#tbm930

[amapledleaf]

Chill’n with a little TBM on Saturday

[taurionphoenix]

Using a Philly International mod as a launch point, I take-off in the stock TBM 930 and track north to Boston Logan through a clearly unregulated virtual sky. Along the way, there are musings about other add-ons and MSFS visual quirks.

https://youtu.be/ZYLeEjS3Y5o

[nighthawk1867]

[shadowyarcadeblizzard]

[baumsawayblog]

The Sprint Home

We are both blogging on the Tumblr site (here for Jim's blog and here for Deb's blog) which can be accessed via our website. We're regularly updating the blog sites so please keep coming back.

The Sprint Home

Now we are in Anchorage, Alaska having passed through Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Russia since our last update. At this point, we’ve passed the northernmost part of our trip in Anadyr, Russia at 64.5° north latitude and we are basically sprinting toward home.

Our last long stay was in Kyoto, Japan. It's a beautiful city to "sort of" end the trip on. There's still a long way to go but all of us started feeling like we were nearly home as we departed for the sprint through Russia and Alaska to Seattle, the official ending point.

See the Tracking Page

Baum, James Baum. From Russia with Love

We flew from Sapporo, Japan to Petropavlovsk, on the Kamchatka peninsula. Our plan was to get through Russia as quickly as possible. We all had visas to enter the country but the officials checked us out thoroughly. They searched our planes on landing and took plenty of time processing our entry. Next stop was Anadyr for a fuel stop where they photographed the interior of our planes. Finally we got to Anchorage. It sure felt good to be back in the USA!

Kyoto - a Favorite

We absolutely loved Kyoto, Japan. The history, art, culture, and general "vibe" were just so appealing. We dined with Geishas, explored the Bamboo Forest, toured the city, and watched the Gion Festival parade. It was a completely enthralling experience.

We went from Kyoto to Nagoya and back one afternoon using the Shinkansen train. There we saw the Grand Sumo Tournament. We had very little idea what was going on or which wrestler to cheer for but it was an incredible experience. Those guys weigh in at 350 - 450 lbs. A Sumu wrestler commits to a strict lifestyle and consumes 20,000 calories per day!

Taipei, Taiwan

We visited Taipei for 2 nights. It was supposed to have been 3 nights but typhoon Maria decided otherwise. After a one day delay, we visited the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. We also went to the National Palace Museum, where many of the best Chinese artifacts were relocated to protect them from the Chinese civil war that followed WWII.

Anchorage, Alaska

Our short time in Anchorage has been really enjoyable. There's plenty of time to explore the city and surroundings since it's light from 4 am until 1 am. We walked the city in the wee morning hours since we couldn't sleep. This was our second Friday this week thanks to the International Date Line. We got 20 hours younger in an instant crossing navigation waypoint ABINA between Russia and Alaska.

The Portage Glacier was 3 miles longer in 1911 and the lake didn't exist. This glacier has been receding for well over 100 years. Now, there's a boat tour to take you out to one of the only glaciers that's still underwater. 50 years ago, the Burns and Shakespeare glaciers were all connected to the Portage. The boat tour with Portage Glacier Company is well worth the $34 ticket price.

We are almost home! Tomorrow we leave for Seattle where we will visit a winery and the Boeing Factory. Sunday night is our last dinner as a group and Monday we all head in our separate directions. We'll send one final update email after the trip with a summary of the highlights. Thank you for reading!

See our Website

All our TBM's back in the USA!

[baumsawayblog]

After the Volcano

We made it out of Bali! The volcanic eruptions dissipated and the Indonesian authorities reopened the airport late in the day on 6/29 (the day we were supposed to leave). It worked out great as we spent an extra night in Bali at a different hotel closer to the airport. The Four Seasons at Jimbaran Bay was gorgeous and frankly, way better than the place we stayed in Malaysia. Only having one night in Malaysia worked out just fine. 

There are volcanoes erupting frequently in this part of the world. The one that delayed us is Mt. Agung. It’s the one that experienced a major eruption in 1963, an eruption billed as one of the most catastrophic volcanic events in Indonesian history. That blow killed nearly 2000 people. Agung became fairly active again in 2017 and in September and some 40,000 people from the area immediately around the volcano were evacuated on fears of another major eruption. Since that time, the eruption that we experienced is the first time the airport has been closed due to volcanic activity since November of last year. Lucky us. 

