Time Before

A random Bazflyer moment spawned this blog. Driving along the road mid week, audio volume turned up, a favourite song pulsing the air. And then it happened, the moment that is, or perhaps in the context of this blog it could appropriately be termed “think think time before”, a lovely Melanesian Pigin phrase for memory. 

When first released the song cascading out of the car’s audio speakers was a memorable track on a desirable album of that time. The flash back moment was recalling the art-full activity of wrapping a cassette version of the album as a present to be opened on Christmas morning. The memory of that moment is so clear as are the descending words that adorned the cassette graphic; “Pink Floyd The Wall”. The album was released forty years ago in time for Christmas 1979. 

However, there is more than the great Pink Floyd rock band to anchor 1979 in the Bazflyer’s memory archive. At the time they lived in Goroka, a small town in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Bazflyer1 was Chief Pilot for a fast growing helicopter company. Bazflyer2 taught at the local International School. The world was aviation centric and life was good. 

Unfortunately forty years ago is also tagged for tragic reasons, especially for aviators of the time. It will be forever associated with two of the worst aircraft accidents of all time.

One of the accidents occurred on May 25, 1979, when a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operated by American Airlines as Flight 191 from O’Hare, Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, crashed into the ground as it was taking off from runway 32R. All 258 passengers and 13 crew on board were killed, along with two people on the ground. With 273 fatalities, it is the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States. The uncontrollable crash resulted when the left hand engine separated from the aircraft.

The second of these accidents tragically occurred on November 28, 1979. All 257 occupants on an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight TE901 were killed when the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft flew into Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica. This accident since referred to as the Erebus Disaster, is New Zealand's deadliest peacetime disaster, as well as the deadliest accident in the history of Air New Zealand.

Bazflyers succinctly remember the Erebus Disaster. They flew the morning after on a scheduled Air New Zealand flight in a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 with their two children travelling from Brisbane, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand. The totality of the tragedy was yet to become fully apparent, nevertheless, the mood on the flight that morning was eerily sombre in a most unforgettable manner.   

Forever a maligned airplane the final passenger flight with a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 occurred just two years ago. The honour went to Bangladesh Biman Airlines, operator of the world's last passenger DC-10 that made its final scheduled flight on December 7, 2017. But while the iconic, wide-body, three-engine workhorse of late-20th-century air travel is no longer hauling passengers it hasn’t yet completely disappeared from the skies...it is still in use by cargo carriers.

Oh...you wish to know what the track from that album was..? It was “Mother”. Turn up the audio volume, stand back, enjoy a great song from one of the best rock bands ever! Then ‘think think time before’....what were you were doing forty years ago?

The album cover design was renowned for its simplicity.

Papua New Guinea is an independent nation located to the north of Australia previously featured in the blog.

One of the Hughes 500D helicopters flown by Bazflyer1 in Papua New Guinea. Pictured in 1979 at Goraka (AYGA) airport in the Eastern Highlands Province.

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 depicted in Continental Airlines livery as operated on the airline’s Trans-Pacific services and used on several occasions by Bazflyers.

Flight Pioneers

There is no doubt that aviation has come a long way since two brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright demonstrated man’s ability to construct a machine capable of powered, sustained, and controlled flight in the air. The historic event occurred on December 17, 1903, just 116 years ago. From that pioneering beginning the airplane’s development took off. Until that moment in time the dream of flying like a bird in the sky had eluded mankind, probably since time immortal. The Greek legend of Daedalus and Icarus is one of the earliest known; others originated from India, China and the European Middle Age. During this early period the issues of lift, stability and control were not understood, and most attempts ended in serious injury or death.

Ten years after that Wright Brother’s flight, the airplane was used for the first time as a weapon of war. The strategic advantage of airplanes was instantly apparent and this translated into an accelerated period of development. By the time World War One ended in November 1918, the once rudimentary flying machine had become a relatively reliable and indispensable reality. 

