiding under a coral out cropping. Normally there are large green turtles in this bay feeding on the grassy sandy bottom; but they weren’t to be found. After dinner, just at dusk, we returned to Ned’s Bay to watch the return of the Mutton birds. They spend November through April here and on the mainland then migrate to Siberia from June through October. They are birds with the longest migration in the world. When here, they fly off for the day and catch fish, then return to their burrows at dusk. We saw their burrows in the ground and one was actually cleaning the entry way and throwing soil and leaves four feet into the air. The fun part was watching them land. There is a very strong on-shore wind and they are circling above our heads and landing crosswind to waddle over to the undergrowth behind us where their burrows are. They circle and dive then decide not to land and climb again. When one finally lands, it’s more of a stumbling few steps then they sit for a few seconds before they waddle off in the direction of the undergrowth. It was fascinating to watch and wonder about why nature created this bird that loves to fly and catch fish but doesn’t land very well.

Thursday, January 26th, 2012 – Sydney to Byron Bay On the rainy day, yesterday, I’d planned and filed my first IFR flight plan in Australia. I’d checked the charts and planned to listen to other airports’ weather as I travelled north, using them as alternates if the weather was bad in Byron Bay. It had been terrible the last three days with flooding and more rain forecast. But, the forecast for this afternoon is reasonable with ceilings over 1000 feet and only rain showers. I’d left the approach charts in the plane, so I’d check them when I got to the airport. Alasdair and Valerie had me at the airport by 11:30am, plenty of time before my 12:30 departure time. And, the forecast weather improved later in the afternoon, so I wasn’t worried about departing a little late. I gassed up and did the pre-flight while explaining everything to them. Valerie was a flight attendant and is very much an aviation enthusiast; she wanted to know everything. She’d gone for a flight with me in 2003, but the weather was not conducive for a flight this trip. After seeing them off, I returned to the plane to depart. First I got out the Australia approach charts. Unfortunately, I had most of the bigger airports, but Ballina, my destination, wasn’t there, nor were my alternate airports. I’d seen a flight school as we arrived, so I made a bee-line for their offices. They were extremely nice and helpful and used the internet airservicesaustralia.gov.au to print out all the approaches that I wanted. That was quick. I have to thank David, who is interested in flying around the world someday, and Jordan for their assistance. I headed back to the plane, started up and contacted ground. After running up the engine and doing all the cockpit checks I finally received my clearance. It included the Bankstown six departure. It was not in my GPS. Ugh. I called ground and told him that I didn’t have the departure procedure and could he talk me through it (often they are simple procedures, climb to altitude and head on a specific radial or direction). He said no, but that I could depart VFR. I didn’t want to do that as I hate being in unfamiliar territory waiting for a clearance. I said that I would taxi back and obtain a copy of the procedure. Jordon printed it off for me (and yes, it was a simple climb, turn, proceed on heading). Rules are rules and I had to have a copy in the cockpit. I thanked him again and headed back to the plane. This time I received a revised clearance (different from the flight plan that I’d filed), so I took the time to find all the intersections and was finally ready to depart. After a 15 minute wait for IFR traffic, I was finally taking off and climbing into the clouds. Sydney approach handled me at first, then Brisbane Center took over for the rest of the trip. There were very long periods of time with no communication on the radio. I was happy when the controller called someone else; that told me that my radio was still working. I had 20 knot headwinds at 7000 feet and was in and out of clouds and rain. The flight was to be about three and a half hours with lots of quiet time as there weren’t many planes flying. With my late departure I called my next hosts from the satellite phone to give them my revised arrival time. There was a Virgin flight ahead of me landing at Ballina. He received weather and traffic information from Brisbane Center, so I took note. Listening to the other airports’ weather as I flew north, the coastal weather was sounding acceptable. As I got closer, I could see a clear coastline to my right, but lots of clouds ahead. I turned towards the initial approach fix and started down. The controller was pointing out one plane that was somewhere close to where I was heading; but he wasn’t talking to him. He asked me to try to contact him on the common traffic advisory frequency. I told him where I was and that Brisbane Center wanted to talk with him on their frequency. I returned to Brisbane Center who told me that the plane was now clear of my approach path and I started the approach. As I was on short final with the runway in sight, the Virgin plane was sitting on the taxiway, waiting to depart. He’d done a quick turnaround. After landing, I back taxied to the taxiway as the Virgin plane back taxied to the end of the runway. On the ramp, the operations manager called me on the radio to advise me that there was no parking. With the storms and flooding the grass parking was closed and they had three rescue helicopters on the hard parking with four more to arrive. There was no parking available. I taxied to the avgas pumps to park for a few minutes. I shut down and found my friends outside the fence. I explained the problem and they joined me to talk with the operations manager. He again explained that it would be impossible to park for the night. There were many hangars with plenty of space between them and the taxiway. Tricia and Taylor knew the owner of the flight school with several of the hangars. He was very obliging to let me park in front of one of their hangars for several nights. The manager didn’t have a problem with me parking there. We tied down and headed home. I’d met Tricia along with daughter Taylor and husband Rusty during my 2003 flight. Taylor had taken an introductory flight with me and loved flying. Since then she has taken lessons and has really caught the aviation bug. She is excited about flying with me to Lord Howe Island and on to Keri Keri, New Zealand. The only problem being that there isn’t room in the plane for her surf board!

January 25th, 2012 -- Sydney, Australia Valerie and Alastair live on Elizabeth Bay, one of the many bays in Sydney harbor, and have a beautiful view of boats traveling back and forth. I joined them for their daily swim in the natural sea pool in front of their building. Sydney is a vibrant city making full use of all the harbor and views. After a bus tour to get our bearings in the city we did a ferry tour to see the city from the harbor and obviously to see the Opera House from all perspectives. What an amazing piece of architecture, with a stressful history as it was supposed to only cost $7 million and the total costs were over $100 million. We also toured Darling Harbor, Circular Quay and the botanic gardens with many open gardens for walking and picnicking. The last day was reserved for the Sydney Eye tower and the world renown aquarium. Unfortunately, it was the first overcast and rainy day we’d had in two weeks of traveling. But, we went to the top of the Eye tower in the morning and although the distance view was diminished, the harbor and city areas were a beautiful site. The historical explanations were interesting and humorous. The shark aquarium was most fascinating with a number of different types of sharks and rays swimming above us as we walked through a tunnel under the pool. Heinrich returned to Germany after two weeks with the most freedom of flight he has ever experienced. Nothing like his flying in Europe. It was significantly different from Judy and Kabir’s experiences; but they each got something out of their various flight legs and I enjoyed sharing the cockpit. Due to the poor weather, I stayed an extra day in Sydney and will head to Byron Bay, the most easterly point in mainland Australia tomorrow. I was there in 2003 and took Taylor for a Young Eagles flight. Since then, she has taken flying lessons. Now, she’ll be joining me as we cross the Tasman Sea to Lord Howe Island and New Zealand.

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 -- Kangaroo Island to Mildura The temperatures on Kangaroo Island have been up and down. When we landed the first afternoon it was a very acceptable 22C (74F). As I expected it to be much hotter, I took my jacket with me, just in case it got too cool in the evening. That first evening it did get cool and having dinner on the windy coast was quite chilly. The next day on the west end of the island, it peaked out at 39C (about 110F)! But, as we drove eastward, it cooled down a little. The next day on the east end of the island, it only got up to 33C (96F). This morning we have overcast skies for the first time. The forecast is showing scattered and our destination is clear. We’re thinking that it’s just coastal clouds and clearer at the airport (which turns out to be the case). It’s quiet at the airport, but will get busier as a commuter plane arrives in one hour. We depart with no problem and climb on top of the thin layer and cruise northeast to Mildura. It starts to get hotter in the cockpit, indicating that it’ll be hot on the ground. From 50 miles out, we hear another plane going in to Mildura, but nothing else. We make our position reports as we approach, land and park. With no-one around, we walk to the terminal and call a taxi to the hotel. Heinrich continues to be amazed at the freedom of flying in Australia. No tower, even with commercial planes arriving and departing. No landing and parking fees, except at the major airports. Relatively cheap avgas (A$ 2.00 per liter, US$ 7.60 per gallon) about half the price of European avgas. Vast areas with no airspace constraints. We’ve flown VFR over all of Australia with fantastic weather and no required communication. He is really enjoying flying here. Mildura is on the Murray River and is the “Mississippi town of Australia.” With the water and irrigation there is lots of farming and vineyards. We take a relaxing ride on a 100 year old steam driven paddle boat and get a good history and view of the area. This is the first “real” town we’ve been in since leaving Northam on the west coast. We walk around and compare prices. Most things here are a little expensive, with the exception of fuel. However, we’ve found food and wine to be extremely expensive. An ice cream cone, one scoop, is between four and five dollars. A normal bottle of wine is between A$20 and A$30. Lunch is minimum A$25. With the Australian dollar on par with the US dollar, these prices seem a little steep. The next day we’re heading south to Kyneton, just north of Melbourne. Barry, a student learning German, that I’d met in Bamberg, had invited us to visit him and tour the area. As we’d emailed, he had planned a packed few days visiting the west Victoria coast and the city of Melbourne. We heard planes coming and going from Kyneton but no-one was in the pattern at our arrival time. We landed and parked on the grass. One pilot showed us around and confirmed that someone would be here during the weekend for our departure to gas us up. Visiting this area with Barry was like having our own personal tour guide. He showed us the area, explained about the geological formations and how they affect the weather, land and agriculture. Along the limestone cliffs of the coast line are amazing rock formations. The most interesting is called the Twelve Apostles, which are isolated “statues” of limestone just off the coast that remain after the rest of the land around them has been washed away. There aren’t twelve any more as some have finally succumbed to the water and waves. Further down the coast is what has been titled “London Bridge.” These are arch formations; but the end connecting to the coast finally fell several years ago (leaving a honeymoon couple stranded on the other end). Thus, London Bridge has fallen down. Driving the coastline was windy and beautiful. The vegetation changes from scrubland on the coast to tall trees 20 miles inland. Much of this area is a National Park. North of the coast is good farmland. The next day we took the comfortable train system into Melbourne and toured around. The waterfront is beautiful with modernized wharf areas and an absolutely magnificent botanic garden nearby. From the top of a monument we got a superb view of the main boulevards lined with 100 year old elm trees. Many of the “older” buildings remain intact to maintain the history of the development of the city and country. It was too soon time to depart again. Barry drove us back to Kyneton airport where we gassed up and took off to the northeast. We climbed to 9500 feet to be in smooth air above the clouds. After crossing the continent VFR without any airspace problems we were now headed through several cities’ airspace. I called Melbourne Center and received a squawk code and clearance through Albury then Canberra’s airspace. Then we were cancelled. It was time to start down and under Sydney’s busy airspace. We’d figured out a route that kept us clear and I called Sydney radar just to make sure we were alright. There was a broken layer of clouds by the time we arrived and a small rain shower to the east of our position. We followed the highway to the mandatory reporting point and called the tower. Actually, I’d called them 10 miles early to make sure they knew we were arriving and were unfamiliar with the area. There were a few other planes in the area but we were there first, landed and taxied to parking. What a huge airport with three parallel runways and one cross runway. There were businesses and hangars everywhere. The ground controller gave me instructions for parking and I recognized the area from my 2003 visit. We tied the plane down and found my friends at the terminal. It had been nine years since I’d been here for the first time with my dad. So it was with fond memories that we reunited and drove home.

Sunday, January 15th, 2012 – Coober Pedy to Kangaroo Island The Wilpena Pound is a huge oval rock formation with high ridges and a lower valley in the middle. It seems lush and green, but difficult to access. Despite early amateur theories that it was some kind of ancient volcano, the actual Pound is sedimentary rock in the form of a large syncline. Wilpena Pound is a natural amphitheatre of mountains located 429 kilometres (267 mi) north of Adelaide, South Australia,Australia, in the heart of the Flinders Ranges National Park. Attempts at farming the Pound failed during the early 20th century. Following this the tourism potential was recognised in 1945. After departing the area, it was only another thirty minutes to Port Pirie, our gas stop. Our destination, Kangaroo Island, doesn’t have avgas, so Claude advised stopping here. In the past, avgas has been available 24 hours a day, but only with the gas company’s carnet, or avgas card. I tried to get one from BP before leaving the US, but they issued a standard credit card which doesn’t work here. Luckily, things have been changing and at Ayers Rock and Coober Pedy, they now accept credit cards. Claude already told me that Port Pirie accepts credit cards, thus this stop. I heard a fair amount of traffic as we approached, so we figured there was a training school here. The last plane departed the area just as we arrived. There are three runways, one turf, one gravel and one sealed (black top). After landing and gassing up, we met the locals at the flight school. Earl pointed out the club house and indicated that food and coffee was available inside. We had a quick break before continuing to Kangaroo Island. After departure at 2pm, the air over the land was hot and turbulent. It was very bumpy. We headed towards the bay and had a smooth flight over the water, southwards. We were west of Adelaide and listened to the controllers, but didn’t hear any local traffic as we came in over Kangaroo Island and approached Kingscote airport. Again there were three runways with only the main runway sealed. I’d called the manager several days ago and been directed to park on the grass to the west side of the terminal. There were already three other Mooneys parked there! Must be a Mooney convention! Actually, they were the Mooney pilots that I’d met in Perth. We met them the next morning on their way out. Kangaroo Island is a pristine wilderness with soaring cliffs, dense forest, towering sand dunes, wetlands and massive arcs of bone-white beach. Remarkably, over half the island is native “old-growth” bushland, most of it preserved and protected. It is a true wildlife sanctuary. Owing to its isolation from the mainland, the island has suffered less from the impact of European settlement and retains more than half of its native vegetation. Today more than one-third of the island is declared Conservation or Nation Park and it has five significant Wilderness Protection Areas. Many of the animal species are nocturnal. We were advised to drive very carefully and slowly at night. We see many kangaroo bodies along the side of the road, obviously hit by cars. When we return from dinner the first evening, we see more than ten kangaroos along the road or crossing the road. On the far southwestern tip, in the Flinders Chase National Park, we see hundreds of New Zealand fur seals and Australian seals. They are swimming in the surf or sunning themselves on the warm rocks. Many of the little ones are exploring, not too far from mama seal, and the males are bellowing from time to time. It was fun to watch them up close. At another reserve we finally see Koala bears. They are all asleep in the trees. They settle themselves in the fork of a tree with their arms around one tree limb and their back and butt supported by another limb. One awoke and climbed a little higher, the others just continued sleeping. We didn’t see bees, but certainly learned a lot about them. Ligurian queen bees were originally imported from Bologna, Italy, in 1884. Since then no other breeds of bee have been introduced to Kangaroo Island; therefore, all present-day honeybees are descendants of those early imports and thus pure Ligurain. They are unique and mated queen bees are regularly exported overseas. There are a number of vineyards on the island and we tried the local wines at dinner time. They are not bad; but, as with everything in Australia, pricey. Dudley Winery has vineyards on the eastern peninsula of Kangaroo Island and was one we enjoyed. On the southeastern tip is Cape Willoughby Lighthouse. Its construction in 1852 guided the safe passage of sailing ships through the treacherous Backstairs Passage and heralded the beginning of the booming shipping trade. It has been a fun and informative stay on Kangaroo Island, tomorrow we head to Mildura, the “Mississippi River town of Australia.”

Saturday, January 14th, 2012 – Ayers Rock to Coober Pedy The hotel complex is getting old and is being refurbished. It’s certainly not up to today’s standards; and the prices exceed the quality. However, one can’t pass up seeing Ayers Rock when visiting Australia, so the sites were worth it. The next morning we departed before 9am, when the sightseeing flights start. We had the route chart and knew where to fly, where to make the radio calls and what altitude to fly. It was a superb view of Ayers Rock and the Olgas. We made our last radio call as we turned southeast and climbed to 7500 feet. We were headed to Coober Pedy. I’d heard about Coober Pedy, but never visited. It’s an opal mining town where people started living underground to get out of the 35 to 45 degree Celsius (100 to 120 degree Fahrenheit) summer temperatures. Flying in from the north, we could see these mounds of dirt everywhere, with holes beside them. We were to learn a lot about opal mining. The town looked like it had lots of normal houses, so I wondered about the underground living. Upon landing there was one person standing at the gate. I introduced myself and asked if he was the avgas person or the airport manager, both of whom knew we were arriving. He said he was awaiting another flight. I said that we hadn’t heard anyone on the frequency. He was from our hotel and said that if his flight didn’t arrive, he could drive us to the hotel. I wondered aobut his accent, not really Australian. It turned out that Günther is German, so he and Heinrich hit it off immediately. After gassing up and parking the plane, Günther drove us to the hotel. Since he did tours, and since I’d booked one, and since he and Heinrich were enjoying talking in German, we asked if he could do our tour this afternoon. It was absolutely amazing. All the mines are individuals, no large companies. Two people can dig two to three holes and day and do the inspection to determine if there is any opal. They use a big drill and make a hole about three feet in diameter and go down about 90 feet. Then one person is lowered into the hole and does the inspection, visual and by scraping as the opal stone will make a different sound when a tool is passed over it. Thirty three kilometers north of Coober Pedy is the Breakaways Reserve. This is a low range of colorful exposed sandstone outcrops. The lookout points provide spectacular views over what was once an inland sea. Further north is the famous Dog Fence, which is the longest fence in the world. It stretches over 5300 kilometers and was constructed to stop dingos from traveling from the north, cattle country, into sheep country to the south. The desert-like moonscape along the fence, with its fossilized shells, grey, soft clay dirt and cracks that appear to be bottomless, has been nicknamed the “moon plain.” Upon returning to town, we visited an underground home, an underground church and an old mine. The old homes were dug by hand, so the rooms were smaller and the ceilings lower. The newer ones are done by machine, so the ceilings and rooms can be made almost any size. Fresh air is piped in from above. These homes, without any air conditioning, have an average temperature of 23 to 25C (76 – 80 F) year round as well as providing protection against sometimes devastating storms. We also learned a lot about opals, their quality and value and how they can be sliced very thin and enhanced with a black backing and a clear quartz cover. Pure opal has many colors and changes with the light. Black opal is rare and represents only 10% of all the opal, therefore is much more expensive. It was absolutely an amazing stop. Due to the high temperatures, we departed early the next morning. We circled the town to take pictures then headed east to a huge dry lakebed and then southeast to Flinders Range and Wilpena Pound. I’d originally planned on stopping here, but the runway is gravel with hills at both ends. With hot temperatures, even a morning departure could be difficult. So, we’d see what we could from the air.

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 I have a new copilot, my good friend Heinrich from Germany. He’s an earthrounder and Mooney pilot and wanted to tour Australia. So, he joined me in Perth and will fly with me to Sydney. Today we covered one third of southern Australia from Perth to Forrest. We flew for five hours as the land changed beneath us. In Perth it is wooded and green due to having storms and water. There are two rain catchment areas which provide water to Perth and through a pipeline, originally built in 1901, to Kalgoorlie, 300 miles east of Perth. Just east of Perth, in Northam, where Claude lives, is a farming area but mostly brownish land. The wheat has been harvested and the sheep are grazing in the other fields. We took off from there and continued over farmlands and the pipeline until Kalgoorlie. Continuing east the farms end as there is less rain and it becomes desert with scrubland and red soil. There are dry lake beds everywhere, but in the rainy season they fill very quickly. As we fly further east we see the ground change again and there is no more scrubland, just empty desert called the Nullabor (meaning no trees). Forrest Airport has two long blacktop runways and the “town” has four bungalows. There are two people who take care of everything. Right now Tanya and Claus are our hosts. This grew to be a seven-house “town” and a stopping point for planes and trains as well as a meteorological station. Currently many general aviation and ferry flights stop here when crossing Australia. By car it’s a two and a half DAY drive to Perth; unbelievable. It takes five hours just to get to the main east-west road. It’s quiet and peaceful. We walked a little, sat and listened to the wind and visited the museum. It must have been a difficult life, years ago during the exploration of Australia and the building of the railway. It’s not easy today. The train stops once per week, on Mondays, to deliver the groceries and another stops on Fridays to pick up the mail. However there are trains passing by about seven to ten times per day heading from Adelaide to Perth and visa versa. It was a quiet pleasant stop, but I would not want to live here. It’s over six hundred miles east of Perth, but still on Western Australia’s time zone, so the sun rose at 4:30am. We were up and ready to go very early. After a 7am departure, we headed south to the coast. Claude had shown us pictures of the cliffs in this area and we wanted to see them. There were clouds and the visibility was not a good as yesterday, but it cleared after we turned east and we had the most fantastic views of these sheer cliffs descending 300 feet into the sea. There are distinct rock formations. There is a section of white rock that represents 25 million years of the earth’s existence. Above that is brown rock which is the last 25 million years. Amazing. We turned northbound and had a two and a half hour flight over barren scrubland with dry lakebeds to Ayers Rock. No people, nothing. The Nullabor has no trees and as we continued north, we crossed an area with red soil and schrubs and then red dunes as we had seen in Namibia, where Heinrich flies gliders. We could see Ayers Rock from over 70 miles to the south. We picked up the weather and started to hear other planes calling in on approach or departure. I called in at 25 miles south, 15 miles south and made more calls as we got closer. As we were arriving from the south, Ayers Rock was to our right as we descended and we flew over the hotel grounds five miles east of the rock. A jet was arriving from seven miles to the east and we were only a mile south, he asked us if he could go first. I thought that was a little much, but said that we would circle. I didn’t realize that he was also going to do a 10 mile final, then backtrack on the runway. We had to circle twice and extend the downwind and I was really mad. Heinrich called it arrogant and I agree. Even the person on the ground, who had heard the whole conversation, said it was unusual. We could easily have landed and been off the runway before he turned final. Ayers Rock airport and facilities are not cheap; we been told this by many people. The landing fee is $55 and parking is $38 per day. But, the gas bowser accepts credit cards, which made things easier. We picked up a rental car and headed to the hotel complex, which isn’t cheap either. I’d been here during my 2003 flight. It’s not changed much, but everything is done by paid tours now which are very pricey. Luckily with a car, we could do everything on our own. Just a walking tour was over $100 per person. Because it was cloudy, we skipped the sunrise and sunset viewings, but walked around the rock. The overcast kept the temperature relatively cooler and without too many flies. In 2003 it had been exceedingly hot with hundreds of flies buzzing around your head all the time. Only in the cooler mornings and evenings are there no flies. We were lucky today. The Olgas are another set of rocks, actually 36 domes, to the west of Ayers Rock. It was a sacred Aboriginal men’s ceremonial site. We drove there then did the two walks between the domes. It is different from the single magnificent Ayers Rock, and also fascinating to see it from different perspectives.

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012 – Port Hedland to Northam (near Perth) I woke up at 4:30am and did the preflight. All looked good. I started the engine and radioed that I was taxiing to runway 32 (not that anyone was listening). The sky was starting to light up and there were a few clouds around but mainly clear with no wind. Engine check and takeoff climbing slowly but smoothly with a left turn on course. How easy is this? No paperwork, no clearance, just a nice morning VFR flight to Perth. Ahh. At first I leveled off at 5500 feet, but the winds were slightly unfavorable. As I’d have higher terrain ahead, I continued up to 7500 feet. I started to have a slight tailwind, yes. Only a few knots, but better than nothing. I settled down for the flight. At first it looked like just under seven hours, but as the time went by and the tailwinds improved, it’s down to a six hour and thirty minute flight, wow. I called Claude on the satellite phone. I could see high clouds ahead and wondered what the weather would be for arrival. He had clear skies but strong 20 knot winds out of the south. I confirmed my arrival time as 11:20 local and couldn’t wait to get there. Actually the high clouds were a relief, they kept the sun and heat out of the cockpit. I continued. Things have been getting better and better. The tailwind is up to nine knots and my ground speed is 116 knots. Why couldn’t this have happened on the way to Bali? That’s ok, I’ll take it. The ground is mainly red sand. I fly over the hills, topping out at 5300 feet. On the other side is more red sand. Every once in a while I see a lake marked on the GPS. It’s a dry white mark on the ground. I guess when they get rain, it becomes a lake, but that isn’t very often. This hasn’t been a smooth flight. At 7500 feet it’s been slightly bumpy the whole time. I’m glad that I started early, as the heat of the day increases, it will get even bumpier. Much better to be down before noon. Only an hour and three quarters to go, but it’s starting to get bumpier at 9:30am local time. I’ll be glad to be on the ground and with friends! From fifteen miles out I make a radio call to Northam Airport. At ten miles out I receive the winds, down runway 14 at 20 to 25 knots. That’s blowing pretty hard, but at least it’s not a crosswind. In no time I’ve landed and Claude is directing me to parking. I jump out and he gives me a big hug. It’s so good to finally be there after three very difficult days. I’m exhausted. Claude introduces me to Roger and Ivan from Northam Aviation Services, the local aircraft maintenance shop. I explain my problems and ask if they’ve worked on Mooneys and have the special tools for checking the gear. Ivan brings the tools. Yep, I’ve seen those before. Great. I’ll stay here and they can work on my Mooney gear and check the engine/magneto problems. They’ll be finishing up with a Cessna after lunch, and they can start on my Mooney this afternoon. Fantastic. Claude and I head to lunch. Ivan takes the actuator out and apart and there’s the broken back clutch spring. I have my old one which we put in. The next day the gear moves up and down! I’m elated. Roger is working on the engine. Looks like there are two leads from the magnetos to the spark plugs that have been rubbing and, from time to time, shorting out. He replaces the leads. We also check compression, magneto timing and generally give the engine a good inspection. The second afternoon, I’m outside doing a run-up and everything sounds great. The engine monitor agrees that everything is operating correctly. Unfortunately it’s very windy and I don’t want to do a test flight. Actually, the next two days are extremely windy and across the runway, so a test flight is out of the question. Finally on Saturday morning the wind is calm. Claude and I head to the airport and I get to go flying. I’m ecstatic as the gear comes up and I can climb and fly at normal speeds. Ahh, it feels so good. This last week has been extremely difficult. Now I can explore Australia.

Two updates, please read the one below before this one. Monday, January 2nd, 2012 -- Bali to Port Hedland After a shower, I went to the restaurant (to get wifi) to check the weather. There were a few isolated storms between Bali and Port Hedland, but nothing big. The winds looked less than 10 knots and very changeable. Oh well. I headed to the reception early and there was Yoki. I picked up my box breakfast and we were at the airport in 15 minutes. He helped me to undo the tie-downs, then took my passport and headed to the immigration office. The avgas guys showed up with two 55 gallon (200 liter) barrels. I really didn’t need it all, but as the flight had been so long yesterday, I didn’t have enough reserve with only one 55 gallon drum. So, I had to take two. It cost $3 per litre. That’s less than Europe this summer, but more than Malaysia and Australia. Luckily, with the bladder tank, I could take it all. If you open a barrel, you pay for it all even if you can’t take it all. Some pilots have to leave half a barrel – boy that hurts! Everything was going like clockwork, I was wondering what would go wrong. Yoki returned with my passport. Naya gave me my package with my outbound General Declaration. Now it was time to pay the bills. The avgas guy wanted $1200. I counted out the $100 bills. He wouldn’t accept bills older than 2006 and five were from 2003. I couldn’t believe this. I asked Naya if he would accept the 2003 bills and he said yes, phew. The navigation, landing and parking was $221, visa $25 and handling $385!! Yep, you pay for the service. But, last night and this morning, it was worth it. I counted out the bills. I gave his helper my left over Indonesian currency and shook hands all around. It was 7:30am and I was ready to depart. The tower let me start up and taxi right away. I barely had time for all the cockpit checks and I was cleared for departure. There were other planes landing and taking off, this was obviously their busy time. I climbed slowly and made a turn to the southeast on track. Climbing over water, I wasn’t in as much of a rush as yesterday, climbing over hills in busy airspace. So, today I climbed slower and kept the engine temperatures under control. After yesterday’s flight, I was ready for the speeds, fuel flow and temperatures, so it wasn’t a shock. They settled down when I finally leveled off at 7000 feet. It was clear ahead but the winds were again unfavorable. But not much, only a few knots. After two hours I could see the first buildups ahead. I flew around them easily. Then there were a few more. For an hour and a half I circumnavigated buildups with no problems. Finally it was clear blue sky ahead and only three hours remaining. I saw lots of ships below, I guess this is a major shipping lane. As I approached the coast, I saw lots of ships anchored. They must be waiting for entry to the port. I’d been talking with Brisbane on HF, but at 100 miles out I could talk with Melbourne Center on VHF. I could see the airport from 20 miles away and listened on their frequency, nothing. I asked Melbourne if I should cancel my IFR flight plan in the air, they said no, I could reach them on the ground. As I came over the coast, it got very bumpy from the heat of the earth and thermal activity. I was glad that I’d been over water for the flight. It would be good to depart early tomorrow to avoid the worst bumps. After landing, I taxied to the ramp and saw two people waiting for me. I stopped at parking position one (the rest of the ramp was empty). I knew that I had to remain in the cockpit until the spraying had been completed. I opened the pilot’s window a little bit and the quarantine person asked for my spray can. I said that I thought he supplied it. He said he’d go and get one. I closed the window again, saying that I knew that I had to wait inside. They both laughed. When he came back he said four seconds four minutes. Meaning to spray for four seconds and sit inside for four minutes before opening up. Although I put the reflective screens in the windows, it got pretty hot in there. Finally they let me out and we started the formalities. I handed them my General Declaration and passport. They asked some questions and one of them looked into the luggage compartment and checked out my luggage. They confirmed that the Bali teak wood was ok and the Dead Sea mud, as it was a pre-packaged make-up, not real mud, was ok. Luke called the airport manager to confirm that I could park overnight and then called the fuel supplier who happened to be at the airport. Better for me to fill up now rather than in the morning. That was it, I was in the country and free to go. Less than half an hour and painless. Ahh is it good to be back in an aviation friendly country. I didn’t know that Port Hedland was a booming town. It has iron ore mines and can’t keep up with Chinese demand. Trains pass through every three minutes full with ore. The hotels are full. I heard several people say that I’d be lucky to find a hotel. I’d checked hotels on the internet several week previously, but with all the problems and long flights, I hadn’t bothered to make a reservation. Shane, the fueler, triend calling the hotel across the street from the airport, but no-one answered. Once I was fueled and tied-down, I headed that way on foot. They didn’t have any rooms and didn’t have the phone numbers of other hotels, but I could take a taxi into town. Their rooms, just a normal hotel, were $300 per night. The others in town might be less. The taxi ride to town was $35. All three hotels were full. I had the taxi drop me off back at the airport. A $50 taxi ride. An airliner had just dropped off passengers and some organizers were collecting their groups. I asked about hotels. They both said that they didn’t know of anything available. Well, I’ve slept in the plane before, I can do it again. Ugh. In the airport I found Wi-Fi and contacted Claude to advise him that I’d be arriving about 11:30 the next day. I got a few other emails out before the terminal was deserted and Wi-Fi was switched off. I also got a sandwich at the coffee bar and saw that the price for a small can of beer was $9. The cashier said, “welcome to Port Hedland pricing.” Exorbitant. I guess that’s what happens in a booming town. I took the time to reorganize the cockpit, remove the ferry tank, sort out the cockpit and make a sleeping area. I was parked by the Royal Flying Doctors Service hangar. A plane with crew and a patient was waiting for another plane. When it arrived, they loaded up and took off. That happened once more in the middle of the night…

Sunday, January 1st, 2012 What a terrible New Year’s Eve. Although I had a nice time with Capt Siva and Rani, I had to get to bed early. With a 7am departure, I needed to get up at 5am. I had five phone calls between 10pm and 2am. I couldn’t believe it; each time I would get back to sleep, the phone would ring. I’d had problems with my credit cards today and they decided to try to reach me to check if I’d used it…. Ugh. This is the fifth time on this trip that they have stopped my credit cards, even though I advised them before my departure of my plans and countries. It has been frustrating, but tonight is even worse. I finally get some sleep between 2am and 5am, then it’s up to shower and look at the weather. Actually, during one of the phone calls, I’d checked the satellite weather for the route to Bali. It looked reasonably good except for a large cell between Surabaya, my alternate, and Bali. This morning’s satellite weather shows the same conditions. So, the departure is a go. I head downstairs, not expecting to find my box breakfast, but, surprise, they have a sandwich and fresh French fries for me, on a plate. I explain that I can’t take the plate with me, so they provide plastic containers. Capt Siva and Rani arrive to drive me to the airport. They actually stayed up until midnight (but can sleep later today). I had one last bathroom stop, then we pulled the plane out of the hangar and I did the preflight. I’d lost some avgas out of the wing tanks due to the heat of the afternoon sun, but with the ferry tank in the back, I wasn’t too worried. Capt Siva had received the weather from the met office and it looked like I’d have quartering tailwinds most of the way. That would be nice. We held hands and Capt Siva said a very nice prayer for my flight and onward journey. I do believe, although I don’t go to church any more. This morning it sure felt good to hear those words and have that support. I know that many other people pray for me daily. Two people in Europe gave me little guardian angels, which I now keep in my cockpit. As Carol Foy (my 2008 world flight co-pilot) often said, there is something other than aerodynamic forces that keeps us flying; and that is faith. Thank you all. I taxied to immigration, who had come in early for my departure. It was a very quick process and I was taxiing for takeoff. I had the departure procedure and the rest of the clearance was as filed. I climbed slowly and departure gave me a westerly heading to stay out of Kuala Lumpur’s big international airport airspace. This is the wrong direction and I was headed out on a 10-plus hour flight. I certainly was not happy as this continued. I asked for a left turn, more on course, and finally he let me turn to 220 degrees, then south, at least a little better. On the JPI engine monitor, the temperatures were high. I slowed my climb and kept the cowl flaps open to keep the oil temperature as low as possible. The cylinders head temperatures were high also. Everything was wrong and this was only the start of the flight. As the controller turned me onto my airway heading, I picked up a bit of a tailwind and felt better. I’d got the temperatures under control and was finally level at 7000 feet. My air speed was 100 knots and my fuel consumption was just under 10 gallons per hours. These numbers were terrible. The flight leg was still doable, but certainly not what I’d expected. At the FIR boundary between Malaysia and Singapore, I was already 30 minutes behind schedule, mainly due to the westerly heading and the very slow and long climb to altitude. When I was south of Singapore and on the airway to Bali I had a three knot headwind. My ground speed varied between 96 and 103 knots. The leg to Bali would be close to 11 hours. At my higher fuel consumption, I had enough fuel for 13.5 hours. Still doable if the weather was good, but very tight, close to my limit, for going to the alternate. Also, I was stressed and mentally and physically tired. I had to hold constant right rudder pressure due to the torque with the gear down. I started looking at options. There is an airport at about the halfway point. It’s public without any avgas, but I could rest and continue tomorrow. I send Capt. Siva an sms via the satellite phone asking for any other information on this airport. He was also going to send me updates on the weather as I get closer to Bali. His response is that it is for emergency use only. Well, that’s the only reason I’d use it. Also the weather is looking ok for my first alternate and still some storms in the area. I continue. As I get to five hours and close to making the deviation decision. I’m feeling better. The engine temperatures have stabilized the actual ground speed is between 103 and 107 knots, depending on winds, which have been mostly a light headwind. My feet are getting use to alternating and holding pressure on the right rudder pedal. So, overall, I’m feeling as if I can handle another five and a half hours. My decision is to continue and I feel it’s the right decision. I’ve been making my position reports with an approach by VHF then on HF with Jakarta radio. Contact has been good. As I enter the stormy area, they aren’t too bad. Some bumps, medium rain and no thunderstorms. I continue, deviating a little to avoid the worst of the storms, to where I can see clearly and go around them. With three hours to go, I look at the alternate vs going to Bali. If I continue to Bali and the weather is terrible, I can still make it to my second alternate, but not my first. I would need to deviate to my first alternate before going to Bali. The weather is continuing to be only rain and no thunderstorms, so I continue. I put the Bali automated weather into the second radio. Nothing yet, but hopefully I’ll hear it early and be able to make a deviation decision early, if necessary. I’m coming in over islands as I get closer to Bali. Some are volcanic with high elevation, but the airway keeps me away from the high peaks. Finally I can receive the Bali weather and the visibility is over 10 kilometers with scattered clouds at 1800 feet. Good. As I continue, I get into very dark clouds and light rain. I can see the high peaks below me and I’m talking with Bali director. This is a new term for me and he does the same function as our approach controllers. He’s talking with numerous jets arriving and departing. I’m wondering how I’ll fit in with their sequencing due to my slow speed. He asks me about my speed. I explain about the gear being down and that 100 knots is my maximum. He gives me direct to the Bali VOR and asks me to call him when I’m 30 miles away. After landing, I taxi to the east end of the airport where there is a ramp for small planes and helicopters. My handler Naya is there and marshals me to parking. I get out of the cockpit feeling very relieved and needing to stretch. He welcomes me to Indonesia and offers me a beer! Capt. Siva must have told him that I like a beer in the evening. I thanked him and said, not now. After everything is complete, then I’ll happily have one. One person took my General Declaration and passport to the offices. The others helped me push my plane to the parking area and tie it down. When the first person returned, I was good to go; customs and immigration had been completed – and I hadn’t even been to the offices! They presented me with a “captain’s plaque” with my name on it made out of Bali teak wood. Wow, it looked nice. Thank you. Naya called a hotel, but it was $180 for the night. I said that I only needed a three-star hotel, nothing fancy for one night. But, I needed wifi. He found a less expensive hotel and Yoki drove me there. Within half an hour of landing we were out the airport gate and heading to my hotel. I was sitting in the back of the van drinking a Bali beer and eating my cold French fries.

Saturday December 31st, 2011 – yesterday, it felt as if it were two days long Ugh. We returned to the airport at 9am to start checking out the problems. I’d called and sent emails to Arthur, my mechanic in Florida, to explain the situation. We were in a holiday crunch with a 13 hour time lag between Malaysia and the east coast of the US. At the plane, I took the belly panel off to check out the actuator and motor. I sent pictures to Arthur and Tom, from Top Gun Aviation in California, a Mooney undergear and actuator specialist. He’d worked on my gear twice over the last five years, so we knew each other a little bit. As Tom was still up in the evening his time, I called him and he gave me a list of things to check. After talking a second time, it looked like we’d isolated the problem and he gave me the solution. I performed the modification but we needed jacks to check the gear. By the time they arrived and we were ready to put the plane up, it was time for an afternoon meeting. Capt. Siva had organized a pilot meeting with EAA members, aero club members and the Director General of Aviation in Malaysia. I had to clean up and get ready. It was a fantastic meeting with Capt. Siva explaining about EAA and aviation in Malaysia. The Director General also spoke about the growth of general aviation and told us that 2011 was the 100th year of aviation in Malaysia as the first plane had landed on a field in Kuala Lumpur that year. The field is no longer there, but it was where the twin towers now stand. I gave my presentation and answered questions for the press. Hundreds of pictures were taken. It was a terrific get together for pilots in the area and it was indeed a privilege to meet the Director General. Some of the pilots were going flying after the meeting, so I headed back to the plane and we did the gear retraction test. At least, we started the test. We got the Mooney jacked up. I already had the book open to the test page and I jumped into the cockpit. I did everything in sequence then pushed the gear override switch which should start the motor and the gear should start moving to the up position. After a second, the circuit breaker popped. I couldn’t believe it. I really thought we’d solved the problem. I did the sequence a second time with the same result. We lowered the plane and took it off the jacks. They needed to other planes in the hangar and the Mooney was in the way, so couldn’t leave it up on jacks. I was bummed. I was so convinced that we’d found the problem and corrected it. But, I had a second problem, so I started working on that. The number two bottom spark plug, running on the left magneto had failed during the last flight. Although after landing, I checked again and it was working. During the day I’d changed the spark plug, but it still wasn’t working. So, I wanted to continue that analysis and testing and see if we could determine the problem. I ran without one lead on to confirm that it was the number two bottom plug on the left mag. I switched the plugs, top and bottom and the bottom still failed. So, it was either the left mag or the number two bottom lead from the mag to the spark plug. I wrote everything in an email to Arthur (as our phone connection hadn’t been good enough for him to understand all the details). When we got back to the hotel, we talked. He was going try to order new parts and get them in FedEx today (Friday, December 30th) so that they could be through customs here on Tuesday. We’ll know more in the morning. Saturday December 31st, 2011 – today, it felt as if it were also two days long In the evenings, I can talk with the east coast, my mechanic, Arthur. In the mornings, I can talk with the west coast, Tom, the gear actuator expert at Top Gun Aviation. So, first thing this morning, I called Tom and gave him the results from yesterday. He wanted me to check the gear actuator motor. He didn’t think that was the problem, but better to rule out the simple items before moving to the complex actuator. After checking that the motor ran when not connected to the actuator, we knew that it had to be a problem with the actuator. Tom had worked with a Mooney pilot in Australia and would contact him by email and see if he could find a Mooney Service Center somewhere. Within a few hours, we had a response. There was an aero club near Perth with six Mooneys and a shop that worked on them. How opportune. I was planning to visit a friend near Perth. Arthur wanted me to check the number four cylinder plugs. The bottom was fouled. After cleaning it, the engine ran great. So, it looked like that problem was solved. With the engine running, I knew that I had to get to Perth. We called the avgas supplier. It was New Year’s eve and we should gas up as early as possible. I checked everything under the belly and closed up the panel. I recowled the engine. I reinstalled the ferry tank and preflighted the plane. Everything was in order. The avgas arrived and I filled the wing tanks and put an extra 30 gallons in the ferry tank. I wasn’t sure of the speed nor fuel consumption to Bali, but wanted to have plenty of avgas. During the last two days, Kabir had been looking into his options. It was best for him to fly back home and not continue with me to Indonesia. So, this afternoon he headed to Kuala Lumpur International airport and I filed my flight plan and looked forward to a good night’s sleep.

Good news, the gear is working again and the mag problem was caused by a faulty lead which has been replaced. Will do a test flight today and we're ready to continue. But, this week is for Perth. Following is the update from where I left off in Kuala Lumpur. Thursday, December 29, 2011 We’re cruising along at flight level 80 (8,000 feet) and have departed the Cambodian coast heading southwest to Malaysia. We were smiling after an expensive but only 45 minute departure procedure. We knew the handling was $300 even though the company representative never showed up and the airport personnel helped us with everything. The navigation fee was only $116. The extra, unexpected bill was a government invoice for $250. When I asked what it was, they just kept saying the government charges. We walked out to the plane smiling when another person caught up with us and explained that there was an additional charge. They forgot the invoice for ground handling. I wanted to preflight, so I asked Kabir to go and settle the bill. With the preflight complete, windows washed and luggage stowed, I waited for Kabir. He returned relieved that the formalities were finally over. He took some pictures and jumped in. This last bill was $274 but they wouldn’t take some of his $100 bills. They were too old. I’d told him about that, but good for him to experience it himself. We are reporting the intersections along the airway and communication with Bangkok control is clear; they acknowledge each position report. We only have three and a half hours to go. We picked up a box breakfast at the hotel, so I enjoy a fried egg sandwich. There are buildups to the south but our direction is looking clear. The satellite weather this morning showed no storms all the way to Kuala Lumpur and the airport forecast also indicated good weather for our arrival. We were hoping for the best as this is monsoon season and normally they have storms most afternoons. Our contact in Kuala Lumpur, Captain Siva, has planned a flight in front of the twin towers, if the weather cooperates. We’re hoping for some good pictures. What an afternoon… The rest of the flight went well but we were fifth in line for arrival at the airport. They kept us at 10,000 feet too long and when we could finally descend, it was quite fast as I maneuvered between clouds to keep us in smooth air. Then they asked us to slow down to our slowest speed possible, while still descending. I slowed down to 120 knots and dropped the gear, then continued descending. The best way to lose altitude in a Mooney is with gear down. Then they asked us to level off at 5000 feet, which we did. As we started the ILS approach, they asked for fastest forward speed. That isn’t possible with gear down, and as we were going to rendezvous with another plane and not land, I brought the gear back up…or so I thought. As we continued the approach, the speeds weren’t right and it felt sluggish, then I noticed that the “gear unsafe” light was on. The gear wasn’t up, nor down. I tried the handle, but the gear didn’t move. The tower and our accompanying plane were trying to reach us. After trying to diagnose the problem, I decided to do the photo shoot and fly-by, then look into the problem afterwards. So we broke off the approach and joined up with Captain Siva in a Socata TB10. He guided us toward the twin towers in the center of Kuala Lumpur. He had received special permission for us to fly around the towers with his plane and do a photo shoot. I concentrated on the towers and flying although my mind was frustrated by the gear problem. The other plane could see the gear and confirmed it was halfway up. We circled two times, wow, what a site. Very few people get this opportunity and I couldn’t pass it up. After the first time around, I noticed the circuit breaker for the gear actuator had popped out. I made sure the gear handle was in the down position and pushed the circuit breaker in. The gear motor ran and the gear went fully down. I checked that they were locked down. The other plane confirmed that our gear was now down. We finished the second time around the towers and returned to the airport. What an unbelievable experience.

January 2nd, quick update for those without Facebook: Yesterday was an exhausting 11 hour flight with headwinds and rain. After a great night's sleep, I'm ready for another 7 hours to Port Hedland, Australia today. I've already advised customs of my arrival. Then on the Perth tomorrow. Everyone is on holiday, so I haven't been able to call the shop yet, to advise them of my problem. Let's hope they can help.

