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Fly Around The World With Me 268 Individual Flights PART FOUR |
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TRIP DETAILS: Click here to view a map of the trip. |
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FLIGHT 091: April 28, 2003 Moscow - Sheremetyevo (UUEE) Russia St Petersburg - Pulkovo (ULLI) Russia The past ten days in Moscow were fantastic! I could write a book about this remarkable city and its people - but others have done a better job! So, we're on our way to St. Petersburg where we will spend a week as well. It's April 28, 2003 at 7:45 and we'll be flying at 7,000 feet on a beautiful day. We should arrive a little after 10:30. Coffee ready - here we go! FLIGHT 092: May 5, 2003 St Petersburg - Pulkovo (ULLI), Russia Helsinki - Vantaa (EFHK), Finland I believe I can say that St. Petersburg is the most beautiful city I have ever visited! We spent a very pleasant week visiting and discovering the various wonders of this awesome city. It's about 7:45 on May 5, 2003 and we're on our way to Helsinki, Finland. We'll be flying at 12,000 feet in some reported choppy air and this 115 nm trip should take us a couple of hours. We should arrive in Helsinki about 8:45 local time because we gain an hour due to the time shift. FLIGHT 093: May 5, 2003 Helsinki - Vantaa (EFHK), Finland Parnu - (EEPU), Estonia As it works out, we spent a little too much time in Moscow and St. Petersburg taking in the sites and culture. So now we need to gain some momentum on our trip. As a result, we didn't have time to visit Helsinki but just to refuel, and we will only stop in Estonia long enough to grab a bite to eat and head onwards to Latvia. We must be ever conscious that, albeit we would like to spend a month in each city along our trip, we wouldn't get back to California until the year 2009! We'll be flying to Estonia at an altitude of 10,000 feet and it should be a pleasant flight. We should arrive about 14:15 local time. FLIGHT 094: May 5, 2003 Parnu - (EEPU), Estonia Riga - Riga Intl (EVRA), Latvia It's May 5, 2003 - just coming up on 16:00 in the afternoon. Consistent with our desire to visit as many countries as possible on our trip around the world, we'll drop into Riga, Latvia en route to our final destination for today Warsaw, Poland. We'll be skimming across the inlet at 7,000 feet on our flight that should last about an hour. We'll grab some coffee at the airport lounge at Riga International airport, top off the tanks and head onwards to Kaunas, Lithuania where we will land about 17:00. From there, we'll head off to Grodno, Belarus, then on to Warsaw where we will spend the night. FLIGHT 095: May 5, 2003 Riga - Riga Intl (EVRA), Latvia Kaunas - Kaunas Intl (EYKA), Lithuania We arrived here in Lativa an hour ago, had a quick pit-stop and we're continuing on to Kaunas, Lithuania. It's just about 18:00 and we'll once again be flying at 7,000 feet. We should arrive in Lithuania about 18:15 local time due to another one hour time shift. We have reports of moderately choppy air - otherwise it should be a pretty uneventful flight. We stay in Kaunas just about an hour then head on due south to Grodno, Belarus. FLIGHT 096: May 5, 2003 Kaunas - Kaunas Intl (EYKA), Lithuania Grodno - (UMMG), Belarus It's May 5, 2003 - just coming up on 19:15. We watched the sun settle as we approached Kaunas. Once again, we have received reports of light choppy air - no big deal! We'll be at 7,000 feet again. (boring? not really) We'll arrive in Grodno about 20:20 where we'll top off the tanks, empty our bladders and head on to our final destination for today - Warsaw, Poland. Let's boogie! FLIGHT 097: May 5, 2003 Grodno - (UMMG), Belarus Warsaw - Okecie (EPWA), Poland It's just past 20:00 on May 5, 2003 and we're on our last leg for the day Grodno, Belarus to Warsaw, Poland. Our flying time will be about 2:30 on this 145 nm trip. We'll spend the night in Warsaw and head on tomorrow to Tatry, Slovakia. We'll be staying at the newly build Gromada Airport Hotel. We've still got choppy air to look forward to - just as it's been throughout the day. Our trip will take us over the lights of the sprawling city of Bialystok, Poland - population, about 300,000. And of course, the lights of Warsaw will be spectacular. FLIGHT 098: May 6, 2003 Warsaw - Okecie (EPWA), Poland Tatry - Poprad (LZTT), Slovakia We didn't get to see a heck of a lot of Warsaw - a real shame. We're