World Flight 2010 The Art Of Flying - 2009-2011

Menu: Home | Part 1 | Way Back   Part 1: EPBC Babice, Warsaw, Poland - YAYE Ayers Rock, Australia / 12 flights

Stage 1/68-1 (EPBC Warszawa - EKFF Simferopol)   After a few months of searching and planning, we were finally prepared to make it again - but in a such different way! We decided to make this world flight tour on our newly bought Beechcraft 60, which is a beautiful aircraft and she has pretty good characteristics too. The aircraft was built in 1982 and it was privately operated by RealAir. It became a part of our fleet in October 2009. The cockpit is equipped with a standard IFR avionics, a weather radar and I also took with me ASA's CX2 flight caltulator in case something go wrong with my brain. !o FMC or GPS this time, no RNAV flying!   The first leg of our event started in Poland, as always. Pilots were flying from various airports. Me and three other pilots were departing from Warszawa Babice EPBC general aviation VFR airport. There were 6 more event participants flying from other locations in Poland. We got our clearance from Babice Informacja (Tower) and took off after another Beechcraft. The weather wasn't very good and due to hard turbulences I was glad there were no passengers flying with me this time. We took off runway 10R, turned left to Zulu VFR point and switched to Warszawa Informacja. After passing Zulu we turned right over the Wisla (Vistula) river keeping 1500ft and passed the Warszawa downtown on the right side. After passing another VFR points - November (Siekierkowski Bridge), Kilo (Karczew City) and Golf (Gora Kalwaria city) - we finally switched to Warsaw Approach, received a squawk and began our IFR route towards LIN and RZE.   Our beechcraft 60 is equipped with a pressurization system and it is a turbo prop, so we can save a lot of time and fuel flying on high flight levels. This time I selected 250 for this eastbound flight. After reaching our cruise altitude we got a shortcut from Warsaw Radar and turned direct Lviv, a major city in western Ukraine. Lviv is located on the edge of the Roztochia Upland, approximately 70 km from the Polish border and 160 km (100 miles) from the eastern Carpathian Mountains. The third photo was made approaching LIV VOR 115.50MHz. We told goodbye to the great Polish ATC and switched to our private frequency, as radar position in Lviv area was vacant. Accordingly to our flightplan after passing Lviv we headed towards Kamenets NDB. Of course I did not received any reading from it when passing LIV, but I just used a 122 radial and planned a 33-minute leg. After about 10 minutes of flight I got a reading from the KP NDB so we were able to proceed as planned. No problems occur passing Chisinau in Moldova and Odesa, again in Ukraine. Some of us were only confused about using metric flight levels but it was wrong as they are not used there. The fifth photo was made when passing Odesa city. This was when Simferopol radar said hello to us. I checked the ATIS and got Uniform. There were strong crosswinds at the airport - 11 meters per second (21 knots). A controller asked me to make a standard ILS procedure using SN NDB however my ADF got completely crazy and started to display me this navaid in an opposite direction (north of Simferopol VOR SMF). The controller's reaction was instant and he gave me vectors to intercept the LOC. Other guys were also confused about ILS frequency (it was different on charts and in computers) but for me it worked fine on 109.30MHz, as published.   The runway in Simferopol is extremely long over 3700 meters. We were warned about that by the ATC. Obviously it is not a problem for a landing pilot but for a pilot landing after him - it takes a lot of time to vacate the runway. I knew exactly what is my braking distance required to vacate A-3 so I simply touched down over one kilometer after passing the treshold. Winds were extreme too - It was difficult not only to land but also to taxi afterwards! Anyway finally all of us parked in front of the terminal building and went to the tower to meet a great ground and radar controllers that were serving us tonight.   I planned to stay in Simferopol for a few days. It is a very interesting city - as the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in southern Ukraine, Simferopol is an important political, economic, and transport center of the peninsula. As of 2006, the city's population is 340,600. The city lies on the Salhir River and near the artificial Simferopol Reservoir, which provides the city with clean drinking water. The airport itself was built in 1936. The Crimean Trolleybus connects Simferopol to the city of Yalta on Crimean Black Sea coast. The line is the longest trolleybus line in the world with a total length of 86 kilometres (53 mi). I want to try that one!   