Happy New Year to all. I'm sorry the blog has not been updated. I lost the password in a corrupted file. Lots has happened!! Major problem with gear and have spent 2 days in Kuala Lumpur analyzing and testing. No good. Must fly to Bali and Australia with gear down. The good news is that I've found a Mooney Service Center near Perth and should be with them next week. Following is the Cambodia update. Will get the Kuala Lumpur updated, hopefully tomorrow. Thanks for your patience. Wednesday, December 28th, 2011 I was lucky to spend a nice, quiet family Christmas with Norm and Lec north of Bangkok in their house in the area called Khao Yai. Norm and I toured the area on motorcycles. It’s cooler there at altitude and with a wind blowing through the hills. Returning to Bangkok, we met with my next co-pilot, Kabir, from Boston. We spent the afternoon with charts and flight plans making sure we were ready for the next few flights to Cambodia, Malaysia and across the intertropical convergence zone making two stops in Indonesia. On Tuesday morning Norm drove us to Bang Phra airport and explained about a VFR departure. He’d also called the international airport, 20 minutes south, to advise them of our arrival, need for avgas and next departure to Cambodia. So, everything was prepared. After a big hug it was time to go again. What a wonderful relaxed Christmas. Thank you Norm and Lec, I look forward to returning to Thailand. Kabir and I jumped in the cockpit and back taxied on runway 05. It was already 30 degrees but we climbed nicely with an easy left turn to avoid the hills ahead. There were quite a few bumps from the winds coming over the hills, but we continued climbing into smooth air. I called the tower one last time to thank them and Norm and we headed south. The visibility was only two kilometers, so we had to pick up our IFR flight plan and were given a clearance by U-Taphao approach. Due to other traffic, we did the VOR 36 approach and taxied to parking spot one. We got out, but no-one came to meet us. The tower was close by, but fenced in, so we couldn’t just walk over. The tower controller had already asked what our plans were upon arrival. I told Kabir that patience was needed at each stop. Sometimes people come right away and sometimes they don’t. Within 10 minutes a truck arrived. We asked for, and within another 20 minutes received, the avgas. Then they took us to the office below the tower for the flight plan filing and weather briefing. Then we were bused to the airport authorities to pay our bill. After quick immigration and customs stops, we were driven back to the plane for departure. Less than an hour and a half total. Kabir thinks I’ve been exaggerating previous difficulties at international airports. After departure, we’re given direct to the FIR boundary (country border crossing point) then direct to destination. The winds are unfavorable, so any shortcuts are appreciated. We are transferred from Bangkok control to Phnom Penh control and only have 45 minutes remaining. This is a very short flight. In no time we’re coming down the glide slope, landing and parking on the ramp. Three people show up immediately and ask for our General Declaration which we hand out through the door. This is a little unusual. We get out and start answering their questions. After chocking and securing the plane we take the 100 person bus to immigration where they leave us and tell us to pass with the other tourists. We get our visa, pass immigration and have to fill in the arrival document that tourists arriving by the airline fill out. The customs agent doesn’t want our General Declaration. This is not a normal arrival for Kabir to learn how international airports work. But we get a taxi and head to the hotel. We wandered the streets and had a local Cambodian dinner. We don’t have to fly tomorrow, so we can try different foods. Our day in Siem Reap was amazing, we saw three temples, first and most famous, Angkor Wat. It was built for king Suriyavarman II in the 12th century as his state temple and capital city. It is the best-preserved temple and remains a significant religious center. It also appears on Cambodia’s national flag. The two others, Angkor Thom and Beng Melea were also both constructed in the 12th century, but slightly different and still interesting. Beng Melea has huge trees growing around all the stones and is thought to have served as a prototype for Angkor Wat. Angkor Thom was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire and covers an area of nine square kilometers. We then drove to the floating market which consists of a community of boat dwellers who move with the rising and falling waters in the river and lake. It’s now the end of the rainy season, so the water is still high, but it will go down during the six month dry season and the boats will move towards the lake as the water levels decrease. There is a floating school, a floating basketball court, floating markets and many floating houses. We head to Malaysia tomorrow.

December 21-23,2011 – several days in Chiang Mai We spent two days touring around Chiang Mai and the countryside on the outskirts. It is extremely clean with small street vendors everywhere, especially food vendors. Although the US health departments recommends against easting at these places, we had to try several different dishes. They were very tasty. We tried to stay on cooked food and off any raw vegetables. The fruits were also delicious, especially the pineapple. Thursday we had a full day of visiting: an orchid farm, an hillside village, riding an elephant, rafting down a river and a 2-hour trek in the hills. The other group participants were from Italy, Switzerland and Germany and they were all in their 20s, so we were the “old” pair. The sign for rafting even said that it was only for over 10 and under 50 years old! The countryside was lush green and beautiful. The river was down from its high point, now it’s the start of the dry season, but still running fast. The hills up north are very steep and up to 7000 feet high. Absolutely beautiful scenery. The flight from Chiang Mai to Bang Phra was a little slow due to headwinds. The controllers were very difficult to understand, but with a few requests for repeats, we finally understood what they were asking. The area north of Bangkok was still flooded for 60 miles. It was a huge area still underwater. The farming and industry has been devastated. Over the water south of Bangkok we were at 1000 feet and direct to Bang Phra. I cancelled IFR 15 miles west and called the tower. Worawoot, the Thai Flying Club Manager, answered the call and told us the weather and using runway 05. Norm, a Mooney pilot/earthrounder had given me instructions for runway 23; however it comes in over a hill and runway 05 is a much easier arrival. After landing I did an oil change and Norm drove us to his apartment in Bangkok. Judy has to return to the US tomorrow and Kabir, another pilot, is joining me for the next few legs. Happy Christmas and New Year to everyone. More next week.

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 -- Finally departing Calcutta We preflight, get in the cockpit and call for startup which is approved right away. Then more fun and questions. What is our takeoff minimum? I say 200 meters. Legally in the US it would be zero zero. But, I don’t think they’ll accept that. What are our landing minimums? I give them the number from the approach chart. Right now the visibility is 750 meters. We wait about 15 minutes while they ask more questions and review the rules. Finally the ground control says that non-scheduled flights require a minimum of 1000 meters visibility to depart and we can shut down. He’ll call us when visibility improves. We shut down. The visibility is down to 400 meters. The few planes that takeoff disappear into the fog pretty quickly. We sit in the cockpit and wait. And wait. We call every once in a while, visibility is up to 500 meters. Then 750 meters. They won’t let us go until 1000 meters. Don’t call again, we’ll call you when the visibility is above 1000 meters. We hear other calls and it’s up to 850 meters. Now it’s after 10am. Finally, he calls and gives us startup approval. The visibility is 1000 meters. We start up, take the clearance and taxi to the end of the runway. One plane lands and we’re cleared for takeoff with a right turn on course. Once we’re at 4000 feet, we’re above the “soup” and the climb is easier. We level off at 9000 feet and set everything for cruise. Phew. We’re headed out over water right away. Unfortunately, the engine isn’t settling down to its normal “hum.” I play with the rpm and mixture and finally let it run with a little higher fuel flow to keep the vibration down. We leave Indian air space and start talking with Bangladesh. The signal is very weak and he relays through another plane that we are not permitted in his airspace. I read the permit number which is relayed back to him. We only have 22 miles to go to be out of his airspace. The plane that was relaying is out of range and we can’t hear him very well and we continue. I breathe a sigh of relief when out of his airspace and we call the next controller. We’re in smooth air and cruising along with a ten knot tailwind. After a few hours the engine settles down to its normal hum and I can back off on the fuel flow. I really don’t know if it’s me that doesn’t settle down or the engine. Over Myanmar there is a long distance between normal reporting points so the controller starts asking for time “abeam NDBs.” First we have to understand what he’s asking for, then find the NDB, then do the calculation. It took a while, but finally we gave him the required information. I was happy when we could use the GPS and report time to the next intersection. Finally Yangoon control gave us a “direct to FIR boundary” which cut off two legs of a triangle and we were only an hour and a half from landing. The landscape over Myanmar was interesting. Along the coast it was flat and the area of the spring 2008 tsunami disaster. Further east it climbs to 7000 foot mountains. With beautiful valleys and rivers it really was gorgeous to fly over. Over the mountains we passed into Thailand, talked with Bangkok control and were in radar contact for the first time since departing Calcutta. He handed us over to Chiang Mai approach and we started descending. I remembered this from the 2008 flight with mountains on the left or west side and coming in on the ILS 36 approach. In no time we were on the ground and taxiing to parking space 15. The AOT (airport of Thailand) representative asked if we wanted to be tied down and wheeled over huge cement tie-down blocks. No storms were expected but always better to be tied-down than not. He drove us to the terminal and took us to immigration and then customs. He showed Judy where she could change money as I finished the customs paperwork. As we landed after 4:30pm, we had to pay 900 Thai Baht ($30) for customs. If we’d landed before, it would have been free. If we hadn’t had a late departure… From the time we landed to waiting for the taxi is less than one hour. No difficulties what so ever. Unfortunately there was a traffic jam in town and the taxis were backed up, so we had to wait half an hour for a taxi, but then only a fifteen minute drive to the hotel. Ahh, dinner, a beer and a good night’s sleep.

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011 Yestereday’s arrival at Calcutta went well with an arrival procedure and ILS 01R approach with visibility reported at 1800 meters. After shutdown at parking spot 13, at about noon local time, the representatives from Indian Oil Aviation came very quickly. We asked for avgas. They said it was available, but pumped by air pressure slowly. But, they would obtain the barrels and bring it to the plane. Two other companies could offer the handling. They left to get the avgas. We cleaned up the cockpit, emptied the pee bottles (on the grass behind the plane) and waited and waited. An hour and a half later another representative came and asked what we needed. We explained that his company representative had left an hour and a half ago and was bringing a barrel of avgas. He said that there had been a shift change and he received that information. It takes a while to obtain the avgas, but it would be here. At that time the first representative returned in his car (without the avgas). They would get it in 10 minutes. Off they went. This time the avgas arrived on a trailer. One guy held the air pressure on the barrel while the second held the spout in the airplane wing tank opening. Each time we filled a tank, the pressure had to stop so that we could move the spout to the next tank, then build the pressure up again. Finally we emptied the drum and paid the manager. I asked if they did handling, no, only the two other companies. They departed. As no handlers had arrived, we walked to the terminal. On my 2003 trip every time I arrived, handlers would swarm around the plane for business, now they didn’t seem to care. I knew that we had to get to the tower to pay our fees and file tomorrow’s flight plan. The question was how to get there. As we passed the international arrivals I asked a person sitting taking his break. He pointed to the tower, but said the only way there was through international arrivals and pointed to that door. In we went and to the first immigration officer. I told him who we were, that we’d just arrived, needed to get to Air Traffic Control to file a flight plan and pay fees, and depart tomorrow. We really didn’t need immigration today, just to get through to ATC. Well, that was the start of another two and a half hours of waiting and explaining. After having as many as seven people listening and advising, we finally had one spokesman who seemed to know what to do. He explained that he was actually doing tomorrow’s paperwork to facilitate our departure. Even though we were tired and wanted to get to the hotel, he wouldn’t let us go, so we had to do all the paperwork. He also got customs to do their paperwork. Finally it was complete at 4:30pm and I could go to the ATC office. There the knowledgeable person only took about 20 minutes and $60 to do all the paperwork and let me go. He told me that I needed to get the final security stamped paper back to the ATC office or I couldn’t depart tomorrow. I asked how, after passing security, I could get the paper back to him. He agreed that I couldn’t return, so I could leave the paper at Apron Control, near Customs, on the ramp. We were done at 5:15pm (after landing just before noon) and headed to the taxi stand. We agreed on a price and headed to the hotel. How long will it take, I asked; we knew the hotel was only 12 miles from the airport. One and a half hours he responded. I asked if I heard correctly. He explained that the hotel was far to the south and we had to go through a very congested area. We sat back and witnessed more amazing driving with the horn blowing over 50% of the time. Next morning at the airport: With all the paperwork, security let us into the building, step one. I saw the sign for immigration and we headed that way. First desk, for first class passengers (normally also for crew), we stopped and presented our paperwork. He asked for the boarding passes. We started the explanation again. He took all the paperwork and asked us to wait. Within 15 minutes he returned with approval. He kept some paperwork and insisted that he needed to keep the flight plan. I insisted that we needed the flight plan. He made a copy for me but kept my carbon copy. He stamped the General Declaration papers and we were good to go. Off to Customs. After a little explanation, the customs guy knew what to do, stamped the General Declaration documents, found the entry paperwork from yesterday, found a special number that he needed from a book, that had also been done yesterday and explained about security, upstairs. I said, yes, I knew that we needed that important paper and stamp in order to depart. One other customs person said that he would meet us ramp side and accompany us to the plane to remove the customs tape that had sealed the plane last evening. Upstairs we went to what should have been the last stop before the ramp. The security guard had us speak with the manager, who had four stars on his shoulders. He looked at all the paperwork and said that we need the airport manager’s stamp on the ATC document. Absolutely could go no further without that stamp. He put someone with me to escort me to the Airport Manager’s office. Back through customs and immigration to the main terminal and to the office. She looked at all the paperwork and said that she wouldn’t sign because there was no ATC stamp on the ATC paperwork. She ordered us to go to ATC and get that stamp. We went outside the terminal and along the road to ATC. There another person was behind the desk, he looked at everything and explained, calmly, to my escort, that ATC didn’t have a stamp and didn’t stamp their paperwork. The signature was sufficient. We trooped back to the Airport Manager’s office. She said that we needed to pay parking. I explained that I’d be told to do that at Apron Control after passing customs and proceeding ramp side. She sent someone with us, across the hall, and we completed that paperwork and I paid $30. Back to the airport manager’s office where she signed and stamped my paperwork as required by the security person. I heard her talking with other people, the visibility was 50 meters and the airport had no movements. No departures and no arrivals. So, I knew that time was no longer an issue, but we still needed to complete everything. The customs person (who was waiting for me on the ramp) found us in the terminal. He gave me his permission to take off the customs seal and enter the plane by myself. I shook his hand and thanked him. I figured he was tired of waiting for us. My escort and I headed back to security. We passed screening and the chief asked for the security paperwork. I explained that I thought he provided it. He said no, he stamped it. The airlines provided the paper. We went to his desk and he showed me a paper. He didn’t have any copies but gave me blank paper and I wrote the document with carbon paper, two copies. He approved, stamped and signed the paper. I explained that ATC had said that I could leave the security document with Apron Control and they would pick it up. He told me that I had to carry it back to ATC. With my escort, we proceeded one more time backwards through customs, immigration, the terminal and outside down the road to ATC. I handed the paper to the person behind the desk (another new person). I asked him if everything was ok. He checked my number in the book, nodded and said yes. We returned to security. By this time my escort is smiling and talking a little and explains that he is vigilance manager. I wondered how we made it through all those departments without being stopped each time. I said that I sure found it easier walking around the airport with him and he could accompany me any time! We made it back to security, with smiles and handshakes all around we are sent though the door and out to the ramp.

Two log entries. Unedited, too tired. Hopefully you'll enjoy; see below before you read this one. The gas guy now started to double his price. I said no, we’d agreed on $100 and he was taking extra from the avgas price, that was enough. He argued, I got out of the car. He said to get back in and I paid half and the second half when on the ramp. With the permit, I proceeded through the guards at the door and luggage screening. At the security it was again a full screening (on the women’s side) with all paperwork being reviewed. I finally made it out to the ramp. Three security guys were between me and the plane and they also looked at the paperwork, just as the gas guy showed up in his vehicle. I was allowed to continue and gave him the second $50 in the car. We got the plane ready, preflight and hook the trailer up to the avgas guy’s car and see them off. Then get into the cockpit. We reviewed the weather together. I told Judy the current weather and poor visibility. The forecast came through with about the same visibility but with a two degree temperature dewpoint spread. That was the limiting factor. We both decided that it was too “iffy” and the weather could seriously deteriorate while we were enroute. This was a “no go.” It was 7pm and dark outside. What to do. I had the permit, only for today’s date, to get back to the tower. Best to go to the tower and get all the new paperwork done tonight. Neither of us wanted the hassle of getting back into the airport, through security and to the ramp that we’d had yesterday. So, both of up opted to sleep in the plane rather than take a hotel. That tells you how bad the hassle factor is. I got all my paperwork and headed back to the tower. I went to the gate at the base of the tower. Previously, when I was with the gas guy, they wouldn’t let us through this gate (maybe due to the car). This time, they checked my pass, checked my backpack and let me through. I explained that I would be back in an hour and was it ok to return this way. They assured me that I could return by their gate. Not going through passenger security would be fantastic. Up the steps and with a smile I greeted the tower controller again. There were actually two guys, so one continued with the planes while the second did paperwork. I told him that with the forecast for Calcutta, we’ll stay the night and depart tomorrow morning. He explained that although we had done the flight plan, he hadn’t received our clearance through Mumbai. As Nagpur was not on our original permit, he couldn’t let us depart. That’s ok, we aren’t leaving anyway, but we need to clear it up before tomorrow. He explained that the agency for permits is closed until 10am local tomorrow morning… He asked how we had departed for Nagpur when we didn’t have a permit to come here. This back and forth explanation continued for over half an hour. He called several agencies and finally received approval for our flight to Calcutta. Now we could do the new flight plan and parking invoice. Again, lots of paperwork for an additional $1 for overnight parking. He approved the flight plan. I asked when the shift changed and would the next shift have the information that we had approval to depart. He assured me that they would communicate all the necessary information. He said that we would have to relocate the plane to a night parking area. No problem, I said good night and I’d call him for startup in the plane. The return through the gate security guards was easy, there were smiling and waving when I arrived. Then I walked to the plane. Judy was stretched out across the two front seats updating her blog report. I said that all was ready, but we had to relocate the plane. We taxied following a “follow me” truck to our new parking area and shut down. It was almost 9pm and we were both ready for rest. We rearranged the cockpit as best we could both found make-shift pillows and tried to rest. Within a few minutes I had a call on my phone. It was a friend of Eddie’s, from Egypt, who lived in Nagpur. Eddie had advised him that we were in Nagpur and he was calling to see if he could help. I assured him that we were ok and would depart early in the morning and were fine. That was so nice of both of them, but there was no way Judy or I wanted to leave the ramp. We started to settle down again and a jeep with three men arrived and came to my window. They asked if we wanted to go to arrivals and a hotel. We said this was a technical stop and we were departing at 0300, an early departure and staying in the plane was easiest and best for us. They accepted that and wished us a good night! Off they walked and we settled down again. Judy slept off and on, I got a solid four hours between midnight and 4am as well as an hour before and after. Overall, I felt fine. We both felt a bit stiff, but had plenty of time to walk around and get ready for the flight. An hour and a half before departure, I called the tower. They were obviously aware of our issue and said they were preparing the clearance and to call back in another hour. One hour later they said all was ok and gave us the forecast at Calcutta which was 2000 meters visibility and a 10 degree temperature dewpoint spread. We were good to go. Just before engine start, another person showed up and asked for more information for his paperwork, then he left. We had a slight scare when he told us to taxi to stand 2 on the ramp. I waited there, then asked if we had to shut down (thinking it was another security check). No, he continued our taxi. One arrival and we were off… ahh. Actually, the morning had been very peaceful, but it was still good to be off and heading to Calcutta. We are an hour and a half from arrival. We have not been able to reach Calcutta control, but have relayed our position and arrival. Hopefully all will proceed smoothly.

Sunday, December 18, 2011 un-edited, too tired, hope it's ok What a morning! It’s 1:30 pm and we’ve been in the air only half an hour. We left the hotel at 5:30 am and started the exit process before 6 am in the Airport Managers office. The rest was pure torture… We received the pass to get into the ATC office and tower for the paperwork. Once there, the tower advised me that I needed a customs stamp on the flight plan, even though this was a domestic flight. I walked to the international terminal, got through security with the pass that I had and found customs who stamped my flight plan. I asked if I needed immigration or anything else (while I was in that terminal) and he said no. I walked back to ATC and climbed to the tower. There he started doing my paperwork, in between his other jobs, explaining that they are on reduced manpower during the night shift and normally this would be done downstairs. As 7am came around, the next shift started and we went downstairs to complete the paperwork. There the office was busy with pilots and others walking in and out and asking for information. Finally he started the paperwork. I knew it would be a lot of time and paperwork for not much. It finally totaled $35, which I happily paid. We had all the stamps and paperwork and returned to the domestic terminal for the bus to the plane. In the airport manager’s office he called for the bus. I asked about avgas and he started calling the operators. After four phone calls he said that no avgas was available. I said that was not possible. This is the aiport where all piston engine planes stop because they have avgas. We worked on this from 7:30 until 8:30 am and our departure time was 9am. Our only option was to fly to Nagpur and get avgas there. Since Nagpur was our alternate on the existing flight plan to Calcutta and since our driver was there, we headed though security. The driver would meet us airside. The security was also pure torture. Even though we had our captain’s uniforms on, they insisted on making us wait in line and going through my bag for nail clippers (although they are legal size). More of a wonder is that they didn’t bother about the bottle of water that was in there. We made it to the gate and the driver was waiting for us. You’d think we were ready to go. The guard stops us at the gate and says we’re missing the immigration stamp and approval. I explain, patiently at first, then less patiently, that I was told it was not necessary for a domestic flight and we’re going to Calcutta. He talks with his boss and the position gets more firm. After another half hour, the airport manager shows up and explains that there is an airport halt due to a Minister who is departing. That’s causing some problems and extra security. Finally, he accompanies us back to the ATC office. We cannot fly to Nagpur as it’s our alternate, we must file a new flight plan. The change in flight plan was not easy as Nagpur was not on our permit; but we listed it only as a technical stop and it was accepted. Because we were behind schedule, we had to pay more parking. More paperwork for $1.00. Luckily the guy was logical and just added $1 to the previous paperwork; he didn’t want to fill out a new form either. But he said that he really should. With the flight plan approved, we were taken to the plane. We shook hands all around and thanked them for their help. After pre-flight we jumped in the cockpit and called for startup. We were given a time in one hour and ten minutes when we could start up. I checked to make sure I understood, then we got out again. Obviously there was still a hold due to the Minister. We watched the ramp which was empty. There was no noise. No planes starting, taxiing or landing. We saw people walking towards us. First a security guy who left within a few minutes. Then two security, one calling himself vigilance. They left, then another guard showed up and he stayed. He’s obviously been assigned to stay with us. The re-fuelers were only a short walk from the ramp, so I walked over there to talk with them. He confirmed no avgas but it was available from Indian Oil, off the airport. He called and I talked with the handler. He was coming to the airport to look after another plane and could supply a barrel of avgas if we could download it. I assured him that we could. That was terrific news. Since we couldn’t depart anyway, let’s hope the avgas arrives and make best use of this waiting time. At 0600 z, our start-up time, noise started again. A commercial plane landed and taxied to his gate. The airport was open again. We decided it would be preferable to get avgas here and skip a stop at Nagpur if possible, so waited another hour. I returned to the fueler who had just called our contact. He could not obtain fuel today as it was Sunday, but he did confirm that it would be available at Nagpur. That was it, we’d fly to Nagpur. I returned to the plane and we called for startup and headed out. Phew, we were on our way. Not to Calcutta, but at least to where there was avgas and half way to Calcutta. Now, flying at FL 090 the visibility is much better than advertised, maybe even 10 miles, and we’re only an hour and a half from Nagpur. I said that I’d prefer that the flight last 12 hours. That way we’d have more peace a quiet. Let’s hope all goes well at Nagpur. Nagpur was not easy. We were the third in line of three planes landing at Nagpur and they have no radar. Everyone was reporting position and the tower was giving descents and approach clearances. During the arrival, the tower asked our intentions at Nagpur. I said that depending on avgas and weather, we planned to depart this evening to Calcutta. Our permit did not include Nagpur and Ahmedabad let us depart to Nagpur only as a technical stop. The tower said that we must pay landing and parking at the tower. We had to hold then do the full ILS approach. We parked and no-one was around, so I started walking to the tower. I was intercepted by the airport authority and security. I was told that I had to go through immigration to get to the tower. I explained that this was a technical stop and I was not supposed to go off the ramp. Also, I couldn’t do the flight plan in the tower until I was assured of avgas and weather. So, avgas had to be first. He called Indian Oil and luckily they came very quickly. I knew that it would be a 55 gallon drum and I had the syphoning equipment. I just hoped that we could get the drum high enough to syphon most of the avgas into the wings. We started the process and it went very well into the right wing then we moved to the left wing. As it slowed down, we paid the bill and started working on the tower issues. It was 5pm local time with a four hour flight, that would put us at Calcutta at 9pm. The visibility usually started deteriorating about that time. We were getting close to not departing. The avgas guy said that he could get me to the tower and back, for a price… Off we went. Getting off the ramp and into the tower isn’t the problem, getting back to the ramp is. He assured me that he could get a pass to get me back. We went to the tower. Again the painful process of tons of paperwork for a small bill. It turned out to be not so small this time, $142. I prepared the flight plan as the tower controller called for Calcutta forecast for my arrival time. The current weather was already down to 1500 meters visibility. They were preparing a new forecast, so he would call me on the radio with the information. We started back to the ramp.

Friday, December 16th, 2011 Muscat to Ahmedabad, India The nice taxi driver who showed us around Muscat yesterday, Suleman, was sitting outside the hotel waiting for us with his usual smile. We loaded the trunk and he sped, at usual, to the airport. Since I’d been through the process yesterday, it was easy to find our way. The security even let us carry a large bottle of water through, which was nice. We arrived at the operations office and they knew that N220FC was departing today. Settling the bills was relatively efficient then the operations person walked us through immigration and to the exit gate. We took a last toilet break and were escorted by a different person to the crew bus. I kept repeating that we needed to go to the briefing office to enter our flight plan. He said that dispatch would meet us at the plane. Now that doesn’t happen. But, he had the driver drive us to the plane. Obviously no dispatch or anyone else was there. I started loading the plane and asked Judy to stay on the bus so that the driver wouldn’t leave. I also asked him to call and tell them that we needed to get to the dispatch office. The American pilots and crew for the plane parked next to us showed up. I walked over and asked what they had done for the flight plan. Universal Weather had taken care of their handling and entered the flight plan. But, their handler showed up in a pickup truck and nicely drove me back to the briefing office. There the women entered my flight plan with a smile and were more than happy to help. The handler drove me back to my plane. Phew, that was the only problem, everything else with Oman Air handling had gone very well. We let the bus driver go and finished loading the plane. Startup, clearance, taxi and departure all went smoothly and we were climbing to 11,000 feet and headed to Pakistan airspace. The hand-off to Karachi control went smoothly, but he didn’t like our choice of airways and changed the routing a little. Only four hours to go, not bad. Also, we are so close to the Pakistani coast that all communication is VHF today, no HF. Judy is disappointed. She’s on these next few legs to learn as much as possible before her 2013 world flight. That’s ok, we’ll be using HF when crossing to Thailand. Over India the land is very dry, but as we proceed inland I see more green, then farmlands. Ahmedabad is in northwestern India, not too far from the coast. I’d been watching the weather while I was in the Seychelles a week before coming here. All three airports in India had bad weather and were IFR most of the time. All of these were due to low ground fog, there was no problem with clouds, just very low visibility. Our first stop Ahmedabad was usually marginal VFR. The second stop, Patna, was low IFR all day, every day. There was no way I was going to be able to land there. I finally contacted Saudimini, the India Airways pilot that helped me with the India flight planning for my 2008 flight. She sent me LOTS of great information. The most important of which was that general aviation planes can’t land at Patna if the visibility is less than 2200 meters. Patna hadn’t had visibility that good the whole time I’d been watching it. I had to ask Bo to change the India permit. There was no way we were going to be able to go there. The alternative was Calcutta; who’s weather I’d also been watching. It was usually IFR but with better visibility than Patna. Unfortunately a big airport in not what want you in India. The paperwork is unbelievable. But, we didn’t have a choice. So, when we first listened to the Ahmedabad weather on the radio, I was pleasantly surprised to hear they had 5000 meters visibility. Wow, this was going to be much easier than I had previously thought. That’s better visibility than they have had for the past week. I plugged the arrival procedure and approach into the GPS and asked for lower as we’d been flying at 11,000 feet. We continued down and he gave us the final intersection on the arrival then the ILS approach. Judy looked ahead for the runway while I stayed on instruments. She finally saw it about two miles out. It was hazy, but not as bad as expected. After landing I parked and within a short time the first bus showed up. There were two customs people who wanted to know how much avgas was left in the tanks and other people wanted to offer their handling services. I said that I thought handling wasn’t mandatory here. He agreed and departed. He didn’t even try to offer his services for a price. The customs guy said that immigaration would be out to see us. We re-packed, cleaned up the cockpit and waited. Finally another bus showed up. The immigration people looked at our passports and we were asked to accompany them to the terminal. One person seemed to be facilitating the process. Because we didn’t have an address for the hotel and their internet system wasn’t working, that process took a little time, but we finally moved on to customs. They asked if we had any other equipment on which we needed to pay duty. I didn’t think so, but obviously I don’t know what is taxed and what isn’t. The final bill for customs was $16. All the time and paperwork for not much return. The nice man who had been helping us had called the hotel and they were sending a bus to pick us up. He drove us to the domestic terminal and showed us where we needed to go for departure in two days and we paid for a receipt for the bus back out to the plane (another $20). I asked who he was and thanked him for all his help. He was the Airport Manager for the international terminal and said that he was happy to help us and that it was his duty. We took pictures with him and thanked him again. He was a huge help. Overall the process took 2 ½ hours, which isn’t too bad for entering India. The half hour bus ride to the hotel was eye-popping for Judy. She’d never seen such chaos on the street nor heard so many horns blowing. But, we made it and had a wonderful chicken curry dinner. Unfortunately, for me, our hotel is in a “dry” area, they did not serve beer. I’d had no beer for two evenings in Muscat, so was really counting on one this evening. The manager at the restaurant told us how to get one, so I obtained a “permit” at the desk and headed out. We found the hotel, but unfortunately they would only serve their guests, not others. So, no beer tonight. However, a store would be open tomorrow. Success today, I have a beer sitting in the fridge for this evening! Yeah. We head to Calcutta tomorrow, more from there.

December 13th, Seychelles to Muscat, Oman One hour down and all is proceeding very well. I’m running on the rear tank. I put 45 gallons in there. With full mains, that’ll give me 18 hours endurance for a 13 hour flight. Plenty of extra in case I need to deviate around storms. It’s also a good test before the Pacific. I have more weight in the plane now than I’ll have for the Pacific and I moved as much forward as I could. It was a smooth rotation with no problems at all. I turned out on course and climbed slowly to FL 070. The other islands in the Seychelles are beautiful to see from the air. I gave the controller the estimated times to the first few waypoints and he said to call again at BOMOB, 200 miles away. OK, I’m on my own, no checking in every half hour. After that call, he said to call at CLAVA, another 240 miles away. I’ve got the HF antenna out and can hear the others pretty well, the frequency is a little congested with a lot of flights calling in. Wes has set up a schedule for talking on the HF radio. That starts in another hour. It’ll be good to talk every once in a while to keep me going. I just went through my first cloud for the night… first there were a few bumps then I could see the strobe lights. I shut them off until I was out the other side. A friend, Bill, was in touch by satellite phone, we were each sending short text messages. We’d followed the weather patterns and trends for the last few days and both felt that the weather was acceptable today. I had a choice of routes and we’d both picked the most easterly route. He would send me actual updates and recommendations as I was flying. There was an almost full moon and early on a relatively clear sky. I could see the first storms as they were building or declining. I was able to deviate around them visually. Then there were a lot of clouds and lightning strikes on the storm scope. Bill’s recommendation was the circumnavigate these to the east. I had to deviate about 35 degrees northeast around first big storm. When I thought I was around the side of it, I turned north again. Then there was another one. I could see that it spread out quite far to the east, so I started deviating westward. Then as I saw the size on the storm scope, I had to deviate further and further west. I finally got around it and could return to northbound direction. I had a few more bumps, but was out of the worst of it. Bill confirmed that from his real-time satellite views. Then, it was just a matter of staying awake for the last 7 hours. That was difficult. I kept as busy as I could, I stretched, massaged, ate cookies and candy, drank water. Unfortunately, the HF propagation was not good and I was unable to speak with Wes; but it kept me busy trying different frequencies. The last two hours were relatively easy as I was in VHF contact with Muscat and had more to do. The three or four hours in between were very difficult. But, I didn’t nod-off and made it! That was one of the most difficult crossing that I’ve had! The approach was fascinating, just as the sun was coming up behind me. I came over the last mountain at 11,000 feet and was descended to 9,000 then 4,000 feet very quickly. The controller was giving me vectors to the ILS final and had to get me down to 3000 feet very quickly. Then straight in and land. I’d been required to get in by 7am local time, before their busy period. Thus the night flight. It was the only way to get the permit to land in Muscat, Oman. In two days I need to depart by 8am, again their requirement for the permit. But, we’ll need an early departure for the six hour flight to India, so that hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Saturday, December 10th, 2011 -- to the Seychelles I arrived at the airport at 6:30am for an 8am departure time. There was no-one around. When I’d been here earlier in the week, to install the ferry tank, the place had been packed in the morning. Also, when I’d arrived last Sunday, the tower controller told me that everyone started work here at 6am. I needed customs, health and police (immigration) in order to depart internationally. I climbed to the tower. A different controller was there. I said that I was scheduled to depart at 8am and that the controller last Sunday assured me that everyone started work at 6am. He said that he’d call the required people. I can’t even gas up until I got the customs paperwork. I walked out to the plane to get the cockpit organized. Today’s flight is only about four and a half hours, but I need to get everything ready for the 13 hour flight to Muscat, Oman, next week. Earlier this week I went to the airport and put the Turtlepac, ferry tank, into the back seat and plumbed it in to the fuel system. I’d tested it in Florida, before leaving, to make sure everything worked but wasn’t planning on using it until the Pacific Ocean crossing. I had however thought the occasion might arise when avgas wouldn’t be available and I might need it and now is that time. Originally I’d planned to fly from the Seychelles to Salalah, Oman, about a nine hour flight. I’d stopped there on my 2008 flight and had barrels of avgas waiting for me. When I contacted the avgas people earlier this year, they said that they were no longer supporting avgas at Salalah Airport. This meant that I have to fly to Muscat, a 13 hour flight. Thus the Turtlepac. I’m going to put about 15 gallons of avgas in the ferry tank today and run on that for over an hour to make sure everything is ok. I need to move the life raft into the front right seat for weight and balance purposes and to make it easily accessible. I move more weight in front of the right seat to reduce the load in the luggage compartment. It’s a little congested, but that’s what I want to test on today’s short flight. Once the cockpit is organized, I head back to the tower. He’s only been able to contact the police who will come out. The other departments have only had the answering machine on. He keeps trying. I see the avgas guys by the plane, so I head back out. The chief has talked with customs who said that he can go ahead and gas up. Wow, is that nice. We get that job out of the way and I get rid of more $100 bills. One has a mark on it, which he says won’t be accepted, so it needs to be changed for two $50 bills. He has to write down all the serial numbers on a piece of paper that I have to sign. I also had to sign four other documents after the fill up. He has to see customs to get his authorization for selling tax-free avgas, so we all head to the terminal. The customs guy has arrived, so he starts stamping my General Declaration forms and the gas guy’s paperwork. The police arrive and take my passport for review and stamps. Finally the health guy arrives and stamps the health section of the General Declaration. All the paperwork is done, but they say there is a “prestation” for their work, and make the sign for money with their thumb and fingers. They hum and haw and I ask how much. Normally, 60,000 Ariary per department. About $30 each times three departments. I pull out my money. I happen to have one $100 bill (that the gas guy didn’t want) and three $20 bills and three $10 bills. I ask which they want. They choose the $100 as that will give them a little extra for the Saturday work. I’m fine with that as I know that I won’t be able to use it anywhere else and the $20s and $10s will come in handy. So, I remind them that they must share (with a smile) and give one guy the $100 bill. Everyone is happy and they want to come out and inspect the plane; that is their job after all. So, we all troop out and I open the baggage and point out my luggage and the life raft and extra tank, etc. The customs guy walks around then says that there is no door on the other side. I said yes, this is the only entrance. When everyone is finished we head back to the terminal, I shake hands, thank them and head to the tower. He hands me the receipts as I’d already paid his $16 invoice for landing and parking. It’s unbelievable that the most important part, landing and parking, is the cheapest. I gave him a big tip. Finally, three quarters of an hour late, I was ready. I started up and ran the engine from the rear tank. I wanted to make sure there was no air in the lines before switching to that tank in the air. I ran for over ten minutes without a “hic up.” I guessed it was ok, but would have preferred a bit of coughing just to prove that the air was out of the lines. The coast is magnificent. I thought the same thing on arriving. Absolutely breathtaking with mountains and cliffs as well as azure blue/green bays. Ah, it was so good to be flying again. Overall, I guess it wasn’t that difficult a departure, but it’s no nice to be up here away from it all. After leaving the tower frequency, I was in VHF communication with Tana Information giving the estimates to intersections and my destination. As soon as I was at my cruise altitude, I switched to the rear tank and monitored fuel flow. I reeled out the antenna and made sure I had HF communication with Tana Control. All was proceeding well. Before the FIR boundary I switched to Seychelles and they gave me a VHF frequency. We did the next few communications on VHF, 350 miles from land, then went back to HF. Once I entered the Seychelles Approach area, things started to get busy. There were lots of planes arriving, some within minutes of my estimated arrival time, and some departing. Wow, it wasn’t this busy in 2003 when I was last here. I finally got through to the tower and gave him my position and arrival time. When I was ready for descent, I told him that I could take a visual approach. I came in visually over some low hills (not the 4000 foot peaks that were in the clouds) over some bays on left base and finally turned final between the hills and the bay. What a beautiful approach. In 2003 I was a bit sick. I’d eaten something bad the previous evening and was just able to hold it together to do the approach and landing. I don’t remember it looking this beautiful. I taxied to the ramp and parked by the marshaller. I knew that I had to sit in the plane until the health person came out. She didn’t take too long, handed me an aerosol can through the pilot’s window and asked me to do a short spray and stay inside for ten minutes. After a few minutes she started handing paperwork in through the window. The customs woman came out also and gave me more paperwork. I did it all while roasting in the cockpit. After ten minutes I was about to get out when the marshaller signaled that I must relocate the plane to the north ramp. This ramp looked a little full. In 2003 it was almost empty, just my Mooney and another plane. We did two Young Eagles flights from this ramp. I followed him and parked on the ramp to the north along with several business jets and small commercial planes. The immigration was quick and I was calling my hotel for pickup. Ah, it’s beautiful here half way up the mountain overlooking the blue bay with waves breaking along a reef. Everything is very green, like a rainforest, as there are light showers from time to time. After a long walk I have a delicious home-cooked fish meal with a fresh salad. I’ve been afraid to eat salad for several weeks now, so it’s fantastic to have fresh vegetables again.

December 5-9th, 2011 – a week in north Madagascar I received bad news from Bo this afternoon. Yemen is refusing a permit through their air space. We’d need to work a diplomatic solution, which I don’t want to do. I was very upset. Oh well. Now we’ll have to work things out quickly. I figured out a flight plan and sent it to Bo right away. Now I just have to worry and wait. I don’t even have Oman or India permits yet. This is where things get difficult. But, we still have a week and some countries don’t issue permits until a day or two before a flight. This is going to be an anxious week. Two hours later. Well, good news came quicker than I expected. No India permit is required as I’ll be so far from their shore. Now I just need the Omani permit. Phew. Back to documentation. I took a day trip to La Montagne D’Ambre National Park. It’s only 35 kilometers from Diego Suarez, but up at 4500 feet (instead of sea level) and in a rain forest. It’s so close and so completely different. The information says to pack for rain and cold, so I did. As soon as we started the walk, it started raining. But we were mainly in the forest and the trees sheltered us. As with the other parks, a guide is required. This time it was Charles. He was quiet but knowledgeable and found lots of interesting insects, chameleon and lemurs. With the rain, he was thinking we wouldn’t see lemurs, but half way through the walk, we both heard them at the same time, then looked up and saw them. Apparently there are seven different lemurs in this area, but five are nocturnal. We saw both the others. The first group moved quite quickly through the trees. The second just stayed in one area and played. One was larger than the southern lemurs the other was a bit smaller. They also had different colors. Unfortunately, they were too high up in the trees and too far away to photograph. I was lucky that I’d been able to see lemurs up close in Berenty. We saw the smallest chameleon in Madagascar, less than one inch long. It’s mostly brown and only changes to different brown shades, no greens. . It was too tiny to really get a good look at it. We saw other various sizes of chameleons that had the full scope of colors. Most were green today clinging to wet green plants. We also found leeches, or should I say they found us. I had four on me at different times. Three bit into me and it’s like a mosquito sting; there’s no question when they are there. We started at a mountain lake on top in a volcanic crater and followed it down through three different cascading waterfalls. Walking in between these points gave us the time to see everything else. It was fascinating and educational. During the drive up and back there were definite signs of deforestation. Lots of cut-off stumps protruding from the ground. There were also a few signs of new growth. For the drive up there, the chauffeur had bought some donuts. When he finished, he was about the throw the plastic bag out the window. I stopped him and asked him not to. Then I explained that it’s not good for the environment to have all that plastic blowing around and it doesn’t look good either. He put it in the door pouch. I don’t know what he did later, but maybe he’ll think about keeping Madagascar beautiful. Arriving back at the hotel I was hit by lots of emails with bad news from Bo. Muscat, Oman, was being difficult. They weren’t approving the dates or arrival or departure times. Bo had gone ahead and made decisions in my absence. I contacted him right away and added what I could. We submitted an option which isn’t great, but hopefully will be accepted. Unfortunately, it’ll mean an all-night flight from the Seychelles to Muscat. One more day in Madagascar. The food has been amazingly good thanks to the French influence. Being on the coast, I’ve had lots of fish. But, they also have “zebu” or ox. I had that the first night and it’s good also. The bays and views are stunning; it’s a beautiful area of Madagascar. Unfortunately, as with the rest of the country, it’s poor. This is the low season, very few tourists, so it’s pretty quiet. They have elections next year. People are resigned that not much will change. The corruption is bad and they don’t expect it to go away. It’s unfortunate.

Sunday, December 4th, 2011 I’m flying northeast, along the coast to northern Madagascar. I’m in clear smooth air but unfortunately have headwinds. Twenty knot tailwinds were forecast, so I’m bummed. The winds might change as I get further north. My departure wasn’t so bad this morning. It’s nice being at a small airport where I can go straight to my plane. I entered the “terminal” building as others were entering to take an Air Madagascar flight. The aid gestured me to departures. I said that I was the small plane on the ramp. He let me walk through arrivals and out to the plane. Easy! The “pompiers” (fire engine guys) came to collect the extra chocks they had brought since it was very windy when I arrived. I checked the plane and went to the commandant’s office. I paid the $81 fees and he asked how my stay went. I said that I had enjoyed Berenty Reserve very much and thanked him for his help. He had a sign on his desk from Steven Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Successful Managers.” I’d read that book back in my working days I think about 20 years ago… I wondered when he had taken the course and how Steven Covey’s courses had made it to Madagascar. As I returned, the gas guys showed up, so I took on 193 liters, 51 gallons. On arrival they told me the price had just changed that day, December 1st, and it had gone up over fifty cents per gallon! I said that I wanted the price from yesterday. They explained that it changes on the first of each month. I wished I’d known that earlier… Then I headed to the “tower.” They don’t have a tower here. It is in a normal building. They said that a tower is planned in a few years. The tower controller came to see my on arrival also, he said no-one else was coming in, so he came to meet me. Today was a different controller but very efficient. He took my flight plan and got the weather at Diego Suarez, my destination. He transmitted the flight plan by morse code to Tana. Then, he confirmed receipt by cell phone. I got a picture of him at his desk with a computer, a cell phone and working on the HF sending morse code. He explained that HF is the one he counts on most. Cell phones and computers can go out, but HF always works! The Air Madagascar flight came in. There is no other movement allowed while it is on the ramp. I saw why when it got there, its parking place blocked the entrance taxiway to the ramp. It is the only way this Boeing 737 could get in and turn around. I had plenty of time to get everything prepared and take pictures. After he left, I back-taxied and departed. The weather was showery and there are mountains to the north and west, so I stayed over the coast. I kept checking the terrain page on my Garmin GPS, but given the false position of land (by over a mile) on the east coast, I wasn’t going near any mountains on this coast. After about half an hour of rain and in clouds, I’m in clear air with a beautiful view of the coastline. It’s much greener on this coast and there are farms and towns dotted along as I head northbound. It was a general comment that I heard quite often. Things work up north, not always so “down south.” Not that many people go all the way to the south coast and there isn’t much there. The first two hotels I tried yesterday didn’t have working internet. The third did. I talked with a French tourist. She said everything works “up north.” But here, she couldn’t get a phone or the internet to work. I’m looking forward to being back to normal in Diego Suarez. Two hours down, in clear air, and now I have a cross wind. It is swinging around and soon I should have the forecast tailwind, yeah. There is some weather ahead that I saw on the satellite picture, but it should be clear for my arrival. Hhmmm, winds are not as forecast. I got a slight tailwind for a while but the strong southerly wind never appeared. Oh well. Just over an hour to go. There are forested mountains below that I can see between the broken clouds. There are signs of deforestation and also new growth. Let’s hope that a lot of new trees are being planted. I got a weather report and it’s still good at my destination. The alternate is a few hours away, so I wanted to deviate early if necessary. The descent and arrival were interesting as I had been flying north at flight level 110 above a cloud layer. I was ready for descent and had made contact with Diego tower and had cancelled HF contact with Tana Control, but there are mountains on the south side of the airport and the minimum safe level is only 7000 feet. I descended to and stayed at 7500 until on the north side of the airport where the clouds were more widely scattered. I could see the sea and islands and descended. At four miles north, I called the tower again and turned towards the airport. I was shocked to see the hills/mountains so close to the airport, even on the southeast side. As I turned from downwind to final, I was very close to them. The tower had been telling me the winds were 320 degrees at 16 to 18 knots, then 280 at 14 to16 knots. I was lining up for runway 30. As I turned final, the tower said that the last winds were 160 degress at 16 to 18 knots. I requested a repeat and he repeated the same numbers. I checked my groundspeed and I definitely had a headwind. I found the windsock and it showed a strong wind almost down the runway. I said that I was on short final for runway 30 and landed. Hmmm. After parking the avgas guys showed up as usual. I said that I needed to wait until next Saturday as I was leaving the country and needed paperwork for tax-free avgas. They showed me the price. It was $1.4 per liter. I jumped for joy and was ready to kiss them. I said that I hadn’t seen those prices since in the US earlier this year. Then they saw their mistake and said no, that was jet fuel prices. They found the avgas sheet and my price will be $2.8 per liter. I was not so happy, but still, it’s better that what I paid this morning, $3.9 per liter. I checked in with the tower and prepared everything for next Saturday’s departure. He assured me that all departments, customs, police, health, avgas and tower would be available at 7am; they start at 6am. He also called the hotel for me. They had sent the car to pick me up from the arrival of Air Madagascar at 9am this morning. I explained that I had just arrived. They’ll send the car again! Well, this is the first real town I’ve been in. Or, maybe it’s the first time I actually made it to the town center, beyond the red dirt roads with huts on each side. Actually, the road was good from the airport all the way to the hotel.