behind schedule and so we need to keep on truckin'. Today we're getting a real early start (5:45) and we'll get as much of the trip behind us as we can. In other words, today is a TRAVELING day! First stop - Tatry, Slovakia. We'll be cruising at 11,000 feet and we should arrive about 7:45 local time - just in time for breakfast. Reports still indicate MORE choppy air - even at 11,000 feet. FLIGHT 099: May 6, 2003 Tatry - Poprad (LZTT), Slovakia L'viv - Lwow-Lemberg (UKLL), Ukraine We had a wonderful breakfast at the airport and now it's time to bid them adieu and plow onwards to Lvov, in the Ukraine. It's a little after 10:00 and our flying time to Lvov should be about 2 hours 30 minutes for this 150 nm trip. Once again --- choppy air! Incidentally, the approach into Tatry made me a little homesick - the terrain looks very much like the lower Sierra Nevada hills. In any case, it will be a long time and many more flights before we get back to California. So, let's rock on our 99th flight! FLIGHT 100: May 6, 2003 L'viv - Lwow-Lemberg (UKLL), Ukraine Balti - (LUBL), Moldova Flight #100 Tarrah! May 6, 2003 14:45 - Lvov, Ukraine to Balti, Maldova! We arrived in Lvov about 12:30, had a great lunch at the airport, topped-off the tanks, checked out the aircraft, emptied our bladders and we're set to go. The choppy air seems to have let up and now we have thunderstorms in the area! Oh well, that's life. Our trip is about 190 nm as the crow flies... about 220 nm for us. Therefore, we should arrive about 16:00 local time. We'll be cruising at 11,000 all of the way. So --- buckle up! FLIGHT 101: May 6, 2003 Balti - (LUBL), Moldova Bucharest - Baneasa (LRBS), Romania It's May 6, 2003, about 17:45 in the late afternoon and we're heading to our final destination for today - Bucharest, Romania. We'll be flying at 12,000 and we ought to arrive just before 20:30. It looks like a spectacular evening for flying and we should see a great sunset. We've made reservations at the Bucharest Marriot Grand Hotel in the downtown area. We'll stay in Bucharest until Saturday morning, the 10th of May. There's a lot to see in Bucharest. FLIGHT 102: May 10, 2003 Bucharest - Baneasa (LRBS), Romania Sofia - Vrazhdebna (LBSF) Bulgaria It's just coming up on 06:00 on May 10, 2003 and we're leaving Bucharest, Romania and heading for Sofia, Bulgaria. A flight instructor told us that we can expect choppy air - again! We asked, "How choppy is it?" He said, "Not too bad - just enough to make drinking your coffee a challenge!" He also said we can expect some low cloud cover en route to Sofia. We'll be flying at 12,000 feet again and we should arrive about 07:30 where we will drop in for some breakfast and head on to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. FLIGHT 103: May 10, 2003 Sofia - Vrazhdebna (LBSF) Bulgaria Belgrade - (LYBE), Yugoslavia It's Saturday May 10th, 2003, just before 11:00 and we're leaving Sofia, Bulgaria on our way to Belgrade Yugoslavia. We should arrive in Belgrade about 13:45. We'll be flying a 8,000 feet on the 200 nm trip. There's a low cloud cover that should clear up as we approach our destination. We'll grab some lunch in Belgrade, fill up the tanks and press onwards to Budapest, Hungary. Up-up-and away! FLIGHT 104: May 10, 2003 Belgrade - (LYBE), Yugoslavia Budapest - Ferihegy (LHBP), Hungary We arrived in Belgrade just before 14:00 and had a great lunch at the airport lounge. We're now on our way to Budapest, Hungary. It's Saturday May 10, 2003 and it just about 16:00. We'll be flying at 10,000 on this flight and we should arrive in Budapest around 17:45. One of the local pilots was telling us that it will take longer to taxi to the general aviation area at the Ferihegy airport in Budapest, than it will to fly there. Anyway, let's fly the friendly skies! FLIGHT 105: May 10, 2003 Budapest - Ferihegy (LHBP), Hungary Slovenj Gradec - (LJSG), Slovenia It's May 10, 2003 about 19:30 and we're leaving Budapest, Hungary for Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia where I have some very close friends. We'll spend the next couple of days visiting them. We'll be cruising at 8,000 feet and we should arrive a little after 22:00. Once again, it will take longer to taxi to runway 31R than to fly to our destination. Well, not really - it just seems that way! It's a beautiful evening for flying - should be a great sunset. Incidentally, the runway we'll be landing at has NOTHING in the way of