Two Aussies, Two Yanks - Around the World

By Dick Graham
Peter Stark
Bill Smith
Ron Blehm
(16 August 2005)

Apparently we needed something to do. Like there wasn't enough "life" to live, four of us, on-line buddies from www.toomuchfs.com and "Flight Club Airways," decided to take random turns flying around the globe. We had no idea where we'd go, what we'd fly or how long it would take, but we eagerly set off to find some adventures together.

Rather than just flying one plane or our favorite plane, around the globe, we set up some ground rules:

• We'd each fly 9 legs but in a random order (lottery style numbers from a treasury website)
• The pilot whose number is up next must depart from where the last pilot left off
• Flights could be conducted during day or night hours, pilot's choice
• Real world weather on all flights
• We could use any plane in our respective hangars but we wanted to try to not use the same airframe more than once
• There was a 20% chance that the pilot before you would have to choose your aircraft for you

Here's a visual report of the result:

01. We departed in early May, aboard an MD-80, from Vienna, Austria under the pilotage of Ron, one of our US pilots. This first flight was notable for its scenery.

02. Next, Bill, one of our Aussie's took us in a brand new A319 to Morocco.

03. The other American has, Dick, apparently seen the movie "Casablanca" too many times taking us out on the Beech 10.

04. Ron next took us up on a old Rattletrap of an S-2 Firebomber. We barely made it into Corte alive!

05. From Corsica we stepped back in time again, into a DC-3, and Bill headed to Prague.

06. After two weeks in the air, we had made it 150 miles from Vienna! Our second pilot from Australia, Peter, took the helm only to discover that he didn't know his ??????????? ??????? from his ??????????? ?????????. Somehow we made it to St. Pete's in the An-10

07. After shuttling us in an Airbus and an old Douglas, our next two flights, under Bill's command, were in Boeings. A 707 into Turkey and ...

08. A 737 into Lebanon.

09. Having spent enough time in Europe our next American-flown leg (by Dick) took a long, overnight, 767-flight into Darwin, Australia.

10. After some momentary confusion about who was taking the yoke, Dick again took us to Kisar island in an Aero Commander.

11. He then continued on to Rabaul, Island (AYTK) aboard a P-3 Orion.

12. With the historical significance of the Solomon islands not lost, Ron was up next in the default Corsair, read as, "Baa Baa Black Sheep."

13. This leg marked the first chance for one pilot to pick the plane for the next-in-line. Ron assigned "any amphibian," to Peter who took the XC-47 up to Nauru.

14. From one Aussie to another, we piled out of the Dakota-on-floats, and into a 732. Bill then headed for Auckland.

15. From the capital of New Zealand some had expected a flight into "Flight Club Headquarters at NZFC" but Dick chose instead to take a Howard 500 and head back to Australian lands and we ended up in Tazmania.

16. Here we seemed to enter a phase of, "How Far Can This Plane Go?" Ron took a United Nations C-130 all the way to Perth.

17. Back to Bill again for a flight in the King Air up to the remote regions of northern, Western Australia.

18. Back to Ron who took a Piper Malibu Meridian up into Indonesia -- landing with 2 gallons split between the two fuel tanks.

19. Back to the last, previous pilot for a helicopter ride which was actually featured here on FlightSim.Com.

20. Like a ping-pong match now it was back to the last previous American (Ron again) who went just before the previous Australian who had. Anyway, next up we took a DC-9 into Cagyan de Oro, Philippines.

21. Same pilot again, Ron was staking up the flights now, took an EMB-120 into the northern island.

22. This time, we switched Australians to Peter for a VFR flight through winding mountain valleys in the DH-89 Dragon Rapide. Destination was Manila.

23. Same pilot, playing catch-up now, Manila to Taipei in a 727.

24. This leg was a chance for revenge! After the Ron made Peter fly an amphibian, the tables were turned now and the American was asked to take a helicopter. Now, Ron does not DO helos and I think that was the point of the joke! So, after more than a half-dozen attempts we ended up at a different Taipei airport.

25. Still laughing, Peter headed us into Kai Tak in the classic 747-200.

26. Ping-pong again, back to Ron who took a 777ER on an overnight flight into Chicago, IL. This was the ninth and last flight for this particular pilot.

27. Eager for the approaching winter (apparently) Peter took us up to Yellowknife in Canada flying a CRJ-900.

28. From here Dick finally got the lucky number again and headed south to Mexico City with a Dassault 2000.

29. Anxious to get out of the big city, Bill took us to the resorts of Belize for some R&R. He chose to pilot the Lear Jet for this rather short flight.

30. From Belize we loaded into a classic B-29 while Dick, our remaining American, headed off for Guantanamo Bay via Havana.

31. Seems that the couple of pilots who started with fewer legs were playing catch-up now as Peter grabbed the controls back, taking a Tu-114 into the tough approach to Quito, Ecuador.

32. Back to Dick who found a little island off the coast of Brazil. He took us in the C-133 Cargo to Fernando de Noronah.

33. With only four legs remaining (and three pilots still flying) we were back in Bill's hands -- and he headed us back to Africa with a JAL 777 flight to Dakar. Now Bill, really, JAL?

34. The last leg for Dick, our remaining American, took us from Dakar up to "The Emerald Isles" of Scotland. For this flight, not shockingly, we rode in the comfort of an Aer Lingus A330.

35. So our question is, with two legs and one pilot left, will Peter just finish us off now? Peter chooses to take a plane he's had for months but never flown (do we ALL do that?) The Eclipse500 cruises nicely, taking us to Innsbruck, Austria. Heck, we could take the train home from here!

36. The last leg. Our lone remaining pilot, Peter, chose the Maule 7-260 for this last short flight into Vienna, but the ending is not what you'd expect!

I'm not sure if we took hints from this article or what but this was a whole lotta fun for us. After a little break we may be ready to head out again -- I wonder what format the next trip will take?

Submitted by:

Ron Blehm
pretendpilot@yahoo.com
www.toomuchfs.com