Three log entries just made, start from #77. Time for the evening walk. There are two nocturnal lemurs in this reserve. One, the mouse lemur, is very small. At 7:10 pm we set out again and finally found one. It was tiny and didn’t move much with the light on it. Later we found the second, the white-footed sportive lemur. Unfortunately this one wasn’t sportive and didn’t move either. They were probably just waking up and getting ready for their nighttime activities. Although this reserve is absolutely full during the normal season, there are only three cabins (of the 30 available) occupied tonight. So, the dining area was pretty empty. It had been a long and tiring day, so off to bed early. That also means up early as the sun comes up before 5am. The days are very hot, so it’s best to walk and see the animals early then take a siesta. We saw all the lemurs eating their breakfast and two white-footed sportive lemurs sleeping in the crooks of trees, but with eyes open watching us. We were disturbing their daytime rest. Eugene had shown me fluted leaf bugs the previous night and today we saw more but also some that had already transformed into Euphorbia butterflies. They were side by side on a small branch. The white bugs would transform soon and the red butterflies will fly away. Absolutely amazing. We also walked by some holes in the path which he explained is where the boa constrictors live. They are nocturnal. I said that I was happy he hadn’t told me that last evening! Baobab trees grow slowly and can be over 400 years old. When I pointed out what I thought was a baobab, Eugene said no it is a false baobab or Maringa tree. It is good for mustard but is not even the same species. Sure looked like one to me, but its trunk is grey and a baobab is more brownish with horizontal branches. There is also another tree type over 400 years old in this area, the Tamarend. We saw some flying fox bats hanging upside down high in a tree. I didn’t expect to see them flying when a predator, a black kite bird, came by. They all started making noise and flying about. I got some great video. They are the largest bat in Madagascar with a wingspan of up to 1.2 meters, over three feet. We also saw crocodile, which were imported years ago but now live in the rivers and two types of turtles, that don’t move much in the heat! By 10 am it’s already very hot, so time for another siesta. It’s hot in the huts and the electricity only comes on from 5am until 8am, then 11am until 3pm and finally 5pm until 10pm. The fan feels great when the generator is running, but the hot air blowing through the cabin when the windows are open is oppressive. Still, it’s better than no breeze at all. And, I’m lucky to be here to see all this! Finishing off the stay there, we saw the sifaka lemurs “dancing.” They are the only lemur that walk on their hind legs, all the others walk on all fours. Their front arms are much shorter, so when they need to travel on the ground, they skip or dance along on their rear legs. It’s fascinating to watch. The return trip was another 2 ½ hours along the potholed road. Ugh. But, what a fascinating time. I’d so glad that I went.

Dec 1st to Andorka and Ft. Dauphin After checking everything and calling Hubert to confirm my arrival, I backtaxied and took off. I was rather nice to fly low level, 1500 feet, down the beach and VFR, instead of high and IFR. I still had to check in with Tana Control on HF and give them 30 minute operations normal calls. For a while I was flying over water over a mile off the coast, over a bay. I happened to look at my Garmin 430 instrument panel mounted, certificated, GPS. It showed that I was over land. I took a video from one side showing water, panning over the GPS showing land and over to the other side showing water. I want to send it to Garmin or Jeppesen, whoever is responsible for the database. I got a picture of the lat/longs at this point. Then I checked the backup, Garmin 396 GPS. It showed me over water. Later, the Garmin 430 showed me over water when I was over land and the 396 again showed everything correctly. I’m guessing the 430 database has the west coast of Madagascar depicted incorrectly. I’m glad the airports are in the correct position! As I came to the waypoint that I had entered using Hubert’s lat/longs, I started to see buildings, so finding it wasn’t going to be that difficult. As I flew over the first time, the kids were all playing in the playground; I believe there are over 100 orphans. I went further out and descended and slowed down as I turned back for another pass. I tried to video and fly and turn at the same time, but it was a little bumpy and difficult. I could see that the kids were all lined up in the playground this time. They had spelled out CAROL and were all standing in formation. Wow, I had to get that on film. I made eight more passes to get it on video and camera. Hopefully I got some good shots, but it wasn’t easy. Once I passed at 500 feet with gear and flaps down. Finally I cleaned up and waggled my wings as I passed and started climbing to the east. I hope the kids enjoyed it and the adults also. It was a little difficult, but I had fun and I sure hope the pictures turn out. I know Hubert wants to use some on his website. Another hour and I was in communication with Ft. Dauphin tower and cancelled with Tana Control. The wind was 22 knots, but almost down the runway. With the beach in front and the mountains behind, this is a very picturesque place. Upon landing I was welcomed to Ft. Dauphin by the ground personnel. They all knew when I was arriving and departing. All information is sent ahead here in Madagascar. The chief of the ground personnel asked me to follow him to the supervisor’s office. There he welcomed me also and asked what I would be doing and where I would be going. I explained about getting to Berenty Reserve. He told me to see the people at the Dauphin Hotel in town. Their pickup arrived with luggage for the next flight, so they gave me a ride back to the hotel. There I met the person who had emailed me yesterday. We worked out the details and I was on my way to the reserve within an hour of landing. The drive is much worse than to Isalo. The roads were like Kenya 15 years ago. The driver said there are 2000 potholes in the 90 kilometers between Ft. Dauphin and Berenty. I believe him. The guide told me about the different areas we were driving through as we went from the wet area of Ft. Dauphin to the arid section further to the west on the other side of the mountains which separated the regions. There were eucalyptus trees along the road. Eugene pulled off some bark, it has multiple “soft” layers and the locals use it as toilet paper! Another species of eucalyptus was citronella, that we and the locals use for keeping mosquitoes away. Early on, we stopped for fruit and got two bunches of bananas, two pineapples, seven mangos, and a bunch of litchis (a sweet very juicy fruit similar to a plum with a spiny skin) for the equivalent of $2.50. This area is rich in farming and fruit and the people don’t go hungry. They do work very hard. We saw people carrying heavy loads down the road and walking for many miles. Towns usually have one day during the week as market day. The people from outside these villages walk to town to sell what they have and to buy what they need. We saw hundreds walking down the road, with piles on their heads, returning home. Some walk up to 20 kilometers to market once a week. Some were carrying loads of wood. I asked about deforestation. Eugene, my guide, said that trees are now replanted and this cutting is permitted. As we got to the arid region, he pointed out trees, the triangular palm which has leaves growing in three directions and the Didier race which has very small leaves growing up the trunk with a thorn between each leaf. There were also bags along the road. This area is rich in mica which people collect and leave in the bags to be picked up by trucks going by. We also passed a plantation growing miles and miles of sisal for chord and carpet production. We finally reached the reserve and I was shown to my cabin. After an hour’s rest to wait for cooler temperatures, we set out. I couldn’t wait to see my first Lemur and there they were. They were just coming down from the trees after their siesta. They rest during the hot daytime also. First I saw the ring-tail lemur then the Sifaka and finally the brown lemur. They look just like in the pictures and National Geographic and Nature shows with their tails raised high behind them as they walk. They sit in the trees in very relaxed positions reaching out for a thin branch and munching the leaves. Some of the young were still on their mother’s backs as they normally give birth in September and aren’t independent until about six months old. We also saw different birds, chameleons catching insects and changing colors and heard cigales making lots of noise. We had a break and rest before the evening walk. Hubert and I had set 7pm to talk again on the satellite phone. The connection was good and he asked me if I could see what the kids spelled, CAROL? I said yes, it was very clear and that I got good photos of it, but the video is not so good because of the bumpy air. He said it was very moving for the people on the ground. For the kids it was the first airplane they had ever seen. He said many people were crying for joy. Wow, I was moved doing the flying and knowing the situation down there, but didn’t realize what it meant to them. I told him that I had hoped it was good for them and that I too was happy to be a part of it. Unfortunately my phone started to lose satellites and we couldn’t hear each other and finally lost contact. I was so happy to hear that it was well received on the ground. Thinking about it later, it makes sense that they haven’t seen planes. The few that carry tourists and business people go to Tulear, along the west coast, but further north or to Ft. Dauphin, my next destination on the southeast tip of Madagascar. None would fly over Androka on the southwest tip as there are no major towns there.

Nov 29th Today is a walking trek in an area of Isalo National Park. Breakfast at 5:30am and off at 6am. Well, we’re on Africa time, so the coffee doesn’t arrive unti 5:55am and the guide and car arrive at 6:20am. No rush here. Actually, it gets very hot during the day, so the earlier we start the better. The car drops the guide and me off at the entrance to the walk at the foot of one of the majestic rock formations. We have a bit of climbing, steps and rocks, but it’s cool and relatively easy. On top is a fantastic view of the flat land behind us and the valley and next ridge ahead. There’s a creek flowing in the middle with lots of green vegetation showing. We’ll be heading that way. As we walk along, the guide tells me about the local tribes and their burial traditions (putting the bones up in the high rock walls) as well as pointing out trees, fruits, shrubs and fascinating insects. I think the insects were the most interesting. Some photos are already on Facebook. When we arrived at the first pool and cool shade area, it was still early and I wasn’t ready for a rest, so we kept on going. We had a long walk along a mostly flat sand and rock path in the valley to a small forest. There was a camping area, well laid out with cooking areas and stone tables and benches with a thatched roof above. A number of trekking outfits offer overnight treks of 1 to 5 nights and these campsites are set up to facilitate the experience. They even had flush toilets, I was expecting pits! We continued on to a cascade and later more pools. By now I was hot and tired. I put on my swimsuit and enjoyed the cool pools. We had passed two other groups during the walk and there was another group just finishing with their swim and departing as we arrived. In total, we saw twelve other people during the four hour walk. This is the start of the low and rainy season. So, tourism is just tapering off. The temperatures are in the low 90sF/low30sC during the day and 70F/20C at night. They haven’t had much rain yet, but it should start in December. Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 After another quiet and simple evening and dinner, I got a good night’s sleep and returned to Tulear/Toliary. I didn’t have a return bus lined up, but at the lodge, they said they could organize one. I insisted that it be from Antannarivo, the capital, to Tulear, direct, no stops. Meaning a tourist type bus, not a taxi Brusse, as they call the local bus packed with locals and lots of luggage with stops at most villages. The woman said that the local guy would accompany me to where the buses pass and if there is room, he’d get me on one. Tourist buses usually have 6 people plus two drivers. Taxi Brousse have 15 people. He’d taken my money, only half the price of the trip up, so I thought something was fishy, and we waited at the intersection. After about 30 minutes the first bus came by. It wasn’t overpacked and had two spare seats. It was a taxi Brousse, but not that badly packed. I asked if it was direct to Tulear, no stops. He said yes it was. Should I believe him? Obviously not, but I got on. I climbed over people and got in the middle. The precious window seats weren’t going to be given up. We started out, then stopped almost immediately. One more person wanted to go to Tulear. He got the last middle seat. Off we went. It was proceeding reasonable well for the first hour and a half, then we turned off the main road onto a side street in a village. They started untying the strings holding the load on top. I asked the driver how long and he said 15 minutes. Well 30 minutes later we started up again. An hour later another stop for unloading. It was amazing the huge sacks that came off the top. One looked like it was full of sandels or flip-flops. This is how all the local villages get the wares that they sell. A huge pile of buckets were off-loaded. The final pile was pretty impressive. Off we set again. I started seeing the distance to Tulear on the small stone signs beside the road. Only 54 more kilometers; I felt better. I could last that long. On arrival I found my hotel. They said air conditioned rooms were 15,000 Ariay more per day. I said I’d take it (for a total of $40 per night I wanted air conditioning). With wifi in the room, I settled down to update websites and find my way to Berenty Lodge tomorrow. A swim, a beer and dinner, everything updated, I was ready to head out again. Hubert and I had talked by satellite phone. They had arrived in Androka. He had the exact latitudes and longitudes for the village. I told him that on looking at the charts, I’d found that it was in a restricted area. I’d have to check with the tower tomorrow morning, then call him again. We agreed on 7:30am. Thursday/Friday, December 1st and 2nd, 2011 I awoke early, before 5am, and checked the weather, it was going to be a little cloudy at my destination, but should be clear down the coast. Ok for this VFR flight. Just about everything in Madagascar is paid in cash, not many places accept credit cards. And their exchange rate is $1 to 2000 Ariary. So, a lot of 5000 and 10000 notes are required. Yesterday I’d found an ATM and got 600,000. I was thinking that might not be enough, based on Isalo National Park prices, so I went back this morning. I got another 200,000, but then my next transaction was refused. Ugh, here we go again. This is the third time on this trip. At least I now have a good Visa contact that will straighten it out quickly. At the airport I checked in with the tower first thing. He said it was ok to fly through the restricted area, great. I paid the landing and parking, $51 and also three days and nights for the guards, $20 each. I know that’s just extra money from rich pilots, but here at least it’s organized and the tower guy and Hubert told me ahead of time.

Nov 27th arrival in Tulear/Toliary Just as the pilots departed Hubert, Sylvie and 10 other people arrived. We took pictures and videos and more pictures. Then we unloaded the plane and put all the supplies in one of the cars. After a quick stop at the hotel, we went to the convent/school which supports this region of Madagascar including Androka, where our group is going. I need to explain the history a bit: While in France in May this year, I met this group and heard about their support for an orphanage “at the end of the world” on the southern tip of Madagascar. They said it’s like going back in time, there is nothing there. The local nuns help teach and keep over a 100 kids as healthy as they can. This French group, including two doctors, will stay between 10 days and two months to help the sisters. For the first time they have been able to bring medications into the country. It was transported by Aviation Sans Frontieres, a subsidiary of Air France, that provides this free service for many groups around the world. Without them, the medication would not arrive at its final destination and the doctors are no longer able to bring medication with them in their luggage. Air France transported six large boxes of medications. Hubert, a pilot/friend from Sens, and Sylvie, his wife, are a major part of this group. It was originally started by another of their friends, Regis. He was discovering southern Madagascar 14 years ago when he and his wife ran across this very poor village. They felt they had to help and over the years they have received more assistance and support from the local town and flying club near Sens, France. The group consists of 14 people this year and they brought all their own food, so as not to use the poor supply of local food. Everyone pays their own way and all donations received go towards buying the medications and the other logistics. This is no holiday for the participants, they are going to be working hard for two weeks. When talking with Hubert, Sylvie and Regis in Sens I said that I would be in Madagascar and maybe I could help bring some supplies. So, my part was small. I was asked to bring school supplies, paper, pens, pencils, notebooks and chalkboards. I found most of the supplies in the bazar in Istanbul, some in Izmir and the chalkboards in Cairo. Unfortunately, every time I found what I was looking for I bought out the store. They didn’t have much inventory. So, the group met me at the airport and we visited the nuns in Tulear before the group departed for Androka the next morning. For more information see www.androka.com which, unfortunately, is only in French. Nov 28th Yesterday evening, while getting some of the logistics organized with Hubert and Sylvie, my laptop’s touchpad mouse died. This is going to make updates and using the computer very difficult. I tried rebooting and using the internal problem solver, but nothing worked. Oh well. If I can find a computer store, I’ll buy an external mouse. I’ve asked Judy, the copilot who will be joining me in Muscat, Oman, to buy one and bring it. I’ve two weeks of no mouse until then. Luckily the laptop has a touch screen, so I can work around it for a while. This morning I got internet connection at the hotel and did the last three days updates on the website and Facebook. Unfortunately people get worried when I don’t do regular updates. Please don’t worry. I’m ok, it’s the Internet that isn’t available. Added to that, the SPOT tracker satellite isn’t picking up the route or arrival messages any more. So, people don’t even know where I am and the website isn’t showing that I’ve moved. Oh well. After the French group departed for their three day trek to Androka in southern Madagascar, I caught a bus to Isalo National Park. I’m staying in a little bungalow and have organized a guide for the next day and a half. Now I can get caught up with documentation (although without internet, it won’t be posted until Wednesday afternoon). Looking on the internet before coming here, it only showed VERY expensive hotels in the park, 200 Euros per day. A couple from Belgium, on the bus, had stayed at Momo Lodge and recommended it. It’s $15 per night in individual bungalow huts with breakfast included. The locals are great to talk with and it’s got atmosphere. With a little time to spare, I fixed the mouse problem. I dug into the control panel menus until I found the mouse settings. I changed a few of them and it works!! Weird, how did they get modified while I was using the computer yesterday evening? Anyway, problem solved.

Nov 27th The hotel had breakfast ready as promised at 6am. Unfortunately, she had given the internet key to another guest who was asleep, so I couldn’t check weather. During breakfast, she offered to get me a ride to the airport. That was nice. Upon departing, I left a tip for the employees. The airport was less than a mile away and I was going to walk, but it was nice to ride. Everything went very quickly and the meteo office gave me a complete weather package for my route. The woman at the office had been very helpful yesterday and today, but she wouldn’t accept a tip. I told her the guys yesterday had taken a lot of money and she deserved some also, so I left it on her desk. The “guard” who had said he’d watch my plane showed up just as I completed my preflight and was getting into the cockpit. I gave him the tip recommended by the local pilot yesterday. It puts one in a difficult position, if you don’t pay, something could happen to your plane or the next person’s plane. If you pay, you promote this kind of “work.” I decided it’s better for them to have something to eat. The departure was uneventful and I’d filed direct to Tulear as there are no airways. As I was climbing out, the tower started asking for estimates to 60 miles out, the limit of his service, and for two other points. First, I was climbing, second there were clouds and third I didn’t have the intersections in the GPS. I gave him the first estimate and asked him to stand by for the others. When the plane was on course in a good climb and I could concentrate on other things I asked for the two intersections again. The second was abeam an NDB. I plugged that in and took a SWAG at my estimated time at cruise to abeam that point. I gave that to him and asked for the other point. That wasn’t in my GPS or on the chart. When I told him that, he asked for my estimate to my destination. That was easy as it was part of the flight plan. After leveling off, I could check my estimates with a more accurate GPS calculation. I was a bit off and the winds were not as forecast. Instead of a light crosswind I had a 15 knot headwind. After I was out of the airport airspace, I was passed to Tana Control on a VHF frequency, but given an HF frequency for when I lost VHF. I reeled out the antenna, knowing that it would happen. When the frequency went quiet, I switched to HF. On both frequencies, the controllers are giving traffic information, location and direction. One would have to know all the airports to understand the information. As a lot of small commercial airliners are going to and fro off airways, there is a lot of reporting going on. The controller asks me for my estimate to a radial off a VOR. I am too low and too far from the VOR and I can’t pick it up. So, I start doing the calculations manually, using the chart and making estimates. Then I cross check my calculation with a GPS estimate to my estimated point. I give the info to the controller. This is definitely more difficult than flying on airways, where all the points are in the GPS and I just have to read the GPS estimated time to each point. I’ve passed my last reporting point and still have an hour and a half to go, so they ask me to report operations normal every half hour. That’s easier! I’ve been taking pictures of the land below; there are lots of rolling hills, very few trees and no roads. I’ve heard there has been a lot of deforestation, over 60%, but I can’t tell if this area was originally forested or not. It sure looks bare, but also like some of the scrub areas of Kenya. Occasionally I see trees in river valleys and there are some farms areas. As I fly south, many of the rivers are dry. But further north they were full and reddish/brown, similar to Kenya. It’s really getting bumpy close to the end of the flight, so I’ll have to finish the documentation on the ground. I stayed with Tana on HF until I was in VHF contact with the airport. After getting the weather, I started down. The visibility was clear and I picked out the airport from 20 miles away. The winds are howling at over 20 knots, but mostly down the runway. After shut down, I got out and two pilots were walking my way, so I went over to meet them. They were from the Lear jet on the ramp and were headed to South Africa, about a 3.5 hour flight. I told them that I’d come from Mombasa yesterday and Mahajanga today. Of course they wanted to know more about this N registered plane, so they got the whole story out of me. I gave them my card so they could follow the flight. I also explained that I was here in Tulear delivering school supplies to an orphanage in the south of Madagascar and that I was meeting French friends who were supporting this orphanage. Much more of this story next time I have internet access.

Nov 28th I have intermittant to poor Internet here in Madagascar. Please don't worry if you don't see updates. Also, I noticed that the SPOT didn't update my last two flights and last arrival. I'm in Toliary in southwest Madagascar. I'll fly on December 1st to Fort Dauphin on the southeast coast. I made two updates, below, this morning. Will try to do more, but it is Internet dependent. Thanks for following!

start Nov 26th Up at 5am, taxi at 5:30am, at the airport at 5:45am, handler isn’t there, so I proceed through security on my own with all the paperwork and stamps from yesterday. The security guy escorts me through immigration and customs to the exit lounge where the handler finds us. He escorts me the rest of the way. The bus picks us up and takes us to the GA ramp. I’m at my plane at 6:05am. Everything went super smoothly this morning. Of course I spent 2 hours last evening doing all the paperwork to make sure (although one is never 100% sure) it was quick this morning. After a thorough preflight, I’m ready. I had some water in the outer tank on the left wing. For some reason, that o-ring is leaking. I brought spares with me and I’ll change it in Madagascar. I call for startup and am off at 6:33am local time. Well, we are off to a good start this morning. I’m heading south over Dar es Saalam before turning southeast over the Indian Ocean and Mozambique Channel. Lots of water, but everything is running well. Heading out from Dar es Saalam, I lose VHF communication so I reel out the HF antenna and try to reach them on the high frequency radio. After a few calls, they respond and give me the next point where I can talk on VHF. Apparently they don’t need any intermediate waypoint reports. I maintain a listening watch on HF so that I can reach someone in case of any problems. I’ll pass directly over some islands between Tanzania and Madagascar. That’ll be my next reporting point and about halfway point. So, it’s not all water between takeoff and landing! The winds are not good. They were forecast as variable at 10 knots yesterday. Now they are out of the east at 30 knots giving me a 22 knot headwind. Ugh! There was no “box breakfast” this morning. The night guard said that he had not been giving any message. I really didn’t expect one. So, I had the remainder of my garlic and butter nunn bread and water. Yum, yum. There have been some buildups that I’ve zigzagged around. The satellite and weather this morning showed nothing major for my arrival but a chance of thunderstorms later. Over the water there have been isolated cumulonimbus clouds, easy to see and avoid. Less than two hours to go. It feels like another short leg. Amazing. I got a lot of paperwork done during this flight: all log books updated, gas consumption records updated, charts organized for the next few legs, and a short list of approaches that I don’t have in paper form. Also, I downloaded the voice recorder. There are sometimes little exchanges that are pretty funny. I write down the time, so that I can find them later. I want to use them in the next presentation and/or DVD. Today, near the major airport on one of the islands, the Madagascar plane is given his departure clearance and a left turnout on course. The captain asks for a right turnout, as it would be shorter to his on-course direction. The controller tells him that a right turn out will put him into a mountain. So, the captain accepts the left turnout. I guess the captain must be new to this route. The arrival was straight in with a visual approach. After landing and parking, I was instructed by one person on the ramp to move my plane, even though I’d parked where the tower told me. Then seven more men showed up (practically with their hands out). They all started talking at the same time, then one became the spokesman. One was the doctor, one customs, two police for immigration, and others, I don’t remember all. They wanted to do the paperwork right on the ramp, no offices. Then they started saying that the payment was double because it was a weekend. They each wanted $40, then the price went up, then down. I explained that I wasn’t used to negotiating these payments. Either they had invoices or not. They said it wasn’t per person, it was per department, therefore only 4 times $40. ONLY, I said. I said if they gave me an invoice I’d pay. They all came up with scrappy pieces of paper with their department and list of tasks on it and noted $40. I paid the customs and asked what he had done. He said he had come out on a weekend. I paid the doctor and asked for the can of disinfectant (I’ve been looking for one of these as I need it before heading for the Seychelles). He didn’t have one and said it wasn’t done anymore, although it was listed as one of his tasks. I did this with each department and got nowhere. They left with their money. I went into the flight planning office as the tower had told me to file my next flight plan on arrival. There the woman told me that I had to call the Civil Aviation Authority as I’d landed at a different airport than on my permit. With Bo, over a month ago, we’d changed the airport of arrival as Tulear, my first airport, didn’t have confirmed avgas. She showed me the permit information, it showed that my alternate was here, Mahajanga which I’d used as I couldn’t land at Tulear without refueling. Yes, she said, but the problem was that it didn’t show that I would fly to Tulear after this stop. I couldn’t use their phones, but luckily my cell phone works here. After two weeks of it not working in Kenya, I was a little worried that it wasn’t going to work. After 10 minutes of talking with this guy, he approved my flight. I had him repeat it for the woman behind the desk. He’d originally asked for an email request or fax, she didn’t have either in this office. So, we did it verbally. Finally I fuelled up and got a ride to the hotel. I relaxed by the pool as the hotel didn’t have internet (although it advertised that it did). I had an enjoyable local dinner, something in coconut sauce and rice. It was tasty. And, as usual, I tried the local beer. It was light but thirst quenching. The manager let me use the office computer to check email after dinner.

Nov 25th After another sumptuous breakfast with superb passion juice smoothies and eggs, we packed, paid and departed. It was an amazing stay on the coast. A little hot and humid, but a wonderful experience. Mark flew us back in his Caravan and I was going to fly to Mombasa, gas up and depart tomorrow for Madagascar. Lamu is on the coast of Kenya about 70 miles south of the Somali border. A skirmish had started several weeks ago and the US State Department had put out a warning about travel to Kenya. I believe the British government put out a warning also. The hotels, restaurants and gift shops were suffering. They were offering discounts, they had almost no business. Most places were deserted. Everything was absolutely safe there. We didn’t see any signs of police as the skirmish had already been pushed back into Somalia. When we were diving, we saw two US patrol boats. They kept their distance, but observed us with binoculars. Satisfied that we were tourists, they stayed away, but continued their patrol. We couldn’t have been safer. It’s unfortunate that the news focuses on these issues and makes it seem dangerous. Life was normal all along the coast of Kenya and inland on the game ranches. Mark, who leads safari tours, received calls and emails from customers about their safety. One even wanted his confirmation that she would be safe. He advised her to cancel as he couldn’t forecast what would happen. Although I had tried to prepare everything ahead of time for an expeditious departure from Nairobi, it didn’t happen and I got frustrated. Finally I kissed Debbie and Mark goodbye and got into the cockpit. After starting up, the frequency was very busy (Nairobi Wilson is an extremely busy general aviation airport with only one controller handling everything). There was a small Cessna trainer blocking my way, so I waited until they called for taxi. Unfortunately, it was a student pilot who didn’t understand the instructions and asked for a repeat. Ugh. Finally I was able to taxi. Normally one has to pass by security, but I had been told not to stop the engine, just to give a thumbs up. I received a thumbs up in return from the police, so continued to taxi out and called the tower again. That at least was nice and quick. It was another long wait for clearance, but finally I was on my way. The weather had cleared considerably since Mark had landed, but there were still two thunderstorm cells between me and Mombasa. I’d seen them on the weather satellite before departing so looked ahead as well as on my storm scope. The first had already dissipated and only had light rain. The second was still pretty big, so I deviated around it. I still had some bumps and moderate to heavy rain but came out the other side into clear skies. I landed and taxied to the general aviation ramp. As I was cleaning the cockpit, a bus with three people arrived and told me how handling would work. I said that I thought handling was not mandatory. They said it wasn’t but that they could do everything for me. I negotiated a reasonable price, $75, and insisted that I would go with them and that we would do all the paperwork and payments this evening. They wanted to wait for tomorrow morning. Things never go as planned, so I said no, we will do it all now. Two hours later it was done. There were a lot of different offices to go to, so having help was useful. But, what I really wanted help with was the hotel. I’d looked on line and the one closest to the airport showed full. So, I had two others listed and not too expensive. They told me the hotels they normally use and the prices were extravagant for a quick overnight rest. I gave them the names of hotels that I’d checked and they agreed that the prices were better. They tried calling to confirm a room, but were unable. However, they had a friendly taxi driver, and that always helps. He was going to take me there and stay with me until I got a hotel. While we were driving the 45 minutes to the beach hotels, he was thinking and asked if I really wanted the beach. I explained that all I wanted was the closest hotel to the airport and no resort hotel. He had another that he’d used with other guests for just overnight stops. It was closer, in town and not too expensive. I said, “great.” As we got closer, I asked the name of the hotel, he said it was the Pride Inn. I said that was the one I’d found on line, but it didn’t have any vacancy. He said that he’d be able to arrange it as he had lots of clients. Upon arrival, he got me a room for half the rate listed on the internet. There were plenty of rooms. He’d certainly earned his taxi fee. He’d return at 5:30am to take me back to the airport. The room had internet and air conditioning. That’s all I needed as I had work to do. I asked bellhop who was showing me the room about the restaurant downstairs. I asked about a beer, the one thing I really like in the evening. He said the restaurant didn’t serve beer but he could get one at a store close by. I said that I could do that. He shook his head and said no, so I gave him a 1000 Kenya shilling note and off he went. A few minutes later he returned with the bottle in a black plastic bag and my change. I gave him a good tip and had to smile. He obviously knew that it wouldn’t be good for me to go out and buy a beer by myself. When trying to get an outside line on the phone, I’d got the restaurant instead. I gave my room number and in no time a waitress appeared with a menu. I ordered samosas and nunn bread. I wanted a little extra in case there was no “box breakfast” waiting for me at 5:30am. She delivered everything. That sure made my evening easy. I concentrated on updating my GPS chip and getting weather information and didn’t have to worry about going out to eat or find a beer. I was tired and had an early start in the morning, so packed and went to bed.

Nov 22nd Today we’re off to the coast, Lamu. I finished packing and organizing the Mooney cockpit while Mark organized our flight plan to Lamu. We were all going in his Cessna Caravan. It’s about a two hour flight to the southeast coast from Nairobi. We piled in and headed out. He was able to show me the southeast departure, which I will be using on Friday, when I head to Mombasa. The land turned from flat town and brownish surrounds to lush green with bulging red/brown rivers. A bright yellow Cessna 185 had taken off before of us. When Mark made a traffic call, he was up ahead and flying in the same direction, to Lamu. He and Mark continued to give each other location updates so as not to find each other in the same spot at the same time. We finally saw them, not so close by. We got together and videoed their plane as we flew together and as it did a breakaway. Then we descended and Mark flew along the coast and in front of the hotel to let them know we were landing and ready for pickup. The runway is on the next island over and the hotel sends a boat to pick up guests. In no time we were sipping Margaritas and enjoying the sea breeze. We took a local boat down the shoreline to the town of Lamu and spent a morning wandering the streets and visiting the museum. It’s a fascinating town that has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the best example of the growth and decline of East African seaports. The museum shows the traffic and exchanges that were going on with Arabia, India, Thailand and China over the centuries. The town’s historical Swahili architecture is preserved in the buildings and the human interaction over hundreds of years have created a distinct culture. Swimming in the Indian Ocean, running or walking on the beach and relaxing in a hammock were the list of things to do each afternoon. It was going to be a tough three days! This evening we went for a ride in a dhow. Andrew learned how to steer and we looked at the stars on a moonless night. Upon returning to the hotel we had a Swahili meal by the pool. This consisted of lots of different dishes of prawns, chicken, rice, spinach, beans and many others. It was superb. The next morning we headed out in a motorboat and went snorkeling on a coral reef. We saw parrot fish, lion fish, snapper as well as a green sea turtle which is endangered. After a barbeque lunch of fresh fish and salad on a deserted beach, we motored home with Andrew and Debbie on boogie boards. What a way to finish their vacation and two weeks in Kenya. We fly back to Nairobi today and I need to fly to Mombasa this afternoon for an early start to Madagascar tomorrow. More from there.

2 days at Governor’s The first day at Governor’s Debbie and Andrew started helping the dental crew immediately. Mark Ross set up a foundation and clinic in Kolunga Village five years ago. This year he brought dental volunteers over to help at the clinic and at a game camp. See www.kolungavillagefoundation.org for more information. After the dental day was over, we headed out on a game drive in the Masai Mara. It was raining, but animals are still out there. We first saw a beautiful lilac-breasted roller on the road in front of the car. Its breast was brightly colored, but when it flew, its wings were bright, shiny blue. Over the vast grasslands, we saw lots of impala, gazelle, water buck, topi and a few cokes hartebeeste. As we continued along, there was a spotted hyena lying on the side of the road. It just lay there watching as we snapped pictures of it. Later on we saw more hyena following herds of zebra and impala, probably looking for a young one off by itself. Up on a hill Mark spotted lion. As we got closer, it was a pride with five cubs from two different females, probably 2 months apart. There was a dominant male and the secondary male was off by itself. We watched for over an hour as the cubs played and tried to get warm snuggling with mom-lion. Both male lions were limping and one cub had a bad leg. It seems that these two are very young and have just taken over this pride. Mark thinks that they had quite a fight to get it. The tented camp is alongside a river with hippos. They are often found in the river during the day but travel up to 30 miles at night. They also make quite a noise, something like a laughing sound, but very deep. The next morning several were “talking or fighting” very noisily at 4:30am. We had to get up at 5:30am for the morning game drive, but this was a little early for a wake up! After a cup of coffee we all pile into two jeeps and head out. At first we see the normal grazing animals, impala, gazelle, topi and eland, as well as two bohor’s reed buck. We also see birds, black and white casqued hornbills, tawny eagles and some crown cranes. Mark spots two lions walking uphill towards a clump of bushes. They normally rest in the shade during the day. So we follow them, watch them sniff the bushes to see who’s been here and lie down. They are too young to claim the area as their own, so they don’t spray the bushes. We see the masai giraffe which have different markings from the reticulated giraffe that we saw at Lewa, which has much more defined markings. We see lots of warthogs prancing about with their young. It seems that each animal species has young from several weeks to several months old. We stop in the shade of a very old fig tree for a bush breakfast. Everything is laid out on a tarp and we all eat hungrily. If this fig tree could talk, it would have many tales to tell. There are golden orb spiders inside their webs on one side. Lower down we can see where a hippo rubbed itself against the side of the tree. Looking up we see a cactus growing in the crack between two branches. The seed must have been dropped by a bird a long time ago. After a sumptuous breakfast, we start to head back to camp. Mark spots some action on the horizon and we head toward it. A lioness is chasing a small warthog. Both are tiring, but another lioness closer to us has been watching and starts to head toward where the warthog is running. She covers the ground quickly and catches the warthog. She looks around with the warthog in her mouth, to make sure no-one is going to challenge her, then sits down and tears into it, eating the innards, with all the good protein, first. A male comes along and sites down, he doesn’t challenge the lioness for the small kill, but each time he makes eye contact with her, she growls. The lioness that did all the initial running is sitting close by breathing heavily. All that work and no food. After the first lioness has finished, she lets the second lioness have the remainder. The first lioness also passed by the male lion and they rub heads. It’s as if to say, “I was just kidding, you could have had some if you wanted to.” Mark explained that they really don’t hunt in packs, it’s each one for him or herself. But the male or senior female could claim the kill of a lower member of the pack. Now we really have to head back to camp. The dentists have work to do to finish everyone on the list back at Governors’ Camp. That night at camp, we’re sitting around the fire talking and suddenly there’s a low-pitched human noise, very rhythmic and deep and repetitive. After a minute we see the Masai warriors doing a slow rhythmic step, in line one behind the other, towards our circle around the fire. It is mesmerizing with them all in their red outfits and the deep grunting noises. They circle inside and outside our group several times. During one circle, they have Andrew join them as they walk and sing. He starts doing the step as they are doing and moving his body with their rhythm. Twice around and they let him sit again and they start their jumping competition, still singing all the time. One solo or two against each other jump straight up in the air. They can jump very high. This continues for a while, then they move around our group several more times. It was fascinating. We all gave them a huge round of applause when they finished. This had been organized by Governors’ staff as a thank you to all the people helping with the dental treatment for the local people. It was amazing. The next morning we had time for a short game drive before packing and departing. We saw another lion chase, but the warthog got away this time. One lion did all the running and we saw two more walking alongside, but they didn’t give chase. Mark explained that when lions initiate a chase, they are successful only 14% of the time. They really need surprise on their side. Once spotted by the prey, the prey will be able to keep its distance and get away. We pack up and head to the planes to return to Nairobi. Mark called a pilot in Nairobi for the weather which was good, but there is no information on weather between here and there. We take off, circle the camp to say goodbye to the workers and head east in a loose formation. Mark will make the radio calls for both of us on the traffic frequency and we talk together on a discrete frequency. We’re at 7500 below the clouds, but after a while, the clouds get lower and so do we. There are towers reaching to 7000 feet in the vicinity of Nairobi which are hard to see. We hadn’t found them on our way out. So, we stay close to Mark and follow his lead. Nairobi is at 5500 feet, but this pass is higher. We see the towers which makes us more comfortable, Mark calls Wilson, we hit the waypoint, turn final and call the tower. A storm had passed through, but it was good visibility for our landing. I taxied to Security, dropped off my passenger and taxied to the AeroClub. I’d planned to do an oil change and engine check here at Wilson before departing to Madagascar. So, I spent the afternoon getting all that done. The local mechanics were interested at first and talked about my plane and engine, but then returned to their work and I got mine done. I also reloaded the plane to be ready for departure on Friday. We’d planned on a evening and dinner with Neil, his wife, Mark and us. It was so much fun, again telling old stories and hearing about changes over the past 15 years.

We saw monkeys, yellow-necked spur fowl, crown cranes and helmeted guinea fowl which can fly, but we only saw them running along the ground in front of the jeep. On one evening game drive we saw all the impala and gazelles looking intensely in one direction. The driver was sure there was a cat somewhere in the area. But, with the long grass, we could see nothing. We returned to the lodge for another sumptuous dinner and good conversation. Will and Emma are departing today. The lodge is actually closed and they normally head back to England for several weeks in November to see family and friends. I’m so glad that our visit overlapped by a few days and we were able to share “Andy stories” and catch-up on old times. We drove to the Mt. Kenya Safari Club where Andy used to live and work. Upon arrival at the outer gate, I explained our story, the guard remembered Andy and let us in. At the inner gate I retold the story. Jonathan and Serah both remembered Andy and the biplane. Jonathan drew the biplane on a piece of paper. I introduced them to Debbie and Andrew and they recognized Andrew as a “little Andy” right away. They called the main office and let us in. At the main office Jackson greeted us. He had been a good friend to Andy and welcomed us back to Mt. Kenya Safari Club. When he saw Andrew, he also was astonished at the similarity to his dad and said how wonderful and unique it was to have the biplanes operating there. The new General Manger, Niall, also greeted us. He had only been in the position for six months, but had heard of the Waco operation, even though it ended over 14 years ago. He invited us into his office to show us some pictures which he had found, just a week ago. The lane to the airstrip is muddy, windy and difficult. I remembered it with trepidation and didn’t want us to drive up there with Will’s vehicle. Niall offered to drive us up there in his vehicle. We happily agreed. It was a muddy and difficult as I remembered it. I was glad Niall was driving. The old hangar was being used by the Kenya wildlife society. Andy’s second hangar, where he kept both Wacos, had the office and had small living quarters was a shambles. The roof had come off and the locals had taken the steel sheets to use in their houses. The floor boards were rotting and the windows were gone or broken. Workers were now disassembling it for useful pieces and going to get rid of the remainder. It was saddening to see it in such a state. Walking into the kitchen and shower area both Debbie and I had sad memories and an emotional time. We had had good times here and good memories. Upstairs was reasonable sturdy, the view was no longer there as the trees and shrubs had grown up in front of the view towards the taxiway and mountain. Niall drove us up the taxiway and runway and back to the hangars. We took some pictures and returned to the Safari Club grounds for more pictures and coffee. It was an emotional return and very worthwhile. Andrew saw how many people remembered his father and how fond their memories were, even after 14 years. He was impressed. Debbie and I were emotionall moved. The timing was perfect. Any earlier and Andrew would have been too young. Any later and the hanger would have been gone and most likely some of the staff would have retired. Everything came together perfectly today. The drive back to Lewa was quiet as we all reflected on what we had seen and heard. Finishing off our stay at Lewa we did a night game drive and saw a rhino with a two-week old baby. We did a horseback ride with Ness who was taking care of the horses while Will and Emma are away. I looked at the charts, I’d already talked with Will and written down the route and waypoints, and I reconfirmed the latitudes and longitudes for the destination. It had rained heavily last night but the sun and wind dried everything out today. I’m hoping for a clear morning. Nov 19th Lewa to Governer’s We had an early breakfast and were at the strip by 7:45am. I asked Mwaki, the driver, to drive to the end of the strip as Will had explained about the turnaround and concrete slab. I wanted to make sure the surface was good, after all the rain we’d had, and that the turnaround was big enough. All looked good. I loaded the luggage, pre-flighted and we said our goodbye’s. Mwaki had been a wonderful driver and game spotter during our time here. The strip is slightly downhill but only 3300 feet long. We had to depart early while the temperature is cool and the winds haven’t picked up (as they will tailwinds on this runway). The elevation is 5300 feet. The takeoff went very well and we climbed out to the southwest over the Mt. Kenya Safari Club and through the Nanyuki military airspace. Will had advised me on the calls to make and each time I was answered and confirmed. Finally we were out of their airspace and heading over the Abadaire Range. It was smooth at 10,500 feet, above scattered clouds. We got a beautiful view of the Rift Valley as the clouds separated, then continued further southwest over another small range and into the Masai Mara. Another plane was headed to the same strip, Musiara. It looked like we’d arrive first about four minutes ahead of the other plane. Upon landing a driver was there to pick us up (as the other plane was delivering guests). Our friend, Mark had planned to pick us up in about half an hour (I’d arrived early due to tailwinds), but the driver wouldn’t let us stay on our own with animals around. I called Mark on the satellite phone to make sure he knew where we were.

Two new updates (due to being out of touch for 5 days) Nov 14, 2011 Nairobi to Lewa Camp With the late departure, the cumulus clouds and bumps were already starting. We headed north up the Rift Valley pointing out Naivasha to Andrew and telling him about the history of the Rift Valley. Andy had always had an attraction to this part of Africa. Finally we turned northeast then east around some military airspace at Nanyuki and called in to Lewa Downs airstrip. I crossed over the runway, descended, landed and Will waved us to the parking spot. A Caravan came in after us, picking up and dropping off other passengers. On the drive back to the lodge we saw zebra, giraffe, elephants, a black rhino, impala, dick dicks, and many colorful birds. It was an absolutely amazing introduction to Kenya for Andrew. He wants to live here. We hugged Emma, Will’s wife, on arrival and introduced her to Andrew. She commented on how much he looks like his father and as time went on noticed that he has a number of his dad’s mannerisms also. We exchanged old and new stories and thoroughly enjoyed catching up, although a little pain was always there as Andy was not with us. Morning at Lewa Debbie and Andrew just took off with Will in the beautiful yellow Waco biplane. I was videoing, so didn’t have time to shed a tear, but the sound took me back to Andy flying his red Waco early mornings around Mt. Kenya. I breathed deeply, pulled out the laptop and started writing. What a first 24 hours for Debbie and Andrew in Kenya. In Nairobi they had already met two of Andy’s closer friends while he was living in Nanyuki and now we were at Lewa Downs with a couple Will and Emma, with whom Andy was very close. Debbie had met them and stayed with them when she and Andy were first engaged. During the day and last evening, many stories were told and memories were refreshed of Andy’s habits, sayings and life in Kenya. This was what Debbie had wanted for Andrew and it was already beyond what she had ever imagined would happen. Andy’s passion had been flying and his dream was flying an open-cockpit biplane around Mt. Kenya. He had set up a hangar at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club grass strip. He lived in the hangar and took guests on sightseeing flights around Mt. Kenya and to other safari camps in the area. After some bad luck, he returned to the US and had to give up on his dream. Then in 2006 he died in an unfortunate accident. Memorabilia was around the house and son, Andrew, had grown up with this knowledge, but obviously was too young to understand. Now at age 11, Debbie felt it was the right time to visit Kenya before too much of the history and people were lost. I heard the radial engine, grabbed the video camera and jumped off the jeep to video the perfect landing. After the engine shut down, Debbie and Andrew were bubbling over with excitement, they had a wonderful low level flight over the plains, between low hills and had seen lots of game. Debbie relived her flights with Andy and Andrew understood what had drawn his dad to Africa and what he did every day. Will was all smiles because he knew what he had been able to give these two, a piece of Andy’s life and understanding for his son. It was non-stop chatter and smiles on the drive back to the main house and over breakfast. The flight, the Waco, the game they saw, flying through the valleys, everything. After a sumptuous breakfast we went out on another game drive. We found and followed a female lion. She was hunting and was very hungry. She had been down by a water hole, where the zebra had been drinking, but hadn’t chased after any of them. Now she was walking up a hill and away from the water hole. We saw what we thought was a rhino on the ground with a young one suckling. After a long wait, one rhino got up. There were actually two large rhino. We couldn’t get too close, but I was able to zoom in with the video camera. We’d seen zebra in earlier game drives and learned that there are two kinds here, the common zebra with wide stripes that go all around the body and Grevey zebra with thinner stripes that don’t go under the belly. The Grevey zebra are endangered and there are only 2600 remaining, about 2400 protected here in Kenya and about 200 unprotected in Ethiopia. The Grevey are also much larger in stature and have bigger ears. We had seen one black rhino close up and others further away as well as some white rhino in the distance. They are actually similar in color the white rhino isn’t white, but it has a wider mouth than the black rhino. The Dutch had used their word for wide as the name for this rhino. Their word sounds very similar to the English word white. So, that’s how it became known as the white rhino. The white rhino is a grass grazer, hence the flat wide mouth. The black rhino munches leaves and other plants and has a thinner more rounded mouth. Both are endangered and still poached for their horns. The Lewa Conservancy and surrounding areas total 60,000 acres of protected land. They have armed patrols watching out and tracking poachers. Unfortunately the eastern countries still pay big money, $100,000, for the rhino horn which they believe has medicinal properties. There are cameras at the property gates and Will has seen images of the poachers crossing with rifles and axes. They kill the rhino, chop off the horn and leave the body. There are only 60 white and 400 black rhinos remaining in Kenya. Worldwide, there are about 3000 of each. That’s enough to propagate and save the species, if poaching can be stopped.

