Towerguys World Tour

[Naki]

Nice to see the story progress & geeting closer to home.

TG - have you gone back to fs9 and the Dreamfleet Baron?

[Alex]

Awesome to see things rolling along Craig, another great instalment.

Alex

[towerguy]

TG - have you gone back to fs9 and the Dreamfleet Baron?


Yeah - I check each leg out in both FS9 and FSX and see which is better for the screen shots and sometimes even take some from each just to supplememnt the story. but I'm still finding that the scenery addons are more available for FS9 and I've only got activesky for fs9 but hope to get ActiveskyX soon as my son comes back from the states next week - fingers crossed he made it to the flightsim store while he was there.

cheers

[towerguy]

Not a very exciting leg to get back into things unfortunately - but hey, thats the weather for you!

3 days in Yangon was more than enough! We'd walked and shopped and "done" the Shivedagon Paya. Rising 98m from it's base, its a golden 'Stupa' or temple covered in gold leaf and encrusted at the top with 5000 diamonds and 2000 other jewels and is visible from all over the city. We registered our protest against the repressive ruling military junta by avoiding, where possible, all state owned or operated businesses and sticking to small owner operated stores. Despite all the repression, the people were friendly and very hospitable.
The weather had finally settled down somewhat so again we set forth.
We took a last quick glimpse of the airport surrounds as we climbed into the haze.
That small view was to be the last we saw until just before touchdown in Bangkok.



Although it was only a couple of hours it seemed longer as we droned along above a solid layer of haze so thick it could almost have been called fog.



From quite a distance out we could see all the traffic climbing and descending into and out of the murk. Soon enough it was our turn to join them and line up for the ILS approach.



Once again the runway lights emerged out of the thick clinging grey and with a small bump we were in a new country.



This leg 354.8 nm 2.7 hrs
Totals 21674.9 nm 153.1 hrs

[TPB]

Great screenshots. Which way are you coming back to NZ?

[towerguy]

prob back via Indonesia and OZ - am getting the FTX packs for OZ for Xmas so want to do some through OZ on way back.

[HardCorePawn]

Hope you don't get held up in Bangkok!

[towerguy]

I didn't know about Julie but I was totally, thoroughly and completely shopped out! Julie had taken full advantage of our Bangkok stopover and we had explored every bazaar, mall, shop, street vendor, whatever. You name it we probably now had it! At least all the Xmas pressies for the next three years were all taken care of! Along the way I had managed to slip in a couple of good restaurants and the odd museum and bar so all was not lost.
Half a morning was spent packing it all up and getting it air freighted home. The rest of the morning I spent flight planning and preflighting for today’s run down the peninsula to our next destination of Phuket. Time for some serious R & R.
Leaving Don Mueng Internationals northerly runway behind us we were vectored around to the west on departure to keep us away from the busy traffic in and out of the new Suvarnabhumi International to the south west.



The haze wasn't too bad today - yet - and we could see the traffic lined up and descending into and climbing out of the airport before winging away to all points of the compass.
We intercepted our track, the G458 just prior to crossing the coast and reaching top of climb. Having done all the checks and squared ourselves away we sat back and relaxed to take in the scenery.
Ahead and to the east lay the sparkling gulf of Thailand, the scattered build ups ahead dappling the water with shadow.



To our right the peninsula disappeared off into the distance ahead.



The patchwork of coastal villages and fields climbing up into the central spine of forest clad hills.
About an hour down track Julie pointed out a big set of runways right on the coast.



A quick check of the Jepp chart confirmed it as Prachuap Kiri Khan Airbase - VOR 113.7 or Tacan Tac-84. A nice cross track navigation check it showed we had a 12kt tail so far - nice. That should put me in the bar by mid afternoon.
As we got further south the cloud built up more and some lower stuff was forming up against the hills and into the valleys.



As the heat of the day built so too did the size of the towering Cu's. Fortunately today though they were staying off our track.
Crossing the VOR at Surat Thani (110.6 STN) we turned onto the 219 radial for the short 78nm run to Phuket itself.



Time to start the arrival and approach briefs. According to the ATIS we are doing an ILSDME for rwy27 but the wind is 070/05 so a 5kt tail. Frequencies preset as far as able, Loc 109.9 and ident IPKT 266 degrees inbound and 520ft minimum and missed approach noted - shouldn't be a problem though as the weather advertised is for scattered cloud at 2500ft and a Vis of about 20km. a nice day.