Stage 2/68-1 (UKFF Simferopol - OICC Kermanshah)   This was just a simple but quite a long night flight. I planned to proceed with this leg in the morning however I departed a few hours earlier in the night. Everything went as planned so there is actually nothing to describe. We flew over the Black Sea and North Turkey, avoiding the Iraq aerospace. Kermanshah was nicely located in a valley. I made a stupid mistake during the VOR/DME approach - I selected inbound course 140 instead of 114. Luckly the weather was very good so I realised something was wrong when I saw a large mountain on a distance of a few miles on my flight trajectory. I made an orbit and proceeded to the correct radial. We flew over the sleeping city and landed on the runway 11 in Kermanshah after 5 hours of flight. Here are some photos. First four pictures were made in Simferopol. Last three photos are from Iran. This was a long night. All together there were 7 pilots flying to OICC.   Although we all need to get some rest, there are lots of great things to see in Kermanshah city like Taq-e Bostan (gigantic equestrian figure of the Sassanid king Khosrau II) or Behistun (considered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site - a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun, approximately 15 metres high by 25 metres wide, and 100 metres up a limestone cliff from an ancient road connecting the capitals of Babylonia and Media). Kermanshah played an important role in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution during the Qajar period and the Republic Movement in Pahlavi period. The City was hit hard during the Iran?Iraq War, and although it was rebuilt, it has not yet fully recovered. The estimated population of the city is 822,921 (year 2005) and the majority of the inhabitants speak Persian as well as Kurdish. The religion of the people is very diverse; and there are many Muslims, Assyrians, Bah??, Jews, and Armenians living in Kermanshah but Shi'a Muslims are greatest in number. In Kermanshah there are also followers of the Yarsan religion (also known as Ahl-e Haqq) and they are generally Kurds. In May 2009, based on a research conducted by the University of Hamedan and UCL, the head of Archeology Research Center of Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization announced that the oldest prehistorian village in the Middle East dating back to 9800 B.C., was discovered in Sahneh, located in west of Kermanshah.     Stage 3/68-1 (OICC Kermanshah - OIMB Birjand)   This flight was much shorter - "only" three hours and a half. We took off around 11am local time and headed East, towards Khoram Abad and Esfahan. After departure we saw a beautiful Bisotun Protected Area (second photo). This is a wildlife reserve situated in Zagros Mountains. Besides Wolf, Jackal, Brown Bear, Red Fox, you can meet there Marten, Persian Ibex, Caspian Snowcock and Chukar Partridge. Zagros Mountains are also visible on third and forfth photos. The highest points in the Zagros Mountains are Zard Kuh (4,548m) and Mt. Dena (4,359m). Fifth photo shows a large airport located in Esfahan, a city with a famous Naghsh-e Jahan Square, one of the biggest city squares in the world and an outstanding example of Iranian and Islamic architecture. After passing it we turned to Anarak and then on radial 086 to Tabas. There was a desert below us after passing ISN Esfahan. Picture seven shows our plane approaching Tabas TBS NDB and already prepaired to intercept a radial 109 to BJD Birjand VOR (HDG and NAV are both active - AP uses HDG to fly to the NDB and then switches to a proper radial using NAV). We performed a Circling NDB approach as published and landed safely on runway 26. Four pilots participating in the event were already waiting for us.   Birjand airport started operation in 1933 as the 3rd operational airport in Iran. In October 2009, runway 10/28 was closed for fundamental repair. The runway was strengthened, re-carpeted and extended to 4000 meters to accommodate wide-body aircrafts. During the construction phase all flights were suspended while Aseman Airline utilized the older runway (08/26) and started daily flights to Tehran. Birjand is known for its saffron, barberry, rug and handmade carpet exports. The city of Birjand has a population of over 158.000 people. It is said that the Shokatiyeh School in Birjand together with Darolfonoon in Tehran were the first public schools in Iran in the mid 1800s. Ever since then, Birjand has amassed an abundance of institutions of higher education and become an important location for research and development.   