Looking back in time it was hardly surprising that in the aftermath of a horrific World War people were hungry for good news stories and hero celebrities, and the airplane did not disappoint. The year 1919 was a vintage year for the airplane and this year is the centenary. 

Only a few months ago, at the end of July, the Bazflyers were piloting their trusty Comanche airplane on the transatlantic sector of an round the world flight. The route took them via Greenland and Iceland. Along the way Bazflyers were eminently mindful that 100 years earlier, in June 1919, British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown made the very first non stop transatlantic flight. They flew a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber.

Four years previously Bazflyers had stood at the location near Galway on the west coast of Ireland where Alcock and Brown rather unceremoniously arrived ending their 16 hour flight from St Johns, Newfoundland. They did however, collect the prize of £10,000.

This month of December marks the centenary of another historic long range aviation flight. A flight that coincidentally also involved a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber. This was the epic first flight of an airplane from Britain to Australia. 

The then Prime Minister of Australia, William “Billy” Hughes, keen to bolster civil aviation in Australia and bridge the tyranny of distance between Australia and the rest of the world, offered a prize of £10,000 for the first Australian to fly from England to Australia within 30 days. Six crews qualified to enter the great air race, all experienced airmen and World War I veterans. Only two crews completed the journey. Four aviators perished during their attempt. 

So, when highly decorated pilot Captain Ross Smith and his brother Lieutenant Keith Smith, landed at Darwin on 10 December 1919, the event was met with national and international excitement and acclaim.

Although the Bazflyers flew a different route from Britain to Australia in their Comanche ZK-BAZ, they were always humbly mindful of their centennial connection with the Smith brothers historic flight.

As history goes it was April 1969 when New Zealand aviator, Cliff Tait, flew out of New Zealand to circumnavigate the world in his diminutive Airtourer airplane. Fast forward fifty years and it was April 2019 when the Bazflyers departed New Zealand, a copy of Tait’s book ‘Flight of the Kiwi’ in the airplane seat pocket. Along the way Cliff’s historic flight path was nostalgically intercepted on several occasions. In commemoration, the Bazflyers flew through Russia’s Far East where politics fifty years earlier had unceremoniously denied Cliff a flight approval, an intervention that robbed him of a seamless round the world flight.

Having flown round the world themselves, the Bazflyers can well appreciate how difficult long range airplane flying must have been 50 or more years ago. For starters there was no GPS providing precise navigation. No satellite weather imagery. No computer generated metrological forecasts. No internet or mobile phone. There can be no question flying across oceans and continents in today’s world is a much safer and more reliable expedition than it used to be. And for the Bazflyers such comparisons with their own epic journey were reassuring companions on every flight.

It was while attending Sentimental Journey the Bazflyers caught up with Ted Miller a retired airline captain and an avid aviator. Ted had flown his vintage yellow open cockpit Boeing Stearman airplane from Southern California across the USA to Lock Haven. “Its like riding a Harley across the country”, Ted told the Bazflyers. “It feels good when you stop, but it sure is fun”. Ted in his Beech Debonair is no stranger to flying long distances. He is a veteran of multiple ocean crossings. Ted and his wife even celebrated their honeymoon in 1971 by flying the Beech Debonair round the world. Ted had the Bazflyers enthralled with his modest dialogue describing how he navigated the Debonair over the Pacific Ocean using a sextant while steadily flying without the aid of an autopilot. 

Would the Bazflyers have wanted to fly round the world without ZK-BAZ’s array of modern digital navigation and communication equipment..? Hell, no! It is thanks in part to pioneering and epic flights, aviation has come a very long way in just a short 100 years.....the Bazflyers proudly salute all those flight pioneers...men and women alike.

The Vickers Vimy, G-EAOU (affectionately known as "God 'Elp All Of Us"), was 100 years ago flown by the brothers Ross and Keith Smith, along with their mechanics, in the great air race from London to Australia. In the process, they became the first people ever to fly from England to Australia.

