Half Way There

World Flight 100 can be viewed as a journey of successive flights, each taking Bob and I closer to our ultimate destination: to circumnavigate the world and where possible, fly along the same route taken by the first round-the-world flyers 100 years ago. Their epic journey in 1924 began and ended in Seattle, USA, and took 175 days. Our commemorative circumnavigation flying my trusty Piper Comanche ZK-BAZ started at Mount Hagen (AYMH), the place where Bob lives in Papua New Guinea. We’re due back there on the 28th of September, making our circumnavigation journey a duration of 120 days.

I am writing this blog during a six-week layover in the United Kingdom—a pre-planned halfway break while Bob goes back to Mount Hagen. Based on the total journey duration, today is precisely halfway. Sixty days ago we flew out of Mount Hagen heading for Guam. In just sixty days from now we arrive back in Mount Hagen thus completing a westward circumnavigation of the world. One could say, “We’re halfway there.”

Reflecting on the first half of this journey, we’ve already experienced a multitude of challenges and triumphs. Flying over vast ocean expanses, navigating through diverse weather conditions, and touching down in various countries have been both thrilling and demanding. Each leg of the trip brought new encounters, from meeting aviation enthusiasts and fellow pilots to exploring different cultures and landscapes.

The spirit of adventure that fuelled the original 1924 flight has undoubtedly been a guiding force. Their pioneering flight, fraught with uncertainty and the unknown, was a testament to human ingenuity and determination. Today, while we have advanced technology and improved navigation systems at our disposal, the essence of exploration and the sense of pushing boundaries remain unchanged.

A layover in the UK has provided an opportunity to perform essential maintenance on the Comanche, ensuring it remains in top condition for the remainder of the journey. The time has also been an opportunity to rest, reflect, and prepare mentally and physically for the next series of flights that will take us over the North Atlantic, across North America, and finally back into the Western Pacific region through Russia. We might even be fortunate enough along the way to meet up with the only other pilot presently flying round the world. He is American aviator Pieter Nel piloting his single engine Mooney N5810T. Like ourselves, Pieter is doing the much less flown westwards circumnavigation and also crossing the Northern Pacific along the very remote Aleutian Islands.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates as World Flight 100 continues, flight by flight ever closer to completing our homage to those who dared to dream of flying around the world a century ago. As we often say; “We’re just two young aviators privileged to follow in their footsteps—or, rather, flight paths”. Here's to the next 60 days of exploration, discovery, and the enduring spirit of aviation.

Bob and Barry - Two ‘young’ aviators having fun.

My half way home on the English-Wales boarder near the Shropshire town of Oswestry.

Countryside where even horses stop by the ‘local’ for a pint. 

The trusty Comanche waits patiently at Breighton Airfield, East Yorkshire for the second half of our odyssey…

….and where an Australian Air Force flag is proudly flown.

Our Northern Pacific route along the Aleutian Islands and back down-under to Mount Hagen

The Winds of Change

Here I am somewhere in Moscow, sitting on a street-side bench seat in the leafy shade of an English oak tree. A promenade of well groomed pedestrians meander across my field of vision. Some stepping with apparent purpose, others engaged in conversation, laughing and happy. They’re people visibly and culturally identical to me. Then there’s the never ending procession of patient vehicle traffic. Without horn honking, vehicles appear to move to a disciplined routine, but whatever that was, I was unable to discern a repeatable pattern. However, perhaps I was being distracted by the number of exotic vehicle makes and models. Rolls Royce, Bentleys and Range Rovers were common place.

The lyrics and music of that famous Scorpions song; “The winds of change”, echoed within me. First performed back in the nineties by the memorable German rock group, the iconic song was a tribute to the changes in Russia that occurred as the Communist era collapsed. Those who know me will realise this is my third lengthy aeroplane foray deep into the vast lands of Russia and yet I still don’t understand what it is I am looking at and experiencing. 