Stage 4/68-1 (OIMB Birjand - VIDP Delhi)   This time we departed very late at night - around midnight local time. The weather was calm, almost no clounds and no wind. We were flying in a group of 8 airplanes. Photo 2 shows our departure airport in Birjand. On our route we experienced quite a large thunderstorm with heavy turbulences, especially over Zhob city. When approaching Delhi, visibility dropped to 800m, so it was a full instrument ILS approach to a new 29 in VIDP airport. Photo 5 shows our airplane on final approach, slightly above the glideslope. I was already proceeding manually and the same as in Simferopol, there was no point of landing on the very beginning of the runway as it was also extremely long. After we landed we performed a really long taxi and finally parked north of the International Terminal. I was actually glad that we arrived at night (actually early morning, around 5am LT) because Indira Gandhi International Airport is the busiest airport in South Asia handling the most traffic movements and passengers on the subcontinent. During daytime we might have got into very long holdings before being cleared to land. In 2007, the airport handled 23 million passengers annually and the planned expansion program will increase its capacity to handle 100 million passengers by 2030. The airport, which was earlier known as Palam Airport, was built around the Second World War and served as an Air Force Station for the Indian Air Force.   As soon as we arrived we were taken care by a local staff and went to the airport hotel. Unfortunately we planned to depart around noon, so we didn't have much time to visit Delhi. The city is so huge (The National Capital Territory of Delhi is spread over an area of 1,484 km2) and complex, that it is difficult to write anything about it and select just a few things to see in a few hours. Most probably we will just look at some landmarks like India Gate, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, the Qutub Minar, Akshardham Temple (the largest Hindu temple in the world) etc. Many ethnic groups and cultures are represented in Delhi, making it a cosmopolitan city. Being the political and economic hub of northern India, the city attracts workers ? both blue collar and white collar ? from all parts of India, further enhancing its diverse character. A diplomatic hub, home to the embassies of 160 countries, Delhi has a large expatriate population as well. According to the 2001 Census of India, the population of Delhi that year was 13,782,976.     Stage 5/68-1 (VIDP Delhi - VNKT Kathmandu)   After a very short tour around Delhi we arrived again at the airport and prepaired our Beechcraft for a flight to Nepal. This flight was a bit shorter then previous flights. We got our flight clearance, taxi clearance and finally take-off clearance from a great radar ATC controller. After that we simply performed our route as planned. It was a great view as we got closer to Himalayas. We weather was very good as you can see phot my photos. I made a standard visual approach and landed in the airport of Kathmandu city, which is the capital and the largest metropolitan city of Nepal. The city stands at an elevation of approximately 1,350 m (4,429 ft) in the bowl-shaped valley in central Nepal surrounded by four major mountains, namely: Shivapuri, Phulchowki, Nagarjun and Chandragiri. It is inhabited by around 700.000 people.     Stage 6/68-1 (VNKT Kathmandu - VNKL Lukla)   What can I say about this flight to Lukla? VNLK airport is a legend - as one of the most dangerous airports in the world it continues to serve local Dorniers Do 228 and DHC-6 Twinn Otters flying mainly to Kathmandu. The airport is located 9380ft above sea level (2860m), runway lenght is about 500m. The airport is quite popular as Lukla is the place where most people start their trek to climb Mount Everest. There are frequent daily flights (i.e. no night service) between Lukla and Kathmandu, weather permitting. Although the flying distance is short, it can easily be raining in Lukla while the sun is shining brightly in Kathmandu, or vice versa. The airport's siren blasts the mountain air to inform personnel of incoming aircraft.   I can't say really much about the flight itself. We simply took off from Kathmandu, proceeded towards LDA Limadada NDB and then North with a VFR chart. I made a 10min holding before continuing the approach to burn more fuel and reduce the weight of our plane (and our approach speed). Afterwards we made a standard visual approach to runway 06. The weather was turbulent but visibility was pretty good.     