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

Siberian Autumn

What is it about the season of Autumn, or Fall as it is known in some parts of the world. It is so magical. Perhaps it’s because the splendour and colour of Autumn contradicts itself. Shorter days, cooler temperatures and falling leaves also signals the frigid embrace of another Winter just waiting around the corner. However, how can one possibly give an approaching Winter even the tiniest consideration when you’ve been gifted Russian Siberia in the glory of an amazing Autumn display.

It is the middle of September as the Bazflyers make their way from West to East across Siberia. In just six more days Russia will sadly become an archived memory. The Bazflyers will have again reached Kagoshima in Japan. They were there four months ago. However, this time instead of continuing north as before they will point the trusty Comanche ZK-BAZ in a southerly direction towards home and the first sniffs of Summer. Isn’t our planet amazing....?

The images of flying over Eastern Siberia in the height of Autumn might become an archived event but the magnificence of this spectacle can never be forgotten. 

Tomorrow the Bazflyers depart Ulan-Ude and fly 6-hours to Blagoveshchensk, a city that is only a river bank from China.

Siberian autumn splendour for as far as the eye can see

Crossing Lake Baikal on the way to Ulan-Ude 


On the shoreline of Lake Baikal 

Autumn is the end of harvesting and a time for festivals, celebrations....

.....produce displays, and...

....weddings


Autumn colours

Krasnoyarsk

Almost abruptly, as if it was a mirage raising from the seemingly endless and unpopulated Siberian landscape, the city of Krasnoyarsk came into view. Located at the very centre of Russia, arrival in this orderly and affluent city of around one million people, signalled the mid-way point on the Bazflyers amazing flight across the vast lands of Russia. 

Krasnoyarsk is a city with a ‘beating’ heart. People, culture and aviation all radiate their own unique wonderful welcoming warmth. But here at the heart of Russia, Severny airport where Comanche ZK-BAZ is parked, is perhaps a very strong contender for a Bazflyer award as one of the country’s most friendly general aviation airfields. But then what else would one expect from the very heart of this enormous country.

Then like nourishment for a good heart, Krasnoyarsk embraces the enormous Yenisei River. This aorta of water, the fifth longest river on the planet, flows from Mongolia north through Siberia, and into the the Arctic Ocean. 

Mira Avenue is the central historical street in Krasnoyarsk. Perhaps it could be likened to the pulse of this city, a place the famous author Anton Chekhov judged as the most beautiful in Siberia. Historic buildings, cafes, shops and monuments line each side of this pleasant strolling boulevard. This city is known as the gastronomic capital of Russia, and if that is not enough, heart warming great coffee is available every few steps along the way.

Tomorrow the Bazflyers again fly further east, this time to Lake Baikal. The world's largest lake (by volume) and holding more water than any other river system. Lake Baikal’s single outlet feeds into the Yenisei River.

Krasnoyarsk is in the very centre of Russia 

A very warm and friendly welcome at Severny Airport

Yenisei River flowing through Krasnoyarsk

The river viewed from a local vantage point. An Australian-Canadian expedition taking 5-months during 2001 were the first to explore the entire length of the Yenisei River by kayak.

Water is everywhere...this is one of 146 fountains in the city

Krasnoyarsk has winter ski slopes literally on its door step

 Could this be the worlds most modern McDonnalds outlet..?

Mira Avenue by night

The city is a wonderland of great coffee...almost everywhere

Gorno-Altaysk

Why fly a small single engine airplane around the world? A simple enough question to ask, you might say, but when put to the Bazflyers any relevant response is boarder line complex. Perhaps naively at first, the underlying premise for such a question was for some while misinterpreted by the Bazflyers. Why? Well when directed to the Bazflyers such a question is not normally formulated to elicit a stereotype response about adventure and seeing the world. No, not at all. It invariably spearheads a polite inquisition motivated by incredulity concerning a ‘senior-age’ couple flying a small airplane so far from their home. From a woke perspective this could be ageism...!

No such inference weighs upon the Bazflyers. Rather than viewing age as a physical and cognitive decline until the end, they have embraced the positive changes that take place as you grow older. After all ageing is a privilege denied to many. This is only too apparent as the ‘wings of friendship’ makes its way across the vast open spaces of Russia. A land where in terms of age the Bazflyers well and truly exceed the average person’s lifespan...and are pursuing an unexpected activity....which perhaps helps explain media fascination. 