Ted Miller stands with his 1943 vintage open cockpit Boeing Stearman

Fifty years ago New Zealander Cliff Tait departed Hamilton in his trailblazing Airtourer on a solo flight round the world.

ZK-BAZ’s array of modern digital navigation and communication equipment.

Bazflyers return to a Taupo welcome (NZAP) after completing their round the world flight


A future flight pioneer...for sure!

The Sky Beckons

Since completing Round the World 2019 and stepping off the wing, down onto Taupo tarmac, the days have morphed into longer segments of time and when assembled in a lineal line, weeks too quickly become months. Like a conga line of ants, time is relentless. It marches on, waits for no one, not even Bazflyer bloggers! 

 

Perhaps it has a lot to do with time that the sky continues to beckon day and night. Somewhere in a recent past Bazflyers harboured a faint thought that perhaps six months on the wing circumnavigating our wonderful planet, might at least for a while, mute the sky’s calling. Alas, their epic on the wing journey has only increased the volume. The sky beckons even louder.

 

Sometimes overcast, sometimes bright, morning, noon, or night, the sky beckons. Look at the sky anytime, any season, to physically see time going by. Then as if to attract attention the sky’s special spectrum of colours, intensity and mood uniquely emboldens that motion of time.

 

Getting up there in the sky is what all aviators love to do. There is nothing like a perfect blue-sky day to ignite that passion. Open the hangar door, roll Comanche ZK-BAZ outside, fire up the lusty Lycoming engine and get some air under those wings. This week Bazflyer1 did just that.

 

It was only a short one hour flight from Taupo (NZAP) south to Masterton (NZMS) but what a magnificent day it was to be in the sky. Not a cloud in sight. There was a purpose for going to Masterton and lunch with a friend was as good as the day was perfect. 

 

Masterton is a rural town, these days surrounded by expanding vineyards and home to many boutique businesses. Vastly changed from when New Zealand’s first official refugees arrived there 75 years ago. A total of 733 Polish children  most of them orphans escaping the atrocities of World War Two. All of them had been evacuated from Poland to places in Siberia and Kazakhstan from where they endured further hardship travelling overland to Iran. Some never made it. In the aftermath of the war and Poland’s redrawn boundaries, home for these children ceased to exist. Most grew up in their adopted land of New Zealand. Now in their eighties hundreds returned to Masterton earlier this month to commemorate their new life that began there 75 years ago…and the sky shone benevolently upon them.  

 

In the absence of imposed limits, time is continuous. Not so for an aviator in the sky. What goes up must eventually come down and for Bazflyer1 that reality bought him back to Taupo…to once again contemplate the beckoning sky.      

 

Wow...a blue-sky day and Masterton is down there to the left of those mountains.

Outside the hangar ready to start.

 

Flight plan via airways 145 NM from Taupo (NZAP) at 8000 feet to Masterton (NZMS).

Hill country farming (sheep & Beef) on the way to Masterton

 

What goes up, must come down. Tandem skydiver landing beside the Baz Base.

 

Evening at the Baz Base contemplating the beckoning sky emboldened by smoke effects from by the devastating bush fires in Australia over 2000 kilometres away.

Achievement

Of the fifty-five landings the Bazflyers made while flying round the world in their Comanche ZK-BAZ, the penultimate touchdown occurred at midday the 19th October on home base Taupo Airport, New Zealand. It was definitely not one of the prettiest arrivals. Showers and gusting cross-wind conditions for landing on Runway 35 weren’t altogether helpful, but be it intuitive control inputs or a modicum of good fortune or a cocktail of both, the final touchdown turned out to be remarkably smooth. 

As the wheels rolled to a stop outside the Taupo Aero Club the simple act of pulling out a red knobbed control shut-off fuel to the engine, an engine that had stoically powered the Bazflyer’s trusty Comanche round the world and with that the 3-bladed propellor came to a halt. The ensuing silence was spontaneously replaced by an applauding assembly of family and friends. This was it, the end. Check…magnetos and switches off…exit the ‘BAZ Office’ then join familiar faces in celebrating an amazing journey. 

