Towerguys World Tour

[towerguy]

I must have tempted the gods of fate with that last episode

equipment failures crashes etc etc etc

I upgraded the drivers because my video card was playing up ( the kids wanted to play CoD-modern warfare) and when I rebooted, the @#@$$$ thing chewed up and spat out the registry and now windows is no more. I have to try to save it or reload it without losing everything on the drive - to make things worse it's a raid array so I don't even know if it will be recoverable or not!!! even thogh I have backed up a lot of stuff I may have lost heaps -like fsuipc downloads and registrations etc 'cause all the email is gone too uuugghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have found a page on the microsoft website that supposedly tells me step by step what to do but truth to tell I've been too bloody scared to try it out yet!

damn damn damn and damn again
so there may be some delay on the next leg of this journey after all.
I'm currently at work - I was supposed to be on until 8.45pm but due short staffing I'm now on till 0130am - oh well at least it gives me some computer time on breaks

[Ian Warren]

That really frags ya when 'POOF hic BANG' bugger me , ..... good luck Craig , lucky i,m just coming out the tail end of the storm ! boy what a mission !

[towerguy]

The old man sat cross legged under the shade of the patched and faded sail that flapped listlessly behind him. His leathery fingers flashed across the net with a nimbleness that belied his age, finding and repairing holes without conscious thought. Indeed his mind was nowhere near the fragile single masted vessel drifting in the Java Sea. Instead he sat in his small one room shed hearing again and again the demands for the payment on the boat. So poor had been the catch of late and so many advances had he taken that if this trip did not fill the baskets stacked beside him then the boat would be forfeit and so would he. Even now he could hear the cackling laugh as Hakim the money lender took his boat and all his possessions and sent him off to work for a pittance on the huge and ever expanding oil palm plantations that spread over the main islands like a plague. A life of relentless toil to make huge profits for people that would never even see or know his country. Far above and out of sight in the bright morning sun a small aircraft droned steadily southeast across the sky. The old man paused briefly to wonder what it would be like to be up so high, to see so much, but then his mind went back to his worries and his fingers back to their work.
Far below the white dot of sail slid slowly back under the edge of the wing. A fisherman by the look of it.



Lucky bugger, I thought, probably off one of those islands under the cloud layer ahead. I had been lucky even for that glimpse as between the smoke and haze and the sun reflecting off the sea I could hardly see anything even with good sunglasses on.



Oh well. After running a quick engine and nav check I pulled out the 'rough guide to S.E. Asia' and tried to read up on Bali again, my next destination.
To reach this point I had spent the last three months living semi permanently attached to a cell phone. The damage to TGY had been assessed and then the lawyers had circled like a pack of sharks scenting blood in the water. The Airport Company was blaming the Airlines, the Airlines were blaming the Airport Company and their contractors, each came from a different country and neither wanted to pay up or lose face by being to blame. Me, I just wanted my aeroplane fixed! On top of that the insurers wouldn't budge until they had someone to send the bill to and the repairer couldn't start work until the insurance company gave the go ahead. I even offered to pay myself and they could settle it up later but that had been turned down flat!
Finally a deal had been hammered out - they went 50 - 50 and I had to apologize for taxiing into their piece of flying metal! - Who cared! - I got my aircraft back and could finally get on with my tour!
The repair company had done a nice job I'll give them that. When I arrived back in Singapore from Auckland I went straight to the hangar. TGY sat there shiny and new. A coat of paint all over and polished to a sheen. That should be worth an extra 5 knots I thought. The inside had been fully detailed as well and had that 'new car' smell about it. I had arranged both engines and props to be serviced and hours zeroed while they were about it. I now had a shiny new smart looking and virtually zero time aeroplane - and just about all at someone else's expense too! Okay there was the matter of 3 months of hell and nearly being shot in the head by a flying bolt but after events earlier in the trip that was small change. And I got a really good holiday in Rarotonga with Julie in there as well.
I spent two days finalizing the paperwork and doing a couple of short engineering flights around the circuit and local training area to check out the aircraft and revalidate myself before signing acceptance that all was to my satisfaction.
Finally the morning arrived, planning was completed, flight plans were filed and I was off!



I think TGY was looking forward to getting going again too. Despite the heat and humidity of the morning she bit into the air and climbed to height cleanly and quickly. ATC was pretty reasonable with no strange vectors and after almost no time at all we were on time on track and looking forward to the rest of the next leg. Cruising at FL115 I tracked W26 all the way to the Pankal Penang VOR (PKP 114.2) then got a clearance GPS direct to Surabaya along the L511 keeping me almost directly down the Java sea, off shore and well away from the string of volcanoes, some of which are up to my flight level - and away from any ash that may be about too! It meant I'd not be overflying Jakarta as originally planned but I wasn't too upset about missing a sprawling mass of 20 million people.
From Surabaya it was via the W45 to ENTAS passing over the Bromo region of eastern Java.