However, when it comes to things old the Altai Republic of Russia, geographically lying immediately north of Mongolia, revealed many surprises hitherto unknown to the Bazflyers. Comanche ZK-BAZ alighted on the modern airport of Gorno-Altaisk, the capital of this very scenic and mountainous region. Some hours spent at the city’s imposing National Museum was an amazing history lesson with artefacts chronologically tracing an innovative culture for a period of 50,000 years.

Today’s scheduled departure from Gorno-Altaisk to Krasnoyarsk was delayed 24 hours due to on-route weather conditions, the type possessing icy fingers. Not having any desire to participate the Bazflyers chose a rest day in lieu, beneficial at times for an aged pilot’s body. Growing older means we are able to differentiate our needs from our wants while focusing on the matters in our lives that are relevant....like the occasional nap.

The Bazflyers are here

Another media interview this time in the Gorno-Altaysk airport.

And waiting for the Bazflyers at Gorno-Altaysk airport were David and Tom Berger (father & son) who are flying their very nicely equipped Cessna 185 from the USA to Australia going the wrong way round

Gorno-Altaysk (UNBG) is a very morgen airport 

Cafe lunch local style


The next sector is 800 kms to the city of Krasnoyarsk 

Yekaterinburg

There are many marvellous Bazflyer benefits inherent in flying Comanche ZK-BAZ round the world. Among them includes visiting places with challenging unpronounceable names. At least challenging for Bazflyer1 and the city of Yekaterinburg or Ekaterinburg is one such example. This is not only Russia's fourth-largest city, it is like a fusion of conceptual art with a fascinating historical subtext. 

The location of Yekaterinburg at the foot of the mineral rich Ural Mountains and on the doorstep of Asia perhaps belies it’s geographic importance. But it was Yekaterinburg‘s unique connection with Russia’s long history that caught the Bazflyer attention. 

Prominently dominate in the city’s centre is the massive Byzantine-style Church upon the Blood. A relatively new construction it raises on the site where Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and children were murdered by Bolsheviks on the night of 16 July 1918. And so ending 300 years of Russian rule by the House of Romanov and the ascent of the Communist State, initially lead by Lenin and later followed by Stalin. Yekaterinburg is also irrevocably connected to a man of vision and dedication to the Russian people, a man who in 1991 became the first Russian President, a man known simply as Boris Yeltsin. 

The nineties were a turbulent time for Russia. After the downfall of the Soviet Union, the economy collapsed. Yeltsin had the support of the entire world, but at home the economic state was in chaos and topped off with uprisings by members of his Parliament. However, being a man of destiny and born for his time in history, Yeltsin successfully established a democratic system for Russia comparable to European democracy.  

Perhaps eclipsing this surprisedly amazing city is the Yeltsin Centre  Housed in a stunning architectural masterpiece, it showcases the time-line of Russian history and highlights it from the perspective of an ordinary citizen. Look around the city of Yekaterinburg, observe people going by, have a conversation with the young generation, and as the Bazflyers did the echo of Boris Yeltsin‘s words can be clearly heard....“Russia will now never go back to the past”. 

Flight from Moscow to the city of Yekaterinburg deep inside Russia

Church upon the Blood...

...and inside the church


Yekaterinburg is a modern city...

...and a proudly growing city

Love love me do...street art abounds round every corner

Some of the street art even has an aviation theme

Sitting with Boris at the Yeltsin Centre

From Russia with Love

From Russia with Love was a novel written by the author Ian Fleming featuring fictional Secret Service agent James Bond. This fast moving spy story set in the post-Second World War era has much of its action taking place on the exotic railway train, ‘Orient Express’. 

There definitely was nothing secretive surrounding the Bazflyers arrival in Russia….it was prominently reported by Moscow television and radio stations. However, in a comparative sense it could be construed that Comanche ZK-BAZ is an Orient Express in the sky and love is in the air. After all, as the Bazflyers have pleasantly discovered, what is there not to love about Russia! 