A week or more has since passed. Travel accoutrements have been returned to their usual storage places. The trusty Comanche, throughly inspected, serviced and gleaming in its hangar is poised for action. Viewed from the outside it could be construed that Bazflyer life has resumed its familiar purpose..but has it? 

How is one supposed to feel after flying round the world in a small airplane? This question, phrased in a variety of ways, has been a reoccurring inquiry since the Bazflyer’s arrival back at home base as well as an ongoing subject of self examination. Certainly the joy of achievement gives a special type of happiness. There is a feeling in getting something done, getting to the end of a process. A healthy sense of pride might be another way to describe it.

However, there is more, much more to the Bazflyer’s successful journey round the world than simply a series of flights. While not wanting to undermine the physical flying involved, the ultimate big-picture achievement owes much to a palette of creative factors. Planning, program management and personal health to mention just a few. Then there’s the overarching interpersonal relationships along the way. Ever changing and often communicating across different languages. People supplying fuel. Officials at international boarders. Handling agents and many helpful friendly folk. 

From beginning to end, the ‘Ambassadors of Friendship’ journey consumed 217 sky-hours of time in the Baz Office. Were there any scary moments? No, not one. Not even a drama or two. What about highlights…what were the best bits? There were many of these, however, for the Bazflyers nothing surpasses the friendly aviation folk they were privileged to meet. Professionals, enthusiasts and admirers. People of many cultures, young and old, all bonded by a common language called ‘aviation’…!

What started out as a journey with a goal, so wonderfully ended as an epic achievement beautifully framed in gilded creativity. An achievement that was more a feeling of action, than completion. Like a piece of creative fine art, this Bazflyer achievement will forever proudly stand on its own as a beautiful and joyful journey.  

These former Air Force mates were ‘on duty’ at Kerikeri (NZKK) to welcome the Bazflyers back on NewZealand soil.

Comanche ZK-BAZ taxis to a stop at the Taupō Aero Club

Stepping out of the ‘Baz Office’ to hugs all round

Celebrating and obligatory speeches

Waiting for the occasion was the ‘Bronze Lindy’ award from Oshkosh

View from the Baz Base, Taupo Airport (NZAP), New Zealand

Trifecta Ending

The author Ernst Hemingway once said; “It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.” These words aptly echo Bazflyer sentiments as their journey of a lifetime, flying Comanche ZK-BAZ round the world, comes to its conclusive end. 

  

Flying round the world appropriately infers closing a loop round the planet, commencing from one point, crossing every meridian and returning to the point of departure. When the Bazflyers land back at Kerikeri in the far north of New Zealand, they will have closed a circumnavigation loop round the world not once, not twice but three times...a trifecta ending!

The first loop round the world was from Kagoshima eastward returning back to Kagoshima. Then for the double it was Coolangatta, Australia and back again. Finally, the trifecta ending and in Bazflyer eyes the penultimate journey. This loop involved flying the trusty Comanche a distance of more than 60,000 kilometres, touching down multiple times in 13 different countries, sharing the unsolicited company of wonderful people, then culminating it all back at the original point of departure..New Zealand. 

With the successful completion of loop number one, the Bazflyers become the 240th recorded flight round the world in a single engine airplane since 1924 and are now officially Earthrounders  They also become the first qualifying flight from New Zealand. In another statistic the Bazflyer’s award winning airplane becomes the 10th single-engine Piper Comanche to have completed a flight round the world. The first time a Comanche was used on a RTW flight was when British airwoman Sheila Scott flew her Comanche (Myth Too) on two RTW flights, first in 1966 and then again in 1969.

