World Tour, am I trying to do too much?

[flyinion 139]

So I've been trying to do my own world tour flight around the world.  I'm wondering if I'm trying to do too much though and thought ask for input on what others have done.  I'm not trying to explore the entire planet, but definitely trying to not just tubeliner it in 3000 mile hops through major cities and countries.  I'm trying to kinda hit everywhere within reason in 350-1000 miles hops with most 350-650 so I can use my QW Avro series as much as possible.  I've already done the US and Ireland>Scotland>rest of UK>France>Spain>loop around Africa.  sometimes I feel like I'm setting myself up in a big crisscross pattern going north then south then north then south etc. over and over as I work my way from west to East.

 

I mapped out the rest of the trip, Australia being a guess, and having problems finding cities in eastern Russia, using Google Maps with the measurement tool and came out with 70 hops left and about 45,000 nautical miles (yes you can set Google Maps to measure in nautical miles).  What do you guys think?  I tried to reduce the back & forth of the north to south thing a bit and made some compromises because of that.  I've attached a text file of the list.  I eventually plan to go back to really interesting regions and explore low & slow in a twin like the B58 or the Realair Duke when I'm done.

 

 

[Fox-Bat 31]

Good on you if you have the time!  I have trouble finding time exploring my own part of the world!

[Kronzky 33]

I know you mentioned using your QW Avro plane, but if you have a soft spot for DC-3s (and who hasn't!?)  I would suggest joining Buffalo Airways, and participating in their DC-3 World Tour.

The legs are about 300-600nm each, can be done via traditional navigation (if you're so inclined), go to some really unique airports, and thei're definitely taking the "scenic route" (as opposed to the shortest possible way, like most RTW tours do).

It's a massive project, with over 100 hops, and will take nearly a year to complete. But, since you're not flying by yourself (you can do the legs offline or online with others), at least you got some company to share your experiences with.

 

It is split into three parts, and here are some GM overlays for the routes (click on the title for the description, or the images for the detailed maps):

 

Segment One

 

Segment Two

 

Segment Three

[PIC007 41]

When I flew my first RTW it was 42 hops of 300-400 miles each leg, using the ES CJ at a speed of around 300kts and staying farily low (12-15K) so I could check the scenery. Sometimes, especially in mountainious areas, we would stay 2-3K above the land because it was so interesting. Over water, slew is your friend as flying oceans is boring as he!! !  :-)

[JoTayhen 5]

A while back I hopped into my American Champion Scout and took her from my home base in Camden, SC all the way out to KHQM.  Each leg was no more than 200 miles and I essentially "barnstormed" my way across the country.  I tried to keep a journal which I posted here.  I filled it with tales of my "experiences" and the "folks I'd met" using lots of journalistic license of course.  I ended up having a bunch of friends here sharing the trip with me and offering comments and suggestions for places to visit, crossing points, etc.  It was great fun and something I've really thought about doing again only on a larger scale.

 

Please consider keeping us informed of your progress and all the great folks you meet along the way!  Good Luck !

[flyinion 139]

Thanks guys  

 

@Kronzky that's a pretty nice little route there.  Oh and grrrrr you just made me realize I forgot to visit New Zealand while I was plotting stuff out down there lol.  I'll have to add that in now.  I don't know if I'll join or not, but those maps are helpful for sure, I think I figured out how I'm getting out of Russia lol.  Sometimes Google maps just doesn't work well for finding cities in remote regions like that.  I kept moving around & zooming in/out and all I saw was terrain and no cities.

[Kronzky 33]

Looks like the forum software somehow swallowed up the Google Map links to some of the segments, so here they are all in plaintext once more:

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www.kronzky.info/fs/DC3_WorldTour1.kml

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www.kronzky.info/fs/DC3_WorldTour2.kml

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www.kronzky.info/fs/DC3_WorldTour3.kml