andyjohnston

It's difficult to navigate in that part of the world, but I eventually made my first stop at the US airbase in Thule, Greenland.

Never been to Alert? Here are two words:

Don't go!

Alert is the northernmost airstrip in the world, and at the time I was making these flights, it was still winter. Which meant 24 hours of darkness. So there isn't much point in trying to show you the aircraft , a Lockheed Electra, because all you'd see would be a dark blob.

My co-pilot, however, did grab a picture of the cockpit just before we set out.

So our job is to fly from CYLT down to SAWH at the tip of South America.

From Halifax I made the relatively short flight back to New York. Sure enough, that fix done in Egypt didn't hold. The guy there had been more worried about how he would get paid rather than doing the job right. So just before I began my descent into New York, the number four engine started surging. Eventually I had to shut it down so I could control my airspeed. The controller brought me in way too close and to high for me to land, so I went around to catch the ILS and land on runway 4 at La Guardia.

But work is never done, and I have to catch a flight to Alert to ferry some passengers in an aircraft waiting for me.

But that's the subject for another post.

Flew to Halifax and landed on fumes. I kept the gear up and flaps mostly retracted until the last minute to avoid having to run the engines any harder than I needed to.

From Katmandu I flew to Cairo (taking off a 747 with only 3 engines is not easy.)

In Cairo they were able to fix the engine, but the guy in charge of the repair work was so sketchy I wouldn't be surprised if his "fix" doesn't hold.

From there it was on to Paris.

From japan I flew to Katmandu. Part way there, my number four engine blew out, and damaged my right aileron. Once I landed, the facilities at VNKT were enough to put the fire out, but I'll have to fly with a damaged engine and flight control until I can get them fixed.

Been around the world five times now.

I can't count the number of times I have been around the world.

In Flightsimulator that is, in reality I go nowhere...

From Vancouver, I flew up the western coast of British Columbia, then across Alaska, the Pacific Ocean and down into Japan, landing in Tokyo with less than 10% fuel remaining.

My copilot helped grab a few shots, then I handed the controls to him to land. He seems to have a love of landing a lot longer than what I do. Once again, full disclosure, the copilot is also me, in the right seat using the mouse as my controls.

What a difference! I flew across the continent from New York to Vancouver and still had only used half my fuel.

ATC forgot about me so I cancelled my IFR plan, and captured the ILS myself.

After flying the rather difficult B-17 around the world, I though I'd give myself a little luxury while doing the same thing. So this time I'll use this great looking (and freeware) 747.

From Greenland, I landed in St. John's

From there I went to the add-on airport of KHEP.

Then on to New York where I landed back at La Guardia on runway 04, where I took off. Next I'm going to follow the same route in something faster.

Arriving in Greenland. I admit to using the top down view a little for this one.

Heading out over the ocean where it's easy to get lost.

Approaching Iceland.

First leg complete as I land in Keflavik.

The next leg will be even more treacherous as I cross to Greenland where there aren't many nav aids or other landmarks.

Thanks again for your comments.

From Gibraltar I went to Madrid, and then Paris. It was my plan to stop there, but since I still had so much fuel I decided to push on to London. One more flight will take me to the north of the UK and then I'll make the dangerous 3-part voyage across the Atlantic.

Making a late afternoon steep decent into Gibraltar

On final

Refueling in Rome

Who knows what an omen is? I should have paid more attention.

From Dubai I went to Kuwait City, Tel Aviv and then on to Cairo.

I thought I'd rent a helicopter and go visit the pyramids, but there weren't any available.

So instead I found a 172 which was incredibly cheap! I learned why.

As I rolled for takeoff, I realized the flaps weren't working. Not a big deal, the B-17 takes off with the flaps up, so I went ahead. Once airborne, I realized I had no vertical speed indicator, and the right aileron didn't work. The attitude indicator failed partway through the flight.

It was only as I landed that I noticed there were no brakes and I had to coast to stop.

Update:

From Hong Kong, I made my way towards the Himalayas and Mt Everest

And landed in Kathmandu.

From there I made my way to the west until making my most recent stop in Dubai.

I want to get the opinions of readers here.

My aim is to avoid the Middle East as much as possible, which means either going north through Eastern Europe, or south through Africa. If I go through Europe I'll see Berlin and Amsterdam, but if I come up through Africa I'll see Italy, and probably Gibraltar.

Which do you vote for?