November 13, 2011 the end of yesterday’s flight and to Nairobi Well, the last few hours were smooth and relatively clear. When I called into Djibouti, they gave me a standard arrival procedure. I had the chart, but it wasn’t in the Garmin 430 data base, oh well. It was also almost straight in without a procedure turn, so I decided to follow the procedure and not ask for a VFR approach. Good thing I did as I found the wrong airport first…. There’s a second airport west south west of the main Djibouti International that I was focusing on. Two other planes were calling in at the same time, but we were far enough apart that that there was no conflict. The approach radar was out, so he was asking for position reports and keeping good spacing. As I approached, it looked exactly as it had three years ago. I landed and knew where to taxi. The marshaller was there, but no handler. I cleaned up the cockpit and walked to the offices below the tower. I gave them my flight plan for the flight to Nairobi, tomorrow, and explained what I was doing. They said no problem (standard word around here) I could pay in the morning. They called the avgas guys for me and I returned to the plane. Finally the handler showed up with my entry form into Djibouti, for customs and immigration. I could have picked that up at the immigration window myself. In 2003 there was no handling, I did it all myself, for free. In 2008 I paid for handling through Universal Weather as I wanted quick service and the handlers and avgas guys were ready when we landed. This guy was going to cost me $200, for not much help. Finally the avgas showed up as usual with a little tractor and trailer. I inspected the avgas level after opening and checked the quality with a piece of white paper (dip it in the avgas and take it out, within a minute the paper should be completely dry with no residue. If there is any residue, the avgas is contaminated). He started pumping (manual hand pump, which they all complain about and ask for a tip for their hard work). When the barrel was empty, I was low about 12 gallons in the left tank, which is what I’d expected. I checked the barrel again with a flashlight, it was empty. He told me payment was $906 which agreed with what I had been told before ordering the avgas. I paid him. He looked at all the $100 bills and returned four of them to me for exchange with other bills. The dates were before the year 2000. Their company, Total, and the banks only accept bills with dates newer than 2000. I said we had a problem as I didn’t have any more $100 bills. We discussed the problem for a while, half in French and half in English. I didn’t have any options. He recommended talking with the pilots in the plane that had pulled up beside me. What a good idea! I went over and met them. Really nice guys out of Atlanta. One pilot said no problem and went into the cabin and brought out newer $100 bills and took my old ones. They were life-savers. Without new bills, the gas company would not have let me depart. This would have been a big problem. We chatted for a bit, they wondered where I had come from and I gave them my card and explained about the world record flight in 2008 and the gas problem. I said that I’d try to meet them at their hotel for a beer. I paid off the gas guy. The big chief had shown up by this time. Then I asked how long he had worked here. He’d been here over 15 years, so I told him what happened in 2008. He said that is not allowed (leaving avgas in the barrel). Right! He insisted that it’s not allowed. It was obvious that he knew those things happen. He left and I went through customs and immigration with the handler and took a taxi to the hotel. Even though it’s $150 per night hotel, the Sheraton Djibouti is about two stars. The rooms had been redecorated since 2008, but there was no hot water for a shower. Last evening the dinner was cold in the middle and this morning the buffet was not impressive. But, they had coffee and I drank two cups. Ahhh. I was back at the airport at 6:15 am and ready to start engine at 6:45am. At least everything was quick. The weather forecast showed a chance of thunderstorms after 3pm in Nairobi. I’d really like to arrive earlier. The satellite showed only one major cell to the east of Nairobi otherwise it looked clear. So, I was able to take off 35 minutes earlier than planned, great. There was a drone on the runway ahead of me. I’d heard someone ask for taxi but hadn’t seen anyone taxi out. It must have come from the military side, the other side of the runway. It took off and I backtaxied to the end of the runway and took off. The tower was keeping us separated by checking our positions as radar was still out. I was supposed to climb to flight level 14, 14,000 feet. But being full of avgas and heavy it would take a while, so I kept leveling off to gain speed and burn fuel for a while. I made sure that I was well above the minimum safe altitude, but knew that I didn’t really need to climb to 14,000 feet. Over Dire Dawa airport I reported my level and told them I would climb in a while. They were ok with me staying at FL 12. Later the minimum altitude was 13,000 feet, so I climbed again and was on oxygen. Once the safe altitude was lower, I descended back to 12,000. I did some relays of my position reports through other planes flying higher. Each time, staying at FL 12 was approved, much to my relief. One of the planes doing a relay was my neighbors from the previous evening. I thanked them again for helping me. Without them, I’d still be on the ramp in Djibouti. I had a slight headwind early on, but it finally gave way to a 5 knot tailwind a couple of hours before arrival. But still, better than nothing. Overall, this six and a half hour flight felt “short.” I guess once I get to the “last three hours” I feel that it’s almost over. So this flight was “almost over” very quickly. Over Kenya the clouds became broken and I could see green land below. The rivers were full and reddish brown. I snapped pictures. I’d never seen it so green. Watching the weather over the last month I’d noticed rain and thunderstorms almost every day. This is typically the rainy season and the only time of year when everything is green, but this year they had had more rain than usual. I was finally in contact with Nairobi radar and they gave me the arrival procedure which I followed as I descended. It was clear over Nairobi, so I picked out Wilson, the VFR airport near Jomo Kenyata International airport, very quickly. I was given vectors then reported crossing the extended centerline of Jomo Kenyata and turned over to Wilson tower. There was only one helicopter in the area so I did a right base and turned on to final and landed. I followed the instructions and taxied to security/customs. Looking out I saw an old friend, Mark with the customs person. I wasn’t supposed to meet him until next week. He was out on safari. He came up to the plane, we hugged and he explained that his customers’ luggage hadn’t made it, so he had to return to pick it all up. He’d seen my plane as I landed and came to meet me. There is nothing like having a local at arrival. He distributed all the general declaration forms, got my visa and whisked me off on the back of his motorcycle to the aero club for lunch. As we approached his table, the head chef turned around, it was Neil, another old friend of Andy’s and former chef at the Mt. Kenya Safari Club. We hugged and talked non-stop for hours.

November 12th, 2011 Most things went well this morning. Although coffee and a box breakfast (bread, jam, rolls, cheese, and eggs) were promised the previous evening, nothing was ready when I arrived 15 minutes before my pick-up time. The guy at reception managed to scrounge two small bread rolls and 3 very small bananas. He was still off making the coffee when my taxi arrived, so I departed without it. I keep caffeine pills on hand, just in case. The airport departure procedures went reasonably well, only the second x-ray person wasn’t available (two others were there, but couldn’t operate the machine and couldn’t contact the proper person). After a 10 minute delay, the handler got a friend of his who found another x-ray operator. The huge bus again took us to the plane and I paid the handler as agreed. I was in the air five minutes early and heading southeast into the sun. Oh well, can’t have everything! I’m cruising at FL085, approximately 8,500 feet. I don’t know why the VFR flight level and why an even flight level when eastbound should be odd. The radar and control hand-offs all proceed well. I’m now out of radar contact and have a frequency to call at the next waypoint. I know that I will have to climb to 14,000 feet later in the flight, so the oxygen is prepared. The sand formations and colors have been beautiful, I’ve tried to capture them on video. It was a lighter colored sand near Luxor giving way to a reddish sand in southern Egypt. There have been several rock formations but no major mountains, they will come later in Eritrea. I’m just over the border in Sudan. Arriving at waypoint ALEBA I call on the frequency but there is no response. I hear nothing on the frequency which is a good indication that I can’t hear them and they can’t hear me. I try another frequency from the chart, but still nothing. Later an airliner checks in. When he’s finished I ask for a relay which he does. I’m to report Port Sudan as I pass over in another hour and twenty minutes. The air is very smooth, but it’s starting to get warm in the cockpit. Although there have been thunderstorms in the area over the past few days and I’m approaching the intertropical convergence zone, no thunderstorms were forecast for Djibouti today. I can see some cloud buildups starting to appear and it’s only 9:15 local time. Actually, the forecast that I saw on BBC television showed the region, including Kenya, to be pretty mild over the next few days. This agreed with the weather.com forecast, so let’s hope they are right. The minimum safe altitude (MSA) in the area remains at 9900 feet. Everyone once in a while there are rock formations projecting out of the sand. They are not long, continuous, mountain chains, just individual formations. But, they are close enough to each other to keep the MSA high. The airway route has a minimum altitude of FL080, so I know that it goes between these rocks. I keep a good look-out, just in case. As I approach Port Sudan, I start to hear Khartoum Center on the radio. So, I should be able to do my own position report when I get there in about half an hour. South of Port Sudan and over the Red Sea the air is calm again. North of Port Sudan the cumulus were building and it was bumpy. I climbed to flight level 100 and got above most of the clouds and zigzagged around the few remaining higher than me. I’m not seeing any buildups ahead, so let’s hope it’ll stay calm. I was handed off from Khartoum to Asmara, but can’t reach anybody. Also I can’t hear any airliners, so unable to ask for a relay. Oh well. I climbed to FL 120 according to the airway and am on oxygen. There are mountains below, but it’s calm up here, which is great. Only a “little bit” further, an hour or so, and I’ll be over the Red Sea again. Still no buildups around here or ahead. I finally reach Asmara Control and give him my estimated times to all the waypoints on the airway. He tells me to climb to FL130 and I comply. At the next reporting point he actually called me a minute early and I said that I was just one minute away. Then I asked for FL110. I figured that I was the only traffic he had. So, he let me descend. I’m off oxygen and cruising a little faster. Less than three hours to Djibouti. I remember in 2008 when we were inbound to Djibouti on a clear blue ski day, they made us do the full approach. I’ll have the charts out, just in case, but will ask for a visual this time. More tomorrow...

November 11th, 2011 Today I visited the Luxor Museum and got ready to depart again. The Museum is smaller than the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but has some wonderful exhibits as well as having more detailed explanations than in Cairo. One of the major items of the whole museum is a reassembled wall of 283 painted sandstone blocks from a wall in the dismantled temple that had been built at Karnak for Amenhotep IV (the heretic king Akhenaten of the 18th Dynasty). The weather looks good, the winds are unfortunately a forecast light headwind at 10,000 feet. If I get an on-time departure, I should arrive by mid-afternoon. That will give me plenty of time to gas up (and get every last drop that I pay for), get through customs and immigration and maybe see a little before dusk. More from Kenya.

November 10th, 2011 Today was the “west bank tour.” That’s the west bank of the Nile River. The west bank at Luxor is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world. It is much more than what we refer to as the Valley of the Kings, though many have called the whole area by that name. Indeed, the whole west bank is honeycombed with tombs, not just of the ancient Egyptian Kings, but of their families and the noblemen who served them. In the Valley of the Kings tour, we entered three tombs, Ramses I, III and IV. These were all raided many years before modern archeologists found them, but a lot of the hieroglyphs are intact and some of the colors remain. South of the Valley of the Kings, and closer to the Nile lies the Valley of the Queens. This area is inappropriately named, because it houses family members of the kings, including both males and females, and even some high officials. There are about 80 numbered tombs in this area, probably the most famous of which is that of Queen Nefertari. This one is open to private tours only at 20,000 Egyptian Pounds (about $3400) per visit. Apparently the colors are superb and the tomb is large. We visited two princesä and one queenäs tomb. The colors are more vivid than in the Kings’ tombs, although the tombs are much smaller. The temples within the Valley, each built by individual kings or queens, were collectively known by the Egyptians as the "Temples of Millions of Years". Early Egyptologists referred to them as funerary or mortuary temples, but in fact they were temples built for the worship of the deceased kings, and were even used for his worship while he lived. There were originally many more temples than one finds today, and those that remain are in much ruin. We visited the temple of the Queen Hatshepsut. She was the ruler in her own right and for a while with her son at the same time. She, unlike the male rulers and warriors, ruled with peace, harmony and discussion. There were no wars during her rule. Maybe we need more of that today… The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut is one of the most dramatically situated in the world. The queen's architect, Senenmut, designed it and set it at the head of a valley overshadowed by the Peak of the Thebes, the "Lover of Silence," where the goddess who presided over the necropolis lived. Along the front of the upper terrace, a line of large, gently smiling Osirid statues of the queen look out over the valley. In the shade of the colonnade behind, brightly painted reliefs decorated the walls. Throughout the temple, statues and sphinxes of the queen proliferated. Many of them have been reconstructed, with patience and ingenuity, from the thousands of smashed fragments found by the excavators; some are now in the Cairo Museum, and others the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The story of Queen Hatshepsut is fascinating although the temple shows much reconstruction and it’s hard to see what really existed. It was difficult for me to understand what happened when in Egypt. But, the pyramids came first around 2600 BC in northern Egypt, near Cairo. Then the ruler at the time moved the capital south to Thebes, now Luxor, and the temples were built between 2000 and 1700 BC. Upper and lower Egypt were unified in 1600 BC and Hatshepsut became pharaoh in 1500 BC. Tutankhamun was around 1400 BC. Between 800 and 600 BC Egypt was attacked and conquered by various external groups, including the Assyrians and Persians. The Rosetta Stone was carved in 200 BC. The Arabs conquered Egypt in 642 AD. For more history, see: http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/time/explore/main.html Off to Djibouti tomorrow (11/12) and Nairobi on Sunday (11/13).

November 8th, 2011 from Cairo to Luxor With the superb assistance of General Aviation Support Egypt (GASE) team of Eddie and Ahmed, the trip to October 6th airport was quick, the clearing process was painless and I had an on-time departure. With these guys managing foreign general aviation flights through Egypt, it is now a pleasure to fly here. October 6th is of course the easiest, because they are located in Cairo. But they also coordinate with the other airports to make the arrival and departure as painless as possible. Thank you both! The two hour flight over the dunes and mountains of Egypt was super smooth but with only ten knot tailwinds (not an acceptable trade for the 50 knot headwinds last week). I had a beautiful view of the Nile upon arrival in Luxor and hopefully got a good video on final approach passing from lush green to barren desert where the airport is on the outskirts of the city. I asked the handler how long he had been working here and he told me since the 1990s. So I said that he was here during my last stop in 2003. His response was that he didn’t handle me…which told me that he knew about what happened on that flight. We discussed it a little and I really think that he was one for the four guys in the tower, but obviously he won’t admit it and I can’t prove it. I was going to have a relaxing afternoon, but the hotel manager told me about an afternoon tour that was starting in an hour or so. So, I had a quick local lunch and went on a tour of the Karnak Temples. In ancient Egypt, the power of the god Amun of Thebes gradually increased during the early New Kingdom. In the reign of Ramesses III, more than two thirds of the property owned by the temples belonged to Amun, evidenced by the stupendous buildings at Karnak. Although badly ruined, no site in Egypt is more impressive than Karnak. It is the largest temple complex ever built by man, and represents the combined achievement of many generations of ancient builders. The Temple of Karnak is actually three main temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several outer temples located about three kilometers north of Luxor, Egypt situated on 100 ha (247 acres) of land. This vast complex was built and enlarged over a thirteen hundred year period. The three main temples of Mut, Montu and Amun are enclosed by enormous brick walls. For me, these temples are as impressive than the pyramids. The pillars supporting the roof are enormous. The quantity of pillars is mind boggling. The pilots from Ireland were still in Luxor when I arrived, so we had dinner together and swapped flying stories (as one does when together with other pilots). A Belgian pilot was arriving later in the evening and they went off to join him and pick his brain. He had just left Addis Ababa, where they were headed. There is nothing better than current information about an airport and avgas. Unfortunately something that I ate didn’t agree with me. I’ve been in bed all morning, except when I was in the bathroom cleaning out my system. Luckily I only had to cancel my tour this morning. If it had been a flying day, there is no way I could have departed. I don’t know if it was lunch or dinner; everything tasted good. But, I’ll have to be more careful from now on, especially the day before each flight. More touring tomorrow.

November 7th, 2011 Today we headed into Cairo and first visited the Egyptian Museum. It was full of huge statues, sarcophagi, mummy cases, and on and on. The museum is daunting in the sheer volume of its antiquities on display. Of course, I had to see the treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb - these occupy a large area along almost two side of the upper floor. Chariots, gloves, jewellery, the famous mask - many of the antiquities from his tomb are displayed here. Tutankhamun's tomb contained four gilded shrines nested one inside the other. All four of these shrines are on display in the museum. They are lined up in order of decreasing size. The innermost of these covered a stone sarcophagus which remains in the tomb. Inside the stone sarcophagus were three coffins - the innermost being made of 110 kilograms of solid gold. Inside that lay the pharaoh himself wearing the famous gold mask. Tutankhamun remains in his tomb to this day. So, I might get to see that in Luxor. No pictures are allowed and no books were available. But, there is a good website, http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/museum.htm which will give you an idea of what is on display. Go to the bottom of the home page and click on the various pages to see many of the amazing exhibits. It would take days to see everything; it was overwhelming. I didn’t realize it, but the museum is just off Tahrir Square which we visited next. I said that I wouldn’t go there. But touring with “locals,” Eddie and Anthea, who stayed in Cairo during the revolution and know what’s going on, I felt safe. I could remember views from the TV coverage of the events. I didn’t know that Hardies and KFC, two restaurants right on the square, had served as water distribution center and clinic during the demonstrations in January 2011. Walking through this area of Cairo and obviously looking like western tourists, many locals said hello, welcomed us to Cairo and thanked us for coming. Tourism is down and they are happy to see us. After a short taxi ride, we reached “old Cairo” and walked into the souk or bazaar. Luckily for me it is a holiday and most of the shops are closed. Still, where they are open, shop keepers are pushing their wares and trying to get us to look and buy. It was just like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. We reach Khan El Khalili Restaurant where we have a very traditional Egyptian meal called Koshary which is a mixture of rice, pasta and lentels with fried onions on top with a tomato and garlic sauce. Some food enthusiasts say that koshari is a variant of Indian kitchri, brought to Egypt by British troops in the early 20th century. Other theories suggest that Kosheri may have been popularized by Egyptian Jews, stemming from their kosher dietary requirements. Either way, it’s a perfect “one pan meal” which I enjoy. After more exploring and visiting one of Cairo’s “gates” we have tea at El Fishaway. This is a restaurant that has been open continuously for over 200 years. Yes, can you believe it? Actually, I heard that continuously has about two exceptions for religious holidays but that’s pretty minor. It has been owned by the same family for all this time and has served former kings. Home again and time to do the documentation. Off to Luxor tomorrow.

November 5th, 2011 Here we go again with more “wow’s.” The pyramids are just like in the pictures only bigger with a lot more detail. The stones are huge – how did they cut them and move them. How did they get them piled up so high with only manual labor? We took pictures next to them, the stones are at least four feet high. First we visited the Saqqara Necropolis which has the distinction not of having Egypt's largest pyramids, but its first, the Step Pyramid of Djoser. In fact, Saqqara has more royal pyramids then does Giza, and it was here that a number of other "firsts" occurred in pyramid building. For example, it was here that we find the first recording on pyramid walls of the so called "Pyramid Texts". Also Saqqara has a host of private tombs, many of them belonging to important ancient Egyptian officials and dating to the vary earliest of times. The Saqqara pyramids are estimated to have been built around 4000 BC. In the distance we could see the first pyramids, one that looks like it is ready to fall over, another one that started out at too steep an angle and has a bend in it and continues to the top at a different angle. The third (the first successful pyramid) is a smaller version of the step pyramids of the Saqqara. In Giza we saw the larger, more well-known pyramids of Khufu, the Great Pyramid, Khafre and Menkaure. The site we now know as Giza (or Gizah) was called Imentet ("the West") or Kher Neter, ("the Necropolis") in Ancient Egypt. The pyramids of Giza sit at the top of a limestone cliff which is part of the Middle Eocene Mokattam Formation. The site has not been fully excavated, and even now new tombs are being discovered. The site consists of the three large pyramids, their temples, satellites and storerooms, the Great Sphinx, a worker's village and a large number of mastabas constructed for wealthy nobles and private citizens. Since the demise of the ancient Egyptian civilisation, the site has been quarried to aid the construction of Cairo. Most of the limestone cladding of the pyramids ended up adorning the walls of the city. We could see some of the remaining limestone atop the middle pyramid. The rest has been completely removed. We could also see how far the original extended. They are at least 12 feet per side smaller due to pillaging. Beside one of the pyramids is the Solar Boat, a relatively new discovery, 1954, and even newer to be open to the public. This is a large boat, of the type used for burials that floated down the Nile River with the body on board. It is thought that it was buried by the Pharaoh for his use in the afterlife. It has been put back together and scenes show how it was found and the restoration work. There were no nails in that time. Rope was strategically used and tightened to pull the wood together and make it water-tight. An amazing piece of engineering. The sphinx is not visible from the pyramids as it is at a lower elevation to the east of the pyramids, even closer to the city. In fact, you walk out of the viewing area directly on to the city street. It’s amazing how the city has encroached on the pyramids. We have city then desert with the pyramids. Not the wide open expanse of desert around the pyramids that we imagine when we see the pictures. This was a lone sphinx. I’ll see many more in Luxor. Along the Nile is also interesting. There is about a kilometer of lush green vegetation and farmland on each side of the Nile, then it turns to desert. There is no intermediate ground, it’s one or the other. This evening Eddie and Ahmed had organized a presentation at the Fairmont Hotel, not too far from the apartment. We had a few technical problems getting everything hooked together, then we had a minor delay as this is not an “on time” culture. But, at the end, the group was enthusiastic and enjoyed the presentation. Although slow to start the questions, they picked up speed and in the end had lots of questions. Afterwards I sat with the VATSIM group who had even more questions once we were in just a small group. One is a senior in high school, two guys are in university studying engineering and one is a communications engineer, already working. They are all VATSIM pilots and air traffic controllers. Their knowledge is amazing. Another young glider pilot joined us also. In the US we are having difficulty getting the young interested in aviation. It seems to me that this is an excellent solution. With this background, moving into glider flying or powered planes is a much smaller step. We finished with pictures all around. Group pictures and individual pictures with me. The caterers also got in on the act and all of them gathered around with big smiles. It was absolutely a fun evening. November 6th 2011 Peter and Essam, the pilots from Ireland, joined us yesterday for the touring and evening, but they were on a quicker time schedule and had to leave today. I went with them, Eddie and Ahmed to the airport so that I could gas up ahead of time and be ready to depart on Tuesday. Everything went exceedingly well until the last minute. We were going to take pictures and they were ready to taxi out. Suddenly officials from the terminal showed up and asked for all our passports. They left with them. After 15 minutes, they returned and asked for Peter and Essam to accompany them, with their luggage, to the terminal. They returned after another 30 minutes and could finally depart, one hour late. We waved them off and listened to the tower to make sure everything was alright. Ahmed was livid. He had cleared all the paperwork ahead of time and this shouldn’t have happened. After investigating, he showed the inspectors where all the paperwork was in the office. They had not received any instructions or information from the previous shift, so they thought they had to do all the inspections. We went up and had pictures with the guys in the tower. They were happy to see us and participate in my adventure and support the ALS cause. They wouldn’t be in the tower on Tuesday for my departure, but wished me well.

More from Cairo…. November 3rd After tea and getting to know each other, Eddie, Ahmed and I started the two hour drive into Cairo. Cairo is a huge city with about 20 million people, maybe more. October airport is on the west side outside of Cairo and we are going across the Nile to the east side, close to Cairo International airport. Driving is worse than in Turkey and Jordan. Although the road has three lanes on each side when traffic slows down the drivers try to get ahead by finding a fourth or fifth lane between the other cars and trucks. It’s similar to India but without the rickshaws and with fewer motorcycles. It’s hectic. Most of the cars have dents on all sides. It was getting dark, but as we drove by I could see the tips of the pyramids. I can’t wait to see them up close. Eddie is an English aviation enthusiast and has been living in Cairo for three years. Ahmed is Egyptian and works in flight dispatch. Together they want to help general aviation pilots in Egypt and later expand to other countries in the area. They are off to a good start. Eddie pointed out the expansive construction that is going on the the west of Cairo. There were hundreds of apartment type buildings being built. He explained that it is Egyptian money, rich Egyptians who buy the land and start the construction. Each is only finished as people decide to move in, so many remain unfinished. The traffic was terrible, as expected, and it took two hours to get across the city. Once in their apartment, we had a wonderful Egyptian dinner and I hit the bed; I was exhausted. November 4th, 2011 Eddie and Ahmed had to return to October today to meet an Irish pilot who was arriving. We had planned to arrive the same day, but he had a tail wheel issue in Greece and was coming in a day late. Anthea, Eddie’s partner, and I went to get US dollars, which I desperately needed for avgas in October and handling in Luxor. Egypt and Djibouti only accept US dollars for handling and fuel. Most countries in this area of the world only accept cash. She has lived in Egypt for 30 years and started showing me around this part of Cairo. First we saw the Basilica which is locally called the “jelly mold” because that’s what it looks like with its rounded domes. This was designed and built under the direction of Baron Empaim from Belgium. He is buried under its alter. He built this in the area called Heliopolis which is an area to the east of Cairo and, years ago, was well outside of Cairo. Old photos show a barren area around the Basilica. This is also where the Heliopolis Hotel was built. When Mubarak became President of Egypt he took the Heliopolis Hotel as his palace. In this area most of the streets are large with wide boulevards. We walked down Bagdad Street which is a shopping area. Many of the buildings have an old colonnade design with pillars along one side. Anthea also told me about the Metro. My first question was why, with the British influence, would they call this a metro instead of an underground. She said the company building it is from France. Aha, logical. She also said that it is clean, no smoking and no eating are enforced. It is an excellent example of what can be accomplished. The city also has an old tram, but the vast majority of people now use the metro as the tram isn’t very efficient or on-time. Tomorrow the Pyramids……

November 2, 2011 Petra, the world wonder, is without a doubt Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction. It is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. Just walking through the Siq is an experience in itself. The colors and formations of the rocks are dazzling. As you reach the end of the Siq you will catch your first glimpse of Al-Khazneh (Treasury). This is an awe-inspiring experience. A massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it. It was carved in the early 1st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people. This was one of the “must see” sites on my list and I’m so glad that I did. It was amazing. Basmah, chief pilot from the Royal Jordanian Aero Sports Club, drove me there and showed me around. The 1.2 kilometer walk through the narrow gorge, Siq, was picturesque but as I walked through the narrow opening and saw the Treasury, Al-Khazneh, I was stunned by its size and majesty, over 40 meters high, carved out of a single stone. We continued walking down a long Roman-like colonnaded street and saw a Nabataean theater, very similar to the Romans. The Monastery, Ad-Deir, is at the top of a over 800 step climb. Most of these steps are cut into the natural rock formation. It was a long and tiring day, but absolutely worth it. November 3rd 2011 More good-byes and off again. Aqaba was a scenic and friendly stop. The Ayla Aviation Academy, run by Marwan and the Royal Jordanian Aero Sports Club sit side by side at the south end of the long north/south runway. They work together and besides there local work of training and site-seeing, they also offer handling and avgas. It was a relaxing stop for a few days. Basmah said that local pilots don’t know that Aqaba has avgas, so I’ll be spreading the word as I travel in Egypt and hopefully more pilots will head to Aqaba for a wonderful time. Flight plan filing, customs and immigration were quick and Khader, the Sports Club mechanic, picked me up and brought me back to the hangar. I loaded up, we took some pictures, hugs all around and I’m off again. This leg to Egypt got a little frantic over the last two days. My chosen entry airport, Taba, just over the border in the Sinai Peninsula had decided to close customs on Wednesday, November 3rd. Ahmed and Eddie were working hard with Bo to find a solution. When we left the airfield yesterday, I didn’t know where I was going today and I couldn’t file my flight plan. This morning I received the email confirming Hurghada as my entry airport and then a flight to October 6th, just west of Cairo, my planned destination. As October doesn’t have customs and immigration, an entry airport was required to enter Egypt. I was cleared for departure and given an altitude of FL 120, 12,000 feet. There are no other options in this area of the world. Normally I don’t like to fly that high when I’m full of avgas and heavy (I prefer to stay lower until I burn off some fuel). I was half way to my destination by the time I reached 12,000 feet. It was cool and calm. I was taking pictures of the mountains in the Sinai to my right and the beaches of Saudi Arabia to my left. As I reached the gulf where the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez meet, there were islands with azur blue waters and lots of boats. This is apparently a wonderful scuba diving spot. I had a quick descent and took a visual approach to Hurghada, as there was an airliner coming in behind me. Then the fun started (as usual). The handler took me on a big 100 person bus to the terminal and we got through customs and immigration relatively quickly and walked to the domestic terminal. I was thinking this wasn’t too bad until we sat down for an hour. He said my flight plan departure would be pushed back by ½ hour. As that time approached, he said that it would be pushed back again. I asked what was going on and he said it was immigration approving my entry. So, the stamping process is quick, but something happens afterwards that took another hour. In between he gives me his bill, $380.00. It had a long list of items, none of which I had used, towing, lavatory, etc. On the bottom was written, $365 plus $15 visa = $380 received. Since I had the time, I started discussing it with him. I told him that I needed it itemized, landing, handling, etc. Normally, I just pay and depart, but with spare time to kill and such a weird invoice and knowing that lots of “things” go on here, I started discussing it with him. He made a call to Cairo and gave me the breakdown. I still didn’t like it, but paid him. There was a minor change to the flight plan route and finally we got approval to return to the plane and depart. On the bus he explained that whether I was one or 100 people, I paid the same amount for the bus transport. I didn’t say that I could have walked to the plane. It took a while to get engine start approval, but then I taxied out. The run-up tests were fine, but when I got on the runway the engine started making a funny sound. I did another run-up and one of the spark plugs was fouling. The normal clearing procedure didn’t work, so I told the tower and taxied off the runway. On the taxiway, I took my time and cleared the plug. Everything sounded good and I departed. At FL 120 again, I checked my ground speed and it was 89 knots. I had a 51 knot headwind. Ugh. Nothing I could do as they wouldn’t let me lower until I got closer to Cairo. I took pictures, ate some cookies and kept going. I had been a little worried about this arrival as October is a visual airport with no instrument approaches. I’d seen the weather reports and with the smog and blowing sand the visibility had been periodically below 3 kilometers during the last few days. Once I finally picked up the Cairo weather and heard CAVOK, ceiling and visibility OK, I could relax. As I got closer, the controller started to give me radar vectors to the airport and I finally sited it and went over to tower. It is a huge strip in the middle of the desert with nothing around it. I landed and taxied to park next to the only plane on the ramp. Eddie and Ahmed, from General Aviation Support Egypt, welcomed me. They are a new handling agent for Egypt and have been working with Bo for the past month preparing for my arrival. After our 2003 problems with handling and corruption in Egypt, Bo was happy to find this company. What they offered sounded unbelievable. Handling for free, permits, housing, tours of Cairo. The list went on and on. Certainly as we got to know each other by email over the last month, they were doing everything they could to get permits and make the arrival easy. On the ramp we took lots of photos with them and with the local officials. Then I taxied to the GA hangar, met General Mohamed Banran and parked on his ramp.

November 1st, 2011 Another amazing flight, this time in a Diamond. Yesterday Basmah introduced me to the G1000 avionics in a Diamond. Today we went flying over the mountains to the east of Aqaba to the Wadi Rum region. After the takeoff and initial climb I wasn’t doing too much flying as I wanted to take pictures and video. This looks a bit like the painted desert in Arizona and Zion National Park in Utah. The colors are orange and rose. There are large areas of flat sand interspersed with jagged peaks. It was dry, rugged and beautiful. History tells us that this was a part of the incense route (the spice route). Those that didn’t have the secret to where water was located, would perish. There were a few natural springs, but the travelers had to know where they were. This is also the location of the Lawrence of Arabia stories (which I had forgotten). T. E. Lawrence was an Englishman who fell in love with this region of the world. He inspired the locals to band together and fight the Ottoman Turkish invaders who were trying to take over their country between 1916 and 1918. This was known as the Arab Revolt. It was a beautiful flight over a stunning landscape to which I hope I can do justice with the pictures and videos. Upon my return I was invited to tour the Falcons hangar. The Falcons are the Royal Jordanian aerobatic team flying four Extra 300s. They usually spend three months doing airshows in Europe every summer as well as many regional airshows. They have performed in the US, but that was many years ago due to the logistics and distance. Yesterday I saw one solo pilot practicing his routine. Unfortunately they are leaving for Amman today, so I won’t be able to see their show. In the afternoon I made my presentation to the students, instructors and managers of the Ayla Aviation Academy. They were fascinated and asked many good questions. They also wanted to know more about ALS. Marwan, the manager, made a very generous donation to ALS research, thank you. Periodic cleaning of the plane is always important. It’s great when I can get back to my plane at an airport, which I haven’t been able to do since Hungary. Today, it’s in the hangar of the Royal Aero Sports Club of Jordan. I can wash it and check things over before the upcoming long legs to Kenya. More after the work is done… Well, that was quick. With three helpers we have the plane nice and clean in less than ½ an hour. She now sparkles in the setting sun. I feel much better. All that sand on the wings and fuselage was driving me crazy. I know there will be more in Egypt, but I can clean it again in Kenya. Thank you so much Mr. Green (maintenance manager and certificated mechanic) and helpers.

October 29, 2011 Jerash, Jordan, to the northwest of Amman, has one of the largest Roman cities being excavated. It is over 3.5 kilometers in length. Considered the best-preserved Roman city outside Rome, Jerash is an awesome sight with its large theatres, public squares and plazas, paved and colonnaded streets, hilltop temples, fountains and baths. And in these surroundings, the RACE (Roman Army and Chariot Experience) at the Hippodrome makes for a great spectacle. Putting on the show are 45 men dressed as legionaries in full armor who display Roman army drill and battle tactics; 10 gladiators ‘fighting to the end', and several ‘Roman chariots' which compete in a seven-lap race around the Hippodrome. Set in the floodlit surroundings of these spectacular ruins, is the annual Jerash festival — a cultural event which includes folk dances by local an international troupes, concerts, plays, operas, ballets, and exhibition-sales of traditional handicrafts. The festival and RACE were no going on during my visit. But, I haven’t seen a better location for such an event. I must be spectacular. Guess I’ll have to return! Later in the day I met several woman pilots, Alia, who I had been emailing and who received the books, just in time, two days before I left Amman. Also, Mary, a former Royal Jordanian Airlines pilot and now an instructor with the Air Academy, and Basmah, an instructor from Aqaba, and aspiring ferry pilot. Basmah will be meeting me when I fly to Aqaba and will show me Petra and around the area of southern Jordan. We had terrific conversations, more about that later. A journalist had been at our meeting at the Palestine Hospital and her article was published in the newspaper today. Later, as we were driving home, Mohammed received a call from a person who had read the newspaper article. He wanted to talk with me. He thanked me for what I was doing. His father had died in 1996 and his disease had never been diagnosed. After reading the article he now knew that his dad had suffered from ALS for six years. He really appreciated knowing what it was that had taken his dad’s life and he felt better just knowing that it had a name. He talked with Mohammed and will participate with the new ALS group that will be formed. He can help others to understand the steps that will confront the family. This is exactly what Mohammed had been talking about; there are no statistics on the disease in Jordan but certainly many are suffering without help or support. October 30th, 2011 We’re at the airport, wanting to depart and unexpected things happen. The day I had arrived, Wednesday, we’d met with the handler at the airport to discuss departure. He gave me his card and said to email the flight plan on Saturday, three days hence, the day before departure. Yesterday I’d emailed my flight plan as discussed. He replied that we could enter the flight plan where I arrived the next morning. We arrived and he apologized, the airport was closed. We could depart at 5pm or the next morning before 8am as the runway was being re-surfaced. I asked why he hadn’t told me that in the email yesterday. He said that he hadn’t been informed about the closure. It was obvious to me that this maintenance had to have been planned, but it could be that the handler wasn’t informed. Mohammad was exceedingly polite and smoothed everything over. We did all the necessary paperwork to speed up departure this afternoon and drove to Mohammad’s office in Amman. That afternoon at 3:30pm we were back at the airport and I was in the plane at 4:30pm. I called the tower on the radio in case it would open early, but they said it would not open before 5pm. I organized the cockpit and got some charts out for future legs and approaches. So, the time was well spent, then I called again at 5pm. He said that the work was not finished and that it would remain closed for at least another two hours, maybe longer. I packed my things and walked back to the terminal. Mohammad insisted on driving back to pick me up. I said no, I could wait. I just needed to call Basmah who was meeting me in Aqaba and let her know that I would be late. He insisted on driving back to the airport and that I stay one more night with them. Actually, it turned out to be a very fun evening with a great Arabic dinner that Lina had cooked. So, sometimes when something unfortunate or unplanned happens, it’s amazing how much good can come out of it. In the morning we got up early and back to the airport by 6:20 am and I was in the cockpit by 6:50am. I called for startup and was in the air by 7:05 am. The flight was wonderful and I was so happy to see the dunes and mountains by daylight and to be able to take photographs. Actually, the mountains to the northeast of Aqaba are pretty high. I was very happy that I had not arrived and night and descended over them. Aqaba has no radar and the mountains have no lights. I would most likely have done an instrument approach and not descended until I was over the airport; but just thinking about a visual descent at night made me shiver. Basmah met me and showed me all around the Royal Aero Club and the AYLA flight school. We were in the dispatch room talking with several pilots and explaining about my flight and ALS when one pilot started to tell me about his brother-in-law. All the symptoms were the same as ALS. His disease was not diagnosed and now he couldn’t use his legs very well. He’d already had a back operation, but that hadn’t done any good. I gave him the name of the doctor at the Palestine Hospital and recommended that he call there. Again, this was what Mohammed had been saying. There is no awareness in Jordan and many could be suffering without knowing about the disease. Even though it is terminal, it’s still better to know ahead of time the normal progress and what to expect. Hopefully they will receive more information and a diagnosis from the Palestine Hospital. I can’t believe these two ALS coincidences... More from Aqaba later…..

October 28th Yesterday I made presentations to two groups. The first group was the instructors from the Mid-East Aviation Academy and the second was VATSIM, Virtual Air Traffic Simulation, members. The first group, being instructors, was much more serious in their questions especially about the length of time flying without rest (at least without bed rest). However, by the end of the presentation, they appreciated all the preparation that had gone into the endeavor and the risk reduction that resulted. The second group were, overall, younger and much more excited by the presentation and undertaking. They couldn’t stop asking questions during the presentation and wanted more and more details. Jordanian and Egyptian members of VATSIM will be recreating my Jordan and Egypt flights this Sunday. They are also explaining about the current flight to their 250,000 worldwide members and linking to the website to increase donations to ALS research. VATSIM makes the world of flight simulation as real as it gets. Learn how to fly an aircraft in a real environment, share the adventure of flying with a huge community. All you need is a Flight Simulator, the wish to learn and a bit of time to study... Explore more then 20.000 airports all around the globe together with more than 250,000 members in nearly every country. For more information see: www.vatsim.net Today with Mohammad we recreated on VATSIM my flight from Haifa to Amman. As we got into Amman airspace and talked with Aman Control, one the young men from the previous evening worked our flight. It was just like the real flight. After landing and exiting on Bravo taxiway I thanked him for his help and he said that he was very happy to have worked with us. I was amazed. I think that we flew for about an hour and it felt just like the actual flight. Today was the day to “do” what tourists do in Jordan, float in the Dead Sea and get a mud bath. So, Mohammad and Lina drove me there and I did it. Lina took the pictures to prove it. The floating was amazing. It was like sitting in an inner tube, without the tube. That position was the easiest to float and the most comfortable. It was easy to wave your hands and legs at the same time. When I was straight up and down, vertically, I floated at about mid-chest level. Then it was time to cover myself in mud. It went on in a very smooth thin layer. Kind of like rubbing soap on your body, only it turned black with the mud. Then I stood around for about 15 minutes, rotating in the sun and UV while it dried. Of course Lina took more pictures. Then back into the water to float and wash it off. The skin feels so smooth as the mud comes off. Baby-like skin. Don’t get any Dead Sea water in your mouth or eyes. It is very high in minerals and salts and stings and tastes terrible. I still feel baby smooth – it was great fun.

October 26, 2011 Another bitter-sweet departure. I’ve had a wonderful two weeks here in Israel. I’ve met some wonderful pilots who have become friends and whom I very much hope to meet again. Now, I’m packing everything into my small bag and backpack and heading once again to the airport. Since security saw me yesterday, the questions are shorter and easier today. I pay the parking and landing fees, a total of 260 ILS (Isareli Schekels) which is $71.45, wow. That included two landings and two weeks parking. I didn’t find anything that inexpensive in Europe. And, the avgas was ONLY 1.3 Euros per liter ($6.85 per gallon). That’s almost US prices and the least expensive avgas I’ve had since leaving the US over six months ago. It was even less expensive than tax-free Guernsey. I’m on the ramp and have plenty of time to organize everything prior to departure. The whole plane is covered in a light dusting of sand, so I take the time to clean it off prior to departure. There is a thicker layer on the leading edges, from flying yesterday, which I clean. Although several planes have already taken off, no-one is taxiing or flying when I call the tower, so I receive my clearance right away and back taxi to the end of the runway. I’m off and climbing to 2000 feet and the first intersection in no time. It’s very hazy, so pictures of Haifa, which is magnificent with all the houses on Mt. Carmel, won’t come out. I’m handed over to “Pluto” and climb to 5000 feet in and out of clouds. I don’t know why, but I’m a little worried about being handed over from Israel to Jordan, but it’s completely unwarranted. The handover is like any other. The Israeli controller gives me the frequency and tells me to contact Amman Control. I repeat the instructions and thank her for the help. I call up Amman. He confirms the squawk code, clearance and altitude and I keep on going. No problem. We hear so many stories about the countries not talking with each other and no crossing for General Aviation planes. I’d been advised that I might have to fly to southern Israel and cross to Egypt and then to Jordan. However, Yigal told me that the pilots have a good relationship across the border and gave me the recommended route that I filed and which was approved. There are a number of airliners arriving at the same time. I’m so much slower that I figured they would be down before I started the approach. It has been hazy for a few days and today we also have clouds, so a full approach is required. I call my outbound and inbound legs and descend at the appropriate points. There’s the long runway ahead. When I’m on short final another plane is starting the outbound leg of the approach. Unfortunately the runway is very long and my exit, Bravo taxiway, is at the far end. I don’t get down there in time and a plane in the pattern doing touch and goes needs to overfly the runway and go around again. I follow the “follow me truck” and shut down at parking. A welcoming committee of Mohammad (my contact), Dr. Imad Atyatt and Captain Haytham Bawab, president of the local aero club, arrive and welcome me to Amman. The entry procedures are always easier with a group of local pilots helping. Then we go to the aero club for tea and then visit the Mid East Aviation Academy. This school is training most of the future pilots in this area of the world. It’s a complete aviation school with all the ground training needed to complete the nine written exams required for a pilot’s license and all the flight training. They have a fleet of Pipers and a mechanics school. They also use two simulators. It was impressive. Mohammad had organized a meeting with doctors and people interested in ALS at the Palestine Hospital in Amman. We were welcomed by Dr. Manar Shawareb and Dr. Nassri Khouri, a neurosurgeon whose grandfather had died of ALS. A Russian doctor who has spent the last 20 years in Jordan gave a detailed presentation about ALS and answered lots of questions. Then I spoke about my personal knowledge of ALS, dealing with my Mother’s diagnosis and my focus on awareness and fund raising through my passion for aviation. A teenager, Yasmine, had just done a walk for ALS today in Amman. Her aunt has had ALS for seven years and she wanted to raise awareness in Jordan for this disease. She, her mother and her uncle participated in the meeting. The wife of a prominent architect who is suffering with ALS also participated. Overall, it was excellent evening. The final decision was to start an ALS group or association to helping patients receive more information about this disease, to increase awareness in Jordan and to fund research. It will be based in the Palestine Hospital with Mohammad and Marwan Batinah, whose wife has ALS, leading the group and getting it started. What an evening. What energy. I was very happy to be part of it.