This is a volcanic national park and has some of the highest peaks in Indonesia. Between the clouds I could see some of the small villages amongst all the rice padi's terraced along the flanks of the peaks.



Once clear of the coast I was into a gradual descent bound for Ngurah Rai Airport - Bali. Traffic was light and so was the wind so it was direct to a left base and a good view of Kuta beach on the approach.



Half an hour later I was still stiff and sore but catching the taxi to Samur for the ferry across to Nusa Lembongan where I was staying on the white sandy beach at Chelegimbai - pricey but beautiful and great snorkelling - what can I say - life's a beach!


This leg 887nm 5.3 hrs
totals 23744nm 166.3hrs

(maps to come)

[Barrington]

QUOTE (towerguy @ Jan 15 2010, 04:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Towerguy,
Looks like a good tour..........
What did you use to get the frames around the pics?
Cheers

[cowpatz]

Hey Barrington when using the quote option make sure you edit the content before submitting. In this case it would have stopped the duplication of all those screenshots.

[Barrington]

QUOTE (cowpatz @ Jan 18 2010, 06:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Barrington when using the quote option make sure you edit the content before submitting. In this case it would have stopped the duplication of all those screenshots.

Thanks for the hint - I didn't use any 'quote' option purely added a reply - obviously not up to your ability with forums etc....but I will learn.
Thought you might have answered the question at the same time as you replied!!!!

[towerguy]

hi
I just use the framing in "the Gimp" - a free editor
cheers

[towerguy]

Today was a long day and so I was up early and at the airport well before first light. this made for a cooler and marginally
less sweaty preflight. once all the usual paperwork was out of the way, flight plans filed, met obtained etc etc I was
finally able to start engines and get some air under the arse again. taking off to the west I climbed and turned south of
the field to see the first rays climbing into the sky along the horizon to the east.



the real airport


Across the strait toward lombok was a large expanse of fog or low cloud but as I climbed and
travelled further east it gradually thinned and dissappeared, enough that I could make out the Mayura Water Palace, it was
built in 1720 and is one of Bali's oldest Hindu temples on the island of Lombok.This temple was built by a prince from Bali
called Anak Agung Made Karang as an effort to unify the various small kingdoms on Lombok.This temple is also a symbol
of the universe and reverence for the three major gods of Hindu Religion, namely Brahma, Vishnu and Syiwa.( if you're
into that sort of thing.)



Top of climb came and went and the by now familiar routines of settling into cruise were all done. below now was the island
of of Sumbawa. It has Mt Tambora (2,800 metres) scene of the mightiest explosion in recorded history and now you can take a
trek through lava fields to view the awesome crater that once affected the weather of the whole planet. As you can see there
is some real tiger country down there and not a lot of places to put down in a hurry - just a minute while I recheck these
engine instruments! all okay.



Crossing the strait toward Flores I could see in the distance the islands of the Komodo
National Park. In 1986, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, both
indications of the Park's biological importance.As well as being home to the Komodo dragon, the Park provides refuge for
many other notable terrestrial species such as the orange-footed scrub fowl, an endemic rat, and the Timor deer.
Moreover, the Park includes one of the richest marine environments including coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds,
seamounts, and semi-enclosed bays. These habitats harbor more than 1,000 species of fish, some 260 species of reef-building
coral, and 70 species of sponges. Dugong, sharks, manta rays,at least 14 species of whales, dolphins, and sea turtles also
make Komodo National Park their home.

Over Flores and reading the Lonely Planet guide it made me thirsty for a good coffee. In addition to tourism, the main
economic activities on Flores are agriculture, fishing and seaweed production. The primary food crops being grown on
Flores are rice, maize sweet potato and cassava, while the main cash crops are coffee, coconut, candle nut and cashew.
Flores is one of the newest origins for Indonesian coffee. Previously, most Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) from Flores
was blended with other origins. Now, demand is growing for this coffee because of its heavy body and sweet chocolate,
floral and woody notes. sounds good!



eventually I could just make out land down to the south east, that would be Timor and
it was time to head out across the main straits toward my destination of Dili.

Once again well out I started getting the microsoft ATC dicking around, so, having held a procedural
controller rating before, I recleared myself to intercept the final inbound track of the VOR approach and then for the
Visual approach ( wouldn't do that in real life but hey this is what simulators are for!). finally on the ground again I
gathered the required papers and headed for the tower and customs etc. One step closer to home.







this leg 616.4nm 3.5 hrs
total 24360.4nm 169.8 hrs

[towerguy]

I set off today about lunchtime as it was only a relatively short hop of about 2 hours to Darwin. Yes thats right Australia at last, 2nd to last, nearly home!
Timor turned on a nice day with just light winds and scattered high cloud so we were away without fuss and quickly up to todays cruise of 6000ft.