A congratulatory message received after closing the loop at Kagoshima succinctly reminded the Bazflyers of their accomplishment. “As you know, more than 4000 persons have climbed Mount Everest, about 500 have been in Space but only around 700 pilots of all types of aircraft have flown around the globe in their own machine”. 

The Bazflyers humbly harbour mixed feelings as their flight of a lifetime approaches its penultimate closure....a satisfying sense of achievement tempered with a lingering lust for the journey to continue. Superlatives inadequately embellish Bazflyer attempts to describe everything the sensory antennae has intercepted along the way, but perhaps it can be best summarised by saying; “Its the journey that matters in the end”. A journey where hundreds, may be thousands of people, all round the world have congregated under the Wings of Friendship to not only share the Bazflyer’s amazing journey but by just being there they have significantly contributed to the experience. Thank you...everyone!

Three days 1850 NM (3,700 km) across Australia to close loop #2 at YBCG, Coolangatta

Preparing the trusty Comanche for a morning departure out of Charleville 

Crossing a great sunburnt land


Nearing Coolangatta with late morning build-ups already poking their heads into the flight levels

Almost closing loop #2, on a visual approach into Coolangatta airport 

Back on Australia’s east coast...again

And in the land of pies

Thursday’s flight over the Tasman Sea completes the Trifecta Ending

Watching Clouds Go By

It’s one of those indelible childhood memories. A hot summers day, lying on the grass, looking up to an infinite blue sky and watching the clouds go by. Nearly a lifetime later the skies never ending canvas of mesmerising images still holds a fascination for the Bazflyers. Such is the uniquely original artistry of clouds.

When it comes to clouds, nothing compares to the majestic presence of towering convective clouds, the variety that inhabit the tropical latitudes. The energy of these systems drive global atmospheric circulation which in turn transports moisture around the Earth affecting both weather and climate. Such clouds were out in force as the Bazflyers crossed the Equator in Comanche ZK-BAZ this time heading south, flight by flight closer to home. The distraction of navigating a flight path among the presence of these cloud mammoths even caused the Bazflyers to overlook the actual moment of crossing the Equator. Notwithstanding, the 1,150 NM (2,300 km) flight that commenced from Clark Airport in the Philippines ended 7.5 hours later at Balikpapan (WALL) on the eastern side of Borneo, and that is definitely south of the Equator.

The handling team at Clark Airport (RPLC) who made the bureaucracy go away and otherwise contributed to a pleasant stop-over.

Up so very high, looking out the window, watching the clouds go by.

Snacking courtesy of Bazflyer2 inflight catering...now if only there was a coffee brew to accompany this.

Oh, we are flying in an airplane, looking at clouds so high.

Cultivation patterns on descent into Balikpapan from an on route altitude of 11,000 feet 

Drum refuelling at Balikpapan, probably the last use of BAZ’s hand pump on RTW 2019.

Flight route returning back down-under the Equator 

Collecting Stories

Like incandescent sparks jumping from a spinning Catherine Wheel, our wonderful ever spinning planet delivers a continuous pyrotechnic display of simply great human stories. In a counter intuitive way it could even be said that stories make the world go round. 

Unlike trinkets, memorabilia and such like, stories do not occupy physical space or indeed any other quantitative measure. Just as well because physical space and weight are finite ‘not to exceed’ limitations when it comes to Comanche ZK-BAZ. Therefore, as far as the Bazflyers are concerned, stories uncovered while flying round the world have been accumulated without limits.

Occasionally a story uncovered today spontaneously ignites a distant memory. Then like a double Catherine Wheel they each fuse together providing an entirety new story. Such an occasion occurred during the Bazflyers visit to Vladivostok.

Two couples seated outdoors, enjoying a meal of fresh seafood in the presence of a rich golden sunset. A young local Vladivostok couple and the Bazflyers. Discussion notably centred on respective values, family and life in general. Perhaps it was the similarity of this discussion or maybe the ‘Vostok’ name of each locality or even both of these, but unmistakably a new story was born.

