December 2013 - Ethiopia

November 12, 2013:
I quickly discovered that being in the arid climate of Nakhchivan, a world away from home, was not as interesting as I had hoped. Sure, there's a rich history but it wasn't quite enough to keep me entertained for three weeks! Knowing that our December Flight has been sitting here waiting for nearly two years I arranged a flight from Nakhchivan to Addis aboard an Ethiopian 737. (pict1)

Check out the cockpit video: http://youtu.be/-MnaEFLF2LY

Once I arrived I tried (unsuccessfully) to contact our friend Daniel. Having struck out there I headed to a Mission Office where I had stayed in the real world. (pict2)

Finally able to work out all of the details early, I fired up the Ethiopian Q400 early in the morning and headed out, first to Gonder and then on north to Axum before returning to Addis. All flights were completed before 14:00 without incident (other than I haven't flown the Q400 much in the past two years and found that it really kept my hands FULL!) Photos Below:

(pict3) (pict4) (pict5) (pict6) (pict7) (pict8) (pict9) (pict10) (pict11) (pict12) (pict13) (pict14) (pict15) (pict16) (pict17) (pict18) (pict19) (pict20) (pict21) (pict22) (pict23) (pict24) (pict25) (pict26) (pict27)
Here's a quick cockpit-view of the entire FOTM: http://youtu.be/tiTIzdELfok

Daniel, I have no idea what has happened to you but thank you for flying with us and submitting this feature. Success to you.