A few vectors all over the place as usual and we were finally on final, gear sown and locked, Phuket tower on 118.1 and cleared to land. Julie was already checking out the coral and the beaches below.



After shutting down we grabbed our bags and headed for the taxis ahead of the crowds from the B767 taxiing in behind us. We have a week here before retracing part of our route back into the gulf of Thailand to the island of Samui for another week of resort luxury.



This leg 2.6hrs 377.4nm
Totals 155.7hrs 22052.3nm

[towerguy]

We’d done the beach thing and the shopping thing and I’d done the golf thing and the bars. I was feeling restless and starting to prowl as I do when I get this way so Julie suggested I hire a car and go exploring for the day while she caught up with some more of the beach thing.
Thinking it over for a full two seconds I grabbed wallet, camera and sunglasses and took off out the door with a hurried ‘see ya for dinner!’ tossed back over the shoulder. I vaguely recall ‘… ut be careful…’ floating out after me but by then my mind was racing with plans of what to do.
Driving along the coast I headed up towards the marinas at the northern end of the Island. I remembered Steve saying he had had a boat up here somewhere before being moved on. I figured I might as well see where he had travelled just out of interest.
Despite my best efforts at haggling I still paid a premium but now I had a runabout for the day and a set of local maps. Thrown in for free was half an hours briefing of where all the dive operators worked and who I might try asking about Steve.
It turned out to be a fantastic days boating running out around the islands, stopping in lots of little bays and just generally having a hoon. I thought Julie really would have enjoyed it and I should have brought her along. Oh well there’s always next time!
It was a complete waste of time asking after Steve however. The usual story of no one knows any one and lots of vacant stares or ‘no speaka da englis’. Never mind I wasn’t here to actually find anyone, it was just general interest.
I returned the boat tired, burnt and hungry. I’d seen plenty of lovely scenery but left the camera in the car and got no pictures. Now what was this?
Hey, get away from there I yelled and started to run along the dock.
Some local kid had the car door open and was leaning inside. Dropping whatever he had in his hand he shot off like a jackrabbit. Dark skin black hair white shirt blue shorts and bare feet. Just the same as every other kid I’d seen around the place. I’d be lucky to recognise him if he turned and walked back around the corner he’d just disappeared behind.
‘s**t!’ I’d just remembered about the camera I’d left in the car. I’ll bet that’s gone I thought.
He’d done a nice clean job I’ll give him that much. No marks on the door and the window was still intact so I wouldn’t be getting a charge from the rental place anyway. Surprise surprise though! There was the camera still where I had left it and a white envelope tucked neatly underneath it.
Hmm… a thief that leaves mail eh? Turning over the envelope it was blank apart from three typed letters on the front … T G Y.
I felt a little uneasy now. Looking around I began to look at the place in a new light. It didn’t have the same relaxed holiday feel to the place anymore. Was someone watching me even now?
Someone here knew exactly who I was and how I got here! Maybe I was paranoid maybe not but I got out of the car and holding the envelope downwind I slowly tore the end of it off.
Inside was a single folded slip of paper. Carefully sliding it out I held my breath while I unfolded it. No white powder or anything else that I could see. My shoulders sagged with relief when I recognised the handwriting as Steves.

We are fine. Contact only in extreme emergency.
Only you and the sultana know where I am.

Only the two lines and unsigned. I knew who from, but I had no idea what the hell he meant! I didn’t notice any of the scenery on the drive back. I was too lost in thought trying to figure out what the heck he was talking about. OK sure I understood about them being okay and that meant that Marie must be with him but the part about only me and the sultana knowing? What Sultan what sultana?
Sitting in the hotel bar nursing a beer later I reread the note. Borrowing a lighter from the bartender I set the paper alight and dropped it into an ashtray and grinned to myself as I watched it blacken and curl in the small flame. It had been while sitting there pondering that I had looked up and seen the packets of nuts and raisins for sale behind the bar. Of course! Where had Steve and I first met – picking raisins and Sultanas! Out side Merbein in Victoria Australia. That’s where I had had to hide Steve and I was the only one who knew where he was – amongst the sultanas! Thinking about it though I knew that that was not where he would be. It had been a ramshackle tin pickers shed hidden in the bush on the other side of the river. Hardly somewhere where you would take someone like Marie and disappear to for a long time. No it was more likely that he’d leave a message of some kind in that place knowing I was the only one likely to go there and look. As to how he knew that I would come this way and look for him? I guess he did know our itinerary, and it is the business he is in after all.