Forty-six years earlier in life, as a pilot in the New Zealand Air Force, Bazflyer1 served a summer season in Antarctica attached to United States Naval unit VXE-6. The so called “Cold War”, that period of geopolitical tension between the Soviet Union and the United States was at its zenith. As so it was with some trepidation that a helicopter crew were assigned for a multi-day mission flying a group of Soviet scientists from the Russian base at Vostok. Bazflyer1 was on that crew.

Exactly where the felony of friendship occurred has since been obscured in the mists of time, or perhaps it was obliterated at source with copious consumption of vodka and cognac. Wherever it took place is irrelevant when compared to the emotional reveals on that day between ordinary human beings who’s lives had become separated by a political divide. In stark reality stood good men, struggling with language communication, but sharing the same ideals for life, family and the future. It remains one of life’s special experiences unadulterated with time.

And so now fast forward through the years, two couples from two cultures enjoying a Vladivostok sunset together. A young couple and an older couple. The struggle of language communication still persists but as the Bazflyers have discovered during their round the world odyssey, people of all cultures and generations everywhere on our planet, reassuringly share the same inextricable values of life, family and future....!

UH-N (Twin Huey) belonging to VXE-6 landing at McMurdo Base, Antarctica 

Catherine Wheel firework display

Everywhere around the world the core values of life, family and future are reassuringly the same. Bazflyer1 birthday celebration hosted by Paulo owner of New Japan Aviation at Kagoshima 

Dennis and Anastasia with Bazflyers at Vladivostok 

Closing a Loop

The man in the flight control centre said, “ZKBAZ change to Fukuoka Control 119.3...have a nice flight”. With that the Bazflyers amazing Russian experience ended and it was onwards into Japan airspace and Kagoshima. 

The decision to fly eastwards from Europe across Russia to the Pacific Ocean, rather than the more traditional route via the Middle East, India and South East Asia, had unequivocally exceeded Bazflyer expectations. Thank you Evgeny and your MAK General Aviation Services team. Your unique brand of logistic support and helpful network of friendly people at every stop along the way, all neatly dovetailed to make this journey a spectacular and memorable experience. 

Landing at Kagoshima Airport ended a long 8-hour day in the Baz Office. It also closed a northern hemisphere loop round the world. However, for the Bazflyers their RTW 2019 mission is not over until Comanche ZK-BAZ touches down at home base Taupo, New Zealand. It’s an interesting statistic that returning home from Kagoshima will require about another 45 hours in the Baz Office. Perhaps indicative of how big planet earth is, or maybe a perspective on the relative remoteness of New Zealand, the Bazflyers have just spent 45 hours in ZK-BAZ flying from the UK across Russia and onto Kagoshima, Japan.

Today while accommodated in the New Japan Aviation hangar, ZK-BAZ received some routine attention from the Bazflyers. It was time for an engine oil change...and some general house keeping, or should that be office cleaning. Tomorrow the trusty Comanche with the Bazflyers will continue southwards leaving Japan for the Philippines, destination Clark Field near Manila. Any temptation to linger longer being torpedoed by a significant typhoon building in the Western Pacific and forecast to intensify in the coming days while tracking towards Southern Japan. And with that the Bazflyers are out of here.....

Postscript.....well actually it’s...NOT OUT OF HERE

The Bazflyers may have been perhaps slightly smug and self congratulatory about flying round the world without so much as what could be termed a hiccup in their schedule. That was until last night!

With everything thought to be in order for an early morning takeoff to the Philippines, a late night check by the Bazflyers revealed the critical Philippines flight approval had not been issued. Moreover, it subsequently transpired the application had not even been lodged. Approvals require 48 hour prior notice, not including weekends, and with discovery of this omission occurring late on Friday night the earliest departure for the Bazflyers out of Kagoshima was instantly rescheduled a minimum five days into the future. However, on a positive note the previously mentioned Typhoon Mitag brewing south of Japan effectively erased the prospect of any earlier departure making this delay a Bazflyer opportunity to prefer weather over administrative error. 

