Expedition Day 39 My route over India as recorded by Garmin Inreach. Report: Ahmedabad, India I woke up in my hotel room in Ahmedabad contemplating - the aircraft that I had built in my garage had transported me halfway around the world to exotic India. Incredible. Thank you Van's aircraft for helping me to fulfill my dream. The day before departure from India, Dr. Pravin Dave visited my hotel room and provided me with a "fit to fly" document required by customs prior to departure. This was the first time in my life that a doctor paid me a visit at a location convenient to me for a health checkup. I was very grateful for the excellent medical care I received while in India. Upon reaching the airport, my transit through customs and immigration took only 45 minutes before my handlers dropped me off at the plane for pre-flight inspection. I was quickly given a clearance and taxied to the run-up area past Airbus and Boeing giants. Again, "May" was the smallest aircraft on the entire airport. Taking off under instruments from Ahmedabad international, I climbed up through the clouds and proceeded south to a way-point directly over Mumbai, a city of nearly 19 million people. My passage over India would take approximately 9 hours flying through monsoon weather. Indian air traffic control provided no weather avoidance services nor was ADS-B (weather or traffic) available. I pressed on, following the assigned IFR route with slight deviations away from the "darker" parts of the sky. Once underway, I had no advanced warning of embedded thunderstorms along my route within the clouds. While crossing over the expansive Indian subcontinent, it was hard to imagine that the land below supported 1 billion people. Towards the mountainous southern part of India, large areas appeared to be undeveloped. As I crossed over the southern tip of India, I noted that I had plenty of fuel remaining. I increase my speed to 150 knots over the strait between India and Sri Lanka. It felt satisfying to fly fast again after sluggish performance earlier in the flight to preserve fuel and minimize stress on the heavily loaded aircraft. Colombo ATC directed me to climb to 11,000 as twilight descended over this beautiful Island. The approach in to Mattela (VCRI) required flying past a 9,000 ft mountain, followed by an instrument descent to a DME ARC and ILS intercept in the darkness. To avoid spatial disorientation, I did not dare to look out the window until the final crossing fix, with the approach lighting guiding me to the long runway. Once again, like at Aqaba, Jordan (OJAQ), they opened an entire international airport for my sole aircraft. It started to rain lightly as I was directed to my parking space. The airport staff was out in force, with 20 handlers and a ground transportation bus that could have held 75 passengers. There were even a few very beautiful women from Sri Lankan airways waiting to greet me as I entered the airport arrivals lobby at this late hour. Inside the spacious arrival area, a giant Buddha instilled peace and I relaxed immediately. Furthermore, customs took 5 minutes to process my paperwork, a remarkable and welcome difference than that of India. During the late night 30 minute taxi ride to the resort, I spotted a few wild elephants walking slowly along the side of the nearly empty road. The resort was situated on the south-eastern side of the Sri Lanka, with rough sea conditions, not suitable for swimming during my stay. There were only two guests staying at the beach resort - the benefits of low season travel. I rested one day at the nearly empty resort before tackling a shortcut across the Bay of Bengal to Subang Jaya, Malaysia. I was fortunate my flight over the bay was largely VFR, as this passage is notorious for especially severe Monsoon conditions. Main lobby of the Mattala International Airport. It has been called "the world's emptiest international airport" due to its low number of flights despite the large size of the airport. 2004 Tsunami