October 25, 2011 What a day! When I arrived in Haifa, almost two weeks ago, Yigal, who took care of me, helped me with the clearances to fly to Israel and organized some of the meetings, also asked if I would like to fly to Masada. I’d read about Masada in AOPA Pilot Magazine about a year ago. I actually looked for the magazine and article before leaving home, thinking that I could contact the person in the article and fly there. But, I couldn’t find the article and then I learned that I couldn’t fly alone in Israel, so that was as far as I went. When Yigal asked me, I said yes, but it was not possible. He said with a smile, “Leave it to Yigal.” As with everything else, he made it happen! Today I flew to and landed at the lowest airstrip on Earth, 1240 feet below sea level. Not only that, but I received a guided tour and learned the history of Masada, the fort built by Herod on top of a mountain. It was fascinating. The only unfortunate part was that the weather had deteriorated a little and it was hazy. I flew there with Dror, who met me at Haifa airport when I first landed. At Mesada, we were hosted by Haviv who I had met at the presentations in Tel Aviv. Yigal had coordinated everything. With Haviv, after being initiated with a little history, he drove us up to the entrance and organized a guided tour. The history and engineering of the fort was elegant and efficient. Herod had the stone for the fort quarried right out of the mountain, then he used the quarries as cisterns to save the water that fell on the nearby mountains in winter. He also had plenty of storage rooms for food. His room on the top and point of the mountain had a spectacular view overlooking the desert and Jordan River below. The return flight to Haifa followed the same route we had taken to get there. VFR flying in Israel is CVFR, controlled VFR. There are certain routes that pilots must follow, no free flying. You talk with the controllers all the time. We had to slow down on the return leg as we were behind a slower plane going to Haifa, so we had to stay in line and fly slower. What an amazing day. This certainly tops the list of accomplishments. Thank you for making in possible Yigal!! And, thank you for flying with me Dror and hosting us Haviv. I’ll be back!

October 20, 2011 The Rockefeller Archaeological Museum is a free treasure. There we only two other people there while I was visiting; but a group was arriving just as I was departing. It is a beautiful building built in the 1930s to display archaeological finds from important sites that had been excavated in the Holy Land. These artifacts are arranged in chronological order to tell the story of human habitation in the region from prehistoric times to the 17th century. Then I joined the tour (that I had missed on Tuesday) to the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. This area is important and has become holy to Judaism, Islam and some factions of Christianity. The Temple Mount has been the scene of many religious upheavals, however since the early 8th century, is the site of two major structures, Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The site has 10 entrances but only one can be used by non-Muslims. Israeli soldiers are the security checkpoint for all entrances with the most guards at this entrance. On top, the Muslim guards insure correct dress. Non-Muslims are only allowed in between 12:30 and 1:30pm. It is a huge expanse of land (equivalent to 12 football fields) with only the two structures. One area is a playground for children and another is a family picnic area. On holy occasions up to 400,000 people have filled the area. It is fascinating, given the size, that other structures have not imposed on this site, as in the rest of the Holy City where everything is exceedingly congested. The Protestants were a little late coming to the Holy Land however, they had some land that had been a gift to Charlemagne and was handed down through the centuries. In the 19th century, the Protestant awakening movements fostered a renewed interest of European Christians in the Holy Land. In 1871 the Chapel of St. John was renovated on this property. In 1898 the present church was inaugurated. It is the Church of the Redeemer and hosts four congregations in different languages: Arabic, German, English and Danish. It has one of the tallest bell towers, 178 steps, but, worth it. The view from the top is outstanding.

October 19th, 2011 I went to Bethlehem today. I thought I’d have to join a bus tour, but the hotel receptionist said that it was easy to take a city bus and do the tour myself. So I did. No problem catching the bus, the driver was very helpful. I was a little shocked when I saw the wall. I’d heard TV reports of a wall being built by the Israelis to separate the Palestinian land; but to see it was something else. Especially for me after being in Berlin just a few months ago and reading about the building of the Berlin wall and the fall of the wall. This wall is much higher. Then I had to go through Israeli and Palestinian checkpoints to get into Bethlehem. Once on the other side, I walked along the wall for a while. The was a lot of graffiti, messages and pictures on the wall (on the Paestinian side). The shops by the wall were doomed. No-one visited. They pleaded with me to come in and buy something. In town things were much quieter than in Jerusalem. Everything was cleaner, but not many people on the street. In the tourist area things were more lively with lots of groups and tour buses. I did the tourist visits and walked back to the wall and checkpoint and took the bus back to Jerusalem. I walked up to the Mount of Olives and looked over the other side. The city ends and the desert remains. It goes on as far as you can see. It’s pretty quiet looking out into the distance, over the desert. All the noise is behind me, in Jerusalem. I sit on the wall, eat a plum and take a rest.

October 17th, 2011 Heading to Jerusalem Yesterday Yigal had organized a presentation to a large group of Israeli pilots. Many of them had flown from Tel Aviv to Haifa for the meeting. It went very well with lots of questions well-timed with the next slide of the presentation. Luckily the books, which Liza was mailing from the US, arrived that morning. With the holidays and Israeli security I was worried that they weren’t going to be delivered in time. The pilots made nice donations and bought all the books. Good job Liza has already mailed more to Jordan for the next meetings. I’d reviewed the train and bus schedules and decided to take the train to Jerusalem. From the hotel, I needed to take a taxi to the station. I’d taken a taxi to the rental car location several days previously, so had an idea of the prices. This taxi driver had quoted a price that I thought was too much and I told him so. He said that he’d turn the meter on, so I got in. He didn’t turn the meter on and we had a big argument at the train station. Overall, my traveling has not been difficult and most people have been extremely helpful. The only exception has been taxi drivers and some have been very good. However, others, like this one, have definitely left a sour taste in my mouth. With Yigal and Dror the other evening along with a Greek pilot who was visiting, we were discussing countries that are tourist friendly. They have all traveled with their planes to a number of different countries. Their view is that Israel is not tourist friendly. In general, I have to agree. Not because the people aren’t friendly, but because I can’t read any signs. I had a lot of trouble driving around and finding stores to buy food, etc. Because everything is written in Hebrew, with very few translations in English, it made life very difficult. Luckily Avis has a big AVIS sign, so I could find my way back. When I asked questions, people were as helpful and friendly as in other countries. However, I have to add, that as Wes noticed when we were in the Azores and Porto, the Portuguese people went out of their way to help us. They did more than expected every time. They were exceedingly tourist friendly. On the train to Jerusalem I talked with an Australian woman who was having the same problem as me. With all the signs only in Hebrew, it made travel here very difficult. Now I must add that the train station signs have also been in English and now in Jerusalem, many of their road names are written in English. So getting around here has been a little easier. The train was as published about two and a half hours from Haifa to Jerusalem with a quick change of trains in Tel Aviv. Now the difficult part starts, the bus rides. After getting off the train, the buses are nowhere to be found. Finally after numerous questions and walking across a gravel/stony field, I found a regular road and a normal bus stop. This wasn’t the bus I’d been looking for, but I figured it would get me to the central bus station and there I could change to the second bus that I needed. The holidays were making traffic worse than normal and it took an hour and a half to get to the central bus station. I wandered around until I found my next bus and there was standing room only. The person I was standing next to helped me and knew roughly where I was going. I was using the bus route that I’d downloaded to the iPhone. Too late we saw the stop that I needed. The bus continued at least a mile further, downhill, before the next stop where I could get off. But, the views were amazing, so I was snapping pictures as I walked back. Finally, after 8 hours and 10 minutes traveling, I found the hotel. Although a “less” expensive hotel, the front desk person was friendly and extremely helpful (as the reviews had said). I was served a fresh fruit juice at the front desk (which I desperately needed after all that walking) and it went down very quickly. He gave me a map and explained the major points of interest. Bottled water and fruits were delivered to the room, compliments of the establishment. I like to try the local foods, where ever I go. But I’m usually careful, especially the night before a flight. Tonight was unusual in that I tried a local cheese and almonds, not pre-packaged. So, I hope I’m ok in the morning. Fruits are plentiful here, as in Turkey, and inexpensive. Walking down the streets, one of the things I notice is the smell of fresh fruit. There are lots of open-air stands selling fruit and the fresh smell is in the air. October 18th 2011 What an amazing day. I took a walking tour of the Holy City and saw as many sites as one can fit into 4½ hours. I’d also walked around for two hours before the tour started. My feet and legs are tired and I’m sitting on the bed typing as I recover. One problem, this was probably not the best time to be in Israel and Jerusalem. First it’s a holiday week, so many families are traveling to the Holy City. Second an Israeli soldier that has been held captive for over five years by Palestinians has been traded for 1025 Arabs that have been held in Israeli jails. The soldier came home to Israel today. The Arabs are also happy and are celebrating with fireworks. Tomorrow is the end of the holy week and also a big celebration. Altogether, that makes for a lot of people and celebrations going on. Our guide, Jonathan, from the US, raised in Washington, now an Israeli citizen and living in Tel Aviv, took has masters in Judaism with a major in Christianity. He loves studying about religions and was a wealth of information on the history of the city and the changes over time. It was an absolutely fascinating tour. We went into the room of the Last Supper, King David’s Tomb and followed some of the stations of the Cross. We went inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial. Jonathan explained where the religions coincided and where they divided along with who was the ruling body of Jerusalem over the centuries and how the religions were able to practice or not under different regimes. The crusaders were not very nice and killed everyone in their way; whereas under Muslin rule many religions got along relatively harmoniously. Over the last century there has been much maneuvering for ownership of land and sites. Today there are still some areas that are no man’s land; however most is divided and controlled. Due to the events of the day, the Temple Mount was closed to tourists, which was unfortunate. Jonathan explained as best he could what it represented and what we would have seen. We could see the golden Dome of the Rock shrine from afar. This marks the site where the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven. Hopefully it will be open one of the next two days. We did see the Western Wall which has been the center of Jewish yearning and memory for more than 2000 years. Looking at the height of the wall we can see the stones change based on the years the different levels were added. The wall was originally built to support the western side of the Temple Mount, which stands behind it. Interesting to me was the area in front of the wall, there were Muslim women enforcing the “dress code” and asking women to cover their shoulders. The area is sacred on many levels to the different religions. More tomorrow.

October 15, 2011 visiting northern Israel The first day was a holiday, so I couldn’t rent a car, however many sites in Haifa were open. The Bahai Gardens are a highlight of Haifa. This is the world center for the Bahai religion and they have built a shrine which is flanked by gardens built on 19 terraces with fountains and a promenade (with over 300 steps). It starts on top of Mt. Carmel and continues, over roads, down to its base in the city of Haifa. The central gardens are formal, cut and pruned with precision. Going out towards the sides is a middle section with some fruit trees and other well-tended bushes. On the outer edge is the informal section or more wild, natural shrubs and trees. Volunteers tend the gardens and come from around the world for the privilege of working here for a year. The gardens are lit at night with over 2200 lights. It is impressive, looking up at night, to see all the lights with the shrine in the middle and the extent that the gardens cover. A German colony was established in Haifa in 1869. Members arrived from Germany with the goal of settling in the Holy Land and preparing residents for the arrival of the Messiah, according to Christian belief. Seven colonies were founded around the country and were influential in the modernization process. During WWII they were considered enemy subjects because of their German origin and were expelled by the British Mandate. The German Colony has been renovated and restored. An hour and a half after arriving at the AVIS center I finally drove out – not your usual AVIS efficiency. However, touring northern Israel was worth it. Haifa has a lot of beautiful green trees and shrubs, not what I expected from this area of the world. After driving east I finally saw what I expected, brown hills, no green, arid land. But, I was surprised at the amount of farming going on. In the valleys, where there was good soil, crops were growing or the fields were being prepared for the next crop. There were also very large areas of green where many fruit-bearing trees were being grown. The Sea of Galilee is below sea level. On the roads to and from and quite high above Tiberias, the city on the Sea, are signs of sea level. I didn’t realize that before. It is fed from the north by the Jordan River. It’s pretty impressive coming from the west and descending towards the town and Sea. Looking across, there is green along the edges, but the land rises again on the eastern side and is brown beyond. I drove around the Sea and besides camping, boat launching and swimming areas there are also farms raising more trees (some looked like banana trees). On the east side I took the road to the Golan Heights. It climbs very steeply and my ears popped on the way up. On the eastern border it was a two lane road, but only the width for 1½ cars. There wasn’t much traffic. It was very desolate, barren and lonely up there although I did see a few herds of cattle. I finally turned westward to find civilization again and descended back to the valley. I could see the Sea of Galilee shimmering like a mirage in the distance. Finally I climbed westward out of the valley and crossed the Galil area then descended to the Mediterranean coast and turned south back to Haifa. It is a country with a lot of variety in a very small area. They definitely make the most out of the good land but have a tremendous amount of rocky, barren poor quality land. At one point on this rocky land I thought I saw vines. That makes sense as there is plenty of sun and vines like rocky soil. I learned that there has been a surge in vineyards and wine production in the last 10 years. As it turns out, I was in two of the largest wine producing areas, the Golan Heights and the area south of Haifa. Overall, Israel has about 150 wineries. Thinking about it, didn’t they have wine back in the biblical times? The Middle East and eastern Mediterranean was the cradle of wine production, and the ancient land of Canaan was one of the earliest countries to cultivate wine, over 2,000 years before the vine reached Europe. Driving south along the coast road I see miles and miles of beautiful beaches. The weather is perfect and the location is splendid. I visit a couple of towns with art galleries and return north to Haifa.

Wednesday, Oct 12, 2011 to Haifa, Israel It’s just after 1pm, Nicosia control just gave me a short cut, and I have just over two hours left to fly, but WHAT a morning it was. When I got to the airport and through security, I found my handler, Erdem, in his office. We had plenty of time and today, for once, I wasn’t in too much of a rush, because the weather would get better both at departure and arrival airports as time went on. So, initially, I was pretty calm. All went well, paying the bill, through Passport control (with Erdem explaining the mistake made in Istanbul), to the briefing office. I gave them my flight plan and one woman started entering it into the system. Another person, whos brother lives in Wisconsin, started talking with me. He explained that Eurocontrol is pretty busy with IFR flights in the morning and it might take 10 minutes to get into the system. Now, it’s 8:50 with a 9:30 (local time) departure. Still, I’m not worried. The woman comes back to me and says that they can’t accept my alternate airport, LCLA, Larnaka International, or LCA (an intersection joining two airway routes) in the system, because there is an ongoing battle between Turkey and Cypres and they can’t put this airport or VOR into the system. But, she has a solution, so tries again. The man starts to explain that there is an ongoing battle (not literally) over Cypress between Greece and Turkey, and they, air traffic control, can’t input certain locations on Cypress. Then, the woman comes back again and says it’s not accepted because the altitude I chose is too low. I explain about the cloud level and icing and I can’t fly higher. She says ok, she’ll work out a solution. Another 10 minutes and other rejection. Finally, they say there is now way by my route. By this time the manager, a woman who has worked there for over 40 years, has joined us. She says maybe going west, over the border with Greece, then south will work. First she says to go to Athens, which I reject, then she finds an intersection just across the border and another airway route heading south to Rhodes. Ten minutes later that is rejected also. Finally we get an acceptance message, with the very first flight plan route, but with a slot time of 1220z departure (that’s three hours from now). It appears that the problem is now Nicosia airspace and traffic over LCA overloading the system. The first woman tries another route avoiding LCA, but that is rejected. We are long past 9:30am by now and I’m still pretty calm, all things considered. Several times I ask if I can go and preflight my plane, so that when we get an accepted route I’ll be ready. At first they say no. Finally, after we’ve accepted the delay, I was allowed to pre-flight. I profusely thanked all the people who had works so hard to find a solution. Then Erdem and an airport official accompanied me to the ramp. With the extra time, I really wanted to make sure everything was correct. Also, flying over water, I had to make sure the life raft and ditch bag were easily accessible. I prepared everything while Erdem and the official took pictures of themselves by the plane. Finally we went to an office for some tea. The restaurant would open in an hour and we could get something to eat prior to departure. I contacted Israeli security to explain the delay and I contacted Yigal, who would be meeting me at the airport to give him a new ETA. I was chatting with Erdem in French, we found that we had a language in common, so were chatting away, when the official came in to say we had a new departure time of 0812z, that was in 20 minutes. I took a quick toilet break and we headed back to the plane. I thanked Erdem, we had exchanged email addresses and would stay in touch, and jumped into the cockpit. I called Israeli security to give them the new departure time, they confirmed my arrival codes. Then I called for start-up which was approved immediately. The clearance was as expected and I was taxiing for departure. I was breathing a sigh of relief. The torture was over and I could go flying. The weather had cleared a little, so I could see the mountains between the broken cloud layer. After I was handed over to Athens radar, they gave me a short cut then handed me to Nicosia control. He asked if I wanted a short-cut, which I also accepted. After a few deviations around thunderstorms I am now catching up on the log. What a morning. I got an sms in the air from Yigal, but couldn’t reply, so called him on the satellite phone with my eta. Tomorrow is a holiday in Israel and everything closes down from about 2pm this afternoon. I won’t be able to get a rental car until Friday, but that’s ok. I can walk around Haifa and figure out where to go. I’ll head out on Friday morning. The paperwork and regulations for getting into Israel, during the past month, had been pretty daunting. I was ecstatic when my approval came through. Then I did all the on-line entries for getting into their airspace. Part of that was the required phone call before departing this morning (I was so worried that I would forget). During that call, they said to contact them 180 miles out on frequency 124.30. I said that might be a little far from my radio, but I would start calling at that distance. So, I was watching my distances, believing that there was no way I’d be in range before about 100 miles. I called at 180, nothing. Just as I expected. I pulled the squelch button out, just in case. Then I heard them calling me back. I was astounded. They asked for my entry code which I gave them. She asked for a repeat, which I did. Then she said, “approved for entry, bye, bye.” What a non-event after all my worrying. I heard another plane talking with Nicosia control saying that he hadn’t been given 124.3 as a frequency for reporting. Nicosia confirmed that he was heading to Israel. He confirmed. I knew that he was going to have a problem. It was pretty obvious that we all needed to call in with an entry code well outside Israeli territory. The Israeli ATC was very efficient. As I got closer I dialed up ATIS, but it was only in Hebrew and I only understood two words, kilometers and temperature, nothing else. I was in clouds and the forecast had been for thunderstorms until early afternoon, so I wasn’t sure of the conditions ahead. As I descended, I finally I broke out of the clouds and knew it was VFR in Haifa. I had the visual approach information that Yigal had sent me. There was a prohibited area in line with the runway and two possibilities for the right-hand pattern, a short one and one going all the way around the prohibited area. As I got closer, I could see it would be a very short final, but when the tower asked me if I wanted the short pattern, I said yes. I watch my airspeed closely, used the base leg as an imaginary final and continued descending. When I turned final, the picture looked perfect and I landed with plenty of room and taxied to the security area. Security and immigration was pretty quick. Customs didn’t show up (they come from the harbor for arrivals at the airport) so we parked and tied-down the plane. A friend of Yigal’s, Dror, greeted me and helped me with the formalities then drove me to the hotel where I finally met very helpful Yigal. Without his help, I wouldn’t be here. Yigal and his wife took me out for a local dinner. It included lamb, which I don’t get very often in the US, and lots of eggplant, hummus and couscous dishes. What a day. I’m so happy to be here and able to travel around and learn more about Israel.

Sunday, October 09, 2011 Well, the rain came down abundantly, as forecast, last night and all day today. The temperatures are cooler and I’m sure that “up top” is freezing rain. I’m happy to be on the ground. I wanted to see Cappadocia, in central Turkey, but not that much. Yesterday I toured the city of Izmir and found a fantastic “dig.” The agora is in the city and is not very well publicized. It only cost $1.50 to get in and was the best I’ve seen. The agora of Smyrna (the city of Izmir use to be called Smyrna) was the city’s administrative, political, judicial and communication center. It is one of the largest basilicas ever built in the Roman period. When I arrived, from outside the fence, it looked like an inventory of old stones and pieces of columns and walls. All were lined up on rows, many with numbers on them. My expectations were low, but so was the entry price, $1.50, so I went in. The excavation is still on going and there are areas that we can’t enter, so I was taking pictures through the fence. Then I found the steps down into the building were we can walk through. It is very large and seems to be in pretty good shape. Not too much renovation has been done and many of the arches are original. To me it was more impressive than Ephesus. The other good thing was that no-one else was around, so I could explore in peace. I could also see and walk through the cistern, the water supply for the building. Other thoughts on this rainy day in Turkey A few days ago, our guide looked at my iPhone and informed us that Steve Jobs had died. Most of us had not yet heard the news. He was 56, the same age as me. Today I happened to come across a YouTube video of the graduation speech he made at Stanford University in 2005, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc. It’s worth watching. That video along with walking along the Izmir shoreline, watching boats, watching young people arm-in-arm, watching old people sitting on the benches, got me thinking. I’m in Turkey. I can’t speak Turkish. I can’t talk with these people. But, when I smile, they smile back. When I smile and nod, they smile and nod back. Sometimes a word comes to their lips. It might be hello, or good day. I don’t know, but it’s a greeting of some sort. I can’t speak Turkish, but I’m sure that all of them would try to help me if I had a question or if I fell down. As I was walking to the agora, I could see some of the columns above the buildings ahead and to my left, so thought I’d come in from the back side. As I started to turn left a voice said, “Agora, next left.” It was an older man, sitting drinking his tea with others. Those are probably the only English words he knows and I’m sure he’s helped lots of tourists. I smiled and thanked him and continued to the next left. When I was taking the city bus to Hierapolis at every stop the person on the bus made sure I knew where to go next. They didn’t just drop me off. Once I was buying fruit as I don’t get enough with normal meals. The cashier did not seem very friendly. As I found with all shops here, he put the amount into a calculator to tell me how much it was. When I got my change, I said, “Tesükker ederim.” Suddenly a smile came to his face and he said something, probably, “you’re welcome,” in Turkish. Just those few words can make a difference. I found that everywhere, as I started saying thank you in Turkish, the people were shocked, then pleased, then said something back and nodded their heads. Near most hotels, when I’m staying for a few days, I tend to find my local favorite places and tend to return there every lunchtime or evening. In Istanbul, I settled on one bar for a beer each night (mainly because it had wifi), but didn’t find a good food place. Here, I actually found a good chicken dorüm the first evening, so returned most nights. Just down the street from the hotel I found a tiny corner shop with beer. I would stop in and buy one can every night (as there was no mini-fridge in the room). Yesterday was Sunday. When I walked by in the morning, he was closed. I figured I could find another shop in the evening, if necessary. When 6:30pm rolled around, I headed out of the hotel and his door was half open and he (I’m guessing the owner) was inside. I found a cold beer and dug in my pocket, but, I’d left my money in the hotel room. I came up empty handed. I started to put the beer back. He said, “tomorrow?” indicating that I would return tomorrow evening. I said, “yes, Tesükker ederim.” I had to return to the hotel for money for my dinner anyway, so passed by his shop a few minutes later. He was already closed. I guess I was lucky to catch him when I did. Are we that trusting with non-locals? So, back to thinking about life and what we are doing between our “dash.” Steve Jobs made several good points in his speech. Linda Ellis also in her “dash” poem (in the front of Upon Silver Wings II or http://wisdomworking.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/the-dash-poem-by-linda-ellis/). On some rainy days I have time to stop and think. What am I doing in Turkey? Believing that all people are good? Yes. Believing that I’m safe traveling in foreign countries? Yes. Believing that I’m making a difference? Maybe. My saying is: “Live life, learn and share.” I’m enjoying traveling, learning as I travel and hopefully sharing it though the website, Facebook and future book. Some people tell me, after presentations, how inspired they are. I don’t try to inspire, I just tell my story. People can take away what they will. I just hope that it helps in some small way to spread a message of good in the world. Sometimes rainy days are good; even three rainy days in a row. I’ve been on the computer almost non-stop. Lots of issues came up with the upcoming countries, so lots of emails and answers back and forth. I also had to do more detailed route planning and timing for Madagascar, the Seychelles, Muscat, India and Thailand. Overall, it was a very useful three rainy days. This morning, during a break in the rain, I got out to see the fortified city of Kadifekale. It was built during the time of Alexander the Great, in the 4th Century B.C. It was “just” a walk up the hill behind the hotel. There are some interesting pictures of the fort walls on top of the hill with nothing around it. Now-a-days, the houses come right up to the walls of the city. There isn’t much left inside, except a good view of the underground cisterns. The inner city is no longer discernable. The view from the top of the hill was good. Looking to the west I could see out over the harbor to the Mediterranean. To the south was the valley where I know the airport is located. About every two minutes a jet came overhead in that direction. To the north, on the other side of the bay and harbor, were more hills and also to the east and southwest. The whole valley is filled with houses. Similar to Istanbul, this is a large city that is very spread-out. Well, I talked with Erdem, my handler, and he’s ready for my departure tomorrow. Let’s hope it goes more smoothly than in Istanbul.

Oct 7, The sites around Izmir The first day was with an organized bus tour to Ephesus, actually, as we learned, the third of four Ephesuses, as the city kept moving. This one is from the Roman times when this was the second capital in the expanding empire, after Rome. The city housed up to 200,000 people. These ruins are still being excavated and some of the more interesting pieces are in the Archeological Museum. Where possible, the stones have been pieced together, with some modern help to re-build the temples, library, baths and theaters. As we also learned many of the stones were taken to build the mosques and churches of later periods. So, lots of pieces of the puzzle are missing. In the same area is a Shrine to the Virgin Mary which is where she supposedly spent her later days. There is no proof, but many believe this is where she moved from Jerusalem later in life. We also saw how the Turkish carpets are made with their famous double knot. As opposed to the Persian carpets which have a single knot. The women do it so quickly! They showed us in slow motion. It’s tedious work, but they get very quick at it. They must, judging by how many are in the shops in all these big cities. There is also a big leather industry and trade here. They put on a “fashion show” for us with a cat walk and everything. The coats were extremely soft and light; very tempting. But, living in Florida, I already have more coats than I can use. So, I walked away. Another World Heritage site, Hierapolis, is “near-by” in Pamukkale, only a 4+ hour bus ride (that ends up being five hours, each way). Tours use to go there, but now only private tours, very expensive, do the trip. The tour companies recommended the city bus. I was thinking that the city bus would be a long haul in an un-airconditioned bus. When I mentioned this to the Ephesus tour guide, he got a little put out and said, “what do you think we are a third world country? Our buses are 2010 Mercedes Benz and yes, they are air conditioned.” So, I decided to take the city bus and do the tour myself. It was three and a half hours on the first bus (and they hadn’t told me about the half hour shuttle to the bus station) and almost an hour on the second bus. But, I made it. I was thinking that this wasn’t going to be worth it. It was pretty amazing. This is a natural source of water that has poured out for centuries and has now made the hill white. It’s a calcium carbonate formation. I found more information and great photos at www.pamukkale.org.tr. It’s still flowing and creating natural pools that keep changing (as we can see former, now empty pool areas). 2000 years ago there was a Roman settlement here. Who wouldn’t settle here with natural baths and lots of water? So you can see the remains of the old city and the theatre, which is the best maintained structure. Yes, the trip back was another five hours. The inter-city bus is very comfortable and air conditioned with coffee, tea, juices and cookies provided (better than the US airliners today). I had plenty to read and do, so, yes, the trip was worthwhile. I’m glad that I saw this spectacular site. Unfortunately bad weather is setting in for three or four days. I’ve already cancelled my trip to Cappadocia. I don’t want to be flying over mountains at 15,000 feet in potential icing conditions. Also, on Wednesday, the day of my departure, the temperature will be below freezing with ice on the wings and overcast. Not a good idea to depart in those conditions. So, more time in Izmir.

Oct 5 to Izmir No problem with the reverse trip foot, boat, bus to the airport. I found the handler’s office. The person asked if I was the Mooney pilot…so I guess I was expected. I answered yes and he called my initial contact Ilhan. Then he told me that Ilhan would be here in five minutes and to come into the office and sit down. A few minutes later Ilhan called my cell phone and started to explain that he had worked late last evening and was running late. I told the person in the office that this was a very expensive call and he should call the office phone, which he did. Again he explained that he had worked late… I said that I had told him that I would be here at 9am and depart at 10:30am. He started to ask for the avgas payment in dollars or pounds Sterling. I explained that he had told me when I arrived that a credit card was ok. If he’d told me then that I needed cash, I would have got it in Istanbul; now it was too late. He went back to the office person. The office person, Veysel, told me that he would see me through the formalities. It was getting pretty obvious that this young man didn’t know exactly what to do. Although he did get some US dollars out of the desk and into his pocket, so I know the avgas situation was going to be alright. Since the office was in the international terminal, he took me through the normal procedures to get to the bus. I saw the briefing office and headed that way, but he headed another direction, until the bus driver pointed him to the briefing office. Everything was very quickly handled by the lady behind the desk and we took the bus to the plane. I could see the avgas truck in front of the plane which I took as a good sign, until we got there and there was no driver. I did the preflight and got my luggage loaded and things ready in the cockpit. The plane was absolutely filthy, so I wiped it down. Then the gas guy showed up and we filled the tanks. The handler, Veysel, told me it would be $5.50 per gallon. I thought that was super expensive but couldn’t do much about it. Then I saw the gas guy’s paperwork and his had $4.50 on it. I called Veysel on this and, after calling the accounting office, he lowered his price to $4.50 (still over $17/gallon). The airport and handling fees were 485 Euro. He pulled out his credit card machine and started working out exchange rates. The first one was in the machine with the receipt printed out in no time. I said no, the exchange rate was not good. Finally he agreed to lower the exchange rate on the dollar transaction, which he did. The transactions were over, I took a picture of all the “helpers,” they headed off and I jumped into the cockpit. Peace and quiet. Ahhh. I checked everything and called for start-up which was approved immediately. After startup I got the clearance and taxied for departure. One arrival and I was in the air. Ahhh. The flying is the easy part of these trips. It’s the ground time that’s torture. The initial clearance was a huge departure route all the way around Istanbul, but the controller kept giving me short cuts inside the city and over the bay. The initial altitude was FL 160, but he dropped it to 9,000 feet (without me even asking). I was cruising along taking pictures and feeling pretty good. I got all the Izmir stuff ready and plugged in the ATIS. As I was descending into Izmir, I didn’t hear any other traffic. I was at 6000 feet abeam the airport by about 6 miles and the controller was directing me to a very long ILS final approach. I told her that I could accept a visual, which she gave me immediately then handed me over to tower who cleared me to land. That saved about 15 minutes of flight time and avgas. On the ground, the handler notified me that we had a problem as I’d come out of the international terminal but on a domestic flight. I said that I thought it wasn’t right. He agreed that the handler had made a mistake. I signed paperwork for the customs, airport authority and others that were there and closed up the plane while he worked on our problem. We couldn’t leave until he knew which terminal to go to. Finally all was ok and they took me to the domestic terminal and the Havas bus. I was at the hotel within 30 minutes. The flying was good, the views were great, the airport handling is the pits. But, I have three days of touring before I have to do it again. Also, I’ve been thinking ahead. In many of my upcoming landings I’ll have people waiting for me and helping me. I only have a few of these, on my own, torture locations. So, let’s be positive and go out and explore.

October 1st The first three days have flown by, there is so much to see and do. I visited all the places you are “supposed” to see: the Blue Mosque, the Topkapi Palace Museum, the Archeological Museums, the Grand Bazaar, the spice market. One thing that wasn’t originally on the list that was absolutely fascinating was the Basilica Cistern. This was how water was delivered to the people in earlier times. You can walk through the underground cistern. In the Archeological Museum were samples of the pipe and intersection joints, all made out of stone. What an amazing feat. The Blue Mosque takes its name from the blue tiles used inside. Actually I found other mosques that I thought were more interesting; however this one also claims six minarets when mosques normally only have four. The Harem chambers in the Palace were intriguing, many due to the explanations about who lived where and the hierarchy and who could do what. I’m so glad that we don’t have to live like that. The Grand Bazaar is humongous. I don’t know the area is covers, but it has 12 main city street entrances. Apparently everything is priced for tourists, so you need to haggle or shop elsewhere. Not being a shopper, I took pictures and exited. I also met a friend from Germany who was spending a week here learning Turkish. We had agreed to meet on Friday, the day after I arrived. We had a typical Turkish dinner together, with two Turkish friends. It was great for me to be introduced to their customs and foods. We had purchased the fish at the fish market, then taken it to his favorite restaurant, where they will cook it for you. It was delicious. I also tried Riki, an ouzo-like drink mixed with water. Also similar to French drink Ricard. It still smells like licorice, just like the last time I tried it over 15 years ago. Istanbul is divided by the sea and bays. It is called the dividing point between Asia and Europe. So, at times traffic is congested getting across bridges. The sea traffic is busy also. On the west side I saw over 100 vessels anchored awaiting their time to cross through to the other side at the Black Sea. Apparently the ships have to take turns going one way or the other. It’s free passage and no captains are required for navigation, so it must be an interesting crossing. There are also lots of ferries in the middle carrying passengers just across the bays. When I was on that crossing, I saw ships going every which-way. I visited the downtown area today, Taksim Square; it’s like most big cities with lots of people and bustling traffic. There are seven hills in Istanbul, so the traffic and buses are always going up or down. The only flat sections are along the coasts. There are boat harbors everywhere as there is so much sea traffic. The cruise liners dock on the eastern shore (city center side) and block everyone’s view. I’d missed the Hagia Sophia Museum, so went back to take a look. It’s an old mosque, not really a museum. But, it’s not used as a mosque any more. The other mosques were free entrance, but as they are religious places, signs asked us to dress accordingly, keep quiet and take off our shoes. This was 20 Turkish Lire (about $10) but as a museum there were no dress requirements and we could visit upstairs in the gallery. It is huge and fascinating. The railroad station is famous as part of the Orient Express. Apparently a train still runs once a year from Paris to Istanbul. What a city, well worth the visit. There are tourist everywhere and lines to most of the highpoints. The tour buses are full and bazaar and spice markets are packed. I don’t like crowds, so the packed places bothered me. But, overall I’m very glad that I came here and finally saw this intersection of the world. I’ve been doing trip planning in the evenings. I have only a short hop to Izmir with three days touring there. Then I had planned to fly to Antalya, however the authorities denied my landing there. I guess it’s too busy. They recommended Dalaman. But, as I started researching it, there is nothing there. So, I looked around and asked for Kapadokia, which has been accepted. So I need to do a little internet work to find hotels and tours there as well as doing my flight plans. My Israeli trip got a little switched around also. Now I’ll be landing in Haifa instead of Tel Aviv. It was recommended by the AOPA representative, who lives there, and should be less expensive for handling and parking.

Sept 29 Hungary to Istanbul The morning was sunny and cool again. I checked weather, had breakfast and finished loading the plane. A perfect day for flying. I thanked Geza as profusely as I could considering that we don’t speak each other’s language. He waved me goodbye. I had put my flight uniform on this morning for the first time. That’s my white shirt with four gold stripes on the shoulder boards. I decided to wear my light pants, as they have more pockets and are cooler. I really didn’t feel like wearing the black suit pants, just to complete the pilot’s uniform. We’ll see if there are any issues when I get to Turkey. I also didn’t put my tie on. Might do that when I arrive, it depends how hot it is. Although a short runway, 1969 feet, and I was almost full of gas, with the cool morning we rose and climbed very quickly. I only had a half hour flight to a neighboring city with an international airport. Peter had worked out everything two days previously. I had to contact East Information for VFR flight following and in no time was close to Bekescsaba. I called on the radio about 5 times before someone answered, but no other planes were flying and I was cleared to land. The person helping me, I believe, was doing everything, tower, ground, ramp and paperwork. No wonder he took a while to answer the first time. He signaled me to parking, showed me to the briefing room, did the landing and departure paperwork, took my money, escorted the customs person, and gave me my clearance when I was ready to go. I’d given him my card when he asked for my address for the paperwork. Later he asked me about my flights and if I really flew across the ocean in my single engine plane. He’d looked at the website and was fascinated. He wished me well after takeoff as he passed me to ATC. Overall it was efficient, only a 15 minute wait for customs. However, ATC wouldn’t let me depart early, so I checked everything again and waited for half an hour. The flight clearance had me at FL 110 as there are mountains in northern Romania. I was happy when they were behind me. Actually the weather was perfect and the air was smooth, so no trouble over the mountains. There were some forest fires and lots of smoke in the valleys. I continued southeast, ate my sandwich, finally in Bulgaria asked for lower and was allowed to descend to 9000 feet. It was a little cold up top and I kept turning the heater on to warm my feet. I’m over the water and approaching RIXEN the boundary between Bulgaria and Turkey. Only half an hour to go and I’ll be visiting a new country. Yeah. First days in Istanbul It is HUGE. People had told me that I wouldn’t believe how big it is. I took pictures out of both sides of the plane. I don’t know the area of the city, but was told it has 15 million people. There are three distinct areas, the Asian side, where I landed at Sabiha Gokcen airport, the European/Turkish side which is where the downtown and business district is, and the old Turkish side with the Palace, mosques and museums. My hotel was on the old Turkish side in the district with all the sites. A handler is required at the airport, so I took advantage of him and he helped me with logistics to the hotel. I took a Havas bus to a port, then took a ferry to the other side and walked to my hotel. Total cost 8 Turkish Lira, about $4. At the airport they were offering a shuttle for 22 Euro, about $31. I’ve already learned that you must negotiate everything here. The hotel is not the best, but cheap, very close to everything and has wifi. Time to head out and learn this new city, country and culture.

September 26th in Graz, Austria and to Hungary I was welcomed to the airport by the airport manager, Mr. Vidman. Kirsten was snapping pictures all the time. Gabi and her husband Michael, both of whom I’d met at Tannkosh, welcomed me with flowers and there was a radio interview as soon as everything was sorted out. Other pilots, Phillip, who had been at Tannkosh, Hans and flight instructor, Stoni, were on hand to welcome me. BP had offered me 100 liters of avgas. Wow, how can I pass that up? So we did the tanking and headed to the hotel. Kirsten was still snapping pictures. We had a cool drink and headed out to tour the city. Gabi had planned everything. Crossing the foot bridge to enter the old city, we passed a restaurant in the middle of the river which had be designed and constructed in 2003 when Graz had been named the Cultural Capital of Europe. Graz has one of the best-preserved city centers in Central Europe. In 1999 the city center of Graz was added to the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites. We had pictures in front of the Rathaus, visited the amazing shopping mall, Kastner & Öhler which had just been named the world best shopping mall. It was 5 stories high and we went to the rooftop to look out over the city. They introduced me to local food, verhackertbrot and sturm. You don’t want to know what it is and they didn’t tell me, but it was good. It’s a meat product with onions and pepper on top on a slice of heavy bread. Sturm is a sweet alcoholic beverage – only drink one. We took the cog-train up to Schloßberg and again overlooked the city and had pictures in front of the famous clock tower. Time was running out, so we had to head back to the airport for dinner and the meeting. Gabi had everything organized like clockwork. Kirstin was always busy with the camera and laptop working on some software. I found out what she had been doing when we arrived at the meeting room. With all the pictures, she had prepared a Powerpoint presentation of our day. This was looping and while people were arriving for the meeting. What a fantastic idea. It captured our day, my reactions and the city of Graz. Thank you. There were about 50 people at the meeting and the only surprise was no questions when I finished. That was most unusual. Finally someone broke the ice and asked a question and others continued after that. Unfortunately, I was out of books as I hadn’t planned on the last few meetings that had been added to the schedule. But, orders were taken and the books will be mailed from Florida to Gabi for distribution. What am amazing day. I must thank Gabi and her husband, Michael, who set everything up. Sept 27 to Hungary The next day, Gabi takes me to the airport and I’m off again. Once airborne, I turn east and climb to 7000 feet. I’m over the flatlands again. It has been very interesting talking with mountain pilots. I’m uncomfortable in the mountains. They find that they have no reference points when they are in flat lands. They are so used to looking out and knowing where they are. For them it is uncomfortable to be without mountains. I can understand the difference. I love looking at the mountains and was extremely happy that the weather was very good for me to fly to Samedan, Trento, Slovenia and Graz; but, I’m breathing much easier now over the flat farm country of Hungary. In no time I find the airport and Peter recommends runway 32. I land and follow his instructions to the hangar. I move my bags to one of the apartment rooms above the hangar and we all have lunch. Peter, a Mooney pilot that I met at Tannkosh, keeps his plane here and introduces me to the ower, Geza, a Hungarian pilot and owner of this wonderful establishment. Sitting at the table with Peter working out the flight plan is “back to the old days.” He calls ATC, they inform him that there is another problem, we fix it and try again. Finally we have an acceptable flight plan in the system. I can’t thank Uwe, Justin and the Rocket Route team enough for making my European flying easy. Their system really saved me much time and effort while flying around Europe this summer. We spend the afternoon talking and looking at planes. There are four Mooneys in Hungary and they are all located here. Karoly, another Mooney pilot is with us this afternoon and Paul, who I also met at Tannkosh, will join us tomorrow. The other Mooney pilot joins us for dinner. Ah, loading and pre-flighting the plane in a hangar, what a luxury. Geza, the owner, put my plane in his hangar for may stay. I took it out yesterday to clean and wash everything. This is the last time it will be accessible to me for a while. At most international airports, once you leave your plane, you only get back when it’s time to depart. My next oil change is scheduled for Nairobi, Kenya. In between I won’t have much access. So, now is the time to check everything and get all my bags and belongings organized.

Sept 24th, Italy to Slovenia I was in the Trento tower with Andrea and Marco. I had manually prepared and IFR flight plan to Slovenia. It was rejected. So we made a few changes and it was rejected again. After several attempts, we finally entered a VFR flight plan that was accepted. I really wasn’t very happy as there was lots of airspace along the way, but at least I had a flight plan in the system. After departing Trento airspace I continued climbing and watching the terrain outside and on the terrain view of the GPS. Above 6000 feet looked good with only a few peaks above me but spread out. I continued climbing as I turned toward Vicenza. At 8000 feet I felt better but continued climbing to Flight Level 100. I switched over to Padua information for VFR flight contacts. There were a lot of planes calling in on the frequency. I was amazed how busy it was. I finally reached them and they answered. Then they said that they understood that I wanted an IFR flight starting at VIC (Vincenza VOR). I was ecstatic and said affirmative. It took another 10 minutes and a change in frequency, but finally I received a squawk and partial clearance. I felt much better. I’d be looked after across the border and through what I considered difficult airspace. Marco had called his friend in ATC and thought I’d be able to cut across some military airspace. But, the controller advised me that there was parachuting going on and I couldn’t get a short cut to the other side, so had to go around. But that was OK, I was IFR. The winds weren’t great at FL100 and I had about 15 knots on the nose. But it was smooth with no clouds and I got photos of Venice as I passed overhead. Italian ATC said that I had to climb to FL135 (13,500 feet) for one segment of the airway close to the border. So I complied. Thinking that this would be less than half an hour, I didn’t get my oxygen out. As I was handed over to Slovenia radar, they told me to climb to FL140. I complied although I didn’t understand why as the minimum enroute altitude was only 9000 feet. I asked the controller if I could get lower later. He answered, “of course.” I started to pull my oxygen equipment out and put everything together. I could feel the lack of oxygen very quickly. I wrote some things on my knee pad and the writing was terrible. I was fumbling a bit with the equipment. As soon as it was together, I sucked the oxygen right away, not waiting to get the cannula in place. With a little oxygen I felt find again and put the hose over my ears and under my nose. I could see very high peaks above the cloud layer to my north (probably in southern Austria). Between clouds, I could see some lower hills below me. I didn’t really know what the topography looked like. The charts hadn’t shown mountains where I was going and the elevation of the airport was only 700 feet. The controller asked me when I would cancel IFR. I gave him the waypoint close to my destination where I would cancel. Later, another controller asked again. There were clouds below me and as I was unsure of the terrain, I wanted to be clear before cancelling. I could see that the clouds ended ahead and cancelled at that point. The terrain was small rounded tree-covered hills with valleys between. To the north, the hills were higher and further to the east there were also higher hills. Where I was going had to be in a valley over the next range of hills. I continued descending and stayed about 1000 feet over the hills until I saw that I was clear to descend into the valley. I picked out the airport pretty quickly, even though it was a grass runway. I called on the radio and Matevz answered. He’d already sent me a picture of the airport showing high tension wires on the final approach to runway 16. We’d met at an Earthrounder’s meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2008. He’d flown around the world in a motor glider and is now planning another world flight starting next January, see http://www.worldgreenflight.com for all the details. With good timing, we’ll meet again in New Zealand in February. After a light lunch, we headed to one of the higher hills in the area. It was a steep hike, but an amazing view. One could see most of Slovenia from the tower on top. There are flat lands to the northeast that years ago were a huge lake. Fish fossils are still being found. There were hills with lots of trees in the other directions. Where ever there was some flat land there was a house. I’d thought that Germany and Austria were crowded, this little country is very congested. Matevz and the AOPA representative, Peter, had planned a meeting for this evening, so we got ready for that. Although a small group, the participants were most fascinated. But, they have their own local hero, Matevz, to tell them all about world flight. After the meeting, Peter insisted on introducing me to local Slovenian white wine at his favorite vineyard. Although it is grape picking season and everyone is working in the fields and tired after a long day, the wife on the farm brings us bread, vegetables and meats and the husband starts to choose several bottles of his wine. It was a fun evening. We shared flying stories over good Slovenian white wines. As I was soon to head out of Europe and as I was behind on updating the web sites, I had lots of paperwork to do, so stayed in the hotel most of the next day. Later however, Matevz took me flying in his motorglider. We went to another private strip and met the owner. He has 300 meters of grass for his runway and a friend’s new Jabaru in his hangar. In a few more days it will be flying. Then we flew to Matevz’ strip after circling some mountains at 7000 feet and cutting off the Rotax engine to glide back down into the valley very peacefully. Over the grass strip Matevz started the engine again and we landed and talked with some more local pilots. The next day before heading to Graz, in southeast Austria, just half an hour up the valley from Maribor, Matevz and I circled the vineyard and waggled our wings. We knew the farmer and his family would be in the fields picking grapes and had told them we would overfly on my way out. In no time I was calling Graz tower and guided into runway 35 center. I knew that Gabi hat spent a lot of time setting up a city tour and evening meeting; but I had no idea of what I was in for.

