After my C-46 flight up the Nile I had been hiding out in Cairo awaiting our next flight adventure. As expected, Peter is sending us someplace remote but at least this time it's not impossible to get to!
The first order of business was to check out the download package he had prepared for us. It failed to initiate on three seperate attempts. "Oh well, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out" I said to myself.
Earlier this year (for Tony's May FOTM) I had downloaded a scenery package for some airport enhancements throughout the South Pacific. Until this point I have never wanted to spend time and money on any complex aircraft or scenery because I've liked to fly EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE. Why would I use up Gigs of precious memory for just one or two flights/visits? So, as usual, having some pretty simple, basic enhancements for larger areas works well for me.
The bigger issue was that I have used only the EMB-190LR for my commuter this year and with a range of around 2,000 miles I was looking at several legs just to get to Roratonga! I figured two flights per day of 3-4 hours apiece would keep me in daylight and under the 10-hours max-allowed time in the cockpit.
Commute One:
In the middle of the night (Monday October 1st) I reported to Cairo International and began my clearances and flight planning to Southern Iran. My aircraft for this leg was a Babylonian E190LR. I departed in darkness - saw dawn over the Arabian desert (this thing needs ETOPS for flying here) - and landed around 9 AM.
Commute Two:
My next leg would be from Kish to Kathmandu aboard a Nepalese E190LR. After an hour on the ground in Iran I continued onward, landing southbound in Kathmandu in the mid afternoon of Tuesday October 2nd. I stayed overnight here in Nepal's capital.
Commute Three:
Wednesday October 3rd I waited until there was enough daylight to do an engine out departure before continuing on to Hong Kong. (pict6) I landed at Chap Lop Kek amid a thundershower!
Commute Four:
After lunch in Hong Kong I headed for Guam. For this leg I picked a retro Army/Airforce paint scheme which remainds me of an old C-47. There were still some light showers and bumps climbing out of Hong Kong but the rest of the flight was peaceful and I landed just after sunset.
Commute Five:
I departed Guam on Thursday before dawn. For the May FOTM I used an Asia-Pacific Livery so for the next leg I switched into a Cebu/Pacifica Combo paint scheme and headed across the vast South Pacific to Majuro.
Commute Six:
I arrived into an abandoned Majuro at 10 AM. I quickly switched into a Coral Sea Livery and continued on to Pago Pago where I arrived at 15:00 in the afternoon local time.
Commute Seven:
Friday, October 5th. I departed Pago Pago at dawn in the "Positive Life Radio" Embraer and headed the final few hours into Roratonga. This is the perfect opportunity to remind everyone that you can Live-Stream http://www.plr.org anywhere in the world. Once I arrived I was tired of travel and well-and-truely jet-lagged so I simply collapsed into my beachfront hut at the resort and spent the weekend lounging and ordering room service. (Good thing Brad had paid the Flight Club's Fee up front!)
FOTM:
In one of Peter's screenshots he showed a JS-31 and I thought this seemed like a mighty fine option for flights to ALL of the Cook Islands' land airports (surely there are some docks for water landings?) Monday October 8th I set about to thoroughly tour the Cook Islands including some of Peter and Jenny's favorite hang-out spots.
Peter: It's always a pleasure to fly in the warm tropics. Thank you for sharing your "second honeymoon" with all of us. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to you and Jenny! (I think it would be appropriate to print up all of our PIREPs for her to read on your long flight back to the islands.)