This beach on the south-eastern coast of Sri Lanka was struck by a wall of water 10 m (30 ft) high during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The 500 mph tsunami traveled 850 nautical miles across the Bay of Bengal in 1h 45m. My hotel room was about 300 m from the beach. Expedition Day 35 I woke up at 3:30 am, packed quickly and called for a taxi to the airport. After three days at my fortress like hotel, I was ready to continue flying southeast towards my next stop, Mattala, Sri Lanka. My handler met me at the airport entrance and rushed me through customs and security, which was surprisingly easy since I was designated as the "Captain/Aircraft crew”. I purchased drinks and snacks before leaving the departure area of the airport and was shuttled to the plane in the pre-dawn light. I flicked on my headlamp for an inspection of the aircraft and discovered the entire plane was covered with a light brown layer of dust/oil. Since I had only a few clean microfiber cloths left, I decided to clean only the windshield and proceeded with the inspection. Later this residue would be washed clean by the rains over India. Soon the fueling crew arrived with two barrels of Avgas strapped to the back of a trailer. Halfway through fueling the plane from 200 liter barrels, their noisy and dilapidated manual fuel transfer pump broke down. I waited for another 45 minutes while they disassembled and repaired what appeared to be their only AVGAS pump while my departure time slipped. Once again, I was sandwiched between jumbo jets weighing upwards of 500,000 pounds during taxi to the active runway. I could have easily taxied “May” under the 777 aircraft but kept my distance. I was wary of the powerful General Electric GE90’s, which could have flipped my plane if they gunned the engines. The smell of jet exhaust started to fill the cockpit. The take-off from Karachi was sluggish since the aircraft was over gross with fuel for the 10 hour flight to Sri Lanka. Squawk 7700 Two hours after crossing the Pakistan/India border, I started to feel very ill from food eaten the previous night at the hotel in Karachi. I was flying solo at 9000 ft in the monsoon rain clouds and recognized that I could not continue flying for another 8 hours in this condition. With much deliberation and considering all options, I declared a "Mayday" over the VHF radio. I explained my situation and requested a vector to Ahmedabad airport, which has both a published precision approach and AVGAS. The radio traffic immediately fell silent after I declared a mayday. Without hesitation, Indian ATC provided me with priority routing to Ahmedabad airport. Inside the monsoon, intense bands of rain pummeled the canopy and over powered the sound of the engine. Turbulence bounced me around while I was throwing up in to a sick sack and cross checking my instruments. This was the most difficult approach I have ever flown and showcases the risk of single-pilot instrument flying. Upon landing at Ahmedabad, I was directed to park in front of the main terminal of the airport, in full view of hundreds of observers. Crash fire tenders, an ambulance, soldiers and airport police, a doctor, handlers, and numerous ground crew surrounded my aircraft. After answering a few questions from airport operations and a quick consultation with the doctor, I was asked to re-position the aircraft to the general aviation area of the airport. I felt embarrassed, but at least I was alive and safe on the ground. The general aviation parking at Ahmedabad airport. The ground staff patiently waited two hours for me to secure the aircraft. I was extremely weak and further affected by the midday heat and humidity. This was the low point of my trip. After aircraft tie-down, I spent 4 hours waiting to clear customs, probably due to my unorthodox arrival. My customs paperwork contained at least twenty forms, all needing to be signed and stamped with multiple copies distributed to various departments. The Indians love their paperwork and their bureaucracy is formidable. I spent the next 4 days recovering in my hotel room, but managed to take a few walks near the hotel. Strong odors, noise from honking tuk tuks, the crush of humanity, and ever rising levels of humidity as the monsoon intensifies - visiting urban India can be overwhelming. I was lucky up to this point with my health. Whether it was the air, the exotic food, or just the anxiety of being in such an unusual place, I would not feel entirely well for another 3 weeks until passing through Australia. Dare to cross a road in India? I hope that you have a life insurance policy. Local pilots from the Concord, CA EAA branch (chapter 393) tracking my flight progress over breakfast. Ed Neffinger and Maurice Gunderson provided updates to the group.
From Abu Dhabi, I was cleared to climb up to 13,000 ft over the mountains of Oman. The air quality remained very poor due to dust until I was hundreds of miles out over the Indian Ocean. To the north of my flight path lay Iran and Afghanistan, two countries that would not welcome a visiting pilot from the United States.