Sept 21st I met Peter, an earthrounder who had flown into my place in Florida, a year ago this week! We had coffee and chatted until Flemming and Angela arrived in their Mooney. Then we headed out. Samedan is a wonderful old town in the middle of the Swiss Alps. The small church behind Peter and Kathrin’s condo is from the 15th century. Many newer houses and buildings have been designed and built to look like the old style. This keeps the area looking more traditional. The next day we take the cog-train up the mountain and go hiking. The views are again breathtaking. With the new snow, the peaks are all white and the valleys are a lush green. We are above the snow level. In some areas the path is snow covered and other areas are clear. I keep snapping pictures at the views are amazing. Although there was frost in the morning, the sun warms us up and our layered clothing comes off. The hike is mostly around the mountain without too much up and down climbing. But, at the end of almost three hours, we are all tired and ready for a mountain lunch. The ski area restaurant is open and I opt for venison. It’s deer season and this is tasty and tender meat. Finally we take the ski lift down and tour around the town of St. Moritz, just down the valley from Samedan. Like many high-end ski towns in the US, it has lots of pricey shops and good restaurants. We all take a coffee (at 4.2 Swiss Francs each, that’s only $4.64 per coffee). I told them that when I was in Vienna with Hans, the coffee was 7 Euros each ($9.46). The dollar has been very weak this summer and everything in Europe has been extremely expensive. Now, just as I’m leaving Europe, the dollar is strengthening. It’s gained 10% in the last week. Not much, but better than the last five months. After another wonderful evening with Peter and Kathrin and Flemming and Angela we’ll be flying our separate ways in the morning. The weather has been absolutely splendid. Blue sky, no clouds, and no morning fog. This is the only way I could have flown into and out of the alps. The timing was perfect. September 23, Samedan, Switzerland to Trento, Italy After paying the expensive Samedan Airport parking fee (80 Euros per night) I pre-flight and say goodbye again. I’ll be seeing Flemming and Angela next year and the Earthrounders meeting in Lakeland, Florida in March. However, Peter and Kathrin can’t make it due to prior commitments. So, we don’t have a fixed rendezvous, however, we’ll look forward to meeting again somewhere in the world. Although the airport is at 5600 feet elevation, it’s a cool morning and the Mooney climbs very well. I first head south to get some good video of the valley, then turn northeast over the airport to another valley that will take me east to the country border crossing point and entrance into Italy. Due to customs, I must land at Bolzano then take a short hop down the valley to Trento. Although the views have been fantastic, I’m relieved when I’m in lower mountains. The valley is very wide around Bolzano and I hear the tower talking with another plane that is coming north up another valley. The tower tells me to descend and plan on landing to the south. If I can make a right base for runway 18, I can land first. If not, if I need more time to descend and want to land on runway 36, then I’ll land after the jet. I don’t have any difficulty getting down, landing and exiting the runway before the jet arrives. The customs process was frustrating only because it was paying for landing and departure and I never saw customs… but within 45 minutes I was in the air again for a 15 minute flight down another fantastic valley to Trento. Andrea had advised me that a TV crew would be there and that lots of pilots wanted to meet me. There was a big crowd when I arrived. I did an interview which was interpreted for the audio. I saw it later on the evening news – it was pretty good. We also had a newspaper interview and Andrea showed me the local paper that had done an article advertising my arrival and presentation. What an amazing group and response. It’s always special when a local ALS association person can be at a meeting. But, it is even better when a patient with ALS can participate. Today we had Marco. He’s in a wheelchair and on a bipap machine providing forced oxygen. Very similar to Chip, from Indiana, when I knew him back in 2007. But, Marco can still use his hands and can manipulate his wheelchair himself. He is very strong mentally and ever since hearing about my trip and visit had read everything on the internet about me and my flights. I was setting up the equipment in front of the meeting room when I saw a wheel chair at the door. There were lots of people there, so I joined them and was introduced. We needed an interpreter but were both happy to meet. There were tears in the crowd and in our eyes. The presentation went very well with Andrea interpreting. Then we went out to the Mooney on the ramp and took lots of photos.

Alex, from the Bamberg Aeroclub, had met me in Bitburg and again in Tannkosh. We just happened to be sitting at the same table at breakfast and started talking. He realized that my Mooney was at Bamberg, where he lived. He asked if he could put an article in the local paper and if we could have a presentation during the coming week. I was most happy to do this. During the week a reporter did an interview and took pictures. There was a very nice article and a huge picture in the paper. When I was in the Post Office, one woman recognized me from the picture! It reminded me of my 2003 trip around the world. I had landed in Virginia to spend some time with my Dad prior to returning to Florida. The local paper had done an article about my flight and it was on the front page. That morning, at the Post Office, Dad and I had a miscommunication and I’d locked the car with the keys inside. The Post Mistress had lent me a tool for opening the door by sliding it between the window and the car door. I was trying to “jimmy” the lock, in front of the post office, when many people were going into the post office. Each time they looked at me and said, “Your picture was in the paper, you just flew around the world…and now, you’ve ha, ha, locked your keys in the car?” It was slightly embarrassing. This time it wasn’t embarrassing, it was just being recognized from the picture in the paper. The Friday evening meeting at the aeroclub went well. Lots of pilots were very interested in the flight and technical details. Many pictures were taken after the presentation. The weather wasn’t so good for the weekend, so I planned to depart on Monday. The upcoming week has several stops before my next presentations in Italy, Slovenia, and Austria. Then I head to Hungary and Turkey and the real trip begins. I think I’ve had my jacket off for only two weeks this summer, but we have had some, but very little, good weather. Now another cold front is coming through and the jacket is back on. I’m looking forward to warmth in Turkey and the Middle East. It’s been a cold summer in Europe. Everyone keeps telling me that this is unusual. Well, it’s been cold! The only fun part has been emailing friends in Florida, who are roasting this summer, and telling them that I’m still in jeans and a jacket. Sept 19th To Kassel: I take the bus to the airport for the last time, feeling a little melancholic. As I walk to the plane, I see a white rose on the wing. Wow, it smells great. I have no idea who left it, but it is a gives me a real lift. Thank you whoever you are. I do the preflight and taxi a short distance to the gas pumps. My friends arrive to see me off. Adi has a special “6 pack” of local Bamberg beer. What a wonderful present. One of the bottles has a little cap that you open by pushing down with the thumb. It’s like a big stone stein top, only smaller for a bottle. What a neat idea. We all take pictures by the plane with the beer. It’s lots of smiles and thank you’s. Wilfried arrives and we gas up then head to the tower. I had not filed an IFR flight plan as the weather looked like good VFR and was forecast to stay that way. Unfortunately some clouds were moving in and although there was no problem with a VFR departure, I wasn’t sure if the weather further north was staying VFR or if the clouds might close in and require an instrument arrival. There were also some hills and towers near the arrival airport. So, in the tower, I called Munich and file and IFR flight plan. Better to be safe. I thank him profusely and return to my friends and the Mooney. It’s time for more hugs and thank you’s. This is a more difficult good bye as we’ve shared some good times and each learned a lot from the other. I hope to return in two years. I climb into the cockpit and they walk away from the plane. We wave as I taxi out. Wilfried approves a backtaxi and clears me to depart. I waggle my wings as I climb out. They are all waving. I turn right and head northwest to my first waypoint as I call Munchen Radar. There are some clouds and some open areas, but more clouds as I reach my destination. I could probably have found an open area and descended, but it’s easier to go in on the LOC 22 approach. The tower clears me to land from six miles out. I’ll be meeting with four earthrounders in the next four days before I leave Europe. Sept 21, Germany to Switzerland What an absolutely fantastic flight over the Alps to Samedan, Switzerland. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. There had been bad weather and snow over the weekend, so the mountains were covered in fresh snow, unusual for September. I was at 9000 feet following valleys between the peaks. I was very worried, but there was no turbulence nor severe up or down drafts. So, little by little I settled down. Every time I turned a corner and saw the next valley, I felt ok. I was shooting the video as it was breathtaking. I finally came in over the last ridge and saw the airport and valley below. It was breathtaking…I think I said that already. It was absolutely beautiful. Another plane was calling in, so I stayed clear and took a long flight down the valley to lose altitude. Then, while talking with the tower, turned back and had a 3 mile final approach. The other plane was ahead and did a touch and go. I was cleared to land. There was snow on the sides of the runway. It’s only September.

6-7 September Well, the paperwork has started. I’ve been corresponding with Bo, the person in Denmark who gets my permits. I’ve given him a rough schedule and we’re finalizing the first few countries. I have to fill out forms and fax them to him for Israel and another I can email for Egypt. I really want to see these countries, so I’ll fill them out. This is the frustrating part about flying into other countries, the paperwork, not the flying. I’ve also been working with Andrea who is setting up a meeting for me in Italy. Because I’m coming from Switzerland, I can’t land directly at their airport because the customs office is closed on Fridays. I have to land at another airport, clear customs then fly to their airport. Just one more complication with flying over here. Of course little problems crop up all the time. I was charging my video camera batteries and one wouldn’t take a charge. I’d only bought it 5 months ago, before the trip, but it wasn’t working. I finally found a photo shop that had the battery, 50 Euros. In the US it cost me $30. What a difference, but then, everything is expensive over here. September 10th The German Women Pilots group had invited me to speak at their annual meeting in Trier on the western side of Germany near Luxemburg. The invitation had been set over a year ago for this weekend. I was watching the weather during the week and it was looking good. There was too much airspace between me and Trier, so I’d be flying IFR, but both airports, departure and arrival are VFR only, so I needed good weather. Saturday morning was good, but foggy and it wasn’t going away as quickly as normal. The other end, in the Trier area, was having the same problem. In the Bamberg tower I asked if he could call Munich and push back my departure time by an hour. They did that no problem. I felt better. The IFR flight plans are only valid for 30 minutes here, not for two hours as in the US. So, one has to be on time or make a modification in the system. Most towers are friendly with these changes. An hour later was better VFR and I took off. It was smooth at 7000 feet and very early in the flight the controller gave me a more direct routing (just after I’d put at least 10 waypoints into the GPS). Still, it was nice to be able to fly direct. Later I received another direct routing. I was listening to Hahn’s weather as that was the closest to Trier. They were still reporting ground fog, but it was improving. When I was within range, I called Trier Information. They reported CAVOK, ceiling and visibility OK. Great. I’d been looking ahead and I could see a wall of clouds. I didn’t know if Trier was ahead of or below the clouds. They were in the clear. ATC kept me too high for too long, so I finally cancelled and came down. There was one glider in the pattern when I arrived on base. He was all over the place and finally landed and stopped on the hard runway. I was so used to seeing gliders land on the grass that I was surprised. I was on short final and ready to go around when he finally pulled off the runway. I landed and stopped before I got to where he was on the side of the runway. The tower told him that he need to be further off to the side, clear of the runway. I taxied to the ramp. Sven was there to pick me up. We’d met when I was at the AeroExpo in Bitburg, Germany in May. As the women pilots were in a meeting, they’d ask that he pick me up and bring me to the meeting. What a beautiful area. The Mosel River runs through this area with hills on both sides and vineyard on the hillsides (very similar to the Chablis region in France). I wished that I had more time to spend visiting. I joined the women pilots and some husbands for lunch then gave my presentation afterwards. They all spoke very good English, so no translation was necessary. They loved it! There were lots of questions afterwards and a demonstration of how to pee in a Mooney. That’s a question that many want to ask, but few really do. I love it when someone has the courage to ask and everyone loves the demonstration. I only had a few books left and they were snapped up very quickly with many members making extra donations to ALS research. I hope others are able to order them over the internet.

I returned to the Mooney group and we all chatted until it was time to go to the “main” party. When we arrived, there was already a long line. Inside was packed. There were thousands of people. All the tables were already taken and standing room was shoulder to shoulder. I chatted until it was time to find the group at the stage. Actually, nothing had started on stage at this time. I wound my way around and through groups until I got to the right place. There were Bob and Annette. Great to see old friends and talk English. Scott was there also. An English speaking group. Chris, one of the organizers, came along to make sure all was ready and the winner of the Sport Plane long distance to Tannkosh was there also. He was from near Manchester, England. I told him that that is where my mother was from. Interesting connection. The band finally went on stage and started playing. Well, they’d at least play until the first intermission before we went on, so we all had a beer. Talking was impossible this close to the speakers and band. I’m not exactly a musical person and don’t go to concerts, so this isn’t my cup of tea. But, a beer would see me through. Finally, Verena made her way to our group and I knew it was almost time. She took center stage, got the audience a little quieter and started with announcements and prizes. Then she announced the countries that were represented by pilots flying to Tannkosh. Finally she said the USA and called on me to come up. Wow, I’ve never seen so many people in an audience. It was huge. She switched from German to English and welcomed me to Tannkosh. I said a few words and expressed how pleased I was to be there. She gave me a HUGE trophy and a huge bottle of champagne. Then she gave me an award from Total for 100 liters of avgas, wow!! I think I said a few more words and got off stage. Wow. Back with our little English speaking group, we continued sipping our beers. That was amazing. Finally, I couldn’t take the noise any longer and took my “winnings” to my tent. The party went on until at least 4am without me. I’d heard it’s the best airshow party in Europe and I believe it. Actually they have two parties going on: this one for pilots and another not too far away for non-pilots. In previous years it had grown so big that they had to separate the non-pilots so that pilots could enjoy time together. It was still humungous. The next morning it was time to start packing up. Due to the limited parking area, we were all nose to tail and the outside group had to leave first before those further back could depart. No one was in a hurry anyway, so we all mingled and talked as we got prepared. A number of us were ready at the same time and helped move planes to get clear to the taxi area. I taxied out. What a huge number of people along the side lines. People can get much closer to planes here than in the big shows, Sun ‘N fun and AirVenture, Oshkosh, in the US. Although the show has been in existence for 19 years, and has grown considerably, it’s still by pilots for pilots and very close and friendly. The controllers are all real air traffic controllers here as volunteers as are the rest of the people running the show. I followed the signals to the end, did my run-up and was cleared onto the runway for takeoff. It was a beautiful VFR flight to Bamberg. Only an hour with little puffy clouds starting to show up at about 3000 feet. As I flew close to one airport I saw a glider being towed up by another plane. Most launches over here are winch launches, so this was unusual. I saw several other smaller planes flying below me. I only had one area of airspace that I had to squeeze between then I was back in clear airspace all the way “home.” I called into the Bamberg Info, which was used to hearing my voice and call sign. They told me the runway in use and to watch out for glider activity. I saw the glider as I turned on to base and there was plenty of separation. As I taxied to my parking space, they welcomed me back. After visiting many different airports and new places, it feels so comfortable and easy to return to a known airport. It felt good.

I received my clearance, taxied to the end, checked everything and took off. This normally two-hour flight would take a little longer as the headwinds were terrible. There was a little rain around Frankfurt, but it was looking better ahead. The clouds were breaking up and I was in clear blue sky by the time I arrived. As I got closer, I was listening to the tower. Everyone was speaking German. Finally one English voice came on the frequency. I didn’t hear the response, but I heard him calling in. There were quite a few planes arriving at the same time and I was a little worried. I stayed with the controller beyond my clearance limit then finally had to cancel IFR and continue VFR. I called the tower. A crisp voice responded in English with clear instructions. That made me feel better. Also, it seems that everyone else had landed. I was the only plane calling in. I joined a right downwind for runway 27 and called in again. Again the nice English response. I saw a yellow Cub on final and I heard the tower talking with a helicopter taking off. Everything was clear and I landed with no problems. Then I was welcomed to Tankkosh by Verena, one of the organizers who had invited me. I followed the 4WD vehicle around to the Mooney parking area. The TV crew had been following the plane and was there as I got out of the cockpit. Verena gave me a welcome hug and we answered questions for the TV crew. Then, with the help of other Mooney pilots, we moved the plane to its final parking spot for the weekend. Dave, who organized the Mooney group get together, offered me a glass of Apple wine and I talked with other Mooney pilots for a long while before pitching my tent and getting organized. There were a number of pilots from Germany, of course, but also from Hungary, Italy and Denmark. Many more would join us over the course of the weekend. Rudy, a German pilot that I had met a year previously, found the Mooney parking area and we met again. We went to get some food and beer and, around the table as they are shared, we met many more friendly pilots. As at most aviation events, and even more so in Germany, everyone gets to know everyone else very quickly. By the end of the evening the whole table of pilots was chatting together. I had most of Friday free as my presentation wasn’t until 6pm that evening. So, I walked the flight line and took pictures and videos of all the unusual planes. I ran into two volunteers from Bitburg and Sywell (the German and English AeroExpos), Bob and Annette, and chatted with them. I checked out the vendors for “stuff” that I might need and ran into Geoff and Val from Guernsey. We spent some time together over lunch in the shade as it was getting very hot. The high temperature for the day was about 34C or about 100 degrees F. I had checked out the presentation tent, made out of black material, which is great for keeping out the light for presentations. However, it was very hot in there. I was slightly worried that I would be too hot in my flight suit that I always wear for presentations. Later in the day, a few clouds appeared and helped a little bit with the cooling process. The presentation went very well; everyone understood English with no problem and they asked lots of questions. I was happy to return to my tent and change into shorts and enjoy more German beer. A cold front was forecast to come through this night and temperatures would drop and we’d have rain through the early morning. Good to the forecast it started raining at 2am. I could still hear the band playing in the background. I had heard that these German parties go until the early hours of the morning. The showers had only been lukewarm the previous morning (and open air, not enclosed), so I couldn’t stand one in the cold this morning. I dressed in my warmest cloths and had breakfast and coffee. Later in the morning, I was in another large eating area at a table with pilots that I had met the previous day. Another group of pilots joined us and everyone was talking, sometimes in German, sometimes in English. Then the woman asked me if I was Ms. Garratt. I said yes. She said that she had my book and would I sign it for her. She said that she was coming to my presentation later that morning. I said that I’d be happy to and that a new book was available also. In the course of the conversation and hearing about my future travels, she invited me to her airport in southern Austria. I would be only a few minutes away when I visited another friend in Slovenia later in the month. The next presentation was to a packed house. I joked that they had only come here to get out of the rain. Half of the group were the Mooney pilots and every time I mentioned Mooney, a cheer went up from that group. I sold out of books that day. The donations to ALS research were great. I was very happy. Later that afternoon I was back with the Mooney group enjoying conversation and meeting more Mooney pilots. I was also drying out all my cloths in the wing of my plane. Another pilot and I had the same problem: out tents stayed dry, but water come underneath between the ground cloth and the tent. Although it was cool, the wing was warm enough and the sun had come out. While I was in the Mooney tent, another Mooney pilot came to get me, he had heard my name announced over the loudspeaker and I had to go to the tower (the show tower, not the control tower). He escorted me. Up top I had a great view of the show grounds and took lots of pictures. I was informed that I had flown the longest distance to Tannkosh and would be receiving a trophy that evening at the party. I had to be there on the right hand side of the stage at 9:30pm. There we would have a beer and chat before the presentation. I had just met another pilot, Scott, that morning, he had flown from Sydney. That should be further than Florida. Later I learned that he had flown his plane to England, but had not landed here for the fly-in, therefore he was not eligible.

in Monchengladbach I was visiting Dorise who had flown around the world with her husband, Frank. Most unfortunately he died in a plane accident in 2007. I met Dorise and her family in 2008 and, as with most pilots and families, we hit it off right from the start. The youngest daughter, Malika, I had not previously met, but we finally met today and she was as bright, bubbly and fun as her sisters and mother. Malika had taken over her father’s dental practice and was working hard and doing well. She is also a pilot, although she doesn’t have enough time currently to do any long distance flying. Along with Dorise’s cousin we toured the local area which was eye-opening. Being in the northwest of Germany, it is very close to the Netherlands and very low (flat and close to sea level). Some of the older villages had gates. When I first heard this, I didn’t know what it meant. They have walls, earthen dikes, all around the town. The cows are in the fields around the villages but at a lower level than the walls. At about four places around the town are huge water-tight gates. Normally they are open and cars pass through freely. When there are severe rains and the rivers are likely to cause flooding they can close the gates and keep the town and houses dry. There are marks on the walls where the water level has been very high. 1926 and 1995 were two points about five and six feet above the road level. We also saw a “old” never used Atomic power plant. The population had been against it so much that it was never finished and had been turned into an amusement park. It was doing very well. It reminded me of what Hans, in Austria, had told me. The Austrians had built one atomic plant many years ago. The population was so against it, that it was never activated. The center city in Kleve had a terrific “walking street” and many shops. People cross the border to visit and shop. But, as Dorise said, the “grass is always greener…” and people from this part of Germany would cross the border to shop in the neighboring country. There were sculptures of swans everywhere because of the story that goes with this town: Cleves is noted for its legendary castle. The Schwanenburg, or Swan’s Castle, was immortalized by the great Richard Wagner in his opera Lohengrin. This is the story of a woman, Elsa, who marries a mysterious knight after he saves her from false accusations of murder. In return for his bravery, the knight’s only condition is that Elsa must never ask his name or where he is from. Of course, in the traditional tragic storytelling, Elsa eventually goes back on her promise, by saying that their children want to know where he is from, and leads them both into despair and death. Apparently the Swans carry the knight away. In fact, many of the important historical personages of Kleve (also Cleves) are generally remembered as Dutch rather than German! The most famous of these is undoubtedly the very fortunate Anne of Cleves. If you remember your history lessons, you will recall her as one of Henry the Eighth’s numerous wives. And it was not usually a good thing to be married to this mercurial king. Most of these women suffered sad and premature deaths at the hands of their cruel husband. But when the time came for Henry and Anne to do their separate ways, she kept her head (literally, that is!) and the marriage was annulled. Anne managed to outlive all of Henry’s other wives. We also toured the boarding school where Dorise and her cousin had grown up and gone to school. They showed me where they had “escaped” to play hooky and told me stories of what they had done at that age. What a pair!! I was a good girl growing up and didn’t have as much fun as they did! That evening they introduced me to a well-known drink, also a medicine for upset-stomachs, Unter……….. they said that it is shipped world-wide. I’d never heard of it. But we each had a small bottle. I couldn’t handle it; it tasted like medicine. They drank theirs down in one gulp (which is what you are supposed to do). I finally finished mine, but won’t try it again. The next morning I felt fine so I guess it worked; but my stomach wasn’t upset before I went to bed. Later I learned that this is what we call Angostura Bitters. At the airport of Monchengladbach, Dorise had an old friend who ran a pilot training school. Although not a pilot himself, the school is very successful. They have two full-size simulators, similar to those at SimCom in Florida. Two of their former students are captains on the new Airbus A380. We visited several simulators and spoke with the instructors and students. They would only speak English while in the simulators – a very good idea. In one of the smaller simulators they were doing the approach that I had done for my arrival to this airport. It was fun to watch. It was again time to leave. Hugs all around for a very fun two days and I climbed into the cockpit again. I had filed an IFR flight plan to Tannheim in southern Germany. This is the home of Tannkosh, Germany’s answer to AirVenture, Oshkosh, in the US. There were no instrument arrivals, so the last bit would be VFR, but the weather was very good, so I wasn’t too worried, except for the communication with lots of German pilots arriving at the same time.

in Monchengladbach I was visiting Dorise who had flown around the world with her husband, Frank. Most unfortunately he died in a plane accident in 2007. I met Dorise and her family in 2008 and, as with most pilots and families, we hit it off right from the start. The youngest daughter, Malika, I had not previously met, but we finally met today and she was as bright, bubbly and fun as her sisters and mother. Malika had taken over her father’s dental practice and was working hard and doing well. She is also a pilot, although she doesn’t have enough time currently to do any long distance flying. Along with Dorise’s cousin we toured the local area which was eye-opening. Being in the northwest of Germany, it is very close to the Netherlands and very low (flat and close to sea level). Some of the older villages had gates. When I first heard this, I didn’t know what it meant. They have walls, earthen dikes, all around the town. The cows are in the fields around the villages but at a lower level than the walls. At about four places around the town are huge water-tight gates. Normally they are open and cars pass through freely. When there are severe rains and the rivers are likely to cause flooding they can close the gates and keep the town and houses dry. There are marks on the walls where the water level has been very high. 1926 and 1995 were two points about five and six feet above the road level. We also saw a “old” never used Atomic power plant. The population had been against it so much that it was never finished and had been turned into an amusement park. It was doing very well. It reminded me of what Hans, in Austria, had told me. The Austrians had built one atomic plant many years ago. The population was so against it, that it was never activated. The center city in Kleve had a terrific “walking street” and many shops. People cross the border to visit and shop. But, as Dorise said, the “grass is always greener…” and people from this part of Germany would cross the border to shop in the neighboring country. There were sculptures of swans everywhere because of the story that goes with this town: Cleves is noted for its legendary castle. The Schwanenburg, or Swan’s Castle, was immortalized by the great Richard Wagner in his opera Lohengrin. This is the story of a woman, Elsa, who marries a mysterious knight after he saves her from false accusations of murder. In return for his bravery, the knight’s only condition is that Elsa must never ask his name or where he is from. Of course, in the traditional tragic storytelling, Elsa eventually goes back on her promise, by saying that their children want to know where he is from, and leads them both into despair and death. Apparently the Swans carry the knight away. In fact, many of the important historical personages of Kleve (also Cleves) are generally remembered as Dutch rather than German! The most famous of these is undoubtedly the very fortunate Anne of Cleves. If you remember your history lessons, you will recall her as one of Henry the Eighth’s numerous wives. And it was not usually a good thing to be married to this mercurial king. Most of these women suffered sad and premature deaths at the hands of their cruel husband. But when the time came for Henry and Anne to do their separate ways, she kept her head (literally, that is!) and the marriage was annulled. Anne managed to outlive all of Henry’s other wives. We also toured the boarding school where Dorise and her cousin had grown up and gone to school. They showed me where they had “escaped” to play hooky and told me stories of what they had done at that age. What a pair!! I was a good girl growing up and didn’t have as much fun as they did! That evening they introduced me to a well-known drink, also a medicine for upset-stomachs, Unter……….. they said that it is shipped world-wide. I’d never heard of it. But we each had a small bottle. I couldn’t handle it; it tasted like medicine. They drank theirs down in one gulp (which is what you are supposed to do). I finally finished mine, but won’t try it again. The next morning I felt fine so I guess it worked; but my stomach wasn’t upset before I went to bed. Later I learned that this is what we call Angostura Bitters. At the airport of Monchengladbach, Dorise had an old friend who ran a pilot training school. Although not a pilot himself, the school is very successful. They have two full-size simulators, similar to those at SimCom in Florida. Two of their former students are captains on the new Airbus A380. We visited several simulators and spoke with the instructors and students. They would only speak English while in the simulators – a very good idea. In one of the smaller simulators they were doing the approach that I had done for my arrival to this airport. It was fun to watch. It was again time to leave. Hugs all around for a very fun two days and I climbed into the cockpit again. I had filed an IFR flight plan to Tannheim in southern Germany. This is the home of Tannkosh, Germany’s answer to AirVenture, Oshkosh, in the US. There were no instrument arrivals, so the last bit would be VFR, but the weather was very good, so I wasn’t too worried, except for the communication with lots of German pilots arriving at the same time.

Aug 23, departing England and heading back to Germany From the TV weather the evening before, we knew it was going to be a rainy morning with potential thunderstorms. It was rainy, but no thunderstorms in England, they were however west and south of my destination in western Germany. It looked like I’d have to wait until they passed through. Jamie drove me to the airport and we got everything ready then had tea and waited as I pushed back the departure time by an hour. I checked weather again. It was improving at the destination but was unfortunately deteriorating at Shoreham, where we were. The ceiling had gone down from 1000 feet when we arrived to 600 feet. There was a hill, maximum height 824 feet, off the departure end of the runway. That bothered me a little. I knew that I could out climb it, however, I was still slightly bothered. After another hour’s delay, the storm in Germany looked like it would be gone for my arrival and things were stable for my departure. So, I gave Jamie a big hug and walked to the Mooney. The clearance waypoint was not on my route, but I figured they’d give me another waypoint or vectors when I got there. After completing the runup, I was cleared for departure. Once over 900 feet, I felt better and turned right as directed to my first intersection, then above 2500 feet altitude, I was handed off to London control. I was still climbing and broke out on top at about 5000 feet and was in blue sky and sunshine. After the rainy, drizzly, low overcast below, it was beautiful. The controller kept me on radar vectors across the English Channel then handed me over to the French controller who gave me a direct heading. Both of those saved many miles and minutes of flying. I was handed off to Brussels control and was on an airway on my original route. Still in clear sky with the clouds breaking up so that I could see the ground below. I saw an Airbus climbing to my left. It was pretty close, so I reached for my camera. Just as I started to reach, ATC told me to turn to north. I said that I had the traffic in sight. She said again to turn to the north. Then I saw another smaller jet climbing out on the same path in my direction. Even though I had been on an airway, it was obvious that I was in a direct line with departing traffic from a nearby airport. After the second plane had passed, she returned me to my route. Interesting time. I wasn’t sure if I was happy that I had been visual to see the potential problem or not. After all that, she gave me direct to my destination, which cut off quite a few miles. When she handed me over to the next controller, he asked my destination. I guess I thought they should know that. Then he said that I was IFR and asked if I wanted to continue IFR into Germany. Another interesting question. I said yes I would. I was finally put on the localizer approach. The glide slope was out. The weather was improving although very misty and hazy, so I followed it in. I finally saw the approach lights and landed.

Aug 17 to Guernsey I haven’t been to Guernsey before but have been invited by the Aero Club to give a presentation to their pilots. They have also contacted several media people and the local MND, Motor Neurone Disease, Association. I have filed an IFR flight plan as the airspace is ‘A’ down to the ground. Only special VFR is allowed otherwise and I feel that it’s better for me to be handled by ATC all the way. The first surprise is when we return to Laval airport and climb the steps to the tower. He has my flight plan and advises me that I had to contact customs 24 hours prior to departure. If they come now it will be a 150 Euro fine. I ask him if I should call them. He say no, just depart. He says the real problem is last minute calls by arriving pilots and customs have to rush out. I’m ok to leave. Eileen’s enjoying the view from the tower. It’s really great to be able to go up at all the airports. Finally it’s time to go, so we hug goodbye and I head to the plane. The handling by Rennes approach is efficient. As I am now getting used to it, they ignore the filed flight plan and give me more direct routing. When I pick up the Guernsey ATIS, this marginal VFR and I plug in the approach. However, it is lifting quickly and is VFR on the next weather report. I snap pictures of the island of Jersey as I pass close by and have the video rolling for the landing at Guernsey. It’s a lovely island, with cliffs on the west end and lots of lush green areas. As I approach the Aero Club, I see people and video cameras on the balcony. Geoff welcomes me to Guernsey and says that the local TV station would like to do an interview right away. I am always happy to oblige and spread the news of ALS/MND research. As soon as that is over the second reporter arrives. It’s actually the editor of the magazine for the local airline that does short hops to the other islands, France and England. Geoff and his wife, Val, take good care of me and host my visit. We actually met in 2003 during my first around the world flight when I landed at Kemble Airfield in England in July that year. Geoff is an avid aviation buff and pilot. At the Sun ‘N Fun Airshow in Lakeland, Florida, he’d invited me to Guernsey and we’d figured out a date that would fit both our schedules. The Aero Club members were enthusiastic and generous. They had lots of questions and some had been touched by MND. The local MND Association volunteers were there also. It was a terrific evening for everyone. Geoff gave me a quick tour of the south side of the island and it was time to depart. Everywhere I had seen the rose/grey colored granite for which the island is famous. He also told me that the island had been occupied by the Germans during WWII and there were underground bunkers and hospitals. The other good thing about this stop is that these Channel Islands are tax havens. The avgas is about nine dollars per gallon. Who could believe that I’d be so happy with that price? In England and in other European countries it’s now over $13 per gallon. I received my clearance and headed east then northeast to Shoreham, England, on the south coast. The weather was bad to the west with a storm passing through to the northeast, but wasn’t to hit Shoreham until later in the afternoon. There were clouds everywhere and I was in them most of the time and actually had to hold before making an approach into Shoreham as another plane was already doing the NDB approach. But in just over an hour I landed in England. Cousin Penny picked me up with daughter, Lydia, and boyfriend, Ali, (both of whom I’d met and stayed with in Cambridge, England). Lydia and Penny had flown with me in the Mooney when I stopped in 2003, but Ali had never seen it. So, we all went back to the ramp. They were amazed in 2003 how small the plane was and they are still amazed. Ali is interested in flying and asked lots of questions. Unfortunately the weather was deteriorating so we couldn’t go for a flight. Hopefully next time. Back at home with the rest of the family, cousin Jamie and son Angus, we caught up on everything since I my last visit in 2008. On Saturday Jamie and I took the train to London to meet with his sister, my cousin, Cristina and their oldest brother’s daughter, Lucy. Lucy and I had not met since about 1984 so we had a lot to learn about each other. I’d only met Cristina once, in 2008. We had an Italian lunch (as their mother was Italian and they had all grown up traveling to Italy and speaking Italian) and we all chatted non-stop. Another cousin, Joanna, cousin Gordon’s daughter, drove in from near Oxford to spend the rest of the weekend with us. We hadn’t seen each other since sometime in the 1980s, although she had had updated from Gordon and Bridget. We all had a wonderful weekend together talking, walking the dogs and spending a day at a horse event where Penny was working as a starter. It was fascinating. Of course Penny had to cook a roast lamb dinner with roast potatos and parsnips. Something I never get in the states and only get when I visit the cousins (both Penny and Bridget make sure that I get good English food every time I visit). On Monday Jamie and I visited the Brookings Museum which covers the history of car racing, motorcycles and airplanes. Brookings was a private car racetrack until the war started in 1939. Then planes were built and flown here. Now it’s a museum and even has a Concorde jet as it originally produced sections of the plane. We had a great day as I’d always wanted to see inside the Concorde and now I have.

August 14th I took the train west from Berlin back to Braunschweig and stayed with fellow Mooney pilot who is planning an around the world flight Jens and his wife, Stephanie, and their sons Julius and Daniel. Jens and I spent all day talking about flight, distances, weights, tanking, planning, HF radio, etc. He had some good contacts to help me with Africa and the South Pacific, and I was able to help him with some planning and paperwork requirements. The day passed too quickly. Every once in a while I talked with the kids in English. Julius is almost 13 and understood pretty well and could talk very well. Daniel was still shy speaking in English, but did try a few times. He was good with simple words but hadn’t yet learned sentences. It was fun. Stephanie kept us fed and watered as we talked and talked about flying. We looked at the weather before calling it a day and saw a major system moving over France and heading our way. I was to head to northwestern France the next day, departing around noon. Hmm, we’ll have to take a good look in the morning and see which route is best, north or south of the system. In the morning it was pretty clear that staying south of the system would be best to stay out of the storms, however the winds would be less favorable. Still the safest option. I filed, said good bye to the family and we headed to the airport. Jens had formerly worked for AeroData and was able to get my Mooney in their hangar for the week. What a luxury. As we were getting the Mooney ready, a light rain was starting; however the clouds were still at 5000 feet, but the visibility was deteriorating. I taxied to the gas station, but my BP card wouldn’t work, so I had to go to the GA office to pay by credit card. This is the second time that I’ve tried it and the second time it has failed. I need to get this resolved before Australia and New Zealand as many of their pumps are unmanned. All preflight checks are good and off we go, after a Ford Tri-motor lands in front of me!! Wow, wish I had the video going, what a great sight. Actually, it looked like a Ford Tri-Motor, but I found out later that it’s a JU 52. I can only pick up IFR at 2000 feet, but the clouds are no problem, so I depart VFR and head west following the departure procedure. The southerly route keeps me out of the worst rain, in fact, I only have light rain and much time between cloud layers. The controllers give me many “direct to” clearances, so that I don’t have to fly the zigzag course provided by EuroControl. Other pilots had told me that and I have now seen it myself quite a few times. As I’m handed off to controllers further west in Germany, I have clouds all around and below, but I can see blue sky ahead. How good it feels. The groundspeed had been down to 88 knots at one point, but is now up to 107! Wow. I’m even feeling good now that it’s over 100 knots. For the first hour and a half it was between 93 and 97 knots. Only three and a half more hours to go, maybe less if I get out of these headwinds. Unfortunately, ATC is going to move me up to flight level 80 and that will make the headwinds worse. Oh well. I’m over France, airspeed is up to 116 knots, yeah, and they haven’t asked me to climb to 8000 feet yet. Let’s hope that I can stay lower. There is a solid undercast, but I’m in clear sky with blue above and it’s smooth. I tested my satellite phone again with a couple of sms messages and a phone call. Everything is working well and the battery is good. I also charged the handheld radio and downloaded the JPI engine monitor. Only six weeks before I head to Turkey and the Middle East and the “real” trip begins. So, I need to make sure everything is working correctly. I just received a short cut around Paris to the south, but had to descend to 5000 feet. I thought that was a good thing, until I arrived and found the winds to be just as bad as higher up. 30 knots on the nose. Bummer. This also puts me right on the cloud layer. I thought it would be bumpy, but so far not too bad. As I approach Laval, the clouds are broken and I elect to do an instrument approach with a hold as I need the practice. There’s not much going on and the controllers keep telling me that I’m in uncontrolled airspace (since they descended me to 5000 feet). So I thought that by staying on charted information, they would at least notify me of any traffic. Which they did. All went well and I landed 12 minutes late, due to those terrible headwinds. Eileen and Jim are there to greet me but everything else is closed and locked. I finally find a way out to the car park and we head to their lovely cottages in the country. They are renovating some old cottages near a chateau. As they are very close to the chateau, there are significant regulations for restoration with the original stones, roof and style. The work is progressing, two cottages are complete and they are working on what will become their house. Then they will rent the cottages to mainly English holiday goers. It’s a terrific project with lots of potential and still a lot of work remaining. However, progress is made daily and it’s very satisfying work. I enjoyed our time together, the quiet area and French food and wine. Too soon I’m off again. This time to Guernsey.

Week in Berlin What an absolutely fascinating city. I can’t get enough of it. I did an overview tour in a double decker bus to figure out where the highlights were and to hear the history. Then I walked to several places: Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, sections of the Berlin Wall, and took pictures and read more about the building of the Berlin Wall and about when it came down. The wall only went up in 1961. The Second World War ended in 1945. The normal border crossings were no longer working and people were crossing from the DDR to West Berlin in order to get to the west. Starting with barbed wire, the wall was slowly constructed around West Berlin by the East Germans. Then they tore down buildings that were on the east side, close to the wall, as some people tried to jump from the east to the west (and several died). They put up a second wall on the east side with the no-man’s land in between. The sequential pictures of the construction and how the landscape changed are amazing. As people realized what was happening, over a million people crossed before the wall was completed; sometimes leaving families behind. I remember when the wall came down. I was living in France and remember it on the news that night. The people on both sides were thrilled. Actually after reading the history here, apparently the government was opening up more crossing points and making it easier for people to cross. The public took over, with little hindrance (there was one death and some injuries). The center of the now united city is almost all new. As there was a lot of barren land on the east side, there was room for a lot of new construction. Most of the buildings are only about 20 stories tall as the foundation is on sand and a special permit needs to be approved to build any higher. However the center has many glass walled buildings and looks very new. There are also many older buildings from the 1800s (rebuilt after the bombing) on both sides of Berlin that are museums and government buildings. Another day we went to the Turkish part of old West Berlin and ate at a typical Turkish fast food place. Wow was it good. In a pita wrap, grilled chicken (sliced off a vertical spit) with some cooked and some raw vegetables and a not-too- hot sauce. Quick, very inexpensive, 2.5 Euros, and very tastey. Then we went to old Russian East Berlin to see some of the BIG Russian monuments and Big old Russian buildings and roads. The roads were very wide, for marching down on special occasions and the buildings were big and bland. No character, but big. The final wall construction is shown in some of the pictures. Solid concrete, about 18 feet high. All along the top is a circular section so that there are no holding points for hands or ropes. The west side is covered with graffiti, however the east side is bare concrete. On the east side, at regular intervals were guard towers. Looking down on one of the sections that still remains in tact today, one can imagine what life was like on each side. The reunification has not been easy, but can be considered successful. There are now many happy “mixed marriages” with one member of each couple coming from opposite sides of the wall. They share very different and interesting perspectives from their childhoods. Also, there has to have been a balance in decision making in the new joint Berlin. One very minor one (that most of us would never consider) is the crosswalk signs. With each stop light is a red man for perestrians not to walk across the road and a green man for permitting pedestrians to walk. They were different in East and West Berlin. Just recently a law was passed that all new red/green men will be the Eastern sign no matter where the new light is installed. You can imagine that that took a lot of discussion and was not an easy pill to swallow. Now imagine how many other similar decisions have had to be made over the past 20 years. Oh, and by the way, it’s been very cold in Berlin all week. One day the high was 60F and the low was 52F. It did get up to 70F one day. Everyone says it’s unusual. I tell them it’s been cold everywhere I have been in Europe this summer. I’m still wearing my jacket and it’s mid-August. I’m hoping that it will warm up one of these days; maybe when I get to Turkey. I also visited the Technical Museum, covering all transportation history and many aspects of manufacturing and chemistry. The most amazing part was that a German flew a powered plane before the Wright brothers. The sign on the wall said, “The first jump by an engine powered aircraft into the air was made by a German in 1903. Four months later, the Wright brothers in the USA successfully made the first guided engine-powered flight. The first pilot’s license for engine-powered aircraft was issued in Germany six years later.” Note the distinguishing difference, apparently the German plane, although engine powered, didn’t have any steering. Also, there was nothing about how it was launched.

July 29th It’s the German Helicopter Championship, wow! I don’t know what they do, but I understand there are three competitions, slalom, navigation and precision hovering. Apparently there will be 22 teams competing. This should be interesting. I was at the airport every day. There wasn’t much to see for the navigation competition as the helicopters depart and return. In between they must find and photograph specific points on the ground, based on information given to them at the start of the competition. The hovering completion was fun to watch, but I’m sure we couldn’t see closely enough to know how precise they were. This was a combination of speed and precision. We could see that they took their time to make sure the landing was precise. While moving sideways and holding a precise height above the ground, we could see big errors, but not small ones. The slalom was similar, speed and precision, a balance of the two. In the end, the Russian teams took the first three places. There were actually six nations represented as it was on Open competition, not just German helicopters and teams. There was also a category for the younger pilots (with less than 250 helicopter flight hours) and the Swiss, Germans and Russians all took medals. I think I’ve had my fill of culture for a while. I’ve been to two organ concerts in a cathedral. I attended a St. Petersburg choir concert and I’ve visited numerous cathedrals and museums. I have a few more museums to visit, then Berlin, then I’m done. I just went gliding; what a great afternoon. I’d started gliding this past winter in Florida and got my glider rating. But, most launches in the US are with a tow plane. Over here they use winch launching a lot. So I had to try a winch launch and today was the day. I thought it would be a rush at the start, with the cable pulling the plane forward very quickly and the glider going up at a 45 degree climb into the air. And, it was a rush. But, what I didn’t expect was how calm it got very quickly. After that initial rush, all went quiet and there wasn’t a sensation of a steep climb. By the fourth tow, I was feeling pretty good. If I’d had more time, we could have done a simulated rope break, but that wasn’t necessary. I found out what I wanted to about winch launches. Great! Very economical. There are lots of kids taking up gliding here as it’s much less expensive that airplane flying and with winch launches at 8 Euro per launch, it’s affordable. The day I was there 10 kids took a free introductory flight and about 5 were working on the glider rating. One new kid was there and was just “learning the ropes” so to speak and was helping out. One of the instructors took him for a ride for all the work he was doing. That kid had a GREATday; one he’ll never forget. It’s similar to our Young Eagles, but these kids do a little work and get a ride in return. They can slowly work up to learning more about aviation and in this case glider flying while spending time every weekend at the airport and with pilots. Off to Berlin It’s been a week and a half since I’ve flown, so I check everything thoroughly and takeoff. Oh, it’s so good to be in the air again. During the week, the weather had not looked so good; but this morning is puffy clouds and sunny. The rain will hold off until tomorrow. I pick up my IFR clearance and settle in for this one hour flight north. Oh, it’s good to be flying again. When I was handed off to Bremen Radar he said something I didn’t quite catch about “… is closed.” I asked him to repeat and I still didn’t catch what he said. So I asked if the airport was closed. He said no, there could be no instrument approaches. The weather was ok, so I said that I could land VFR. For a minute there I had been worried. What would I have done if there had been bad weather? When I contacted the tower, he asked me to slow down for an ultralight that was ahead of me on short final. A nice big quiet airport with a closed instrument approaches. Oh well. Jens arrived to meet me and had organized a hangar for my Mooney, what luxury. Later he explained that the VW factory was close by; they have a number of planes that do daily shuttles. But, the airspace goes to G on weekends with no approaches. Next door, his airport only goes to F airspace and instrument approaches are still possible. I’ll spend more time with Jens next weekend and learn more, now it’s off to Berlin for the week.