Well I guess that will add a few track miles onto the journey but at least it is still sort of on the way home.

[towerguy]

Next day saw us airborne again. We left Phuket to the teeming throngs of younger louder party hearty types and set heading out over the bay to the northeast.



We were only a few degrees off the track we had come inbound on.
"You seem to be in a good mood today" remarked Julie.
"Why not " I said " You, me, an aeroplane and good weather - sort of - and more holiday ahead. Yeah why not!"
"Fair enough" she said "maybe I should tell you the credit card bill now then."
I just laughed.
We carried on in that vein until over the mainland again and ATC was trying to send us off on a wild goose chase of vectors out to the north.



Looking at the weather I decided - not today!
'Tango Golf Yankee request cancel IFR and continue VFR.'
Calling Samui Tower we got clearance to track up the east side of the island to join.
We checked out the beaches and the Hotel we were staying at. We both agreed that this looked more our sort of scene.







This Leg 1.3 hrs 143nm
Totals 157.0hrs 22195.3nm

[Ian Warren]

Heck ! almost home ... least almost to OZ and with a chance to explore every swimming pool in that country .

[kiwibarguy]

Looking so good mate, great scenery and airports as always! Wow you are on the home straight now!

[towerguy]

After 4 days in Samui it was time to move on again. We loaded up the aircraft and said our farewells to a couple of friends we’d made on the stay then headed into the blue skies once again, with me nursing a mild dose of too much sun – ouch my back!





This time we were southbound along the eastern coast of the Malayan peninsula



before crossing over to the west coast from the Hat Yai VOR to Penang





and then along the west coast to Kuala Lumpur. Looking ahead we could see the tops of towering Cu climbing well above our level.



“looks like thunderstorms aheadâ€￾ commented Julie.
“yeah and well above us too!â€￾



Getting in early I got descent from our present FL110 down to 7000ft to avoid the classic situation of getting hung up too high too late and we were given clearance for weather avoidance as required – no one else was flogging along down here.
Once clear of the weather were were onto vectors for the ILS32L at KL. I needn’t have worried about time to get down. To thread us into the traffic we were sent 25nm south before coming back onto the ILS – 50 track miles! Oh well!



Taxiing in finally Julie got together the passports and paperwork – another country.



this leg 3.2 hrs 488nm
totals 160.2hrs 22683nm

[towerguy]

Two days of teeming crowds was enough for us in Kuala Lumpur. We hadn’t really enjoyed it here for some reason, there was nothing specific, we just decided to up and carry on. As it was a nice evening we decided that a short night hop down to Singapore would be just the ticket. The TAF had mention of tropical thunderstorms and there had been a few pass through during the afternoon but it was all fine now so we took our place in the departure queue and slowly worked our way to the holding point.



At last we were up and away.



There was not a lot of time for sight seeing as this is only a very short hop and it’s a pretty busy patch of airspace. Julie did manage a few quick snaps but we’d hardly got to cruise before we were on our way back down and being fed into the line up for Changi.



Once on the ground we were again in the slow queue to reach the parking slot




This leg 0.8hrs 172nm
Totals 161.0hrs 22857nm

[towerguy]