Stage 7/68-1 (VNKL Lukla - VYYY Mingaladon)   15 minutes after landing in Lukla we were packed, refueled and ready for take-off. 15 minutes is a maximum time permitted to park on the VNLK's apron (there are only 4 stands). With all fuel on board our aircraft was very heavy and we even got a small stall after passing the treshold. Luckly there is a 300ft terrain drop so a lot of space for a recovery. We climbed flight level 250 as usually and continued South, towards Limadada NDB, Biratnagar VOR, Saidpur VOR etc. The weather was quite cloudy and very turbulent. When flying over Bangladesh we passed huge Brahmaputra river (2nd photo) which is one of the major rivers of Asia. About 1,800 miles (2,900 km) long, the river is an important source for irrigation and transportation. We were still flying South when we reached the Indian Ocean. The we turned South-East and entered Myanmar territory. While we were approaching Yangon we passed the amasing Bago Yoma jungle on the left site - having a wide range of habitats and ecosystems, it has one of the highest biodiversity values in Asia.   When we arrived at the Mingaladon airport the temperature was 33 degrees Celsius. Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Division. Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial center. The city has a tropical monsoon climate under the K?pen climate classification system. The city features a lengthy rainy season from April through November where a substantial amount of rainfall is received and a relatively short, dry season from December through March, where little rainfall is seen. It's primarily due to the heavy precipitation received during the rainy season that Yangon falls under the tropical monsoon climate category. During the course of the year, average temperatures show little variance, with average highs ranging from 29?C to 36?C and average lows ranging from 18?C to 25?C.     Stage 8/68-1 (VYYY Mingaladon - VTBS Bangkok)   It was a short evening flight. We took off from Yangon airport and proceeded towards MST VOR on radial 100 from HGU VOR. After departure we flew over Bago River again and than over the Gulf of Martaban, which is an arm of the Andaman Sea. The small port of Martaban, located at the mouth of the Thanlwin across the river from Mawlamyine, is famous for its glazed pottery. We crossed mountains in Burma and turned right towards Bangkok. It started to get darket and when we began our descend it was already completely dark. Picture 5 shows Bangkok city below us, with milliards of lights on a huge area of 1,568.7 km2 (606 sq mi), making "The Bangkok special administrative area" the 68th largest province in Thailand. Much of the area is considered the city of Bangkok, therefore making it one of the largest cities in the world. Bangkok has a population of approximately 6,355,144 residents while the greater Bangkok area has a population of 11,971,000. Bangkok's Chao Phraya River cuts the city between Thon Buri and Krung Thep core, and is at times referred to as the River of Angels. Bangkok lies about two meters (6.5 ft) above sea level, which causes problems for the protection of the city against floods during the monsoon season. Often after a downpour, water in canals and the river overflows the banks, resulting in massive floods. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has recently installed higher banks alongside some canals to keep water levels from reaching street level. There are however some downsides for Bangkok's extensive canal routes, as the city is rumored to be sinking an average of two inches a year as it lies entirely on a swamp.   Suvarnabhumi Airport we landed on, was officially opened in September 2006. Suvarnabhumi is one of the busiest airports in Asia and is also a major air cargo hub. The airport has 2 parallel runways (60 m wide, 4000 m and 3700 m long) and two parallel taxiways to accommodate simultaneous departures and arrivals. It has a total of 120 parking bays (51 with contact gates and 69 remote gates). The main passenger terminal building, with a capacity of handling 76 flight operations per hour, co-locates the international and domestic terminals, though assigning them to different parts of the concourse. In the initial phase of construction, it will be capable of handling 45 million passengers and 3 million tonnes of cargo per year. Above the future underground rail link station and in front of the passenger terminal building is a 600-room hotel operated by Accor Group under the Novotel brand. Between the airport hotel and the terminal building are the two car parks with a combined capacity of 5,000 cars. Long-term plans include four runways flanking two main terminals, two satellite buildings and a low-cost terminal will have a combined capacity capable of handling more than 135 million passengers and 6.4 million tonnes of cargo a year were settled clearly on the drawing board. The second phase of airport expansion which involving the construction of a satellite building south of the main terminal is expected to begin construction in 3 to 5 years. The airport's passenger terminal is the world's largest passenger terminal ever constructed in one phase at 563,000 m², and is also currently the fourth biggest passenger terminal building in the world, after the unexpected enlarging of Hong Kong International Airport (570,000 m²), Beijing Capital International Airport (986,000 m²) with the largest passenger terminal being at Dubai International Airport (Terminal 3 is over 1,500,000 m²). The airport's air-traffic control tower is still remaining as the tallest in the world's history at 132.2 m.     