Any more pics, @eal?
I thought they could do only FL100
AFAIK US Stinger has some 8 km range, Soviet Strela some 9 km, and when I served the army (30 years ago) I operated improved version of this missile produced in ex-Yugoslavia that had effective range of 12 km. I’m not into weapons and I don’t know anything about recent development of such missiles but moving at 2 mach and with 12 km of effective range this weapon can reach relatively slow aircraft at some higher altitude.
Buk development started about 12 years after Gary got shot, and reached operational status ca. 1980. Powers was shot down by a SA-2 which is roughly 4x the size of a SA-11.
The BUK (Ukraine) is a radar guided missile, and they got Gary Powers’ U2 with one of those, back in c. 1963, at about FL600.
But yes I agree with your approach 
It’s sad how much of the world has changed and so recently too.
It was great to meet you when you were over here What an awesome plane the Jetprop is!
I think after Ukraine nobody is taking any chances, probably covering their proverbial, but it is a sobering thought, and at the very least landing and taking off right in that hot bed would make you vulnerable much lower down. It certainly gave me pause for thought, so I took the “fight another day” cowards approach. LOL
E
P.S. Here is the SkyVector link
Super pics!
Can the shoulder-launched (heat-seeking) missiles really go to FL250? I thought they could do only FL100, and that was done as a measure to make them ineffective against airliners should they fall into the wrong hands.
Unfortunately for you, I am the world’s laziest photographer , however fortunately for you, my partner is a professional photographer and did take a load of pics during the trip. He is currently on assignment so it will be a few days before I can coerce him to share his stash.
The flying hours work out at just under 29 hours on the hobbs. I was the only pilot on the return trip to Bangkok.
Since this was meant to be a part holiday as well as a part ferry, we did it over 8 days to enjoy some of the stops, but I reckon you could comfortably do it in 5 days if you really just wanted to get through.
I originally left Thailand with a co-pilot in April due to commitments in the UK, and both the outbound and inbound trips were up against headwinds. To take advantage of the prevailing Jetstream it would have been better to leave Asia around June, and return early October. You could definitely shave a stop and a few hours off if you played the wind to your advantage. However I decided to do it the hard way, but was rewarded by a great Spring/Summer in the UK.
Having the ferry tank made this journey much more affordable and less stressful. It has paid for itself many times over.
For those interested, the outbound trip was VTCC VGEG VANP OPKC OBBI OJAQ LDDU EDNY EGHH. That was 31 hours due to 120K+ headwinds over the Middle East on the OPKC-OBBI-OJAQ legs. As we approached Dubai, the cheeky controller asked what Mach number we were showing!
We did the outbound trip in six days to make the Aero Show.
Given the distance between stops, and the diversity of the region, each landing brought a unique cultural experience. I really enjoy doing this journey for that reason above the rest – the flying comes a close second!
It is remarkable how quickly you get into the long distance flying groove, a bit like long distance driving. As my endurance built up I was quite comfortable doing two four hour legs per day towards the end of the trip instead of my normal 5 hour limit.
My landing in Bangkok was tinged with a little sadness that the trip was over as we had got into a great travelling routine.
One sobering contingency I had to take account of during the planning for the return trip was the current instability in the Middle East which has been worsening since I passed through there in April. OJAQ – Aqaba/Jordan used to be a favorite stop of mine, and I did use it in April, but in the ensuing months ICAO issued a June dated warning amongst others; stating that the main airway I use had a minimum security ceiling of 25,000’ due to the prevalence of ground to air missiles in the Sinai Peninsular. My ceiling is FL270. I choose to re-route further West on the return trip. That was one of a few security precautions I decided to take.
I wonder if the time will come when that entre region becomes a no go for small aircraft?
I will do my best to compile some more interesting pictures in due course!
E
Great trip! Any more pics?
PS: pasting your route into SkyVector gives you a graphic display of your trip – woooohoooo!!!
Wow, and as Emir mentioned, we want to see more pics :)
How long time did the trip take?
