Jetting over the Stans -  A Silk Road Journey

Jetting over the Stans -  A Silk Road Journey

We will tour many historical cities along the Silk Road in this journey visiting cites in four “Stans”.  We start in Turkmenbat in Turkmenistan.  Crossing the Amu Darya (Oxus) we enter Uzbekistan and our first stop is the ancient Silk Road trade city of Bukhara.

The route proceeds east to Samarkand (one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia). Next we follow the Zeravshan river into Tajikistan.   Zeravshan means "spreader of gold" in Persian, and refers to the presence of gold-bearing sands in the upper reaches of the river.  Surrounded by high mountain ridges we follow the valley of the river down to the “interesting” approach to Ayni (an ancient town of the Sogdian civilization).

It is up and over the mountains to our next stop: Khujand (a 2500 year old Persian city) located on the Syr Darya.  Khujand was established by King Cyrus the Great. Alexander the Great later built his furthest Greek settlement nearby in Cyropolis in 329 BC and named it Alexandria Eschate or "Alexandria The Furthest". The city would form a bastion for the Greek settlers against the nomadic Scythian tribes who lived north of the Syr Darya River.

Heading north we cross back into Uzbekistan and land at the capital city of Tashkent. Tashkent was first settled between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC. Some scholars believe that a "Stone Tower" (said to have marked the midway point between Europe and China) mentioned by Ptolemy in his famous treatise Geography was located in Tashkent. The city was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1219 and lost much of its population as a result of the Mongols' destruction of the Khwarezmid Empire in 1220.

The route continues east into the fertile Fergana Valley to Namangan where the the Naryn and the Kara Darya rivers join forming the Syr Darya river.  The route continues eastward to Osh and into Kyrgyzstan.  Osh is estimated to be 3000 years old and is the second largerst city in Kyrgyzstan.

Leaving the Fergana valley we fly over the mountains to our final destination - desolate Kazarman located on the river Naryn. One source says that "this poor dust-blown settlement in northern Jalal-Abad Region has something of the sinister reputation of a tough mining town down on its luck". The Makmal open-pit gold mine just to the south no longer provides employment opportunities. The town is largely cut off in winter when the roads are closed by snow. There is a small airport Kazarman Airport, but it currently (2012) is served by no flights. The road southwest to Jalal-Abad city normally requires a 4x4 as far as the Kaldama Pass over the Ferghana range.

 We hope you enjoy your journey with us.

Airports visited include:

•          UTAV - Turkmenabat
•          UTSB - Bukhara
•          UTSS - Samarkand
•          UTAY - Ayni Airport
•          UTDL - Khudzhand
•          UTTT - Yuzhny
•          UTFN - Namangan
•          UCFO - Osh
•          UAFZ - Kazarman Airport

 Flightplan: HERE

Aircraft

The route is 624nm and an aircraft capable of 300knts cruise is recommended.  I planned this route using the Working Title CJ4.  Six of the airports have ILS approaches if you want to practice your automation skills. I will fly the CJ4 in Kestral livery.  The BAE Hawk / T45 Goshawk or Aermacchi MB339 will also be good choices if you prefer to go FMS less.    

Recommend Departure time of 3:00 PM local

Particulars:

•             Date and time: Wednesday Jun 15, 18:00 UTC
•             Where: AVSIM RTWR Teamspeak - Casual Flights Channel
•             Teamspeak Server Address: ts.teamavsim.com
•             MFS Multiplayer: US Eastcoast Server

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!