Stage 9/68-1 (VTBS Bangkok - WSSS Singapore)   After spending nice time in Bangkok we arrived at the airport at night for our departure to Singapore. We took off around 2am local time and than just proceeded as planned. Actually there was one confusing moment when I realised that there are two VORs having the same frequency 116.60MHz and being located only about 200nm from each other - Gong Kedak VGK (included in our flightplan) and Trang TRN. Of course during a flight our NAV reading simply switched from one VOR to another but anyway it was quite exotic as you rarely see anything like that. As soon as we passed VGK a beautiful sunrise started. We headed towards Johor Bahru VJR and than Sinjon SJ which is a beginning for an ILS procedural approach. We selected runway 02L for landing and performed the full procedure. During that we flew over the downtown of Singapore, photo 7. After a safe landing (obviously) we were instructed by a ground controller to taxi to the North Remote Apron, between the main terminal and the cargo terminal. Changi Airport is a major aviation hub in Asia, particularly in the Southeast Asian region, and is the main airport in Singapore. Located in Changi on a site of 13 square kilometres (5.0 sq mi), it is about 17.2 kilometres (10.7 mi) north-east from the commercial centre. 13,000 people are employed at the airport. In 2007, the airport handled a record 36,701,556 passengers, a 4.8% increase over the 2006 fiscal year. This made it the 19th busiest airport in the world and the fifth busiest in Asia by passenger traffic in 2007. With Changi-based Singapore Airlines being the launch customer for the Airbus A380, works to ensure full capability in handling the large aircraft were given priority in time for its introduction in October 2007. The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore spent S$60 million in upgrading the two existing terminals and airport infrastructure.   Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast Asia. It is substantially larger than Monaco and Vatican City, the only other surviving sovereign city-states. During the Second World War, the British colony was occupied by the Japanese after the Battle of Singapore, which Winston Churchill called "Britain's greatest defeat". Singapore reverted to British rule in 1945, immediately after the war. Eighteen years later, in 1963, the city, having achieved independence from Britain, merged with Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak to form Malaysia. Since independence, Singapore's standard of living has risen dramatically. In 2009, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Singapore the tenth most expensive city in the world in which to live?the third in Asia, after Tokyo and Osaka. The population of Singapore including non-residents is approximately 4.99 million. Singapore consists of 63 islands, including mainland Singapore. Singapore has on-going land reclamation projects with earth obtained from its own hills, the seabed, and neighbouring countries. As a result, Singapore's land area grew from 581.5 km2 (224.5 sq mi) in the 1960s to 704 km2 (271.8 sq mi) today, and may grow by another 100 km² (38.6 sq mi) by 2030.[42] The projects sometimes involve some of the smaller islands being merged together through land reclamation in order to form larger, more functional islands, such as in the case of Jurong Island. About 23% of Singapore's land area consists of forest and nature reserves. Urbanisation has eliminated many areas of former primary rainforest, with the only remaining area of primary rainforest being Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. A variety of parks are maintained with human intervention, such as the Singapore Botanic Gardens, a 67.3-hectare (166 acre) Botanic Gardens in Singapore that includes the National Orchid Garden, which has a collection of more than 3,000 species of orchids. Singapore is a popular travel destination, making tourism one of its largest industries. About 7.8 million tourists visited Singapore in 2006. The total visitor arrivals reached around 10.2 million in 2007. There are approximately 30,000 registered hotel rooms available in Singapore, and average occupancy is around 85%.     