Two hundred miles from Karachi, Pakistan, I reviewed all the approach plates and confirmed what procedures to expect with air traffic control. Every instrument approach is different and requires vigilance and attention to detail. By now, the desert crossings were just a memory, as the dry climate had turned to sweltering monsoon. I descended through the clouds to minimums and landed at Karachi international airport. Two minutes after landing, a Boeing 777 landed in my wake. I was warned by Eddie Gould from GASE to expect a large crowd forming around the plane upon engine shutdown. Nevertheless, it was a bit overwhelming trying to keep track of twenty people touching the plane and all asking questions at the same time. Once I passed through customs, I was whisked to the heavily guarded and fortress-like hotel. I would have liked to explore Karachi, but was advised by many people to remain in the compound. Expedition Day 31 Skirting the Isreal/Jordan border before heading 900nm over the Saudi desert. Arabian Nights, Across the Empty Quarter, Seven Pillars of Wisdom: Literature that inspired me to travel over the Arabian desert. The empty wastes of the Saudi Arabian desert. "Far below me, a yellow haze hid the desert to the east. Yet it was there that my fancies ranged, planning new journeys, while I wondered at this strange compulsion which drove me back to a life that was barely possible....I knew instinctively that it was the very hardness of life in the desert which drew me back there - it was the same pull which takes men back to the polar ice, to high mountains, and to the sea. To return to the Empty Quarter would be to answer a challenge, and to remain there for long would be to test myself to the limit....It was one of the very few places where I could satisfy an urge to go where others had not been....in those empty wastes I could find the peace that comes with solitude, and, among the Bedu, comradeship in a hostile world." - Across the Empty Quarter, Wilfred Thesiger A haboob (sand storm) was still raging over the central and eastern Saudi Arabian desert 24 hours prior to my departure from Jordan. I arrived early at the empty King Hussein International airport to prepare for my flight to Bahrain. N944JK, with it's crew of one, appeared to be the only departure this morning. After clearing customs and paying airport fees, I was given a brief tour of the local GA flying club, which offers balloon and glider rides to tourists above Wadi Rum and Petra. I then blew away sand from the fuel caps before fueling the plane. During pre-flight inspection, I discovered my canopy cover had scoured a small patch of the windscreen from the abrasive, blowing sand. Aqaba control permitted me to climb to 9500 ft within 1 mile of the Israel border. I flew past the Valley of the Moon before turning east over the tangerine colored dunes and weather-beaten dark mountains of the western desert. For the last three hours of flight, conditions worsened to 1 mile visibility. I felt suspended in a copper colored haze, never seeing the ground or sky above. Only my GPS indicated forward movement. I worried about the amount of dust (and sand) being ingested in to the engine and micro-scouring of the windscreen. After many hours flying in IFR conditions, I landed at Bahrain Intl, on an small island in the Persian gulf. Manama, Bahrain. The outside air temperature was 118F, or 48C and rising. Waiting for my departure clearance. How much longer ops? The engine is overheating and so am I. Either we stand down or blow up. Which do you want? Dialog from the movie "The Battle of Britain" and very appropriate here. The Bahrain tower granted me permission to depart. Finally! I was soaked in perspiration and ready to fly. The engine oil temperature was uncomfortably high. Departure control directed me to climb and fly over the Persian Gulf in the direction of Iran, before turning N944JK south-east toward the United Arab Emirates. The immediate concern was to stay on course and not encroach on the heavily defended Iranian airspace. The flying conditions were atrocious; smog and poor visibility from the previous sand storms were lingering over the Gulf. At least it was slightly cooler at cruise altitude. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Photo Credit: Sam Chui Eddie from G.A.S.E., recommended that I land at AL Bateen Airport Abu Dhabi regional executive instead of Dubai International. The executive airport is located centrally, and has much less air traffic than the main international airport. On final approach to the main runway, you fly past the blindingly white, marble Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, which is visually stunning to the point of distraction. Ground control directed me to a parking space, between late model, top of the line jet aircraft. I felt out of place with my tiny, scrappy kit plane. I was told to remain with the aircraft. I kept sipping water and huddled in my plane's shadow as temperatures approached 122 F. My handler eventually showed up after 20 minutes and we relocated the plane in to an air conditioned hanger owned by a local sheikh. I was really worried that the canopy would melt if the plane was left outside. Only two weeks prior, I was nearly frozen while flying over the Greenland ice cap in -15C temperatures. Now, I worried that my plane's plexiglass canopy would melt and I would get heat stroke. Before the trip, Eddie (G.A.S.E) warned me about one of his client's RTW failing in the middle east due to crashing avionics and a melted canopy. Flying through the middle east in peak summer temperatures can be risky to both pilot and aircraft. My iPad, running flight planning and navigation application, Foreflight, crashed several times in middle east due to the unbearable heat. My iPhone, a backup to the iPad, kept displaying IFR charts without any issues. The panel avionics with cooling fans worked flawlessly, as expected, throughout the entire trip with the OAT -15c to +49c. The customs waiting room at the Al Bateen executive airport in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The magnificent Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi, UAE. I flew past this architectural marvel on approach to the airport. I was loaned a Kandura, a traditional Emirati ankle-length, loose-fitting white robe, before allowed entry into the Mosque. The columns are covered with gold leaf and inlaid with semi-precious stones and mother of pearl. Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE is the world's tallest building (828m or 2717 ft). Sail shaped Burj Al Arab Jumeirah - The world's most opulent hotel with a helipad on top.
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