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

.

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