Stage 10/68-1 (WSSS Singapour - YPXM Christmas Island)   This time we planned to take-off from Changi airport during a day. There was a full ATC staff which again prooved its proffesionalism. We got cleared for our next flight to Christmas Island and started to taxi to runway 02C. There are three runways 02 in WSSS airport - Left, Center and Right. The 02 Right runway (and 20 Left) is used for military purposes only. We took-off after another pilot - you can actually see that airplane taxiing in front of us on the first photo. As soon as we took off we got a vector towards the TPG Tanjung Pinang VOR. We switched from Approach to Center and climbed flight level 230 this time. During the whole flight the weather was nice however is became cloudy when approaching YPXM (fifth photo). The approach itself was a simple VOR/DME procedure to runway 18. We were already established on a correct radial (177) during our descend so I only had to take care about the vertical profile. It was a bit windy - 7 knots of a crosswind component - but of course the landing was absolutely safe. We parked next to the pilot who departed just before us from Singapore. I took my camera, food and all Christmas staff (like gifts!) with me and we all went to the limousine which was already waiting for us. It took us to a hotel and than on some sightseeing. Obviously for the next day a Christmas party was planned.   Christmas Island is located 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth. British and Dutch navigators first included the island on their charts in the early 17th century. Currently it has a population of 1,500 residents who live in a number of "settlement areas" on the northern tip of the island. The island?s geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism amongst its flora and fauna, which is of significant interest to scientists and naturalists. Phosphate, deposited as guano, has been mined on the island for many years. 63% of its 135 square kilometres (52 sq mi) is an Australian national park. There exists large areas of primary rainforest. The Birds of Christmas Island form a heterogeneous group of over 100 species. Christmas Island is now seen as a birding ?hot spot?, not only for its endemics but also for the chance of recording new species for the Australian bird list, something reflected in the frequency of submissions of sightings to the Birds Australia Rarities Committee.     Stage 11/68-1 (YPXM Christmas Island - YBWX Barrow Island)   After spending two days on Christmas Island, we were relaxed and ready to continue our tour. We departed from YPXM airport early afternoon. This flight was quite tricky for me and other guys flying non-rnav. We were flying from one island to another with no navaids in between as there is nothing but the ocen. Barrow Island airport has only NDB so pilots' navigation should be very precise to reach this NDB's range in the end. Luckly Christmas Island has a great VOR (with a range over 190nm) and the same AK VOR in Western Australia which we used as a backup. Anyway, after departure we were flying on XMX's radial for around 190 nautical miles. Then, accordingly to our wind forcast, we selected a heading and proceeded with no navigation aids for 3 hours. When I got a reading from Barrow Island NDB we were only about 1 degree off course (photo 3 - look at NAV2). Photo 4 shows our aircraft approaching the island. This area is known for a huge amount of oil rigs. Oil was discovered on the island in commercial quantities in 1964 by West Australian Petroleum Pty Ltd (WAPET), and the first oil field was established shortly after. In 1995, there were 430 wells producing oil and natural gas across most of the southern half of the island. I made a photo of one of those oil rigs during our NDB runway 21 approach. Last two photos show one of WF2010TAOF's participants - SPSAN. He arrived right after us. Another aircraft, SPEDI, landed before us but he is invisible on those photos.   Barrow Island is a 202 km2 (78 sq mi) island located 50 kilometres (31 mi) northwest off the coast of Western Australia. The island is the second largest in Western Australia after Dirk Hartog Island. Navigators had noted its existence since the early 1600s, and Nicholas Baudin sighted it in 1803. Barrow Island is noted for its flat spinifex grasslands spotted with termite mounds. No exotic animals have been established, and many rare and endangered species have flourished. In December 2006, a development consortium between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell received environmental approvals from the Government of Western Australia to develop natural gas reserves 60 km north of the island. Known as the Gorgon gas project it will become Australia's largest resource project, producing 40 trillion cubic feet (1,100 km3) of gas from about mid-2011. The island contains no evidence of indigenous Australians. Until last century, the island remained uninhabited, mostly because of a lack of water.     Stage 12/68-1 (YBWX Borrow Island - YAYE Ayers Rock)   FURTHER PLANNED FLIGHTS WERE CANCELLED DUE TO THE NO-GEAR LANDING IN YAYE AYERS ROCK AND REQUIRED MAJOR REPAIRS OF THE AIRCRAFT   After the crash landing the route was continued backwards.