Soon I was skimming along over the north of the island before heading once again out to sea. I seem to have spent a lot of time on this trip out over the oceans.





Eventually there it was, the first sight of land and familiar territory again. It actually felt quite exciting, almost like coming home itself.



Once more onto english speaking ATC and soon we were joining downwind for Darwin International.



With a slight squeak of the tires we were down and soon taxiing in towards the fuel bowsers and a chat with customs and immigration.



That took a bit of time as when they
learned just how far I had been they wanted to talk but eventually the heat and the humidity dictated a move inside. Once cleared it was in to town for a MUCH looked forward to Darwin stubby - or 2.





this leg 413.8nm 2.4 hrs
total 24774.2nm 172.2 hrs

[Splitpin]

TG......What an adventure. Ive been "following" you for some time.....seen some amazing things.
If you put all the posts and screenshots together, it makes a great book......i think you have done more than just fly around the virtual world.... amazing.

When its over, do you have any plans?

Thanks for the whole thing.....awesome

Marty

[towerguy]

just trying to finish it and get a move on with the home cockpit

and work

and kids

and mortgages

and life

and ... and ... and ...

well you get the idea

[Splitpin]

QUOTE (towerguy @ Aug 9 2010, 10:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

just trying to finish it and get a move on with the home cockpit

and work

and kids

and mortgages

and life

and ... and ... and ...

well you get the idea

Copy that.

[Ian Warren]

Incoming on the Aussie coastline , A newbie to NZFF , Tony from the Western , Perth , I,m yet to reinstall ORBX and many the OZX scenery , maybe a divert head a little South and head down that area , Fremantle and the sweet western brezze.

[towerguy]

Finally!!!

Hi everyone, sorry been off flightsimming for a while but have forced myself to try and restart.
-----------------------------------

The rain didn't make any difference this morning as I preflighted, the humidity would have seen me just as wet. I managed to get books and charts into the cabin and bags loaded between showers so thanked goodness for small mercies. I'd have the next 4 hours to dry out anyway.
I decided to go VFR today. It made a change from the paranoid "You must fly IFR and stick to the filed plan" mentality I'd endured through the last sections of the trip, besides if it made it more difficult for anyone that might be trying to follow my progress - all the better.

Traffic was light and after the usual run-ups and checks I departed rwy11 and turned right on track - just about the only turn on todays flight apart from the other one onto final at Alice.


After dodging some of the cloud around the Darwin area I was soon up to todays cruise at 5500ft, ToC checks complete and the whole of OZ ahead of me. I sat back and breathed a deep sigh. God it felt good to be back.


A couple of hours later I was dry, hot, and nearly finished the water bottle. Yep just like old times.


I love it out here. No one for miles, you have room to stretch out in peace with nothing in sight for ages apart from the odd set of wheel tracks and the occasional station homestead.




Sooner than I would have liked the horizon became lumpy - the MacDonald ranges and Alice Springs. Not much longer and I was on the ground closed up and heading into town for an airconditioned hotel and a cold beer.


Another leg done and another step closer to home.


This leg 707nm 4.2 hrs
Total 25481.2nm 176.4 hrs


PS:- this is a view of sunset over Alice from Anzac Hill - not sure if you are allowed up there anymore.


I had my 21st in Alice many moons ago. It must have been good as I can't remember a lot.

[connor]

Good to see someone else whose doing a round the world trip. It wasn't so long back I was flying west out of Darwin, for Bali. I'm Now in Turkey, having a poke aroung there (always interested me) But I'm trying to get a hustle on!

[Ian Warren]

Craig , hope you get the 'compass' finished before you fly any further into the boonies , weather is very changeable through this area and storms jump down on ya real quick .

[towerguy]

Sorry it's not another leg - YET!
Been busy, major renovations on the house - BUT-

part of the project is 'man land'.

down the garden behind the garage my Hangar has been taking shape







now it just needs decking and a paint



Once the renovations are completed and all the house contents are removed I can line and paint inside - it is already connected for power
and I've run cat6 cable from the switch and Lan in the house so it's ready for online and then I just have to finish building the instruments etc and
transfer the Pit from the garage into its new home - Yay , soooo looking forward to that day!

[Ian Warren]

Flight Sim Party at Craig's place lads .... ya better make that deck a little larger

A dedicated flight sim man cave , I like the idea !