Hello and welcome back. As I continue my around the world adventure in the A2A Comanche, I’ve decided to head south of the equator where I’ll eventually end up in Australia. This is a similar path I followed back in 2010 and I believe the extra time to explore Australia (and perhaps New Zealand) will be worth the effort in MSFS. This of course will extend my flying time considerably, but like I said will certainly be worth the extra time. Over the next few days I’ll make my way across Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia then turn south towards Malaysia and Singapore as we cross from the northern hemisphere into the southern hemisphere.
Flight Day 21
Despite the delays I experienced yesterday, I’m not that far behind and can easily make up the lost time over the next few days. I’m due to meet my friend Tom in Singapore who will travel with me for the next week or so as I make my way towards Australia. But for now, it’s time to get in the Comanche and fly to Thailand (VTCH) then on towards Laos. In Laos I’ll stay in Vientiane. While the airport (VLVT) I have permission to land there and store the Comanche for the evening.
Flight Day 22
Managed to troubleshoot the heater issue while in Vientiane. The issue appears to be a leaky baffle. I’m having a replacement part shipped to my attention in Singapore. What little amount of heat I’ve needed with the lower altitudes the past few days has been manageable. Today I’m off towards Vietnam, then turning back to the southwest towards Cambodia. In Vietnam I’m landing at the Chu Lai Airport (VVCA) which is near Da Nang. The airport has a bit of history as it was established by the US Marines during the Vietnam war. After lunch and a bit of a rest, I’ll head towards Cambodia and the Sihanouk Airport (VDSV) to end a long day of flying.
Flight Day 23
Today I’ll fly across the Gulf of Thailand to Malaysia and the city of Kota Bharu and the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport (WMKC) then onto Singapore and the Selatar Airport northwest of Changi WSSS. My friend Tom will be flying into Changi today from Tokyo and we’ll spend two days exploring Singapore and working on the Comanche before departing together later in the week. For now, it’s time to carefully review the weather and perform my inspections on the Comanche before taking flight.
Flight Day 24
All the required maintenance has been done on the Comanche and it was great having Tom’s help. He lives near me in Texas and also owns his on aircraft which he stores in Georgetown. We changed the oil, oil filter and replaced the spark plugs. I also installed the new parts to fix the heater issue. I expect we’ll experience some cooler temperatures as we continue our journey further south of the equator. Today we’ll depart Singapore and head south to Indonesia. Over the next few days we’ll use the many islands that make up Indonesia to tip-toe our way across as we make our way first to the island of Timor-Leste then onward to Darwin, Australia.
Flight Day 25
We completed two flights yesterday and ended up just outside of Jakarta at WI1B (Baturaja). Really beautiful country this is. It’s great having Tom along for the ride. While Tom is a pilot and fully capable of flying my Comanche, I’ve assigned him the task of cabin comfort and he will keep the heat or cabin ventilation in check. He will also help with snack distribution as needed. During our downtime in Singapore and over a few cold beverages, we roughly planned out some future flight legs which will obviously delay my return back to the US but will certainly be worth it. But for today, we’re off once again as we island hop southeast along the Indonesian Islands towards Timor-Leste. Our plan for today is to make one stop at Malang (WARA) then onward to the island of Lombok and the Selaparang Airport (WARA) which is located in the city of Mataram. This will set us up for an overnight stay tomorrow evening in Maliana on Timor-Leste.
Well this wraps up another week of updates. Come back next week for update 6 on my Around the World Adventure in the A2A Piper Comanche.
Until next time…
Happy Flying!!!
Jerry