Last evening, myself and Bob dinned while cruising on the Moskva River. We were hosted by Pavel, a Russian light aircraft pilot and fellow Earthrounder. As the boat slid along the river, down to Gorky Park, we traversed a thousand years of history interspersed with twenty-first century glass grandeur. The three way conversation, like the winds of change, was notably illuminating. A former redundant mining engineer under the old Soviet system, Pavel nowadays owns and operates a global business exporting needle craft notions to fifty six different countries. A true startup entrepreneur, his private enterprise success story can be uncovered in various forms many times around the girth of Russia. Perhaps my inability to read the pulse of Russia is because the winds of change are still blowing, or perhaps they’re even intensifying…or could those winds be turning into an icy cold breeze from the north…? 

Beside the Volga

Here we were deep the historic heart of Russia, the city of Samara to be precise, walking along a grand promenade on the shore of the Volga River. It is said to be the longest promenade in Europe. Two weeks earlier I had been in the far east Russian city of Vladivostok looking out over the Sea of Japan. The distance in-between over which the trusty Comanche had flown in a little under two weeks, amounted to a staggering 3,000 NM (6,000 km). To put that distance in perspective, it is almost one and a half times across the mainland USA and we were still inside Russia, while sublimely conscious the Ukraine boarder was only a couple or so hours flying further to the west..!

The late afternoon temperature hovered in the mid-twenties, just perfect for walking as attested to by a constant parade of well attired locals. Many walked arm-in-arm, some with small dogs. There were families, laughing and smiling. Altogether the scene appeared serenely normal. Meanwhile, I was haunted by the memorable refrains of an embedded song. My mind momentarily wandered. “Yo, heave ho…as we walk along the shore..!” It was the stirring and well known traditional Russian song of the Volga Boatmen, sung by burlaps or barge-haulers, on the Volga River.

Widely regarded as the national river of Russia, the Volga served as an important meeting place during the middle ages for various Eurasian cultures, and before then it had been a penetrative route for Viking conquests. Quite understandable when this significant water-way, navigable for more than 2,000 miles, connects Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea. And meeting people had also bought us to the shores of the Volga River. 

Samara is the home of AeroVolga, a niche designer and manufacturer of a range of single and multi-engine amphibian aircraft. During the summer of 2018, three of their aeroplanes successfully completed a 45-day Northern Polar global circumnavigation. In the spirit of aviation adventurers, we were generously welcomed and hosted. We even stood symbolically side-by-side looking out across the Volga River as the sun set on the western horizon.

It is a long way to fly across Russia

Walking the promenade beside the Volga

A bronze rendition of Ilya Repin’s famous painting Barge Haulers on the Volga

Sunset across the Volga

The AeroVolga Polar circumnavigation team

Baz, Bob with the AeroVolga management team

Crossing the Climatic Equator

As a round the world and long-range flyer, Bazflyer is often asked; “What do you do while sitting in a small aircraft cockpit for eight or nine hours?” Well, the brief response is to say that it is by no means boring. Monitoring, checking and re-checking flight progress against the plan is a constant process. Engine parameters, ground speed and fuel consumption data are consistently reviewed. Then there are regular radio calls to make giving portion reports to the monitoring agency responsible for the airspace you’re flying in. High Frequency (HF) radio is commonly used to do this usually communicating with an operator thousands of miles distant. This was the case yesterday while flying eight hours from Mount Hagen north of the equator to the island of Guam. The radio operator was on the other side of the Pacific Ocean in San Fransisco. 

As well as the routine procedure of flying, a pilot also needs to be cognisant of the environment and yesterday that entailed penetrating and crossing the ever present Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). This band of equatorial weather is one of the most fascinating and influential features of Earth's atmospheric dynamics. Often referred to as the "climatic equator," this region plays a crucial role in shaping weather patterns and influencing the climate across the globe. But what exactly is the ITCZ, and why is it so important?

