Month: March 2012

After a hard day of pulling on a rope and eating Sushi we flew the Phenom up north to Mother Russia with a quick stop in Hiroshima for a sip of go juice.  Hiroshima was a fuel only stop, meaning that we didn’t have to clear customs, just pay the landing fee, file the flight plan and hit the road.  A handler met us at the plane to take care of everything because we weren’t allowed to leave the immediate area of the plane.   This normally works out great and really saves time, that is unless you’ve  been flying for four hours without a pit stop and had another four to go.  Marcio and I conveyed our dilemma to our keepers but were met with the most common word we ran into in the far east when asking for something non-standard…”CANNOT!”   we were up aginst some sort of head security guard who kept looking at us like we were asking to see the Emperor instead of use the throne.  We offered to do our business on the side of a hanger and the guard looked like he was going to have a stroke, finally giving us access to the terminal for a quick pit stop.

Our flight path to Russia took us uncomfortably close to North Korean airspace.  Marcio and I agreed that if we ran into mechanical trouble we would try and limp back to Japan before landing in the forbidden kingdom.  After landing in Vladivostok I saw a large contingent of soldiers and what had to be customs and immigration people marching across the ramp towards our aircraft.  I turned to Marcio and said, “Aw geez, this doesn’t look good!”  and it wasn’t.  We spent three hours on that damn ramp while the customs agents tore through the jet. They just about had a fit when they saw how many cameras we had mounted all over the plane for the TV show we’re filming and I must admit it sure did look like a spy plane.  At one point one of the soldiers pointed to John our cameraman and said with a straight face and wagging finger “John, no, James Bond!”  We all thought that was pretty funny, well everyone except the Russians that is.  They finally let us go after taking pictures of everything on the plane to ensure that we didn’t sell any of it while we were in Russia.    While all this was going on they wouldn’t let us film or take any pictures but I did manage to take a few shots when they weren’t looking.

                                                                                                                Who’s James Bond now?                      

After wasting four hours in Manado it was imperative that we turn and burn quickly in Manilla, and we did.  Our handler met us as we got off the jet and had everything we needed set up perfectly.  While he took our passports to customs the fuel truck showed up for a nascar fast fill up.  I filed the flight plan while Marcio begged the handler in Okinawa to wait for us, we were running just a little behind.  Forty five minutes after landing we were airborne again, a new record!  

The sun was setting as we left Manilla and seeing as it was my leg to fly Marcio paid me the honor of total trust by immediately falling asleep.  Flying the Phenom at night over the ocean was a sublime experience.  The Bose noise cancelling headset I was wearing was working great, blocking out all noise and giving me crisp clear music from my I pod.   I turned down the instrument lights and stared out at the milky way above us and imagined that this must be what it’s like to pilot a space ship.   Half way to Okinawa I heard a US. Navy aircraft trying to get in contact with an unknown plane that had strayed into North Korean airspace and was apparently giving the commies fits.  We got into Okinawa late but our handler was still the picture of perfect Japanese politeness as he took care of the paperwork and gave us a ride to our hotel.   

 The next day’s plan was an easy flight to Hiroshima then on to Vladivostok.  Because of this Marcio and I decided to have a few drinks and sleep in  get a good night’s sleep because crew rest in very important.  When we finally got ready to leave the hotel we found out that we happened to be in Okinawa on the one day a year that they held the century’s old tradition of a massive tug of war  between two rival cities.  When we were told that it was the world’s biggest tug of war with over twenty five thousand people participating we just had to spend the day pulling on a rope with the locals.

 

 

 

 

Flying around the world I do get to see some really spectacular sights.  Maybe someday I’ll put them all in a book.  This shot was taken somewhere along the Egypt Israel border over the Negev desert. 

 

The plan for the day was a quick flight from Darwin over the Timor sea and the Banda sea to Manado Indonesia for hopefully a quick fuel stop.  From there another quick fuel stop in Manila then on to Okinawa.   The flight started out great with scattered clouds sprinkled over the beautiful blue ocean.  The approach into Manado reminded me of why I ferry airplanes around the world, it was over a tropical paradise filled with coconut trees, grass huts and a dormant volcano with a halo of clouds. 

At Manado we ran into big problem number one for the trip.  The immigration officer was quite upset that we hadn’t called the required twenty four hours in advance to obtain a landing permit.   Marcio tried to explain that he had called over two days before and whoever he had talked to hadn’t mentioned anything about a landing permit.  The officer couldn’t seem to care less that we’d gotten bad information.  He then asked us where our handler was and when we told him that we didn’t have one he got even more upset.

  There are many challenges involved in ferry flying and although the actual act of flying a small aircraft over distances it was never designed for is hard enough sometimes the biggest headaches are on the ground.  After landing a pilot has to clear security, customs, immigration, pay landing fees and file a flight plan.  Of course it would be extremely helpful if one could accomplish all of these tasks in one place but more often than not each of these offices are scattered all over the airport and finding them is like some sort of scavenger hunt.  Once found said pilot must humble himself before the  petty government employee who’s kingdom he’s invaded and beg for service, woe be it to the high and mighty pilot who demands such service.  When I started ferry flying back in the 90’s there was no such thing as airport handlers, at least I’d never heard of such a thing, but lately they’ve become all the rage.   Airport handlers assist foreign pilots in jumping through all the bureaucratic hoops that are required to transit an airport and I must admit that having someone who speaks the language and knows where the restroom is can be quite handy.  At some airports hiring a handler is mandatory and apparently Manado was one of them.

    Marcio and I were escorted to the immigration office where the officer proceeded to tell us over and over that a twenty four hour notice is required. 

  US:  “We agree that we screwed up and what do we do now?”

  HIM:   “You must have a landing permit, it is the law.”

  US:  “Yes, we understand and we’re very sorry.  What do we do now?”

  HIM:   “Twenty four hours in advance, that is required,”

  US:   “Right, we get it, we’re very very sorry.  So what do we do now?”

  Him:  “The regulations state that in order to land you must advise the airport at least twenty  four hours prior.”

  US:  ………………

  We went round and round with guy until we finally figured out what is was that he wanted.  With one less Benjamin Franklin in the aircraft we were on our way to Manila.

                                                                                                                       Random Atoll