After that night at the beautiful hotel, our flights the next morning went normally except that we were vectored to the east to avoid the remaining plume of ash emanating from Agung. The views of the volcano were breathtaking as we got to fly within just a few miles of the crater. 

The flight from Bali to Kota Kinabalu Malaysia was about 3 hours. It was a lovely flight mostly over the 3rd largest island in the world, Borneo. It is home to part of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. 3/4′s of it is Indonesia. During our flight, I zoomed out the navigation display to look at where we were on the globe. I continually find it to be an amazing sight, looking at a map showing China, Taiwan, Bhutan, Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and India all surrounding our location. Usually I see Canada, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. 

Deb and I had the pleasure or bringing Anais with us on this flight. She usually flies ahead to make sure everything goes smoothly for her clients when they arrive but occasionally it just takes too long to get to some of these destinations commercially so she flies with one of us. It’s amazing what she does. Every time we arrive in a country, we have a welcome letter from Anais explaining everything that’s happening during our time in that location. She makes absolutely sure that we are getting the best service from the hotels and other service providers. Needless to say, all of us on the trip are very grateful for her presence and efforts. 

Landing at the Kota Kinabalu airport in Malaysia was a piece of cake. We were welcomed by handler, who rushed us right through the entry process. By the time I handed the guy my passport, he told me we were already cleared through customs. I guess these pilot uniforms really do work!

Deb and I were really looking forward to seeing the orangutans in Kota Kinabalu. Apparently the Air Journeys trips have made this stop before and have been rewarded with a great experience meeting and interacting with these animals. The Bornean species of orangutan is critically endangered and it turns out that since the last Air Journey stop in Kota Kinabalu, the animals have been moved to another sanctuary on the island. Unfortunately, that sanctuary is quite from from the hotel we used so we weren’t able to see them. 

We did have have some help from our instrument rated stuffed orangutan, George, on the flight to Vietnam, however.....

[baumsawayblog]

We spent 2 nights in Agra, India at the Oberoi Hotel. Lovely hotel with views of the Taj Mahal. Deb and I were thrilled to have our kids with us for this part of the journey. Clearly the highlight of this stop was the Taj. This marble covered structure is a remarkable testament to the architectural capabilities of the Mughal people built by an emperor to entomb his deceased wife. The structure, completed in 1643 is a showcase of architectural wonders. The foundation, built on a grid of footings that extend down below the level of the adjacent river, were designed to support the massive weight of the building, even in an earthquake. The minarets (the four towers around the main structure) provide a sense of scale to the eye and were placed so that they lean away from the main tomb. The leaning creates a visual effect making the observer believe all the minarets are perfectly vertical. It also has the benefit of making these towers fall outward, away from the main structure, in the event of an earthquake. The entrance to the garden area around the main structure is designed so that the structure appears to get larger and larger as you walk away from it. They say that when you leave, you take the Taj with you. 

The Shah that built the Taj for his wife was removed from power by his son and subsequently imprisoned at the nearby Agra Fort. Apparently his son retained some sense of affection for his father when he ordered him placed in a cell that overlooked the Taj Mahal, allowing him to view his masterpiece until the day he died. 

We also made a visit to the local market in Agra. This is a very different experience than visiting the Taj. The Taj is very “touristy”, hosting up to 40,000 visitors per day. The local market however is really for locals and we loved the experience. We went to see the Indian spices for sale and got to see the spice and a whole lot more. The place was alive with activity, motor bikes, tuk tuks, people, animals, and commerce were everywhere. Several in our group purchased spices and all of us enjoyed seeing how the market works. It certainly seemed like westerners were not common in this part of town as we got lots of looks. While some had trouble communicating with us, we mostly felt very welcome.

Ever since we left Europe, we’ve been trying to look like professional pilots and flight crews by wearing our uniforms and displaying our pilot credentials. All the countries around the world outside of North America and Europe are not accustomed to general aviation and by looking like professional pilots, they seem to find it a little easier to figure out how to deal with us. I do find it funny that before we can board our own aircraft, we are put through the same security check that everyone else goes through. Electronics out of the bags, bags through the x-ray machine, and the pilots and crew scanned by the metal detector makes it clear just how little these countries deal with general aviation aircraft, crew, and passengers. You definitely don’t want to have a small pocket knife in your pocket. They will confiscate it. Guess they figure you might stab yourself or try to hijack the plane. The Indians however, took this to a whole new level. Departing India, we actually needed boarding passes to board our own airplanes! You can see them in the photo above. Very official looking.