After completion of boarder formalities at Pskov Airport (ULOO), a very friendly experience, the Bazflyers flew for a further three hours before finally landing at a private airport (UUBM) located on the south eastern outskirts of Moscow. Approaching the Moscow area, what had been good on-route weather turned into IFR conditions. This was no problem for the Moscow approach controllers who expertly radar vectored the Bazflyers for a VFR arrival at the destination airport. Not to mention the mental gymnastics of converting descent altitudes from metres to feet and ensuring barometric pressure was on the correct QFE setting.      

After introductions and media interviews the Bazflyers were airborne again, this time in Evgeny’s blue R66 helicopter, for a 20 minute flight following the outer ring road clockwise around the city to land at the Moscow Heliport. Looking down through the helicopter’s perspex windows at the bumper to bumper traffic occupying the city’s road system, this aerial form of transportation made perfect sense.      

Everywhere people have been welcoming and friendly. To top that off Evgeny’s unstinting hospitality generously afforded the Bazflyers a truly privileged Moscow experience….an experience that made it impossible to not fall in love with this great Russian city. 

In the morning Bazflyers will board their very own Orient Express and fly five and a half hours further east to the historic Russian city of the Ural’s, Ekaterinburg. 

Flight path (green line) from Pskov to Moscow

Evgeny’s Robinson R66

Ring road route to the Moscow Heliport 

Moscow heliport

 

Bazflyer1 and Evgeny, MAK Aviation Services, enjoying Moscow ice creams

This can only be in Moscow

Kremlin parade

Evening enjoyment

Who’s flying the R66....the smile on that face says it all 

Homewards

As days go it was a particularly ordinary one. Partly cloudy with a stiff bracing breeze. One might say, with tongue in cheek, that from a weather perspective it was another ordinary British day. However, putting climatic conditions to one side, it was also a day longingly anticipated by the Bazflyers. Today the homewards part of Round the World 2019 got underway...but not without a testing glitch...or three.

Out there waiting for the Bazflyers were more new adventures, maybe challenges, all wrapped in the addictive pursuit of flying a small airplane round the world. Not any small airplane, for the Bazflyers it is their much loved and trusty Piper Comanche ZK-BAZ. 

But akin to the laws of physics, moving onwards also involves leaving something behind. For the Bazflyers it was leaving behind best friends. Whether they be old best friends or new best friends, saying “good bye” is a bit like leaving a part of oneself behind. It hurts. Many people walk in and out of a life, but only true friends leave footprints in the heart. 

And so it was, with the Lycoming engine delivering full power and a propellor clawing at the air, ZK-BAZ parted company with the grass surface of Breighton Airfield on a short flight to Humberside Airport...just ten minutes away...a stop ostensibly scheduled for outwards boarder processing. 

After landing and several telephone calls with Boarder Force officers, it progressively became apparent that a process once involving passports, forms and official stamps died on 1st July, even for New Zealanders! In short, there was no need to have landed at Humberside. But wait, it didn’t end there. Whilst boarder formalities were being sorted, Eurocontrol rejected the Bazflyers already accepted IFR flight plan due to activation of military training areas over the North Sea. 

Finally, the trusty Comanche was unleashed again, this time with a new flight plan programmed in the GPS, a route skirting the Dutch and German coastlines on the way to the Danish island of Bornholm. The sky felt good. The crew relaxed. Minds meandered and in between essential flight duties, cockpit talk captured the essence of Round the World 2019...a world of wonderful friendly people with whom an interactive experience is nourishment for the soul. Memories last forever, never do they die. Friends stay together, never say goodbye.

Flight plan route from Humberside to Ronne. The flight was flown at FL100. PS...In case you noticed, due to an unmentioned glitch, the ‘tracker’ was not operating.

Somewhere along the way. Flight conditions were mostly good except for a cold front that required penetration with some icing.


Yorkshire countryside


Bornholm, Denmark countryside 

Landing at Ronne off the ILS approach to Runway 29


Refuelling at Ronne with explosively expensive AVGAS 

Discovered this rare treasure in a hangar on Ronne / Bornholm Airport (EKRN). It is a Danish designed and built aircraft from around 1946....a SKI KZ VIII. 

Old best friends see the Bazflyers off at Breighton airfield. Thank you Kate and Bill

New best friends on Ronne Airport