IFR! But, it's a clear evening so put her down nice and easy and park it on the shoulder. FLIGHT 106: May 12, 2003 Slovenj Gradec - (LJSG), Slovenia Zagreb - Pleso (LDZA), Croatia It's Monday May 12, 2003 and we just spent a fantastic weekend visiting my friends in Slovenj Gradec. It's about 6:30 and we're getting an early start on our trip today to Pleso airport in Zagreb, Croatia, Sarajevo and Pristina Yugoslavia. We should arrive in Zagreb a little past 7:00, where we will grab some breakfast and press onwards. FLIGHT 107: May 12, 2003 Zagreb - Pleso (LDZA), Croatia Sarajevo - (LQSA), Bosnia and Herzegovina Our 150 nm trip to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina will take about one hour and twenty minutes at an altitude of 11,000 feet. It should be pretty smooth flying today except for some reported choppy air on approach into Sarajevo. After we take care of the paperwork and have a few cups of coffee, we'll press on to Pristina, Yugoslavia. FLIGHT 108: May 12, 2003 Sarajevo - (LQSA), Bosnia and Herzegovina Pristina - (LYPR), Serbia We'll be departing Sarajevo about 13:45 en route to Pristina and we'll be flying at 11,000 feet. Once again, we'll experience some choppy air on the way out, but nothing too terrible. However, you had better get on the throttle, Captain - there's a 4,000 foot mountain range we need to climb over on the way out, so don't dilly-dally around! Our flying time to Pristina should be about 2 hours over some very mature rolling hills near Berane - quite lovely actually. FLIGHT 109: May 12, 2003 Pristina - (LYPR), Serbia Istanbul - Ataturk (LTBA), Turkey It's about 17:30 and we're on our way to Istanbul, Turkey. Our trip will take us south across Macedonia and into Greece. As we head eastwards into the Thrakiko Pelagos strait, we'll pass over the huge island of Thasos - great view! Off to our right, we can see Limnos in the midst of the Aegean Sea. As the sun sets, we'll be crossing back onto the shore over the city of Alexandroupolis, Greece, after which it's a straight-shot of about 120 nm directly to Istanbul. We should arrive in Istanbul just before 20:00 on a beautiful, clear evening. FLIGHT 110: May 16, 2003 Istanbul - Ataturk (LTBA), Turkey Skopje - (LWSK), Macedonia It’s Friday, May 16, 2003 about 06:30 in the morning and we’re leaving Yesilkoy airport in Istanbul,Turkey on our way to Skopje, Macedonia. Wow – Istanbul – what a neat place to visit. We stayed at the Berr Hotel for the past few days. This four star family run hotel takes a lot of pride in offering its guests a relaxing & charming "home away from home" in Istanbul's old city – really a nice place. We’ll be flying at 12,000 feet on our trip and we should arrive about 10:30. Our trip will take us over the Thrakiko Pelagos strait, directly towards the Makedonia airport in Thessaloniki, Greece. Then, about 40 km east of Makedonia, we’ll head northwest to Skopje. FLIGHT 111: May 16, 2003 Skopje - (LWSK), Macedonia Ohrid - (LWOH), Macedonia We had a delightful lunch at the Spa restaurant right at the Skopje airport. They were telling us that they serve about 100 meals per hour – we got our share! It’s coming up on 14:30 and we’ll be flying at 9,000 feet en-route to Ohrid. We should arrive about 15:20. Incidentally, when climbing out of Skopje, don't dilly-dally around - 'cuz you're facing a 7,000 foot mountain about 8 miles from the airport. So get up and rock! FLIGHT 112: May 16, 2003 Ohrid - (LWOH), Macedonia Tirana - Rinas (LATI), Albania Just a short stop in Ohrid and we’re on our way to Rinas airport in Tirana – currently the only passenger airport in Albania. We’ll be flying at 8,000 and the skies are clear with unlimited visibility so we should get a great view of Lake Ohrid with its majestic cliffs on the way out. It’s Friday, May 16, 2003 and we’re departing just about 17:00 so we should arrive in Albania right about 17:45. FLIGHT 113: May 16, 2003 Tirana - Rinas (LATI), Albania Athens - (LGAV), Greece Well, we arrive at the Rinas airport in Tirana, Albania right on the nose at 17:45. We’ve landed just so we can say we visited Albania. We’ll stretch our legs and depart at 18:30 en route to Athens, Greece. We’ll be flying at 11,000 feet and we should arrive about 20:00 to a spectacular nighttime view of Athens! Once again, we’ll get a great view of Lake Ohrid with its awesome cliffs as we head towards Ohrid. Incidentally, don’t mess around taking your time to gain altitude – you’re going