My final goodbye to FS9: Around the world in an AFG King Air 300.

[ViperPilot 81]

Thanks for the commentary Pete, and enjoy your rest day!

 

Alan :smile:

[simmerhead 885]

Pete, this is fantastic reading. Keep it up. I took a similar trip as a farewell to FS9 in the Aeroworx King Air in 2008. I made it a bit shorter though, and cheated by accelerating time between cruise and descent.

[Pete McKay 9]

Pete, this is fantastic reading. Keep it up. I took a similar trip as a farewell to FS9 in the Aeroworx King Air in 2008. I made it a bit shorter though, and cheated by accelerating time between cruise and descent.

 

LOL, I am sooo tempted at this point. I am guilt of canceling my IFR and going to take an hour nap on a a couple of the flights. I have a set of wireless headphones I will wear and sometimes I'm in another part of the house when I get handed off. It's a mad dash to the keyboard to respond and then back to doing whatever.

[Pete McKay 9]

There's going to be a couple day delay on resuming the trip, real wolrd events are sort of taking presidence right now.

[Pete McKay 9]

February 10, 2013 - After a day and a half off the flu caught up with me (for real). I was supposed to make two flghts today, Port Moresby to Mackay and then onto Sydney. With a low grade temperature and anything I ate making an expidited exit it was doubtful I'd make it to the plane, much less the 713 nm to my first destination. I would be flying this day with the company of another King Air, a new 350, all the way to Mackay (thank you AI gnenerator).

 

 

 

Much of the flight would be over water, and flown at FL240. We ran the weather and saw a large storm develoiping northeast of Cairns, we'd be heading past at about 9:00 AM as it gained strength. We'd also have the help of a tailwind, so at 8:00 AM I fired engines and taxied out of Port Moresby in the hoped of reaching Mackay in 3 hours.

 

 

 

I climbed out 8 minutes behind the other King Air, 35 minutes later we overtook them with the help of that 280+ knot headwind 6 miles to the west and led them the rest of the way into Mackay. The clouds picked up near Cairns, developing into a full fledged thunderstorm below me. 2 hours and 30 minutes later I began my approach into Mackay and through the clouds that had developed there, it was just under 8 miles visibility and hazy on the final, I shut down the engines 8 minutes before the second King Air landed, just as the rain began. I was towed to the fuel station, exited the plane and promptly dry heaved for 3 minutes. My ground crew mamanger immediately grounded me with a 102 degree flu (again, really) and pushed the plane into the hanger. It would be a few days before I would be resuming my trip around the world. At least I knew I'd have decent food here in Australia.

[HaraldG 559]

Hi Pete,

 

we've read no more news from your RTW flight here for more than a month. I think it's not only me who is interested if you are o.k. at first?

 

All the best

Harald