July 5th I’m not feeling so good. Heinrich, another earthrounder and good friend of Hans, is picking me up and we’re flying to Austria for Hans’ memorial and funeral. I still can’t believe that it happened. Heinrich arrives on time in his Mooney and we head out for a short one hour flight to Linz, Austria. It’s nice going for a ride instead of doing all the planning. I take the video camera along to get some scenic pictures. It’s a beautiful flight over the green countryside and rolling hills to the south to Linz. The weather isn’t the best there with thunderstorms in the area, so instead of landing at Hans’ field, where I had been in early June, Heinrich has opted for the major airport. Unfortunately, the ground handling isn’t very good and we have to wait over 30 minutes for the avgas truck to arrive. Then we head out by car to Hans’ town. Passing the places I’d visited with Hans in June was difficult. Over 300 people were in attendance including many earthrounders. His life was aviation and the speeches covered all his accomplishments and contributions. It was a difficult day. Rain and storms were headed our way, so, as the ceremony ended, we had to drive back to the airport and return home. Luckily, the storms were not over Linz, nor in our direction, so we departed quickly and were on our way. I got more videos of the Danube River, the forests and landscapes. Heinrich dropped me off and I walked home. I needed the quiet down time. Luckily no-one was home and I had a quiet evening to myself. I still can’t believe that he’s gone. One of the more interesting and touching stories about Hans was told by Heinrich. They had been doing long distance glider flying in 2009 and Hans loved the 28 meter wingspan glider. They were talking that evening and in Heinrich’s words: “We went ahead speaking philosophically and promised to enjoy our lives as long as we´re supposed to. Hans seemed to joke and said : “If we are needed above, we should ask to be angels with 28-meter-wingspan because then we could enjoy soaring all the time.” “ Auf wiedersehen Hans. June 10th This weekend there were over 60 planes at the Bamberg Airport. Now, this sleepy little airport doesn’t usually get this much activity. It was written up in the local paper and is an annual flight around Germany. This year is the 100th anniversary; it was started in 1911, amazing!! It started out as a completion for long distance flight and turned into an annual cross country, around Germany, flight. The pilots and crew get to visit the local towns and learn about their history before being bussed back to the airport the next day for their departure to the next destination. It’s July in Germany and I have a jacket on every morning. Ok, two mornings I only had a sweatshirt on, but still…it’s only 55F or so in the mornings. On good sunny days it gets up to 75 degrees and with the sun it feels warmer, but not hot. After a front goes through, it’s down in the 60s for the high temperatures for the day. I can’t believe three months are over already. Only a few more weeks and I’ll be on my way to Turkey and then the Middle East. I’ve started the look at flight planning again. I’m getting excited to be moving again.

July 1st Half the year is already gone; they seem to pass quicker and quicker – am I getting older or what? I just heard from a friend who can’t fly any more, he reminisced over his 30+ flying years. He has cancer. But, he used his years extremely well and has no regrets. Another friend just emailed me a quotation: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do… than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. ” by Mark Twain The former friend used his years wisely and has no regrets. I try to do the same and share my experiences with others. What’s on your “bucket list?” Back to the story: In Dresden found a little pension out of town, but right on the tram line. The owners were very helpful, with limited English, the rooms were fine, beer downstairs and they had internet; always important now-a-days. I came to Dresden thinking I would learn more about WWII and the bombing at the end of the war. Well, there is SO much more history, that part barely got a few lines in some areas of the city. The church that was bombed and rebuilt was certainly an example of what happened during those destructive years. The pictures of the old church show a very colorful interior. The new church is all white inside with no pictures or sculptures except the crucifixion in the front. The organ in the rear was huge and while I was there, someone started playing…it was ¬¬superb. I’m guessing it was just a practice for an upcoming event; but many tourists just took seats and listened, as I was doing. The other museums held such a history of Dresden and the area of Saxony that I felt miniscule and insignificant. Maybe we need museums to do that to us, so we don’t take life too seriously. Most artifacts dated to the middle ages, some earlier. There were many paintings from earlier times. The opulence made me wonder what it was like to live, as a noble, during that time. The workmanship of many of the artifacts was phenomenal. There were carved ivory objects that we could only see through a magnifying glass. How did they work such tiny objects way back then? Also, I wondered what it was like to live as a normal person during that time. If one wasn’t one of the gifted who performed or worked for the nobles, what was life like? I’m happy to live in our times, but still feel the insignificance of 56 years of living compared to this history. Many of the buildings had to be rebuilt, but a significant number remained intact. The number of statues on the rooftops was amazing, many with gold paint. Stunning. I toured for 11 hours the first day and for 6 hours the second day. I was exhausted. It was the most I’d seen in any city and must return for more. It was better than expected and absolutely worth the visit. July 3rd time to move on I was due in Bamberg later today. The weather was terrible and wasn’t going to improve. Where I was going was VFR; in between was IFR. I filed an IFR flight plan with a VFR arrival. I planned two additional alternates with instrument approaches in case the weather was worse than forecast. For a VFR flight, I wouldn’t have needed any more fuel, but considering the weather and possible alternates, I decided to take on 50 litres or another 13 gallons. I hate worrying about fuel when I have weather issues. In the flight planning office, I checked the weather again and called the tower at my destination airport, Bamberg. Then I asked the person who files the flight plans if he could push back my departure time by an hour. The weather in Bamberg was forecast to improve, but hadn’t yet. So, I might as well wait on the ground here. I called an hour later and they were VFR, so I went through screening again and took the bus to the plane. The weather here was bad, crosswinds, rain, low visibility and low ceiling. I could get back in if needed, but not great. I departed with lots of turbulence and stayed in clouds to my cruising altitude of 8000 feet where it was smoother, but still in clouds and rain. This was only to be a one hour flight. I’d planned to go visual over an intermediate airport or do an approach and go visual after that. There was no ATIS for the airport, so I asked the controller for the weather as I got closer to the instrument approach point. Unbelievable, the weather was below the approach minimums. This was where I was going proceed VFR. I asked for the weather at my other alternate. That was ok for an approach. I asked if I could proceed there. He started to give me radar vectors. I had reviewed the VFR charts from the first alternate to my destination and felt comfortable going VFR from there. But, I hadn’t looked at the VFR route from Nurnberg to Bamberg. It is only 26 nautical miles, but I didn’t know where or how many towers were between the two. I did know there was rising ground and hills. So, as I came in on the approach, the controller asked if I wanted to land or proceed to my destination. I chose to land. Knowing there would be a landing fee, I felt this was the safest option. After checking the weather and calling my destination airport, I felt it was ok to depart so paid the 38 Euro, $55, landing and navigation fee and departed. The weather wasn’t looking so good, but was reporting as VFR. As I departed, the tower gave me a special VFR clearance, the ceiling was lower, but still VFR. As I climbed out, I told the tower controller that I’d be back if I didn’t like the weather. I ran into a rain shower right away and could see nothing. I turned back. The clouds were lower and when I listened to the weather on landing, the ceiling had gone down to 800 feet, so the field was IFR. Bummer. I went back to the office. I waited an hour and a half, checked the weather and called my destination again. Things were looking much better. After paying another $55, I departed again and cruised at a comfortable 1500 feet above the terrain to my VFR destination. Those were expensive but safe decisions. I feel good about the decisions. I don’t like having to pay so much to be safe, but I’m here and feeling good.

June 29th flight planning and on to Dresden, Germany What an afternoon. There is a cold front coming through with lots of storms. I was planning on staying put and flying elsewhere on Friday or Saturday. I spent some time looking at options in Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. After trying many different routes, I realized that I would have to be at 15,000 feet over Poland. Then I realized that with this cold front, I would be in temperatures below zero even at 10,000 feet. Also, clouds and rain are forecast for the whole area for most of the next four days. I started to realize that I was on the wrong side of the front and I need to get back to Germany and Austria (for Hans’ funeral). I looked at getting just half way, to Roenne, Denmark. I found a route that kept me at 10000 feet as long as I stayed away from Poland. I kept looking back at the temperature chart and it looked ok. Then, I thought maybe I’d better get further south, in case the weather deteriorated. So, I continued searching and checking routes. I found that I could get down to 6000 as I got into German airspace. That would be better. All this took over four hours. But, finally I have an option. There’s still bad weather forecast for tomorrow, but it’s also workable for Saturday. So, I could stay put or leave. Now I feel better. I was beginning to think that I wasn’t going to make it out in time. I’ll check the weather again tomorrow morning. June 30th Riga to Dresden I woke up early, so decided to check the weather to see if I would depart or not. It looked good in terms of the temperature at 10,000 feet with few clouds over my flight path and the arrival weather was improving to marginal VFR, so I headed down to breakfast and to check out. I was in the taxi by 7am and at the airport by 7:15 for a 10:30 departure. I wasn’t sure how long everything would take. Going through security, they had to call for someone to escort me, that took about 15 minutes, then I had to taxi the Mooney to the avgas station and wait another 20 minutes for the re-fueler to arrive. His English was good, so no problem there and he took my credit card before even starting the transaction. The airport authority guy returned with my bill and another credit card machine. By 8:30 everything was complete. The ground control told me to return to the briefing room to change my flight plan departure time. This was very quick and also allowed me a last toilet stop; much needed before a five hour flight. Now I’m cruising at flight level 100 (10,000 feet) in clear conditions with warm temperatures. I should be ahead of the cold weather, but I don’t know about the rain. Dresden was only forecasting showers for the day, no storms. The storms looked like they were breaking up and not the severe line of yesterday over Germany. Over the Baltic Sea and headed southwest; we’ll see what the day brings. At least I have good tailwinds for now. They should change to headwinds over Germany as I head south. Upon entering Sweden’s airspace, they gave me direct to the exit point, instead of following the airway; that’ll save a little time. The winds aren’t as favorable as I’ve turned further southwest. It’s very smooth, but I start to see the weather ahead. The temperature is still above freezing and it’s less than 45 minutes before I can descend to 6000 feet. So, at least no icing. We’ll soon see about the rain. There don’t seem to be any cumulonimbus clouds that I can see ahead and none showed on the radar nor airport weather forecasts. Let’s hope it stays that way. The weather that we receive in the cockpit in the US isn’t available in Europe, yet. There is discussion of getting it here, but probably not for this summer. After being so used to seeing weather in the US, it’s difficult to go back to the “old days” without it. And I just received another direct from Sweden control. It only cuts off a little bit, but every little bit helps. I’m still at 10000 in the clear with less than two hours to go. The clouds are looking layered ahead. With such a short time left to landing, I’m thinking it’s time for a potty break. I don’t want to be uncomfortable for arrival and don’t want to be going potty when it’s bumpy. So, let’s get it out of the way. Now German radar gives me another direct vector which again cuts off some distance, but puts me directly into the wind. My airspeed is down, but I elect to stay at 10000 feet to remain above the clouds and bumps. I should be able to pick up the airport weather in another half hour and that will tell me what to expect in terms of an arrival. Another direct to my arrival procedure point. I pick up Berlin weather, north of where I’ll be going. It’s IFR with ceiling at 900 feet. The forecast for Dresden had that also for this time period with the ceiling lifting to 1500 to 2000 feet. We’ll see if it lifts or not. I have the approach plugged in. Just like in training, I keep asking myself what’s next, what should I be checking? While I have free time, it’s the time to get all this done. Instead of letting me do the standard arrival to the approach, the controller had me continue directly to the airport, then turned me to east and had me turn over 140 degrees onto the final approach just before the final approach fix. Not pretty. But, I got lined up and started down. The cross wind was pretty strong and as I continued he advised me that the ceiling was down to 600 feet and the visibility was down to 4000 meters with mist. Great. Anyway, the only major problem was the cross wind, I had a crab of over 30 degrees prior to the flare. The ground handlers were great and got me inside before I got too wet. Inside they were very helpful and told me not to worry about anything, just return on Sunday. Interesting that I don’t even need to sign in or leave my name and number before going to the hotel. Maybe they pass it from airport to airport as I always have to give my next destination. Or it’s in a database somewhere. Think I’ll ask when I return.

June 28th, from Estonia to Latvia I had a quick walk to the airport and got my boarding pass out. There was a LONG line waiting for security. I asked at information and they said I could use a small door off to one side. The Airport Authority woman had given me a key card to get through security doors. It worked and I entered. The security guy (obviously used to pilots walking through that door) waved me to his line and I passed through very quickly. Into the departure area, I wasn’t sure where to go next. Then I walked by an eating area and the way out to baggage claim and remembered where I had exited several days ago. Down the steps, the woman was ready for me with my 100 Euro invoice. The most expensive part was the bus ride back and forth to the plane, the landing and parking were much lower costs. In no time I was pre-flighting the plane and off. I’d filed a VFR flight plan as it was beautiful weather and I thought it would be easy. I stayed with radar, Tallinn control, until they handed me off at the border. The countryside was beautiful with lots of farmland and forests. When I got to Latvia, there were even more forests. Not many houses and villages. I pulled up the visual approach plate when the controller told me to fly direct to the first visual approach point. It wasn’t in my Garmin database, so I’d have to find it the old fashioned way. Figure out where I was near a lake and river. He gave me a little help (and sounded exasperated) then asked if I knew where the next point was. I said that I had it on my chart. He then handed me over to tower. I came in behind a Folker on a 7-mile final. You have to know that I wanted to say “I have the Folker in sight” but just couldn’t bring myself to say it. After landing I followed another “follow me” car to my parking. After tying down, he drove me to the terminal and told me to go in the employees’ entrance, which I did. I ended up in the arrivals hall with no-one wanting any paperwork. I wondered about my plane… oh, well, I’ll find out in two more days. I checked my return route so that I could get back (not that there was any office or anything). I asked someone and they said that the airport authority would pick me up there. Okay. The trip to the hotel was a wonder one only has while traveling. After checking the prices of taxis which I thought were too high, decided to take the city bus. At the bus stop one person spoke German, no English, but knew where the hotel was. She said the next bus would take me there. Another woman pointed to the automatic ticket station. Even though I could read the instructions in English, it didn’t accept my card and the bus arrived. The woman said to get on the bus without a ticket. I said that I couldn’t do that. But, went on and talked with the bus driver. He took my money and told me (and showed me the name on a card) which stop would be near the hotel. I sat in the front seat so that he would show me where to get off when we got there. Finally I recognized the name on the sign, he shook his head and pointed further ahead. The woman who had helped me at the bus stop came forward to tell the bus driver that this was my stop. He said something to her and pointed ahead. She nodded. He pulled forward another block then opened the doors for me. This was the street I needed. He said to go straight 300 meters. I thanked them both profusely. Doing that little bit extra for a tourist; wow! The hotel started at 50 Euros, came down to 45 and finished at 40 Euros. The internet hotel site had indicated 35E. But, the breakfast was included and they had wifi in the rooms, not just in the lobby as in the last hotel. I dropped everything off and headed out for a tour. The next day I had my bearings and did even better. These towns have the Old Town and the rest of the current city. This time I also did a bus tour which showed me even more sights. After the bus tour, I returned to two of the stops and visited the buildings and churches. Fascinating. But, I also need to get some work done, updating and flight planning. Back to the hotel.

In Norway and June 26th to Estonia What a wonderful, peaceful place. Ellen’s parents had built this as a summer home. The main home was in the town of Holden, several miles north on the mainland. She and Peter return every summer and their kids and grandkids join them for several weeks. There are only seven houses on the island and it’s a designated green area, so no more can be built. We toured the local area, walked the island and did some clean-up jobs. Peter lit a fire in the evening and again we stayed up until 11pm and went to bed when it was still light outside. I normally go to bed early, so this is unusual for me. Also, I wake up when it gets light outside. So, I’ve been waking up about 4am and putting the eyeshades on (that you get on the overseas airline flights). Then I can fall asleep for another few hours’ sleep, but I’m up by 6am. It is so peaceful looking out over the bay with the wind blowing little waves on the water. The branches of the trees are waving in the wind and the sky is blue with white puffy clouds blowing by. Every once in a while a boat put puts by as the speed limit is 5 mph until they get out of the bay. There is some work going on as several piers were destroyed by the ice last winter. So many places I find peaceful and enjoyable. So many times I think to myself that I could enjoy living here. It’s difficult to say which place is my favorite there are many beautiful locations. I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to travel as I do, to see so many places (and often with local people). One day we visit the town where Ellen grew up, we see a granite quarry that provided the largest piece of granite for a Norwegian sculpture and for the face of the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin, and we visit a fort which protected the town from invasion by the Swedes. The next day we go sailing around the island; then we take the motor boat around the area. On Sunday we visit had planned to visit Oslo but the weather is not cooperating. I need to leave a day early, or I’ll be stopped due to weather. So, we drive back to Rakkestad airport with Rolf, a local pilot. I re-filed the flight plan for a departure at noon and we drove to the airport. The sky was blue over the islands, but more cloudy inland. It was a beautiful morning and we all asked Rolf why no-one was flying – the airport was empty. He said everyone was at church and pointed out where it was. I assured him that I would not fly over the church and planned a left hand departure to fly only over fields. Noise is a big problem in Europe and I didn’t want any problems. I filled up, kissed everyone goodbye and departed. I contacted the nearest controller immediately as I was crossing a FIR boundary (country boarder) within minutes. Then I was cleared to 7000 feet and headed east over Sweden to Estonia. The Swedish controller gave me direct to the next FIR boundary instead of a zigzag course around Stockholm. This saved about 20 minutes. I was in clouds with the temperature hovering just above zero, so was watching closely for any signs of icing. Luckily it was only rain, heavy at times. As I headed over the Baltic Sea the skies cleared and the water looked very calm. There were lots of boats everywhere. No problem for a pickup if I ditched here. It was only an hour across the sea and I was over Estonia and talking with Tallinn approach. They gave me a full ILS approach, which was good practice. There was no-one else on the frequency; it is pretty quiet here. The airport authority parked me and took me to the arrivals. After filling out the paperwork she organized a room at the local airport hotel which was within walking distance and explained that it’s easy to take a bus into town and the hotels in town would be much more expensive. She also advised me to be careful of valuables in town as pickpockets were a problem. She gave me a boarding pass to get through departures for my return. This is a great idea as one of the main problems in airports like this is getting back to the airport authority and getting through the departure process. Off to town. It’s fascinating. The medieval city wall is still there surrounding the old town. It’s easy to get around and see everything walking with map in hand. Everyone does it. There are some guided tours and some bike tours, but the streets a cobblestones, so biking is bumpy. The churches are different from the ones I’ve seen in France and Portugal, much newer construction than the older Gothic churches. The Russian influence is obvious also with the bulbous towers on their buildings. Apparently city maps weren’t allowed during their influence and the history of the town and its growth was not clear during that time. Lots of tourists and souvenir shops in the old town but normal people are getting on with business in the new bustling town. Everyone is helpful and friendly and learning English. With wifi in the hotel I can get the websites updated, get weather and answer emails. I’ve been a little behind, so it’s good to get caught up. Unfortunately, the weather looks terrible for the end of the week with storms headed to where I’m headed, Latvia and Germany. If I depart a day early, I should be able to get more sightseeing in before the bad weather hits. Off we go again.

June 21st Scotland to Norway The next morning I check weather first thing. The forecast is light rain and clear in Norway. MUCH better. I have a light breakfast with Keith and Sandra, enjoying local Scottish strawberries which are renown for being naturally sweeter than most other strawberries. There is light rain outside and initially we can’t see the top of the ridge, but gradually it lifts which I take as a good sign for the ceiling in the area. At Perth airport the receptionist advises me that Special Branch will come out to talk with me before departure, so I head to the tower to understand how the clearance will be handled before I depart. There we receive a call that Special Branch is at the Aero Club. So I thank Pete, the tower controller, for his help and will talk with him when ready for my clearance. The Special Branch men explain that they are similar to the TSA in the US (and I held myself back from making any disparaging remarks). They ask lots of questions and fill in paperwork, but say it’s mostly for their education as they don’t get many small planes doing this type of flight and want to understand more about it. They also ask lots of questions about my experiences in other countries and their formalities and if I’ve ever been approached to carry passengers or items. I answer truthfully that that has never happened and I’ve never even had the slightest inkling of anything amiss. Finally they are finished and help to push the Mooney out of the hangar. I say my goodbyes and thank Keith for all his help before jumping into the cockpit. Pete comes back very quickly with a clearance; he says we’ve received gold medal service as he’d explained that we usually have to wait about 15 minutes for a clearance. I start up and head out. The ceiling is about 600 feet, so I’m quickly in the clouds. Scottish Information has me on radar above 2000 feet and I know that I’m clear of the hills. I continue up to 6000 feet watching the outside temperature closely. It hovers above zero degrees Celcius and the precipitation is rain only. But, I’m headed northeast, so I continue to watch the temperature and the wings. Finally I’m between cloud layers. Over Aberdeen the clouds are more broken and I can see the ground. The temperature is also up one degree. I feel better and can relax about icing. I head out over the North Sea. The clouds are more broken and I can see blue sky ahead and the temperature is now plus 2 degrees. Great. After another hour, Aberdeen passes me off to Stavanger radar and I’m almost in Norwegian airspace. After confirming everything with ATC I ask if I can get direct to my second intersection as the flight plan has me doing a zigzag course. He gives me direct to destination. Wow, that’s even better and saves about 20 minutes flying time. Only an hour and a half to go. I’m in clouds and it’s a little bumpy but I’m just below the top of the clouds and I see the blue sky and sun every once in a while. The temperature is hovering at one degree. I pull back slightly and move up to 6060 feet and I’m just on top of the clouds and in the sun. This is better, warmer and smoother. My mind drifts back to Hans. Last year on this mid-summer’s day he was at North Cap at the north of Norway. He loved long distance travel in his single engine plane and visiting other countries. When I was with him, he showed me the plane he was building to fly around the world (again). He had already completed several flights around the world. He loved flying and aviation. What a loss. I can see on the GPS that I’m over land, but with a cloud layer under me, I can’t see the ground. After a bit it starts to break up and I can see rock below with some snow in valleys. Finally the very thin cloud layer is above me and I’m snapping pictures of the mostly barren land. The valleys and lakes look beautiful, but cold. As I get closer to the south coast the elevation drops and I see green fields and farmland. The controller lets me descend then passes me to the tower who gives me clearance to land. After landing, he directs me to parking. There are helicopters everywhere. I get out and start walking to the closest building, but see a sign with the big ‘C’ on it. The ‘C’ is where a pilot goes to check in. On the board with the ‘C’ are two telephone numbers for the Aviation Authority and the Tower. I return to the plane and call the Aviation Authority. The person who answers doesn’t speak very good English and finally hangs up on me. I get out again and walk to the first building, it’s only a hangar with no-one around. I continue along the line of buildings and find an Arrival door, but it’s locked. I look down the line of buildings and they all seem to be helicopter training operations. I return the direction I came and enter a hangar and ask someone what I need to do. He sends me up a road at the end of the ramp. On top is only the fire station. There the person says that if no-one comes to meet me, I’m free to depart. I can’t believe it. I return to my plane and call ground control on the hand held radio and explain the situation. She goes to ask someone then tells me that if no-one has shown up, I can depart. I thank her and tell her that I’ll call back when ready to taxi. OK, if that’s it, I’ll depart. I send an SMS to Peter and Ellen, my next hosts, to tell them that I’m on my way and start up. Thirty minutes later I land at ENRK, the closest airport to their cabin on the coast, and give a hug to my old neighbors. They have brought a newspaper reporter along who does a quick interview and takes pictures. Rolf is there too. He’d emailed me information on my arrival and done all the communication with the airport authorities. Peter and Ellen drive me an hour south to their cabin on a coastal island. Ellen is Norwegian and had grown up in this area. At the end of the car ride, we put the bags in a wheel barrow and wheeled everything down a narrow one person path to the shore and transferred the bags to the boat. Peter got the engine going and Ellen pushed us off. We had a short boat ride to their dock and beautiful island cabin with a hot shower outside and an outhouse. It was June 21st and we stayed up chatting until 11pm. I snapped a picture before going to bed as it was still light outside.

June 20th Glasgow Sunday morning is windy but sunny with no rain on the horizon. I’ve been working with friend and earthrounder, Jim, on how to fly to Glasgow, my next stop. It’s MND International Awareness Week and I’m going to help with the kickoff and publicity. The IFR flight plan would put me at 12,000 feet which would be into icing layers. He goes to Prestwick quite often and shows me how to do it VFR at between 3000 and 5000 feet. He points out the airspace and gives me a page of controllers’ airspace and frequencies to call. This will be much safer and more interesting seeing the countryside as I fly northwest. Then I’ll be headed to Norway. I need to start working on that flight plan today. I just received terrible news this morning. Hans who had taken such good care of me in Austria died yesterday in a plane crash. There were no further details. I feel numb. Every time I take a breath, I feel a squeeze in my heart and stomach. It hurts. I email other earthrounders to let them know and will send further details as they become available. I’m sitting in the Expo office sending these emails when Paddy comes in and asks how I’m doing. I breakdown and he comforts me. I can’t believe it. I meet with a few people, sign a few books and depart. I just need to get away and concentrate on something. The flight goes well. I’m in contact with radar all the way. There are some bright spots where I snap photos of the rivers and hills, but the weather deteriorates as I reach Scotland. Finally I’m in contact with Edinburgh who lets me through their airspace as I descend to Cumbernauld Airport. Their ceiling is 2000 feet with good visibility, so I know I’ll be able to find the airport and not need to divert to Glasgow. Bob and Maureen are there to meet me and show me around Glasgow. Although it’s overcast, we get a nice walk in one of the parks and a tour of the architecture in the city, including Glasgow University, where Bob went for his degree. The next day I receive a terrific explanation of MND Scotland, why they are separate from the English organization (mainly for legal and charitable regulations) and how they are helping their MND patients. They have much the same services as in England, providing equipment, lots of information about the disease and it’s progress, help groups and communication in addition to the important fund raising. There are just under 500 MND patients in Scotland, but spread out over a large area with difficult access. The group is hard working and positive about their ability to help and their desire to be out of a job if we could ever find a treatment for this terminal disease. It won’t be any time soon, but it’s still in their prayers. Bob drives me to the airport under sunny skies with some clouds at 2000 feet. Should be a nice VFR flight to Perth. I get a good look at the hills and valleys, all very green. The visibility is great. It’s great to be with Bob and Maureen and touring, but my mind keeps slipping back to Hans. When I check emails, there are condolences and messages being shared by many pilots. He was the center of his flying club, a high ranking member in the world body of aviation records, the Federation International Aeronautique, as well as a fantastic guy and great pilot. No-one can believe the news and my heart continues to ache. Luckily, I’m kept active with the need to pay attention to others. Keith meets me on arrival but is headed out for a flight with a passenger. No problem, I need to gas up and get my next flight plan in the system, so we’ll meet later. Because I’m departing Scotland, an EC but non-Schengen country, and going to Norway, a non-EC country, there is paperwork to complete and Special Branch might pay a visit before my departure tomorrow. I get the flight plan in the system and download all the charts. The forecast is for heavy rain in the morning and is showing some weather later in the day in Norway. Not great, I’ll watch the 6pm forecast and again in the morning. My mind keeps returning to Hans and I’m reluctant to take any risks. I wouldn’t anyway, but right now, I’m feeling more vulnerable. The evening meeting goes very well with an interested group and lots of questions. They buy lots of books with Scottish pounds (different from English pounds and issued by different banks, so that many of the notes have different colors and pictures). I’ve heard that in southern England they are not always accepted, so I’ll need to change them before departing as I won’t be returning to Scotland in the near future. Over a glass of wine and sandwiches we have a lively discussion and more questions. Finally Keith and Sandra take me home to a house high on a hill overlooking a bay with a towering ridge behind them. It’s past 10pm, but on June 20th we still have lots of light and a great view. Keith explains that there is a glider port just a few miles away and they often have gliders overhead enjoying the ridge lift.

June 15th Duxford The next morning, again a beautiful day, I flew 20 minutes to Duxford airport, home of the Imperial War Museum. Stewart flies the Tiger Moths for Duxford, knows the people there, and got approval for me to land. I was interviewed by the PR person, Ester, who wrote a terrific article connecting me to Duxford. I’d flown back to England, commercially, in 2004 with my Dad to visit many places he remembered from his younger years. We visited Duxford and the museums. In the tank museum we found the type of tank, the Valentine, that he used when serving in the Royal Tank Regiment in WWII in Egypt against Rommel. After that Stewart picked me up in another antique car, this time a 1923 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, see pictures. I couldn’t believe it. It was an amazingly comfortable ride to Cambridge. The gears are not synchomeshed and ground a little. Obviously there is no power steering, but the steering wheel is pretty big. There is a microphone in the back, that still works, for the passenger to give orders to the driver. But, the driver has the switch in front that turns it on and off. We thought that was a little strange and assumed that the passengers tapped on the window, between the front and rear seats, to tell the driver to turn the speaker on. Stewart beeped the horn as we travelled and people stared and took pictures. It was great fun. I spent the afternoon with my “little” cousin, Lydia, who is in her first year at Cambridge. She’s also on the rowing team and was competing that afternoon. The intensity and pressure of the start and the race was palpable. We’d already watched a men’s race, and Ali, her boyfriend, had explained the objective, rules and technicalities. Now it was the women’s turn. We counted down from the 4 minute and one minute guns. The boats were pushed out from the bank. The gun went off and the rowers gave it their all. There were a few “bumps” very early in the race, then we could see Lydia’s boat catching up on the boat ahead of them. We yelled with the crowd. As they passed us, the one in front just started to pull away and Lydia’s teammates seemed exhausted. Later I learned that they had set out at an abnormally fast pace then kept up the pace much longer than normal. They came within a 1/3 of a boat length to catching the boat ahead of them before succumbing to the fatigue. It was too much too quickly. Later that evening we had dinner of “bangers and mash” a typically English meal that my mother used to prepare. It’s sausages and mashed potatoes, but this restaurant has flavored sausages and potatoes and gravy. It was superb. The next morning I caught the bus back to Duxford and departed early for Northampton as rain was coming our way. Showers were just starting as I did the preflight and started up. I took off and headed northwest as the storm moved in from the southwest. I passed in front of it and had a clear 25 minute ride to Sywell Airport. The tower directed me where to taxi and I was marshaled by the same man who marshaled me at the Bitburg Aero Expo. He recognized the Mooney and welcomed me to Sywell’s Aero Expo. When I went into the Expo office and passed the other marshalers, they all recognized me and welcomed me back. It was a wonderful family feeling, much like Sun ‘N Fun and AirVenture, Oshkosh, where I also work all week at the airshows. These aero expos are much smaller but have a wider variety of aircraft and the same atmosphere. Many of the participants and volunteers go to the American airshows annually or every other year. They are truly bitten by the aviation bug also. Many thanks for helping me and befriending me to Nigel, Roger, Tony, Bob, John, Astride and the overall manager, Paddy. Unfortunately, Friday was rainy and that reduced arrivals by air. Many people came by road. Saturday was much better, although we still had some showers. Most of the hangars were packed and the crowds for the presentations were good-sized. I had planned on camping with my Mooney and had shipped my tent and other necessities over to France. There were a few other campers, but not many. The first night wasn’t too bad, but it had rained most of Friday and that second night was tough. Although I didn’t get any rain through the tent from above, the ground below the tent had a slight dip on one end and water came in from below. There was a big puddle under the mattress. It was still raining and from the radar looked like it would rain most of the night. I wasn’t going to be able to move the tent until morning. So, I finally gave up and crawled into the Mooney. I moved everything to one side and made a bed on the right hand side. I’d already practiced this in my hangar at home, just in case the need arrived. It was actually quite a successful night and I got at least six good hours sleep. In the morning there was a good wind and the rain had stopped. I moved the tent and ground cloth to higher ground and everything dried very quickly. The next night was very comfortable and dry although windy and slightly chilly. It’s the third week of June and the daytime temperatures are below 70 F and at night it’s in the high 40s F. Not very summer weather.

June 14 MND association and Milton Keynes One more subject from the National Memorial Arboretum: there was a memorial to those “Shot at Dawn.” A number of soldiers were shot for desertion in WWI and it has now been learned that most were suffering from shock and PTSD. There is a picture in the Photo album, under England, of a statue of a blindfolded young soldier with over 100 posts behind him representing the soldiers that have now been pardoned. There is a name, rank and age on each post. Many are very young. It is very moving to see the statue and all the bare posts. Back to work today, so to speak. I have a meeting with the MNDA (Motor Neurone Disease Association) headquarters in Northampton in the afternoon and a presentation to Milton Keynes Aviation Association this evening. Today I have two short flights, less than half an hour to Northampton Airport, then another 20 minutes to Cranfield airport. The morning is beautiful, sunny, warmer with good visibility and light winds. I would have two very pleasant visual flights, short and sweet. I’d looked at the visual charts and saw that I had clear airspace from Tatenhill to both airports and to Duxford the next day. No major airports and no low coverage airspace from larger airports. So, I could fly at or below 2500 feet with no problems. It was a beautiful day and the low level flying over green fields and small towns was very pleasant. There were a few fields that were bright red with poppies. They are “coquelicots” in French. I’d seen a few there, and learned the French name, but nothing like these massive red fields. Sywell information answered my call and I entered downwind, then landed on runway 21 right. Wendy, from MNDA, picked me up and took me to their offices. It’s a three story building filled with people who help the 5000 people (and their families) with ALS/MND in the UK. Belinda from the research department gave me a detailed rundown of the research projects that are underway. As with the ALS-TDI team in Cambridge, MA, there is a lot of work going on and a lot of people more positive than in the past about finding a treatment for this devastating disease. They have departments responsible for getting equipment out to needy patients (and returning it when no longer needed), communication through monthly and quarterly newsletters, and phone teams who respond to patients’ and families’ questions and calls along with those from medical caregivers. The overall coverage of this association is enormous and all supported by donations. I learned a lot which I can now add to my presentations in England to spread the word about MNDA. One amazing coincidence occurred during my visit. The media department does ads, DVDs and billboard posters to spread the word about ALS/MND and the association. They had just completed a hard-hitting ad about a woman, Sarah, with MND. I had met a young woman named Sarah during my 2003 flight. She lived in London and had corresponded with my mother by email. She had been diagnosed with ALS when she was pregnant with her second child. I asked Wendy if the Sarah in the ad lived in London and had been pregnant when she was diagnosed. She said yes. I told her my side of the story. I had emailed her after my return to the US, late in 2003 and in 2004; but had not received a response. I assumed that she had died. What a coincidence. The DVD is strong and is recommended not to be seen by kids less than 15 years old. It is played by an actress, not Sarah, but Sarah believes this gets the emotional consequence of being diagnosed with the disease out to the public. It can be seen on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz6F955tAIk The only part I regret is that it doesn’t get across that the brain works 100% and one is trapped inside. It is not easy to watch. I left Northampton and flew a short distance to Cranfield where I was met by Andre, Stewart and Jim. Andre had invited me to speak to the Milton Keynes Aviation Society. I’d met Stewart during my 2003 flight when I landed in Kemble, England for the Popular Flying Association rally. We’d stayed in touch over the years, but not met again until now. He was my transportation and had arrived in an antique Bentley. Talk about being transported in style. The MKAS was a terrific group that thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and had lots of questions. They were also very generous in buying books and DVDs and donating to ALS/MND research. It was a great evening.

June 9 from Ireland back to England I enjoyed this plaque on my cousin’s wall: Senior Citizens Serenity Prayer God grant me the Serenity … To forget the people I never liked anyway The good fortune to run into the ones that I do … And the eyesight to tell the difference. After three days of visiting family and reminiscing it was time to leave again. The day started sunnier than the previous days, but a little cooler. Francis and Pattie drove me to Shannon as I looked at the clouds and wondered about the flight. We had a last cup of tea together as I checked weather and downloaded approaches for my alternate airport in England. The weather was looking ok, but not great. If it deteriorated, I wanted to be ready to divert to East Midlands and have all the approaches. After a warm goodbye, I headed to the operations office. They had checked the records and remembered the 2003 visit. No they knew about this new world flight. The manager waived the landing and parking charges and accompanied me to the parking for a picture with the plane. He was going to write it up in the airport newspaper. I was very grateful. After completing the preflight, I called ground control for startup and received approval. Then they gave me my complicated clearance. As I was putting it all in the GPS, they called back with a modification which cancelled what I had just entered. I started taxiing and headed out. The clouds were scattered. I knew the icing level was about 5000 feet and my flight clearance was to fly at 8000 feet. I managed to stay out of the clouds for the first half an hour, then couldn’t avoid them anymore. I got into icing right away and asked for lower. I went down to 6000 feet, but couldn’t get out of the clouds. So I was cleared down to 4000 feet and finally got clear of clouds. But, that put me below IFR airspace, so I had to continue VFR. That worried me due to potential poor weather in England at arrival; but I didn’t have a choice and it was good and clear weather below the clouds. So, I continued on. ATC continued to monitor my position and released me once I crossed the FIR boundary and crossed into English airspace. It remains clear but the airspace over England looks pretty complicated. Between the GPS information and the VFR chart, I figured everything out and plotted a course to Tatenhill without hitting any airport’s airspace. Continuing on, the weather thankfully remained relatively clear with good visibility. I switched to Tatenhill’s frequency and listened as one plane was doing touch and goes and another was coming in for landing. I announce my position and continued in to the pattern and landing. When I had departed this airfield in 2003, nothing was going on. Now it was a pretty busy place with a flying school and emergency helicopter service on site. Bridget showed up and I was off to a weekend with English cousins. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a cold and rainy weekend. But, we walked the dogs and caught up on all the family news. On Saturday, we visited the National Memorial Arboretum which was fascinating and emotional. We found the area dedicated to the Royal Tank Regiment where our father served during WWII, see picture. He had spent time in a small Valentine tank in Egypt pushing Rommel back through Lybia. The building and memorial to the war in the Far East was full of pictures and videos explaining the suffering of the POWs in the Pacific war. It was very educational. The weather cleared up and it was time to move on again.

June 5 to Oxford then Ireland I contact Bristol radar as soon as I’m out of the airport traffic pattern. They tell me to standby. I’m at 1000 feet above the ground, can’t climb higher due to clouds, headed for hills, it’s drizzly and visibility is 10 miles. But still, I don’t know the area. I wait and wait. Finally the controller gets back to me and asks what I want, “Pass your message” is their terminology. I explain that I’ve just taken off from Dunkeswell and should have an IFR flight plan to Oxford and need to climb to 6000 feet. The controller says that the radar system is busy and what type of service do I want. Hmm, I’d heard others talking of type of radar service before, but I didn’t exactly understand what they meant. I explained that I wanted IFR to Oxford. He approved climb to 6000 feet and asked if I wanted traffic avoidance then said that I would have basic service. For a while I was above the clouds, then in the clouds and stayed that way until I descended to 4000 feet for arrival at Oxford. There was good visibility below and I picked out Oxford pretty quickly. When I was handed over to the tower, they asked what type of “joining” I wanted. The radar had already given me a straight in approach, so I indicated that, but said that I could overfly the field and join the pattern that way if it was better for traffic. They cleared me for straight in, there was no other traffic. Peter, a former work colleague, and his wife, Rita, pick me up and we head back to their home in Thame, near Oxford. We chat non-stop until bed time. So much has happened on both sides that we keep hopping between conversations and topics. Finally, exhaustion overcomes us and it’s time to stop. But, we pickup where we left off the next morning. It was so good to see them again. Peter drops me off at Oxford Jet, I check the weather and head out to the plane. It’s cloudy here but the ceiling is about 3000 feet. Shannon is still forecasting five thousand feet visibility and 1000 foot broken ceiling with rain and drizzle. It’ll be an ILS approach, just like I did eight years ago. That’s why Ireland is so green, they get lots of rain. The departure and radar handling is similar to US service except that each radar changes my squawk code. I’m cruising at 8000 feet above a solid cloud layer, but as I pass over Wales it breaks up to a scattered layer and I see the rolling hills below me and then the coast line. I have a ten knot headwind, which is to be expected. ATC requests confirmation of my routing before I head out across the Irish Sea. It’s nice to have that confirmation as I didn’t receive a full route clearance from Oxford. As I get close to the coast, ATC advises me that I’m cleared to cross the FIR boundary. I realize that with the flight planning system I’ve been using, I haven’t been reporting FIR boundaries nor the estimated time to each border. Hmm, I’ll have to get back into good habits before departing Europe as I’ll be doing flight plans manually again. I see the Irish coastline and snap a few pictures before heading over clouds again. I’m flying on top at 8000 feet, but slowly the clouds come up to meet me. I check the temperature which is just above freezing. As I enter the clouds, I see rain drops scurrying up the windshield. It’s rain, not ice, so I’m relieved. I continue to watch the outside air temperature gauge. It creeps lower. I continue to check the windshield and it continues to be wet rain. Then I look at the wings. I see ice forming. The rain hits the wing and as it flows back, it turns to ice. From the leading edge of the wing there is about four inches of thin ice which has flowed backwards. There are also a few thicker sections protruding forwards. I called ATC right away and asked for lower due to icing. He clears to me 6000 feet immediately and I descend. At 7000 feet, there is still ice, it finally comes off at 6600 feet. I breathe a sigh of relief and continue down to 6000 feet where it is a positive two degrees Celsius. After a few minutes, the controller calls back to ask about the ice. What type was is, how much and where did it occur. I gave his the information, happy to help other pilots know what the actual conditions are. I continue and am given lower altitudes, then cleared for the approach. I finally break out of the clouds near 1000 feet but with the drizzle don’t see the airport until much closer. I land and taxi to the Light Aircraft Parking area where I’m picked up by a van and taken to the arrival area. Ten minutes after I’m through arrival, Francis and Pattie arrive with huge smiles and hugs. We haven’t seen each other since my 2003 flight around the world. My mother and Francis were first cousins and had met when they were children. My mother died of ALS and today, June 6th, was her birthday. Francis’ best man had died of ALS (it’s called Motor Neurone Disease, MND, in England). As it turned out, yesterday had been their 40th wedding anniversary. Instead of presents the 100 or so people, who attended their party and dance, donated money to MND research. We all want to see an end to this devastating disease.

We’ll be flying in Steve’s RV4 (a small homebuilt plane) to the scout camp, so there isn’t much luggage room. I repack to one small bag plus my sleeping bag and off we go. We fly in formation with Dave and John, in John’s RV, to the camp and do a fly-by for the scouts before landing. Pete White, with whom I’d been exchanging emails for many months, welcomes me to the camp and shows me around. There are 24 Air Scouts broken into four groups of six each in different lessons. During the day they learn navigation, marshaling, weather and instruments. This is almost over and they will each get a 20 to 25 minute flight where they will guide their pilot around a course then get to fly the plane. Each scout comes back with a huge smile. Some were a little nervous as they climbed into the plane; but each gained confidence and knowledge during the flight. My job is to give my presentation about my world-record flight after the dinner. I modify the content for their knowledge and see attentive faces during the presentation. There are many good questions afterwards. It was a good way to take what they had learned during the day and show what possibilities are available with more training and planning. I very much enjoyed being able to help Pete and his team with their objective of passing on their love of aviation to the next generation. We never know which will be ignited by the spark and go on to do great things in aviation. As many of us discussed, we get so much out of these activities; there is a huge reward in seeing the smiles on the faces of the kids after their flights. After a night on the ground in a sleeping bag, we have a full English breakfast and the final meetings. The kids are still full of life and talking about their flights. I talk with some of the boys and girls about what they have learned and what they are planning for a future. We pack up and Steve takes me back to Dunkeswell. It’s overcast and a little drizzly. Steve had flown the RV back home yesterday evening and returned by car due to this forecast. We discussed the various possibilities for me getting to my next stop in Oxford. I wasn’t optimistic about getting there VFR. When we arrived at the airport, the weather bore this out and I filed an IFR flight plan. Having used the system several times now, I was getting pretty good and it was completed and accepted in less than 15 minutes. I packed up and headed out with a big hug of thanks to Steve.