to be staring at a mountain of about 4,400 feet about 9 miles east. If you do the math, you had better get our wild mustang climbing at 1,000 feet per minute (or better). Let’s rock! FLIGHT 114: May 24, 2003 Athens - (LGAV), Greece Pafos - Pafos Intl (LCPH), Cyprus We spent a wonderful time in Athens. There’s so much to see, we could have easily spent a year and seen little. We depart Athens on Saturday May 24, 2003 at 05:45 and we’ll arrive in Pafos, Cyprus right about 10:30 taking into account a one hour time shift - about a 3 hour trip over the beautiful Greek isles. FLIGHT 115: May 24, 2003 Pafos - Pafos Intl (LCPH), Cyprus Beirut - Beirut Intl (OLBA), Lebanon We arrived in Cyprus about 10:30 – what a beautiful coral reef on approach! We’ll spend a few hours here, top off the tanks, grab a bite to eat and around 14:00, we’ll press onwards to Beirut and then on to Tel Aviv. We’ll ought to arrive in Beirut about 15:00. We have received reports of some light choppy air on approach. We’ll be flying at 13,000 feet – mostly over water. FLIGHT 116: May 24, 2003 Beirut - Beirut Intl (OLBA), Lebanon Tel Aviv - Ben Gurion (LLBG), Israel We arrived in Beirut about 15:00 and we’re now heading on to Tel Aviv. It’s 15:45 and we’ll climb to 6,000 feet for the journey so we can see the terrain. We should arrive in Tel Aviv a little after 17:00 – just in time for some dinner. We’ll spend the next week in Israel making some hop-scotch visits around this tiny country, then depart for Amman, Jordan next Friday – May 30, 2003. We’ll be staying at the Crown Plaza Hotel that is about 7 miles from the airport. Yeah, I know, it’s a five star hotel… to hell with the expense! FLIGHT 117: May 30, 2003 Tel Aviv - Ben Gurion (LLBG), Israel Amman - Queen Alia Intl (OJAI), Jordan It’s 6:30 on May 30, 2003 and we’re continuing our trip around the world. We had a great time in Israel but regrettably it is time to move on. Here’s another case where we will seem to spend about as much time taxiing as we do flying. Getting to runway 26 at Ben Gurion International from the general parking area is quite a hike! And, when we land at Queen Alia International in Amman, Jordan, we’ll experience the same kind of hike! We’ll be flying at 5,000 feet and we’ll pass just north of the Dead Sea as we make our way to Amman. We’ll arrive in Amman about 7:30. FLIGHT 118: May 30, 2003 Amman - Queen Alia Intl (OJAI), Jordan Kuwait City = Kuwait Intl (OKBK), Kuwait It’s 11:15 and we’re on our way to Kuwait City. You’ll need to top-off-the-tanks for this trip. Incidentally, you’ll find the fuel depot on the left as you proceed to runway 26L for takeoff. We’ll be flying at 15,000 on this leg of our trip, so break out the oxygen. We’ll be experiencing tailwinds of about 25 kts for much of the trip, yielding us an improved ground speed. At this rate, we ought to arrive in Kuwait City in a little over 4 hours. There will be a little chop along the way. The trip will take us over Saudi Arabia – avoiding Iraq at this very unstable time in history – what a tragedy. In any case, we’re on our way. FLIGHT 119: June 1, 2003 Kuwait City = Kuwait Intl (OKBK), Kuwait Dammam - King Fahd Intl (OEDF), Saudi Arabia We spend a couple of pleasant days in Kuwait City – there’s a lot going on! So, here we go again, it will take longer to taxi to the runway than to fly to Dammam… well not really, but it seems that way. And wait until we get to Dammam, it’s about a 20 minute hike to the General Aviation area. Anyway, we’ll be flying at 9,000 feet and there are reports of some nasty wind sheer along the way. It’s coming up on 7:00 and we will arrive in Dammam about 8:45. Incidentally, this is going to be a very long day – lots of flying! FLIGHT 120: June 1, 2003 Dammam - King Fahd Intl (OEDF), Saudi Arabia Bahrain - Bahrain Intl (OBBI), Bahrain We arrived in Dammam about 8:45, cleared customs and grabbed some breakfast at the airport. It’s now just coming up on 11:00 and we’re on our way to the island country of Bahrain. The flying time will be about 40 minutes… about the same as the taxiing time! We’ll be flying at 5,000 feet and should arrive about 11:45. We’ll practically do a touch-and-go on our way to Qatar, Dubai and Oman. FLIGHT 121: June 1, 2003 Bahrain - Bahrain Intl (OBBI), Bahrain Doha - Doha Intl (OTBD), Qatar We arrived in Bahrain at 11:45, did our metaphorical touch-and-go (so we can say “we were there”) and we’re now on our way to Doha, Qatar. We’ll be flying