March 2008 - Northern Pakistan

Arriving to the FOTM - B787 PIA:
After four GLORIOUS days on my rented boat in Melbourne (pict1) I was ready to head to our next FOTM feature. Early on Sunday March 2nd I departed in a brand new Boeing 787 in PIA livery for Islamabad. (pict2) I headed diagonally across the continent passing north of Adelaide (pict3)and leaving the land of Oz near Broome. My route closely followed the legs I had flown down in the Electra - only this time I was twice as high and doing nearly 500 mph ground speed! I passed over Bali ... then switched airways over Changi Singapore. (pict4) Continuing up the coast I passed over an overcast Kuala Lumpur and was streaking at 494 mph nearly 9 miles over Phuket, (pict5) Thailand.

My first contact with Ali was back in 2000 after this ( http://www.toomuchfs.com/2mfs/showtext.php?dsn=379 ) piece appeared on FS.com. We have been in regular contact since that time, he was included on the very first e-mail invitation launching the notion of a Flight of the Month Club and has, in the past, submitted a flight for us: Karachi to Cairo on a 742. I was anxious to get to Ali's (pict6)(depite the political situation there) for some of his mom's home-cooked curry and to try these flight adventures!

From Thailand my route in the 787 took me over The Indian Ocean and I made landfall at Bhubaneshwar(south of Calcutta/Kolkata) (pict7). We then tracked across India, over Delhi (pict8) and into Islamabad from the south. (pict9) We landed at 10:44 (pict10) and were off the plane by 11 AM.

We drove staight-away to Ali's home (pict11), not too far from the airport for lunch and an afternoon of catching up. That evening we went up to the roof to enjoy the views and the sunset (pict12) (pict13) (pict14) (pict15). At that moment, noticing the chronic haze (this is consistent with real-weather downloads from our Flight Club International Airways hub in Mumbai as well) I opted to use some of my three-dozen weather themes for the FOTM features.

Islamabad to Peshawar via Tarbela Dam - Jetstream-31 PIA: Departure 8:30 AM
I loaded up the little Jetstream-31 (pict16) and taxied out under VATSIM's direction for a northbound departure. Shockingly (he says with sarcasm) there was no one else flying in the area and ATC was covering India so he cleared me "per pilot's discression" and left me alone. I took an extra 360* turn over the city whilst climbing above 8,000 feet before crossing the mountains. (pict17) About 10 miles out from Tarbela Dam I dropped back down to 4,000 feet, in the haze, and had a quiet and uneventful flight west - roughly along the path of the Kabul River (pict18), landing to the north. (pict19)

Peshawar to Islamabad - Dash-8 Q200 Flight Club: Evening Departure
After a virtual day in the frontier I set the sim clock to 1 minute before "dusk" and loaded a direct route back to Islamabad. Again, VATSIM said, "cleared per pilot's discression" leaving me to taxi and take-off (pict20) on my own. Shortly after departure I heard a 777 landing in Islamabad (pict21)- the bloke sounded British but he was long gone before I arrived nearly 30 minutes later. (pict22) (pict23) Again, landing to the north - then back to Ali's house for a few days rest.

Islamabad to Gilgit via MF NDB - Do-328 Pakistani: Noon Departure
(pict24)Call it Friday that I headed north into the mountains, (pict25) over the MF NDB (pict26)(is this the highest NDB in flightsimdom?) (pict27) (pict28) and on in to Gilgit. (pict29) While default ATC had me all twisted around (pict30) on finals first directing me to expect runway 25 and then clearing me to runway 7, (pict31) the landing itself was fine ... long but fine, I popped up the spoilers early (pict32) and settled down smoothly. My question is, "We have this nice pleasant valley, why put the runway ACROSS it as opposed to length-wise?"

Gilgit to Islamabad - Beechcraft 1900 Mountain Air Express: Late Morning Departure
After spending the entire weekend here in the warm hopitality of the mountains, I headed back to Islamabad in a turbo twin that is not on my favorites list (pict33) - but it looks good and flies okay. Somehow it seemed less scenic than my flight up had been (pict34) and just for kicks I landed (on purpose) on the southeast-heading taxiway at Islamabad (pict35). Now speaking of odd layouts in Gilgit, why would they give us this nice, long, straight taxiway with NO ACCESS to the runway? So, just to raise cane I landed there - and it favored the winds too!

Islamabad to Skardu via MF NDB - Saab 340 in Horizon Livery: 6:00 AM Departure
The next Friday I left Islamabad (pict36) and again headed north for the MF NDB. (pict37) Still pretty scenic but this time we took a slightly eastern turn at the NDB (pict38) and I got to see a whole new set of scenery from the FS world! (pict39) I can't wait to see the FSX screenshots! (pict40) While breezy, the visibility in Skardu was good (and having flown into here before) I descended into a high, narrow mountain valley (pict41) and followed the river round the bend into the more sprawling Skardu Valley. (pict42) This approach was wide and straight and easier than any approach to Skardu I've yet done. (pict43) My very first flight into here in 2000 was in a Saab and it was nearly dark and I couldn't slow down and the landing was rough and not quite on the runway......today was oh so nice! (pict44)

Skardu to Islamabad - Do-328jet Il Divo: Afternoon Departure
(Okay, this one not a Turbo but still fun to fly!) (pict45) After another weekend in "the high country", in this place reminiscent of Shangri La, (pict46) I headed back into the smog and haze of the big city. I suppose the jet engines helped but this flight just seemed too quick and before long I was 39 miles out from the Islamabad DME and throwing out the spoilers and flaps and diving for the deck! (pict47)

Islamabad to Karachi - Dash-8 Q400 Flight Club: Early AM departure
After the last evenings in Islamabad, and my last home-cooked meal by Ali's Mother, I was back out to the airport and loading into our Flight Club's Q400 for the 655-mile flight over the Pakistani Flat-lands to the coast. Fog had again limited our visibility but weather was calm and departure was smooth. (pict48) We climbed up to 21,000 feet and spent about 3 hours cruising south over the rivers and low-lying hill country. (pict49) Finally ATC cleared me to descend (late as usual) and we approached from the east (after a 270* left turn to loose more altitude). This time I got a bit of a "kick" when AP was disengaged (pict50)but the landing on 25L was smooth as glass (pict51) and we parked up right next to my departing flight.

More photos of all my Pakistan flights at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyYu2F3XCZI

One of the most scenic features we've had - made better in that it comes from a good flight simming friend, a brother in spirit! Thanks for the outline Ali, stay safe!


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