As we headed out over the empty desert the first thing I noticed was that with the weight of the extra fuel we had stashed in back the Navajo’s performance was definitely affected for the worst. The other thing I noticed was that with the outside air temperature so high I was having to use a higher fuel mixture to keep the engines cool. The closer we got to Bahrain the more I began to doubt that we had enough fuel. Even though the leg Lee and I had flown in the morning was 150 miles longer the longer routing and the higher fuel consumption was really starting to become a problem. With about an hour and a half to go I made the decision to divert to Riyadh Saudi Arabia. We might have made it to Bahrain but it would have been close. I was expecting a big hassle at the airport but everything went smooth. Once we landed Lee and I still had the option to pour the fuel we had in the gas cans into the wing tanks and continue on to Bahrain but it still would have been close and to land safely and takeoff again with short fuel, at night, in poor conditions (dust) would have been stupid. We really wanted to make it to Bahrain but in the end I think we made a wise decision, there’s a first time for everything I guess. Defeated but alive Lee and I went to the hotel and called it a day.