The ITCZ is a belt of low pressure that circles the Earth near the equator, where the trade winds from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres meet. This convergence of winds results in a band of intense cloud formation and precipitation. It is not a fixed line; it migrates north and south with the seasons, following the sun's zenith point and influences the monsoon systems in regions such as South Asia, West Africa, and Central America. Understanding the behaviour of the ITCZ is crucial for predicting weather patterns and managing water resources. 

Prior to commencing yesterday’s flight, satellite imagery provided Bob and Baz with advance knowledge of where the ITCZ was sitting. Even so, visually picking a safe route through this band of weather was another series of decisions and tasks added to the busyness of everything else. Next time the ITCZ is encountered it will be on the way back from Guam to Papua New Guinea, following an historic global circumnavigation and World Flight 100. Never let it be said; “Flying round the world in a small airplane is ever boring.”

Former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea was among the well-wishers on departure from Mount Hagen

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Bob broadcasts a position report on HF radio

Each check along the route is recorded

Picking a flight path through the ITCZ

That looks like blue sky ahead

And....after a long flight the sun goes down on Guam

Breaking News

In the hurly burly of modern media, the theme of ‘breaking news’ resonates with the urgency and immediacy of an interconnected world. It encapsulates the dynamic nature of information dissemination, where stories unfold in real-time, grabbing attention and shaping perception. 

One hundred years ago in the aftermath of World War 1, the airplane and its rapidly advancing capabilities was often the subject of ‘breaking news’ around the world. Airplanes and their fearless pilots had conquered the Atlantic and flown from London to Australia. In 1924 the race was on to circumnavigate the globe by air.

This year marks the centenary of the first flight round the.world. https://www.firstworldflightcentennial.org/ Four Douglas Air Cruisers operated by the US Army Air Service, departed Seattle on April 6, 1924. They flew a westwards route that took them north to Alaska, along the Aleutian Islands to Russian Kamchatka and onto Japan. https://www.seattleworldcruiser.org/1924-world-flight-chronicle 

Three of the aircraft reached Kagoshima on 2nd June and from there they flew across China and India arriving in Brough, Yorkshire (near Hull in the UK), on 17th July. During the following two weeks, essential maintenance was performed and pontoons refitted in preparation for a continuation of the flight over the North Atlantic via Iceland and Greenland and onto the USA. 

One of the four planes crashed in Alaska, but the crew was rescued. A second aircraft ditched in the North Atlantic and the crew was picked up by the U.S. Navy.  The two remaining flight crews returned to a huge welcoming crowd in Seattle on September 28, 1924 after completing the epic 175 day, 26,345 mile journey and becoming the First to Fly Around the World.

So what is the significance of this..? Well, 2019 round the world flyer Barry Payne bazflyer.com will leave New Zealand later in May flying his trusty Piper Comanche, ZK-BAZ, to Mount Hagen in the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Here he will be joined by good friend Bob Bates http://www.pngtours.com/tours/Bobsflights.htm. Together they will fly a westwards World Flight closely reenacting the original 1924 flight route.

Step one will have Barry and Bob flying north of the Equator to arrive in Kagoshima, Japan, at the same time the original flyers were there 100 years previous. They will then traverse Russia meeting many aviators across the land and carry onto the UK landing at Breighton Airfield which is close to Brough. They will leave the UK late August, retracing the original flyer’s air path over the North Atlantic, across the USA all the way back to Seattle. 

After Seattle , Barry and Bob pickup the original 1924 route through Alaska, down the Aleutian Islands to Kamchatka and complete a full circle at Kagoshima. They are scheduled to arrive back in Mount Hagen on 28th September, the same day the two Douglas Air Cruiser’s landed back at Seattle in 1924 completing the First Flight Round the World.

Barry and Bob proudly represent the South Canterbury Aero Club, Timaru Airport, New Zealand. Also for the record book, the two flyers have a combined age of 161 years, and 105 years pilot experience.

'Breaking News', Blogs and YouTube video along the journey can be accessed at www.bazflyer.com. Click "Follow" to be notified.

Preparing the trusty Comanche
for a second World Flight

Douglas Air Cruiser

The 1924 flight route

Bob and Barry (Baz)