at 11.000 feet, on a very nice, clear day and we should arrive at the general aviation area in about an hour’s time -12:45. We’ll grab some coffee and climb back into our wild stallion and head onwards to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”). FLIGHT 122: June 1, 2003 Doha - Doha Intl (OTBD), Qatar Dubai - Dubai Intl (OMDB), United Arab Emirates We arrived in Doha at 12:45, did another metaphoric touch-and-go, and we’re on our way to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”). It’s just past 13:30 and we’ll be flying again at 11,000 on this 225 nm trip. We should arrive at the General Aviation area about 15:30. Once again, we will not be long on the ground…. Just long enough to say, “Hello, we’ve been here!” FLIGHT 123: June 1, 2003 Dubai - Dubai Intl (OMDB), United Arab Emirates Muscat - Seeb Intl (OOMS), Oman We arrived in Dubai about 15:30, got some refreshments, picked up some snacks and we’re on our way to Seeb International airport in Muscat, Oman, where we have reservations at the Grand Hyatt. We’ll spend a few days in Oman then carry on to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Today, we will be flying at our customary 11,000 feet and should arrive at about 18:45 --- just past twilight time. FLIGHT 124: June 4, 2003 Muscat - Seeb Intl (OOMS), Oman Riyadh - King Khaled Intl (OERK), Saudi Arabia It’s 9:40 and we spent a wonderful few days in Oman. We’ll be cruising at 15,000 feet on our way to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – so let’s break out our adult size, soft, vinyl oxygen cannulas and our 7 feet of clear Sure-Flow tubing – we’re going to rock! Once we get to King Khaled airport in Riyadh, it will (once again) take about 15 minutes to taxi to the General Aviation area. We should end up parked in our spot about 15:00. We have reservations at the Sheraton Riyadh Hotel and Towers and we’ll spend a couple of days there. FLIGHT 125: June 7, 2003 Riyadh - King Khaled Intl (OERK), Saudi Arabia Jeddah - King Abdulaziz Intl (OEJN), Saudi Arabia It’s 6:00 and we spent the past few days in Riyadh simply resting up. Today, we’ll be cruising at 11,000 feet over to Jeddah, then on to Sanaa International in Sanaa, Yemen. We’ll then proceed onwards to our final destination for today - Asmara, Eritrea. Our flying time (and taxiing time) to Jeddah will be about 4 hours and 30 minutes. As we approach Jeddah and the Red Sea, we will be able to see the beginning of the Tihamah mountain chain surrounding Mecca off to our left. I suppose you will not be surprised to learn that at another Saudi Arabian airport, it will take a considerable amount of time to get to the General Aviation area --- how about 20 minutes? Oh well – at least it is in close proximity to the fuel depot, where we will fill up, grab some brunch and head on to Sanaa, Yemen. FLIGHT 126: June 7, 2003 Jeddah - King Abdulaziz Intl (OEJN), Saudi Arabia Sanaa - Sanaa Intl - (OYSN), Yemen We stopped long enough to have a bite to eat, top-off-the-tanks, grab some snacks and we’re on our way to Sanaa International airport in Sanaa, Yemen. It’s 12:45 and we’ll be flying at 12,000 feet on the 500 nm trip, and we should arrive in Sanaa about 17:00 – assuming we ever get to 16R – another 20 minutes taxiing escapade! We’ll be flying across the Red Sea most of the way, then when we approach the coast of Yemen, we’ll head east towards Sanaa in the Tihamah mountains. We’ll simply make a “pit-stop”, then press onwards to Asmara, Eritrea – our final destination for today. FLIGHT 127: June 7, 2003 Sanaa - Sanaa Intl - (OYSN), Yemen Asmara - Asmara Intl (HHAS), Eritrea We’ve grabbed some grub and some fuel and now we’re on to our final destination for today - Asmara, Eritrea. It’s about 18:20 and it’s going to be about a 350 nm trip, so we should arrive in Asmara around 21:50. We’ll be flying at 15,000 – so, back on the cannulas! Although it would be easy to think of Asmara (the Eritrean capital) solely as an Italian built colonial city, its origins actually reach back some 700 years. Since coming under Eritrean control in 1991 it has been undergoing a rapid improvement in infrastructure. Asmara is possibly the safest African capital for travelers and one of the cleanest cities in Africa. The streets are elegantly lined with palms and a string of boutiques and restaurants reminiscent of southern Italy. Click here to view a map of the trip. |
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