Howdy folks
It feels like a million years since our last chat, so much real stuff has happened. (Definition – “real stuff” means make the right move next, or else BIG dwang!). We are here in the party capital, Phuket. Safe and rested, well fed and digesting our antics.
The little 9 hour hop from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Thailand was a great way to unwind and catch up on some relaxing. We were forced to leave with minimum fuel due to some nonsense with the authorities, but nevertheless with a fair reserve we set out, had an amazing flight with serious challenge from the weather and arrived at Phuket about an hour after sunset. We did a long descent into the circuit with the moonlit clouds sliding past and oriental voices talking us in. James was flying and suddenly broke out in his classic style, “Faaaak, I get excited, flying our plane that we built and flew all the way here, into Phuket international under this magnificent moon!”
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Ja, we are very very lucky, life is really good and it makes it so much more special to have all of your support and know that you are following us. The biggest shame is that the tracker is not working at the moment. I remember the frustration and disappointment when James and Mike lost tracking in the Sling in 2009. James and I often discuss during flight how we wish we had that real time connection with all of you. We are doing all we can to get it working and look forward to having you back on line. It adds a certain comfort to know that you all know where we are- kind of like you are there with us!
Let’s go back to lovely Reunion where we made some very good friends and thought we had had the most hectic flight possible from Africa. The people in Reunion were all entirely wonderful, thanks so much to Laurent , Graziella and all at the Roland Garros Aero Club who made our stay a complete pleasure. We left with a definite desire to return again soon. It was our intention to leave for Maldives the afternoon after our arrival, so James diligently prepared and filed a flight plan and we met with press and television at 3pm local time, filled the plane brimming with gas and packed ready to leave. But then the delays started – “Monsieur, your flight plan. Mauritius, they have a problem!”
And so the painful time-wasting nonsense started. Later that night we had no alternative but to return to our hotel room after James had unsuccessfully tried everything to convince the Mauritians that they should allow a single engine, experimental airplane without HF radio to fly through their precious airspace. Back to the field the next day we were again hoping to get the clearance from Mauritius, but were met with a final “No HF, No Fly!” On top of that the next curved ball – no avgas or 95 octane petrol in the Maldives!
So back to the Hotel for a big rethink. As the afternoon drew on, with me kicked back on the bed, James cursing the Mauritian authorities while hammering away at the computer, having regular (much appreciated) chats with Captain Mike back home on what to do next, the reality dawned – if we were to continue east, we needed to fly past the Maldives and straight on to Colombo in Sri Lanka, somewhere that we hadn’t planned to go at all. So suddenly ‘action stations’, James started the process of flight planning, clearances etc. for the new flight of more than 23 hours, a task at which he is demon. My mission was to go out and find fuel drums and the bits and pieces we needed to make our Bullet into a truly inter-continental commuter. This process started around four pm in the afternoon. Soon with the help of our friends we had 125 liters of fuel in drums in the back of Laurent’s car, a length of plastic pipe, a flight plan “around” Mauritian airspace direct to Colombo 4 million miles away and by about 8pm and were sitting down to very fine meal with Graziella and Laurent.
Back at the Hotel as I was getting to sleep James was still busied with the never ending tasks of flight planning but eventually came to bed for about two hours of shut eye before our wake up for the long demanding task ahead. Laurent arrived promptly at 4:45, as planned, and we zoomed out to the Aero Club for an early start, packed the Bullet, plumbed the fuel system, said goodbyes and taxied to the terminal building for customs. At this point we were not yet sure of our clearances but took the chance anyway. Customs done we jumped into TAF and called for start, while staring out north over the ocean wondering what the next 20 plus hours held for us. The reply came – “ZULU UNIFORM TANGO ALPHA FOXTROT, your clearance for Colombo is not approved. And they advise that you are NOT to take off in anticipation of approval.”
James and I look at each other, sigh and swear, and then start the process of overcoming once again. As with all these things in life, one should find the good in them. In this case it was meeting three lovely souls up in the “bureau” – The very swift gent who drove us around the airport in a huge bus and ran us around the terminal building, allowing efficient sorting out of ‘formalities’, and the lovely ladies who gave us our first real cup of coffee for the day and lifted our spirits with their humane tenderness. Finally, during that cup of coffee, the clearance came through and we could leave.
Climbing into the cockpit now we both knew this time we really were leaving. The reality brought on serious butterflies – we were about to spend about 20 hours in the Bullet, transferring fuel from various drums in the back with an untried system, weather report not great and only a couple of hours sleep.
The odds ………..? James, smiling his usual big energy giving smile, looked at me. “Jeanie, you nervous?”
Chuckle.
“I am sh…..g my best rods! Let’s boogie!”
And so the trip began. The Bullet, AUW of 1200kg at least, me in the pilot’s seat, taxied to rnwy 22 and we lined up. How was she going to fly? Slowly we opened power to 100% and she lazily stared the roll, heavier than ever before. Then as speed crept up, we slipped the ace – 115% power from the turbo and she responded, with zest. Soon the ASI read 50 knots and she wanted to fly, a lot sooner than expected. You could feel the effect of the weight, but without a moment’s hesitation she leapt up and climbed at an astounding rate of 600ftpm. James the Bullet and I were on our way to FL095 and Colombo.
“Mike has designed an airplane that is to general aviation, what Rutan’s spaceship is to space travel.” And more reason to say this as the flight continues.
With 440 liters in the wings and 125 on the back seat/floor we continued our climb a radial 010 to clear Mauritian airspace, wasting our precious fuel on the flight plan detour. Luckily Reunion has no radar so no squawk was issued, as soon as we were through some cloud James, with some verbal abuse to Mauritian authority (see video later!), reset our course direct for Colombo. It always feels much better when you are on a direct path!
We settled into the flight, nervously, but as we leveled off and enjoyed the fair weather we began to relax a bit. Clearly we were both considering what lay ahead. The reality of the previous night flight still fresh, the fact that we were flying through the ITCZ at night, no transponder, no sat tracker, no HF radio and a quick cell call met report (something about storms somewhere!) was what we had to chew on. We were in fact also way off our flight plan path, so chances of quick recovery in the event of a swim were low. At almost the same instant in conversation James and I realized our only hope of recovery was our PLB’s (personal locator beacons) and we immediately attached these to our belts. Thanks Chalkie, your generosity and thoughtfulness certainly is helping those long crossings.
And so the day passed – we burnt fuel, the transfer worked perfectly and hour by hour our already good performance improved. As the sun got low and the night neared, conversation got interesting and somewhat philosophical. We knew this perfect day would turn to night and in that darkness lay more than half our flight over the Indian ocean, through the ITCZ, certain storms, certain rain. The sun would set more than 8 hours after take-off, but when it rose again we’d still be flying. There was no turning back, no option but to press on and on and on! No land, no human, no nothing, just water, weather, the Bullet, hopefully enough fuel; and James and me. This is when you are most alive!
There are not many people I would willingly get into this situation with, but as we prepared for night James was shooting the stunning sunset out the window and I smiled while looking at this wild child, and thought to myself, how incredibly lucky I was to be on this adventure with him. Soon the moon was bright and for this we were thankful. The clouds were still passing below and the night was gentle, a slight tailwind and no Charlie Bravos. Life is sweet!
And so on, into the night……………!
[Jean’s just got cabin fever, so he’s headed off for a walk on the beach. Part 2 will follow within a couple of hours!]–gallery2–