Well what a couple of months the last few have been! Julie and I had spent a good week around Singapore “doingâ€￾ the touristy bits – Raffles for cocktails, out on the beach at Sentosa, the shops along Orchard road and a night at the Casino to name but a few. Then it was time for her to head home to Auckland for a while. So I arranged a weather and notam brief for myself and headed for the airport for her to catch the Singapore airlines flight home. I could then head over to the aircraft and get away at first light. The weather was pretty warm but being predawn it wasn’t the stifling weight that it would become later. At least it wasn’t raining!
TGY was gassed up and the preflight went okay, nothing unusual or suspicious and everything opened, closed or twisted in the way that it should. Permission was granted for a start to warm the engines and load the flight plan – I had a spot at the Budget Terminal over near the SATS Inflight Catering Centre 1 building and it was only going to be a shortish taxi out the hold for 02R.
“Zulu Kilo Tango Golf Yankee taxi for holding position Echo one zero for runway zero two right via lima five lima eight and taxiway echo papa.â€￾ Reading back the taxi route I double checked it against my chart and released brakes – underway again.
“Zulu Kilo Tango Golf Yankee hold at lima eight, give way to the boeing triple seven on your left.â€￾
“Zulu Golf Yankee holding lima eight and giving wayâ€￾ I replied while thinking ‘Ya think!?’ the blazing taxi light flooding the cockpit was a bit of a giveaway really!
“… airlines 347 we are ready immediate and can take echo eight departure if available?â€￾ came the call. This guy was eager to get away.
“roger contact tower now 118.6â€￾
“Tower on 18.6 roger.â€￾
He must have received an immediate roll because as he passed me and swung into Echo 8 he was already pushing up the power! Tango Golf Yankee started to rock a bit in the jet blast then suddenly there was a loud bang and thump against the fuselage just behind my head and the vibrations started!
It felt like she was trying to shake herself apart. I glanced at the engine gauges but they were not too far out of range but hard to read so I pulled both throttles back to idle which eased things slightly. The thump had been on the left so I pulled the mixture back to the stop and as the engine cut the vibrations died right away to the normal feeling of the engine on the other side.
Looking out at the left engine I couldn’t believe what I saw! About 6 inches ( that’s about 150mm for you younger ones!) was missing from one blade and another had a great big divot in one side. Twisting around in my seat I could see the threaded end of a bolt sticking in through the sidewall of the cabin! It must have been thrown up by the jet blast into the props and then deflected into the aircraft.
“Bugger!â€￾
Contacting ATC I got a clearance to taxi back to the ramp and arranged for them to contact the Airport Authority and to file the incident report. This was not going to be a quick fix and there would be insurance and all sorts involved!
Well I was right about that as it happened! It was going to be a couple of months including repairs to the fuselage, replacement prop blades, a complete strip down of the engine to check for damage and a check on the wing and engine attachments for cracking as well due to the vibrations. As for the price well that was being argued over by the airline, the airport authority and all the insurance agencies involved. At least for once I was the innocent party!

What to do I thought. Well why not reschedule another trip we had planned to take later. I emailed Julie and told her to pack some things and that I was on my way and we were going to take that trip up to Rarotonga that I’d promised her.

A few days later I was back in Auckland on a commercial flight this time. A quick turn around and we were on our way, folded into the - oh so uncomfortable - back of an Air New Zealand skoda (A320) on our way to a sunny tropical holiday.
Yeah right! Pissing with rain it was as we ran across the tarmac to the arrivals shed – sorry – terminal!



Never mind – we decided to enjoy ourselves anyway! The coach dropped us off at the ‘Little Polynesian’ resort where we dropped our bags and settled in.



next day we hired the motor scooter and sat the obligatory Cook Island drivers licence before setting out to explore. Plenty of time was spent swimming and then there was the day trip safari around and across the island, which I whole heartedly recommend. Great fun thanks Mr Hopeless (our driver).
After 5 days we caught the S340 of Air Rarotonga up to Aitutaki for 4 nights of paradise!







Staying at the 5 star Pacific resort hotel.





Of everywhere I had been on the world trip so far, this is where I would come back to settle if I had the chance! The weather was great, the scenery idilic, the locals friendly and no stress at all.



Superb meals by night and lagoon cruising during the day – what a life!.



Indeed the only real downer of the whole trip was that we had to come back.



But we did have to so it was back to Raro for a last evening watching the sun go down over some beers at Trader Jacks before getting on a B767 back to Auckland.

A couple of weeks were spent clearing up some bills and checking in with friends before I headed back up to Singapore to continue the tour. Hopefully the second attempt will be more successful!

Totals - this leg lots and lots and lots but none that count!

[Bagnew]

Wow, great graphics on that last leg!

[ardypilot]

A very convenient way to end things for now- I like your creative way of posting holiday snaps!

[towerguy]

I've already flown the next leg down to Bali - just have to write it up now.
cheers

[Michael]

Looking forward to it!

[G-HEVN]

Nice to see the old paintwork still holding up!