Having spent nearly a week in Kagoshima five months earlier, this traditional Japanese locality instantly resumed a comforting familiarity. Disappointments for the Bazflyers characteristically deliver surprising new experiences and these have already begun....

The lovely ladies at Mam’s Kitchen in Kirishima-Shi not only served a delicious hamburger, they delivered a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Bazflyer1 and presented him with a gift of their handmade cookies 

Thanks Andrey...you expertly smoothed the way for the Bazflyers arrival and departure at Vladivostok

Good bye Russia...crossing the eastern coast at FL100

Typhoon Mitag position for Bazflyers flight from Kagoshima to Clark Airport in the Philippines 

Typhoon forecast on Monday before it heads north towards Japan

Hello Japan

Nearing Kagoshima prior to top of descent for the RNAV approach Runway 16

Russian memories to last a lifetime

Diversity on the Wing

Moderate turbulence on the approach into Vladivostok Airport and a stiff crosswind for the landing was perhaps an auspicious curtain-call that bought to a close the Bazflyer’s west to east flight across Russia. Eight stops over twenty-one days, 5500 nautical miles (approximately 10,000 kms). It could be described as unparalleled ‘diversity on the wing’ along with the awesome pleasure of meeting so many wonderful people. Yes, an aviator’s dream come true...!

The essence of on the wing diversity could not have been more in-focus than when the Bazflyers stopped off in the Southern Siberian city of Blagoveschensk. Located on the ancient Amur River, the eighth largest river in the world, Blagoveschensk stares across to the Chinese city of Heihe on the other side. A short ferry journey connects the two cities thereby facilitating an interchange of local inhabitants. Rinat, an English speaking local taxi driver seemingly appeared out of nowhere to dutifully ensure the Bazflyers had an educational Blagoveschensk experience. He explained how Russian locals go across to the other side of the river for shopping while the Chinese cross-over to Blagoveschensk to purchase, in descending order...gold, furs and ice-cream.

Flying from Blagoveschensk to Vladivostok once again exposed the vastness and diversity of the Siberian landscape. Gone were the forests of Autumn gold. Below and extending outwards to indistinct horizons on every side were intertwined river systems. Then as Comanche ZK-BAZ turned southwards over the city of Khabarov towards Vladivostok, the landscape abruptly assumed mountainous proportions, a natural barrier between Russia and the Far East.

Vladivostok perhaps personifies the diversity of Russia. A significant seaport. It’s harbour connects Russia to the Pacific Ocean and is on the doorsteps of Japan, China and North Korea. Similar to everything else about Russia, Vladivostok also challenged a Bazflyer’s mind image of what it should look like.  It has the feeling of a city saturated with sea salt and wind, but is it Asian or European? 

In typical fashion, an interesting story was waiting in Vladivostok for the Bazflyers. This was the memorial to Russian submarine S-56, the first submarine to complete a round the world cruise. Commissioned in 1941 she sailed out of Vladivostok harbour on what subsequently became a highly decorated wartime voyage crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans assisting allied forces. In 1954 the submarine returned to Vladivostok via the Arctic Sea. 

Round the world in a submarine could not be more diverse than the Bazflyers own journey round the world in their trusty Comanche ZK-BAZ....however, perhaps a befitting finale to what has been an amazing on the wing diversity experience across the unique vastness of modern Russia. 

Across the River Amur is the Chinese city of Heihe

History tour of Blagoveshchensk with taxi driver Rinat and his friend Natasha 

This little bear belongs to aviation enthusiast Vladimir and has been in a Soyuz to the International Space Station

Nearing the milestone turning point over the city of Krasnoyarsk 

Denis and Anastasia generously looked after the Bazflyers while in Vladivostok 

Vladivostok port connects Russia with the Pacific

C-56 the first submarine to circumnavigate the world is on display in Vladivostok 

Vladivostok by night