To England, June 4th Yesterday’s spot landing contest was amazing. There were all levels of competitors and the judges give a “break” to new pilots, making certain exceptions in the rules to make it a little easier for them. Each pilot does three landings, the first a normal one, the second simulating engine failure (no additional power allowed after the downwind leg) but with flaps allowed and the third simulating engine failure and without flaps. I didn’t know that Hans’ had won the World Championship in the spot landing contest a number of years ago. Before lunch, in between groups of planes taking part, he took up a Cessna 152 and did his three landings. Wow, it was amazing to watch. I will have a video in the picture section soon. He hit the mark two times and was only off by several meters the third time. He certainly hasn’t lost his touch. Today, with many thanks to Hans, I depart St. Georgen and Ybbs Aero Club. The weather was not good enough yesterday for the navigation part of the competition, so that will take place today. I depart early to let everyone get on with their preparations. It’s a very short VFR flight to Wells airport, near Linz, where I will gas up. As I climb out, everyone is in the ramp waving. I waggle my wings in appreciation and head west. I’m in contact with Linz radar and direct to Wells. On downwind, I see an orange glider ahead of me. I ask the tower if he’s landing at Wells. The answer is affirmative, so I plan on extending my pattern and wonder how long it will take for him to exit the runway. Then, as I turn base and he turns final, I realize that he’s landing on a parallel grass runway, so there will be no interference. As I’m gassing up, I notice the price is 2.40 Euros per litre, much more expensive than in France. I take on 248 liters, 65.5 gallons. Add on the 18 Euro landing fee, and that’s a big bill. In the tower I pay the bills and get organized for departure. The tower controller asks my destination, as it’s a required input in the form he needs to fill out. I spell out EGTU, the designator for Dunkeswell. He stops on the ‘G’ and repeats it then asks where that is. The first two letters of each identifier determine the country. ED is Germany, LF is France, EG is England. Obviously he doesn’t have too many planes departing from his airport and heading that far away; it’s a five and a half hour flight. He and the other controller start talking and bring out more paperwork. England is a non-Schengen country, so more forms are required. Also, they call the police as a Passport check is also required. They read and check any other requirements on the screens, then say that all is ok and I can depart. In the tower, the controller gave me the squawk code and initial instructions. As I taxied out, I was to cross two grass runways before arriving at my concrete runway. I asked for clearance to cross each and called out on the radio as I crossed each. I didn’t want to make a mistake with runway incursions. As I departed, a glider was being towed up, so I kept a good eye on him also. When the clearance came, I couldn’t believe it, it was a full route clearance. I haven’t had one of those since leaving the Azores. Then, even more to my amazement, after spending a lot of time getting the complex routing into the GPS, air traffic control gave me a “clear direct to an intersection.” This was a huge savings, instead of going all around the Munich airspace. A bit later, I received another “clear direct OLIVI.” The original routing had lots of zig zags, so this again was a big savings. I’m cruising at 8000 feet and only have three hours and fifteen minutes to go. Looks like the time savings will be about 30 minutes over the whole route. I receive another direct short cut, then one to Brussels VOR. I confirm and put it in the GPS, but this isn’t on my flight plan. So, I will need further clearances, just as happened previously in Portugal, Spain and France. Within minutes, the new clearance comes through, it is on my route, so I’m good to continue. I can see the English channel but it’s too hazy to take a picture. The water is calm and the sky is blue – a beautiful day for crossing the channel. I’m handed over from Brussels to London; a nice Scottish accent greets me. Now she gives me direct Dover, which isn’t on my flight plan. But, I’m pretty close and feeling pretty good (having eaten two apples and taken a pee). The white cliffs of Dover are a magnificent site but it’s still too hazy to take a picture. I follow the airways down the coast and once I have Dunkeswell airport in sight I cancel IFR. Except the the controller says that radar control is cancelled but not my flight plan. I’ll have to remember to cancel it on the ground. I also have to remember that I’m flying to a non-Schengen country and need to complete additional paperwork. I’d bought the Pooley’s VFR charts and airport guide while in Bitburg, so I’d pulled them out and prepared for my arrival. I called in and indicated that I would land on runway 05. I heard another plane, but had no response from Dunkeswell radio. I saw the plane on the runway and he had been calling runway 04. I looked at the runway markings and sure enough there were what looked like newly painted numbers with 22 on one end and 04 on the other. So much for me buying the new book!! It’s already out of date on this airport’s runways. After landing I see lots of planes everywhere. It’s a nice sunny Saturday and everybody is flying. I decide to park near another plane off by itself on the other side of the runway and away from the busy ramp and grass area. After I shut down, I see someone walking over. I’m guessing it’s Steve who will be flying me to the Air Scout camp and short grass runway (too short for me to land there). He confirms that I’m parked ok and that we can go to the office and do all the formalities right away. I am relieved when the flight plan is cancelled and the paperwork for a non-Schengen arrival is completed. Now I can relax and join Steve, Dave and John for a cup of tea. .

May 28th Bitburg to Austria Heinrich, a German pilot, friend and earthrounder, is there to greet me and welcome me to Germany. We walk around the show as it’s setting up and he briefs me on my next leg to Austria. I’ll be staying with another earthrounder pilot, friend, Hans, and doing an oil change and 50 hour check. He recommends flying VFR and has printed out the flight route, charts and destination airport information. As it’s a short field, 400 meters of grass and 150 meters of concrete, he briefs me on the visual approach from both ends. He has landed there with his Mooney, TLS, so I feel relatively comfortable going there. It always helps to have a briefing before heading to a new field, especially a short one. The weather is closing in which is unfortunate for the show organizers and exhibitors. They have put a lot of preparation into this and a fun weekend can be ruined by bad weather. Heinrich has to head back home before the weather gets any worse. I wave goodbye and walk to the hotel which is located only 10 minutes from the main exhibit area. This was an old US air force base and most of the buildings around the area are old military barracks. They have been converted into office buildings and other industry has grown up in the area. Bitburg also has its own beer, which I try that evening. Very good taste and not too strong. It’s been many years since I’ve been in a bar in Germany, over 30. I’d forgotten about the length of time they take to pour a beer. They open the tap and fill the glass of which half is foam. They sit the glass down and go and do something else, return and fill again, go away, back, fill again. I learned that the average time to get served a beer is seven minutes. I should have called ahead from my room. But, it’s worth the wait. Opening day of the show is low clouds and rain; what a pity. By mid-afternoon, less than 20 planes have flown in. Paddy, the organizer, says that he had over 100 confirmations. But, it clears up for the late afternoon and for the 5pm airshow. Exhibitors are invited to a special hangar for beer during the air show. I meet and talk with several groups. Looking outside, there is a large and small plane doing a show together. The small plane is acting like a radio controlled plane, but we’re not sure. Then it lands in front of the crowd, as the big plane lands on the runway. It is an RC plane. It’s a fascinating routine and unusual. Later, other RC planes do air routines. The next morning, before my presentation, I’d been able to obtain all my English charts. That was useful as I’d been hoping to get them here. My presentation went well and I had a significant crowd, given the low turnout to the show. In the afternoon, while walking the exhibitors’ area, I found a flight plan filing company. They showed me their system, which looked simpler and more comprehensive than the French system I’d been using. Since I will only be around Europe for four months, they’d give me a special rate. Still, I have 14 days to test the system and see what I think. Once filed, all the route and destination charts and approaches are emailed in pdf format. So, I wouldn’t have to go to the other system and download the charts one by one. That is a huge time savings. I would also get all the weather information and confirmation of the filed flight plan. This was going to make my European flying much easier. I awoke to blue skies on Saturday morning. This was going to be a much better day for the show. I’d be departing after my presentation as I have two and a half hours to eastern Austria. The weather is cooperating today and the forecast looked good for the week. Hans has an air competition planned. I don’t know exactly how it works, but it sounds interesting and I’m looking forward to being there and getting the Mooney cleaned up and inspected. Well…things didn’t go exactly as planned. The presentation went very well with a large group and good book sales afterwards. Then I packed the plane and called Hans for the arrival weather. It was poor but forecast to improve as the afternoon went on. I called two hours later and it was improving; he thought it would be ok by the time I arrived. So, I taxied out and took off. The visual flight at 3500 feet was beautiful. The farm fields, hills, valleys, small towns, everything looked cozy and green. I saw two gliders at different places; they looked so graceful circling in the lift to gain altitude. I looked around but didn’t see any others and wondered how many were close by. The weather was great until about 100 miles out, then I could see lower clouds and poor visibility. I continued approaching until I was sure I couldn’t get through then I turned to my alternate to the southwest. I changed frequency listened to the weather and call Eggenfelden information. The ceiling was lower, but visibility was good, so I figured I could make it in there. I landed and walked up to the tower. The controller was very nice and showed me the weather. There was a line of rain between me and Hans. Also, looking out the window, it was closing in over the airport. I called Hans; the weather was much better where he was, but I couldn’t get there. I told him that I was stuck in Eggenfelden and would fly in the next morning. He was ok with that decision. A Czech pilot landed after me and offered me a ride into town. The tower controller called the local hotel and they had a room, so I accepted the ride. We each tied down our planes and off we went. It was only three kilometers, so I put everything in my backpack with the intention of walking back to the airport in the morning.

May 25, to Laval Departing Joigny on another beautiful summer day. I give a goodbye kiss (on both cheeks) to everyone who came to see me off. It has been a superb week with lots of good memories. I know the airspace is pretty clear around here and head for my first intersection. Seine approach says they will get back to me, so I have to wait several minutes before receiving a clearance. Then they give me a waypoint and squawk code. The waypoint is not on my flight plan and is 100 miles away, but in the right direction. The fields below are beautiful and there is so much open space; green fields and forests, it’s magnificent. I fly over the city of Orlean and then Le Mans. I look for the race track, but don’t see it. Then it’s time to start the descent. Approach advises me that the tower is gone for lunch and to cancel my flight plan with him. He gives me a phone number to call. The airport is deserted, no one in the tower, no one at arrivals or departure. Also no one at the gas pumps; so I’ll have to gas up in the morning. I call the number and cancel my flight plan. I’d parked the Mooney by three jets in a parking area as I didn’t have any other indication of where to park. I packed up my bag and went back to the terminal just as Eileen and Jim drove up. I recognized Eileen right away; I wasn’t sure if I would or not after 36 years. We talked almost non-stop, remembering things and talking about what we’d done since our last meeting in 1975. They are rebuilding some very old buildings near a chateau. Being that close to a chateau they are required to do all the reconstruction using original materials and in a similar fashion to the original style. This is what they wanted anyway. Two buildings are complete and a third is well underway. They will live in one of the buildings and rent out the others to tourists. It’s going to be a wonderfully quiet get-away. Yet still close to lots of tourist destinations. After a very quick reunion with Eileen and her husband, Jim, it was time to leave again. The weather was ok for the morning but rain and thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon. I really wanted to get to Germany before that. Also, the airport has no instrument approaches, so I needed to arrive VFR and get below the clouds with enough altitude to do the last 10 miles visually. The formalities in the tower were relatively quick. After entering everything in the computer, the total bill was 9 euros. The avgas was 2 euros per liter, approx. $ 10.67 per gallon. I took 153 litres…don’t look at the bill. The wind was howling and it was chilly so after a quick goodbye I jumped into the cockpit and closed the door. Everything was set, I started up and back taxied down the runway. The clearance was only to the first waypoint, but I was getting used to this procedure and it doesn’t worry me anymore. I took off and climbed through clouds to flight level 070 with a communication handoff to Rennes approach, then Nantes approach. I was on top of the clouds in smooth air, but only one minute from my intersection with no further clearance. So I called approach and he gave me the next one immediately. Another handoff and another change of waypoint, but this gives me 100 miles before the next clearance, so I have some time to get everything organized in the cockpit. The tailwind is 38 knots, GREAT. In no time I’m around the south side of Paris and headed northeast to Bitburg, a former US air force base. The clouds have been pretty solid below, but it looks like they are ending ahead. Yep, I fly over a pretty straight line where the clouds end and I have good visibility below. Further ahead looks like high dark clouds. When I get closer, there are little rain showers, but still good visibility. I get a handoff to Luxemburg who says that I can cancel IFR whenever I want and the VFR handoff has been organized. Wow, nice service. I finally cancel and start down. I can see Bitburg ahead and am handed off to the tower. As I’m arriving a day before the show starts, there are few planes arriving at the same time, so I’m cleared to downwind then cleared to land. The wind is gusting over 20 knots but only 10 degrees off the runway heading, so I stop in no time and take the first taxiway exit. The tower tells me that they have cancelled my flight plan and to follow the marshallers, which I do. There have not been too many arrivals, so I’m parked pretty close to the show area. I open the door as the marshaller walks around to greet me. I say “gutten tag” and a deep English voice responds, “welcome to Bitburg.” The show is run by an English group and all the workers have come over for the show. They have many bi-lingual Germans helping them also; but by far, the majority are English. The sister aero-expo is in Northampton, England, next month. I’m scheduled to talk there also.

May 24th a week in Sens. What a great week near Sens, France, where I lived and worked in the 1980’s and 90’s (boy that sounds old). As I talked with old colleagues and friends, we realized that it has been 16 years since I departed. I’ve returned a few times for visits, but still a lot has happened. We’re all older, the kids have grown up, some friends have died. Many changes. On Saturday Dr. Ahang had set up a media day in Lognes near Paris. I was very worried about flying VFR into that busy air space. Ahead of time, Dr. Ahang and his daughter, Pauline, talked me through the things to do and who to talk with. But still, I was worried during the flight. I had friends Gerard and Georges on board who enjoyed the flight, took lots of pictures and started pointing out the Eiffel Tower and other Paris landmarks as we got close. I was concentrating 100%, didn’t get much time to look out and isolated myself on the intercom so that I could talk with the tower as I got close. After landing, I felt much better and there were lots of people to greet us. I very much enjoyed the return flight, took photos and enjoyed watching the small villages with red tile roofs pass below. After the introductions at Lognes, I gave my presentation about the 2008 world-record flight in French. I had help with words that I didn’t know and it went very well. I was presented with a medal and there was a toast afterwards. All very nice. The rest of the time was spent with friends, talking and reminiscing. The week passed too quickly and it’s time to head out again. I have a quick flight to Laval, France, to see a friend that I haven’t seen in over 35 years. I stayed at her parent’s home in England when I was working as a student one summer during University (back in the mid 1970s). She and I were almost the same age and spent much time together. Time has passed and we reconnected by email over a year ago. So now we get to meet again. The afternoon before departure I spent hours working on the next two flight plans. It’s not the same as in the US. Everything has to be perfect in the system or it will be rejected. As Joigny is southeast of Paris and Laval is southwest, I’ll be flying through an area with no airways (as all the airways are like spokes coming into Paris). So, I filed a direct route. It was not accepted as the legs are too long. The maximum for a direct leg is 50 nautical miles. So, I have to find a route by picking waypoints that are not too far apart. FINALLY it’s accepted. The next day I’ll be flying to Germany, so I’d better get that one figured out ahead of time. After another frustrating hour that one is accepted also. I’m sure that I’ll get quicker at this and for pilots who fly a lot, I’m sure they have routes that they know and use all the time. But, for one time flights, this is a lengthy process. Actually, when I fly in the northeast corridor of the US or in southern Florida or southern California, I always have to flight airway routes and flight planning takes longer. It’s in the middle of the US where we have lots of open spaces that I file direct to destination and get that clearance all the time. Really, our flying in the US is exceptionally free and easy. Also, the weather isn’t cooperating. Wednesday to Laval, will be beautiful. But, there is a low pressure system moving across England that will bring clouds and rain to northern France and Germany. The next morning, I move my departure time forward for the flight to Germany. It looks as if the weather will deteriorate as the day progresses.

May 17, 2011 Ales to Joigny The two couples, Elisabeth and Andre and Charlene and Christian, took great care of us with wonderful meals and lots of cheese and wine. We toured the area and learned the history and weather patterns. I didn’t have any idea of the history of Nimes; it was fascinating. There is an ancient Roman arena in the center of town. Bull fights are still held two times per year, in July and September during festivals lasting six days. The arena is also used for other programs during the year. On a hill overlooking the town, the Romans built a tower which still stands and one can climb to the top and look out over the town. Also in town is another Roman building which looks like a small coliseum. It has been cleaned and restored a little, but the majority especially the columns are original. The next day we went further to the east to see the Pont du Gard which is an old Roman aqueduct. It’s almost 500 meters long and over 2000 years old. The whole water system goes from the natural water source in Uzes, further north, to Nimes, traveling over 60 kilometers and over 10 aqueducts. This is the largest and most spectacular. It’s the third most visited site in France after the Eiffel Tower and Versailles. It was impressing. Click on photos to the right. On the last day we went south to the Camargue area, it’s a swampy area, like the south of Florida without aligators. After touring the harbor, which was the first southern port in France, we visited Aigues-Mortes, a medieval town founded in 1240 by Louis IX, and walked around the ramparts. This area in the south of France has so much to offer. It’s no wonder that tourists come here for more than just the warm and sunny weather. I spent an hour or so preparing and entering the flight plan for the next day. Flemming had showed me a website which helped a lot with validation to insure that everything is correct before sending it to Brussels. Then I just wait for and email and SMS to confirm that the flight plan is okay. This is my first flight plan and flight without a local pilot helping me. I think I’ve done everything correctly, but am a little apprehensive. Although the airport doesn’t have much traffic, there is a tower and the female controller is there when we arrive. So, after pre-flighting the plane, I head to the tower to pay the parking and check on the flight plan. Parking was only three euros per night, very reasonable. She calls to check on the flight plan and says that it is in the system and I can pick it up in the air. Not knowing that someone would be in the tower, I’d filed a ‘Z’ flight plan, departing VFR and picking up the IFR part in the air. With lots of hugs and kisses, we loaded up and started up. The takeoff was directly into the wind and we climbed northeast to our first waypoint. The controller gave us a squawk code and we were radar identified. Now I can relax and quit worrying about airspace. It’s definitely easier to fly IFR than VFR in the congested airspace in Europe. We have beautiful views of the Alps, with snow still on the peaks. It’s only a two hour flight over the Rhone valley with lots of agriculture in the rich soil. It’s quite a contrast to the area of Nimes that has very poor rocky soil and only grows vines for wine. The rest is left in its natural state, Due to lots of sun, rocky soil and very low rainfall in the summer, the trees are stubby and grow very slowly and the rest of the vegetation is scrawny also. It has a rough natural beauty and is green everywhere you look. Now we are flying over rich farm fields with lots of colors, yellow for the sunflowers and lots of different greens for wheat, hay, corn and other plants. We ask for a descent and start down. There are a few clouds around, but scattered and at about 5000 feet. Below them we look ahead for the runway. I’d been here in 2003 and thought I knew where it was, on top of a hill to the north of the town of Joigny. I picked it out pretty quickly and cancelled our IFR flight plan. The controller told me two times that I’d have to cancel my VFR flight plan on the ground. I wrote myself a note and asked Wes to remind me. We circled over the airport, made all the appropriate position reports in French, and came in for a landing to the west. I remembered where I’d parked eight years ago and came to a stop in roughly the same place on the open ramp. There were four people walking toward the plane as we shut down. As usual, we don’t have time to clean up the cockpit before they start asking questions. One is a local politician who wants to welcome us to Joigny, one is a local reporter who has lots of questions and takes pictures for the newspaper. One is from the airport, Monsieur Richard, who helps us to tie-down and get everything organized. The last is Wes’ friend, Jean, who is here to meet him and take him home. In the middle of all this talking and unloading, Wes reminds me to cancel my flight plan—again I’d forgotten. I thanked him, borrowed Mr. Richard’s mobile phone and closed the flight plan. I’ve got to find a way to remind myself to do this. My friend, Gerard Bonneau, had joined us in the south of France and has six hours driving to get back here, so he arrived a little later. A couple of pilots came by to talk before heading out for a flight on this beautiful day. Wes headed north with Jean and Gerard and I headed home. As I used to work in this area, I have lots of friends to visit during the coming week. We also have a media day set up near Paris on Saturday to spread the word about the flight and ALS research. It’s going to be another busy week.

May 12-14 Rabastens to Nimes, France The next day we took off in Flemming’s Mooney. We flew only 10 minutes to an airfield to the south of Tarbes, but in that time changed frequencies four times due to airspace coverage. It’s difficult to fly VFR in Europe if you are not familiar with the airspace. After lunch we headed to an Altiport, a mountain airport with a 17% grade runway. Flemming has his mountain rating and had landed here several times before. Wes and I were impressed. We overflew the top of the airport, to check for up and down drafts, then turned left downwind and set-up for a landing. Flemming made all the radio calls and was committed by the turn to final. He checked again the right airspeed and altitude and in we went with a large change is pitch as we settle down on the runway with a huge nose up attitude. After touching down, he added power to get up the grade to the flat ramp on top. It was amazing. He said that if you waited too long to add power, there is no way of getting the plane up the runway. After a beautiful walk in the mountains, we checked the plane, loaded up and headed for a downhill takeoff. You can’t see anyone on short final, so we looked further out and listened to the radio; no-one was arriving so over the hill we went. It was impressive how we picked up speed, rotated and were off and climbing. The runway drops over 100 feet in less than 500 meters. Flemming climbed to 8000 feet and circled a mountain top before descending down the other side and returning to Rabastens. We had fantastic views and thoroughly enjoyed the flights. Two days later, it’s time to load up again. Due to the weather, we headed east together to Carcassonnes and spent the day walking around the re-built towered medieval city. The turrets and towers were high and the streets were narrow. The walls around the city had slits for sending hot oil down over any aggressors. At the end of the day, Flemming and Angela returned in their Mooney to Rabastens and Wes and I flew to Ales, north of Nimes in the south of France. I had the departure procedure and the weather looked ok, but as we took off, it started to look much worse in our direction as two CBs were building and almost joining together. I wondered if we could go between them. There was nothing showing in our direction on the storm scope. I asked for 20 degrees right course correction to get right in the middle. Just as in the US, this was approved and I was asked to advise when I was back on course. I was expecting some turbulence, but as we entered, there was absolutely none. Soon, we saw the ground ahead and were out the other side without a bump…not what I’d expected, but was happy that it was over. It was hazy, but good VFR ahead. After Montpelier, we turned left and our airport, Ales was only 23 nautical miles ahead. After was saw it, I cancelled IFR and asked if the controller could cancel VFR for us. He said no, we’d have to do that on the ground and he gave us the telephone number. I called in French with our position and all around the pattern. We saw no-one, the airport was deserted. I circled and landed and we saw our friends waving as they had all come to welcome us. After parking and unloading the plane, we rolled over two tires, filled with concrete and tied down the Mooney. There were no other planes on the ramp and no-one around. We talked non-stop all the way home and through dinner. I hadn’t seen these friends, from when we all worked together in the north of France, for over 5 years. It was 3am the next morning that I awoke with a start. I’d forgotten to close my flight plan. I tried the French phone number that I’d been given. I tried it with the country code in front. Nothing worked. The next morning, I asked to use the house phone and called the number to close the flight plan. The controller at the other end asked if I’d just landed. I said no, I’d landed at 7pm last evening. He said that things must be alright as no search and rescue had been sent out. But, he advised me, not to forget another time. Often helicopters are sent out and all costs are to be paid by the pilot. I’ve got to find a way to remember to close my flight plans and I’ve got to figure out how to reach them on my US cell phone.

I try to give a quick daily update on Facebook. For those of you without Facebook pages, you can see the updates on: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dash-for-a-Cure/148572991861368 I will continue to put longer updates on this page; but these are not daily, unfortunately. Yesterday we flew into an Altiport, mountain airport, in France. What an approach and landing; amazing.

May 9 to France After a fantastic three days touring Lisbon with Delfim and Clara, it was time to pack up and depart again. I’d spent several hours with Delfim the previous day preparing and entering the flight plan and getting approval from Brussels. I had everything written down and hoped that there wouldn’t be too many changes to the routing. We had to call three times, five minutes apart, to get approval for startup. They didn’t have our flight plan and don’t approve startup until everything is in order. The clearance was only for the departure procedure and no further, so we didn’t really have a clearance to fly to destination. Unusual, but, well that’s the way it was. We were a little frustrated after the departure as we were headed southwest for the first 15 minutes before ATC turned us SE for another 10 minutes. Both the wrong direction…. Finally we were turned to east and then northeast, our flight planned direction. I asked Wes how they expected us to give an accurate time over the country boundary, in the planning process, if we head the wrong direction for the first half hour? Our calls to Portuguese ATC began with bom dia, their good morning. Now in Spanish airspace, we start with buenos dias. As we neared Madrid they changed our altitude from Flight level 100, 10,000 feet with the standard altimeter setting of 29.92, to 10,000 foot altitude with the current altimeter setting. In our case, this resulted in a difference of about 250 feet. On the other side of Madrid, we were returned to flight levels. We had one reroute while in Madrid airspace, then followed our course. Flemming, earthrounder and friend, had emailed us early in the flight to report weather in France and that lunch would be on the table for our arrival, how nice! The mountains were picturesque to the south of Madrid, but breathtaking when we saw the Pyrenees and the Biarritz coastline. A turn southeast and a descent to 3000 feet and we were almost there. Finally we saw the airfield, cancelled our IFR flight plan, and called our VFR position over the field. Flemming had emailed specific arrival procedures, including our radio calls in French. I was a little high and fast, but slowed down, slipped and finally put it down. Not my best landing, but Flemming and Angela were there to wave us welcome and show us where to park. Three days here, to rest and catch up on all the flying and air park news. Then we’ll head towards Nimes, France on Friday.

May 6th Porto to Lisbon What an amazing city built on high cliffs overlooking the Douro River. We bought a 2-day bus, boat and cave (wine tasting) pass. We were busy, learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Wes has already talked with Sandy and told her they will be returning to visit together and stay longer. There is so much more to do. On Friday, May 6th we were packing and ready to depart again. We took to efficient, clean and mostly above ground metro back to the airport and our handler, Bernardo, picked us up. He got us to the flight planning office where we filed our VFR flight plan down the shoreline to Cascais. I asked if we’d be talking with the military air traffic controllers along the way (as I’d looked at the charts and saw that much of the airspace was controlled). He said that we were ok to fly VFR down the coast and if anyone said anything to tell them that ATC at Porto had approved it. Bernardo got us the weather, gave us an espresso, took our 162 Euros and took us out to the plane on the ramp. The weather was good, but declining as some rain showers were forecast for later in the evening and Saturday. We had absolutely no problem with a clearance and taxi and were cleared for immediate departure. Good timing for us as three planes called for taxi and clearance immediately after us and they each had slot times. Bernardo had told us that we wouldn’t have any trouble departing as we were going VFR. Porto is on the coast, so we had beautiful views right away. It was a little hazy, but still over 10 miles visibility. We got another perspective of downtown Porto, the Douro River, the bridges and Gaia on the south side of the river. As we continued south, the beaches were open and deserted; there was no-one and also very little access. We passed several airports, one is a current military base, the others looked deserted. There were cities, cliffs, harbors, ports, many inland waterways and always hills in the background, to the east. It is a magnificent coastline and we wondered how the Portuguese managed to take this much valuable coastline from the Spanish (in the turbulent wars of the past). We couldn’t wait to ask our host, Delfim, when we arrived. As we “turned the corner” heading east, the Sintra controller handed us over to Cascais tower who was already handling four planes in the pattern. Boy he was busy. This is the busiest we’ve heard a controller since leaving the east coast of America. He fit us in, we landed and taxied to the welcome of Delfim, fellow earthrounder and friend. Last evening we had the most amazing dinner with Delfim and Clara in their Lisbon home. Clara prepared two Dorado fish in a traditional, simple Portuguese way: just salt in the middle with pastry wrapped around the fish and cooked for 35 minutes. It was superb with all the flavor of the fish, just simply flavorful and juicy. We could even taste the difference between the top and bottom part of the fish; the bottom having a more rich flavor. The fun part was that Clara had “dressed up” the fish as a male and a female, giving the female long eyelashes and striped down the body of the pastry. Delfim had already introduced us to a Portuguese white wine with some cheese and after dinner offered us a red wine with stronger cheese. We finished off the outstanding evening with an amazing Port wine and more terrific conversation. What can we say but thank you Delfim and Clara. On the history, the Portuguese took the area of Portugal from the Moors in 1147 AD by driving them out to north Africa, the area which is now Morocco. It seems they have had many battles, but have held their territory ever since. As Delfim pointed out, with the coastline and the Azores, Portugal controls a very large airspace over the Atlantic Ocean. 1755 was a transforming year for Lisbon as an earthquake hit, killing over 40,000 people and destroying the city. After that it was rebuilt in a “geometric and rational city plan” following the enlightenment of other European cities of the time.

May 3rd, 2011 to Porto Another good breakfast, but looking out the window there are clouds all around. Not low yet, but forecast to descend. We’ll head to the airport right away. Wes turns in the car and gets the weather while I start the flight plan and gas-up procedure. Again we have a friendly woman who says, “You are new here. You haven’t been here before.” I explained that we came from Canada to Horta and are leaving for Porto, so this is my first visit here. Obviously she knows the regulars. She calls the avgas people, but says it might be a while as they have to load the tank. She takes my flight plan and faxes it to ATC for entry into the system and says it will be a while before we get the release. I head out to the plane to pre-flight and load up. When I return, the avgas guys still haven’t shown up, but ATC calls with the flight plan confirmation and reads to me the actual route that he will enter. This is a big help as the waypoints would have been difficult to get over the radio. Then the gas truck drives by, so I rush out again. I fill out the paper work and he asks how I will pay, cash in US dollars or Euros. I’d planned to us a credit card and don’t have enough Euros left, so I’ll use my dollars. I fill the mains and partially fill one of the outboard tanks. This flight is only five and a half hours and I’m guessing that avgas will be cheaper on the mainland than on the islands. We’ll see. When I’m finished, Wes is also ready and has the weather. We’re ready to go again. We still can’t believe the huge expanse of ramp with only our little plane on it. I just expected Santa Maria to be the hub of the Azores; another bad assumption. We ask for startup, get the clearance and taxi out. We’re looking forward to visiting Porto. Wes has been surfing the internet and has found lots of great things to do, including visiting a winery and tasting Port wine. The flight was smooth with clouds below. We had to climb to 8000 after about three hours to stay above them. As we came into Lisbon airspace, everyone handled us very well. Porto’s ATIS said the VOR was out, but gave us direct to the initial approach point for the VOR. Then told everyone else to do the NDB approach. They offered us a visual, which I accepted. Then they cleared us for the DNB approach. It was pretty clear with some little puffy clouds to go through, so no problem. On the ground there was more of a problem. It was a HUGE ramp and we were assigned to stand 66. The normal yellow and black car drove us to our spot, then left. A handler showed up and asked if we wanted handling (that’s expensive). I said that we had already passed into Europe in Santa Maria and I thought we were ok. He left and another airport car showed up. He explained that we needed a slot to get into and out of Porto and handling was mandatory. He said he’d send a handler. Another showed up and took us to his office. Expensive, yes, 95 Euros for his services, although the airport fees for three days wasn’t any worse than the islands, 45 Euros. Then he took us to the tourist and explained about the subway/metro into the city. It all worked out very well.

Sunday, May 1st, 2011 I saw the forecast last evening and this morning bears it out, overcast, ceiling at Horta between 600 and 800 feet. Santa Maria and Ponta Delgada aren’t low yet, but will be going down by noon. We need to get out of here early and get into Santa Maria early, or we might not make it. We have our regular breakfast of good coffee and rolls with butter and honey. Then pack up and head to the airport. Because there is a morning flight, the rental car place is open, so we can turn in the car. Otherwise, we need to call ahead so someone could meet us there to turn in the car. We have no trouble getting to the general aviation area. I showed the piece of paper we were given on arrival and they let us through. I had been telling Wes that in other countries, this is usually the most difficult part – getting back to the airplane. I fill out a flight plan and look at updated weather for Santa Maria, still good. We load the plane and chat with the friendly guy in the office. He files our flight plan and calls the center to make sure they receive it and prepare a clearance. Everyone here has been so friendly. Once we confirm the flight plan is in the system, we say our goodbyes and head to the plane. I remember to ask for startup this time and he gives us the departure clearance. A commuter has just left, so there will be plenty of time between our flights. We back taxi down the runway and are cleared to takeoff and climb to flight level 100, 10,000 feet. The clouds are ragged, but don’t start until about 800 feet. We make the turn away from any obstacles and continue climbing. About 8000 feet we’re above the clouds and start feeling turbulence from the mountain of Pico which is behind us. We finally level off at 10,000 and it’s smooth. Then, I can’t maintain altitude. We’re down to 65 knots with the nose up but descending at over 500 feet per minute. I can’t stop it. I ask ATC for a descent to 8000 feet which is approved. At 8,800 the descent stops and a climb starts. I put the nose down and back off the power, but we’re at 9400 feet in no time. The speed is over 200 knots and we’re just level with a nose down attitude. Now, I need to get down. Wow, we’ve never seen anything like that before. Significant down drafts followed by significant up drafts. Finally we level off at 8000 feet and cruise above the clouds to Santa Maria. Control gives us a squawk code and we’re identified on radar. As we get close, we ask for a descent and go down to 3500 feet then 3000 feet. We’re still not visual, so we start the approach outbound. We see the sea below and turn inbound. Finally we see the airport. The land is relatively flat on the southwest coast of the island. We land and taxi down the wide runway to the huge ramp. No other planes are around and we have it to ourselves. I thought the ramp was going to be crowded… not a chance. This place is huge and we are the only plane on it. No customs this time. The person says to come back and pay landing and parking when we are ready to depart. That’s it, easy. She escorts us out and helps us get a rental car. It’s May 1st, a holiday in most of the world and everything is closed. Also, there is only one flight a day at this airport and everything closes outside of that timeframe. Finally she reaches someone who comes to the airport to rent us a car. We are given directions into town and find the hotel. Time to head out and explore this new island. We visited the port first; we could see images of the old days in our heads. The port was protected on two sides by high cliffs. In the center was a high cliff with a fort on top and cannons sticking out the walls. A great place to land and set up a city. The city is protected behind the fort. No wonder the islands were never taken from the Portuguese after they settled here. Then we headed to Anjus where, apparently, Christopher Columbus stopped on his return journey after discovering America. There is a statue of Columbus in the center of town given by the Americans on the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the “new world.” We continued further through what could have passed for rain forests with the density of vegetation and rain. On the north side of the island in low clouds and fog we visited a church on a hill; great setting and very peaceful. We returned home, saving the other half of the island for tomorrow. The hotel only has expensive internet, so we found a restaurant where we could sit and connect. It turned out that the daughter running the place was born in Boston of Portuguese parents. She returned with her father to run her grandfather’s restaurant. By the looks of it this night, it is very successful. She had introduced an American desert, brownie with hot chocolate icing, ice cream and whipped cream on top. We loved it and she said the locals do also.

The morning weather was still forecast for scattered clouds; we might make it out. As we took the bus to the airport, there were a few openings in the clouds and as I prepared the Mooney, the clouds became very scattered. Wes and I were happy that we would be able to depart. I forgot to ask for the engine startup, but the clearance and taxi permission came pretty quickly and we were headed down these huge taxiways and runways to the other end of the airport. One other plane took off and we were cleared for takeoff. It looked great ahead, two layers of clouds and clear above. The temperature was just at zero Celsius, so we’d be able to avoid any icing. We were above the clouds and cruising at 7000 feet, doing our first reporting point, still VFR, but the controller was giving us HF frequencies for our next report. After a while a controller asked if we could fly at FL100 before reaching Flores, which is the first island in the Azores. We said yes and eventually the clearance came back to do so. Since the forecasts we’d seen showed better winds at 10,000 feet, we climbed up. The winds were better, but the engine just did not have its normal performance. The TAS (True Air Speed) was very low, the rpm was higher than normal and the gas consumption was much higher than normal. The engine was also sputtering. It was not acting normal at all. I fiddled with the mixture and propeller settings but nothing would settle it down. We finally decided to descend. After leveling at 9000, it was still not acting as normal, so we continued down to 8000. Finally everything settled to its normal “hum” and the fuel consumption was where it should be. I had been getting very tense. There was no question about making it to Horta, but there was no avgas there. We had another hour and a half to Santa Maria to find avgas. With a higher gas consumption during this 8 hour flight, I was worried about our ability to make it to Santa Maria. Now I’m feeling much better. Although the winds are forecast to die down as we approach the Azores, we will have had good tailwinds for the majority of the flight. We’re over half way, have had our snacks, apple and oat bar, and are feeling pretty good. Sandy, Wes’ wife, sent a satellite phone message that the SPOT stopped reporting. It’s been turned on with the tracker light flashing the whole time, but we’ll reset it. Wes is comparing this flight with his and Sandy’s crossing the Atlantic Ocean in their sailboat in 1989. It took them 14 days to do what we are doing in just over 8 hours. At least they could go below decks for a glass of wine and go to sleep as necessary. We won’t need either until we land. Wes has been doing the position reports using the HF radio. Each transmission and reception has been very clear. We were listening to New York radio for a while and the controller was re-routing all the airliners heading west. I guess there was weather somewhere or congestion that needed to be avoided. Anyway, it was non-stop reroutes for over an hour, until we switched to Santa Maria radio. We went through and over large patches of clouds that we’d seen on the weather reports. Now there are just a few scattered clouds around and the sea is pretty calm. Only 20 minutes outside of Santa Maria terminal airspace. Just over two hours to go. Wes and I have been reviewing the approaches into Horta, but are hoping that they’ll let us come in visually. A local commuter arrived just before us, so we have to do one turn in the holding pattern and the approach. We have a stunning view of the island. In no time we are down and parking the plane. What a beautiful place. We can’t wait to explore and stretch our legs.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 The morning was as forecast, low ceilings, less than 100 feet and low visibility less than ¼ mile. But, the forecasts were more optimistic for clearing. After several calls with Wes, he and Bill decided to fly to Plymouth and we’d probably depart for St. John’s. Kabir and I packed and headed to the airport to gas up and get the airplane ready for departure. As we’d be an hour later than originally planned, we really needed to make sure everything was ready and do a relatively quick turn around. Bill and Wes arrived on time; we’d been following them on flightaware.com. Wes’ friends, Barbara and Doug, had come to the airport to see us off. They didn’t have too much time to chat, but it was nice of them to be there. Quick hellos and goodbyes all around and Wes and I load up. Even though we were slightly late and the desire was to rush, we took our time getting everything set and prepared. Kabir videod ourtaxi and departure as we contacted Cape Departure. It’s great to get the clearance on the ground. We head directly out over the coast towards Nova Scotia. But, we couldn’t see anything as there was fog to the north over Boston and fog over the coast to the east. We were above it and climbed above the clouds to cruise at 7000 feet. We had trouble reaching the Boston Center frequencies as they did not have strong signals. As soon as we were transferred to Moncton Center, the signal was loud and clear. They were also extremely attentive, pointing out rain cells and lightening. Wes, being a ham radio buff, talked with some old friends on the HF. One was in Charlotte, NC, and the other in the Turks and Caicos. We had great signals. Two hours flown and three hours to go. I’ve already eaten my sandwich (thanks Kabir) and Wes had an apple and almonds. We’ve been in clouds and rain for over an hour and it’s not letting up. It actually continues for another hour as the outside air temperature descends close to zero. I wonder if the forecast might have been wrong, so ask for the St. John’s weather. It’s actually better than forecast, so we should come out of this weather eventually. Not soon enough, as I finally ask for lower and we descend to 5000 feet. The rain is continuing and the temperature hasn’t increased much. Then I see what looks like snow. Wes thinks I’m kidding, then he sees the same thing. There’s no rain on the windshield, but definitely a dry precipitation. Luckily, it doesn’t last very long and the temperature starts creeping up a degree or two. We’re on top of a cloud layer and cruising with only an hour and a half to go. Both feeling much better. Gander Center turns us over to St. Pierre. He says he wants us to contact them for a while then they will hand us back to him. All very nice and social around here. The woman controller advises us that another plane has just taken off, but won’t be above 1500 feet. So, no problem for us, except that the controller and the pilot are talking in French. We see the islands ahead, St. Pierre. After being in clouds and rain for three hours, it’s nice to be able to look out and see something. As we get closer, I take a video and picture and ask Wes if that’s SNOW on the ridges. Sure looks like it. Arrival at St. John’s is amazingly busy. There seem to be about four planes all arriving at the same time. Everyone one else is doing the ILS 29 approach, but the controller lets us do a visual approach which saves lots of time and gas. The landscape is very bare, with ridges down to the sea. The land seemed to be rocky plateaus with pockets of water, almost like a moonscape with lakes. The wind is strong, but only 30 degrees off the runway. These runways must be the widest I’ve ever seen. Not too many taxiways, we just taxi down another runway until we get to our exit where the linemen guide us to a stop. When Wes opens the door, the wind and cold whip inside and we both shiver and laugh. This is COLD. We put on our jackets and exit. The tug pushes our plane into the hangar as the lineman tells me that they are still having frost at night and the forecast is for freezing rain tonight. Even though it’s a C$ 100 for the night, it’ll be worth it. I file the flight plan with Flight Service and talk through some issues on the phone with the expert. He points out some areas of concern and clarifies several things that are difficult to read (from the fax). Then we discuss the weather for the morning. Based on his experience, he thinks it’s optimistic. I told him that we are ready to stay if necessary. The nice woman, Stephanie, behind the desk, facilitates all of this and calls the hotel bus. She’ll have everything ready for us in the morning and she’ll be back at 5am. That’s a little early, we’ll be back at 7am. The tour through the town to the hotel showed very few trees, lots of rocks, nobody outside, due to the cold. It had a bare feeling. But, the people everywhere have been super friendly and helpful. ATC when we asked questions, Stephanie, the FSS person, the bus driver. This continues at the hotel, everyone is friendly. I spend over an hour updating the Garmin 396 with the European data base. I couldn’t do it before because it replaces the North American data base which we needed through this flight. On the Gamin 430, I have an extra chip, so I had the US and Europe and just changed in the middle. It was a frustrating time, but successful. Then we headed to the restaurant for dinner and a beer.

Up the east coast I left Flying Tiger airport, where I live, to head to Lakeland Airport, which I wanted to use as my start and end points. Then I flew to Merritt Island to pick-up Wes. He is going to cross the Atlantic Ocean with me, then return home from Paris. Unbelievably, the tach went out on the first leg. The needle was showing the rpm, but the counter quit rotating. Oh well, I just won’t get any hours on this flight. Actually, I was thinking that I could note the start and stop times and record everything that way. On arrival at Merritt Island, another plane called in and asked where the avionics shop was in the field. Great I thought, just what I need, an avionics shop. No problem, we exchanged the tach and installed the new one. But, the plane has quite a few hours on it, 6228 hours to be exact. How many more things might go wrong? Due to an engine change last year, the engine only has 400 hours on it and I’ve replaced the older instruments and cables. Hopefully nothing major will go wrong on this flight. Goodbyes to Sandy and we’re off, headed north. In the air with Wes, we organized the cabin, discussed egress with the life raft and ditch bag and tucked away wires. We have lots of supplimental equipment on board: video camera, voice recorder, SPOT tracker, satellite phone with external antenna and GPS with weather antenna and external antenna. That makes for a lot of “stuff” on the glare shield and lots of wires.

I've been watching the weather in St. John's, Newfoundland, and in the Azores for the past few weeks. The weather in the Azores has been terrible. Day after day the ceiling was between 200 and 800 feet with strong winds and rain. Not good for an arrival after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Finally, the last week has been good weather every day. I guess the winter weather is over. St. John's still has snow showers this week; can you believe it? We're into the final week and I have the 10-day forecast for Boston and St. John's. It's ok, but not great for both. It might be that we wait one extra day for better weather. But, we'll get a more definite forecast before making that decision.

Just over a week to go before departure. With my mechanic, Arthur, we've completed the final modifications to the plane for the ferry tanking system. Last Saturday I flew for three hours to test the tanking system and fuel flow. It worked great. I really won't need it until crossing the South Pacific, but if things continue to be bad in North Africa and the Middle East, I might tank up and over fly all those countries. It would be a pity as I would like to visit many of them. I'm packing and weighing everything this week. I'll meet with Wes, my co-pilot across the Atlantic, and we'll practice egress together and how to get the life raft out of the plane in an emergency. We leave Florida and head north next week. Stay tuned.

A week in Austria The next morning was bright and sunny and I walked the four kilometers to the airport. In the tower, I paid the nine Euros parking ($13) after already paying the nine Euro landing fee the previous day. I looked at the Linz weather, nearest to where I was going, and it was low overcast, but forecast to start clearing in an hour. I decided to wait, knowing that there were hills between me and where I was going. Finally the actual weather looked good and I took off. The airport had been pretty busy on that Sunday morning with parachute jumping and about four different homebuilt planes flying around. This was going to be less than an hour, but already I could see mist in the valleys ahead. The visibility stayed over 10 miles and I continued, climbing to 3500 feet. I stayed north of Linz traffic area then turned the corner and headed southeast. Finally I saw the river and hills that I knew were close to the airport. I had already called in from 10 miles away and made another call as I got closer and another over the airport. I turned downwind, then base and a relatively long final. I knew the runway was short and I had to land as close as possible to the end. It turned out that I had plenty of room, but I didn’t want to float too far down the runway. I taxied back and Hans marshaled me to a parking area. I gave him a big hug as he welcomed me to his airport and started introducing me to the local pilots. This is a very active aero club with 100 members and over 10 planes. They have several gliders, motorgliders, Diamonds and Katanas as well as a Cessna 152 and many homebuilt planes. This morning there was also a helicopter and a number of visiting planes. In the club house is a kitchen and eating area as well as a school room upstairs. This weekend was sunny and very busy with members coming and going. It had been over 5 weeks since I departed Florida and I had almost 50 hours on the engine during that time. I took a bucket of water and spent the afternoon washing and waxing the Mooney. The next day Hans made room in the hangar and I changed the oil and filter, cleaned the air filter, cleaned and rotated the spark plugs and re-checked the magneto timing. I also checked tire pressure and lubed all the hinges. At the end of those two days, I felt much better about my Mooney’s condition. The next two days were traveling around with Hans. We visited Vienna and took lots of photos, then went to the Diamond aircraft factory and received a guided tour. The next day Hans flew us to Salzburg to visit the Red Bull hangars. I have to admit, I’ve never tasted the Red Bull drink and thought it was an American soda. I learned that it had been developed by an Austrian and he had almost gone bankrupt while developing the formula and marketing the product. He’s now VERY successful and only operates the company and holds the formula. The production and distribution is done by other companies. The CEO has been passionate about aviation for many years and started buying planes and having them rebuilt. He now has two huge hangars on the Salzburg airport. One is open to the public for free and the other is closed and only for maintenance. Luckily, Hans knows the right people and we were given a guided tour of both facilities by the Quality Manager, Gerd Strobel. All the planes are in flying condition and most have been completely rebuilt since purchase. Depending on STCs and Austrian law, some retain their US registration, but most are registered in Austria. Top of the list is the DC-6 which took about four years and 240,000 man-hours to completely restore. It has the original auto pilot as getting an STC for a new one would be impossible. All available components and spare parts have been purchased to keep it running as long as possible. There are four Alpha Jets, two BO-105 aerobatic helicopters, a Cobra attack helicopter, a Corsair, and Stearman and T-28 along with a Super Cub, C-172, a B-25 being rebuilt and P-38 already rebuilt and in flying condition, several Edges, a Sukoi and an Extra. The mechanics are kept very busy (and very happy working in such fantastic conditions). The flight to and from Salzburg, about an hour each way, was at 2500 feet with the clouds just above 3000 feet. Not the best conditions, but visibility was very good, so VFR flying was easy. The next day the weather was worse, so we drove around the local area and visited places on the Danube River. Hans had organized a competition for that Friday and Saturday, so pilots started flying in. There were to be several parts to the competition; one of which is a spot landing contest. He explained to me roughly how the navigation part worked, but it sounded pretty complex. I’ll look forward to understanding more when the pilots are briefed tomorrow.