Hello A2A pilots,
I'd like to share with you some pics of my latest adventure with the Accusim Piper Cherokee. I'm a proud owner of this beauty since 2015 and I've flown him for more than 550 hours: I've already took him from Italy to North Cape (Norway) for example and from Norway to California and back.
I decided it was time to cross the equator, so I decided to plan the most ambitious crosscountry adventure that came to my mind: Italy to Australia.
All flights were conducted on VATSIM network, so I tried to plan my flights with the highest degree of realism possible.
Here's a selection of the best moments (Potato computer here, still with FSX-SE, so bear with me )
Everything started on the 14th of January in a tipical winter day in Northern Italy. The aircraft is I-AMAU which is a real Piper based in Biella (LILE), approximately midway between Turin and Milan in northwestern Italy. The real livery of this aircraft has been modified with some badges remembering the previous achievements with this aircraft
Takeoff time
January means sun is going down quickly as I reach the "Appennini" mountains shortly after takeoff. You can also see the "Po Valley" flooded with dense fog.
It's late afternoon when I arrive in Pescara (LIBP), central Italy. First leg is done!
In the next leg, it's already time to leave Italy as from Pescara I land in Corfù International Airport. You can see the terminal on the background from the General Aviation parking area
Sunny weather on departure from Kerkyra
The sun is setting on my way to the famous Samos Island and its tricky airport. Perfect light for a photo.
The next leg goes from Samos to Paphos, Cyprus in the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea. Boarding time
A picture of the small terminal, which in summer is extremely busy
Leaving Samos
Landing at Paphos was very bumpy as the weather was unusually bad with lot of rain and bad visibility. Only a picture on the ground
From Paphos then on to Cairo International Airport. According to airport charts, AVGAS or 100LL is not available at Cairo International Airport, so I decided not to refuel and takeoff for a 20-minutes flight to HEOC (6th of October Airport) to refuel before proceeding further southbound.
On our way from HEOC to HEGN (Hurghada) we have the amazing opportunity to fly above the worldwide famous Egyptian Pyramids, specifically the Giza Pyramid complex. What an amazing sight!
Here on final at Hurghada, a popular tourist destination on the shores of the red sea. The airport is surrounded by desert meaning night time is pretty dark
From this point the landscape is pretty boring with desert, desert and more desert. Legs were Hurgada (Egypt) - Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) - Ryhad (Saudi Arabia) - Dammam (Saudi Arabia). Here are some random shots
Continue ...
[Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
From Dammam a very short hop to Manama, the capital city of Bahrain. The airport is located on an island
From Manama, I decided to make a direct flight to the UAE across the Persian Gulf. I landed at Sharjah International Airport. No pictures of the landing as I was super busy with the air traffic controllers on Vatsim, but on the departure I have some pretty good ones
Heading eastbound, I have a stunning view at sunset of the Dubai skyscrapers
Heading further eastbound to Muscat, Oman capital city, the sky gets darker and the weather a bit hazy on the desert
The next picture is showing the climb from Muscat International Airport towards Karachi International Airport. The Oman coast is already behind me and it will quite a long flight over the sea!
At Karachi the weather became very hazy (and this tendency even worsened in the following 4/5 legs) and super hot. So it was not worth to take many pictures. Here's an example on takeoff from Karachi to Ahmedabad, our first Indian city
India is an enormous country so I had to make three legs: from Ahmedabad to Nagpur to Kolkata. Then from Kolkata to Chittagong, in Bangladesh. In the next picture another photo of the hazy weather in the outskirts of Kolkata
From Chittagong, Bangladesh we took of to Yangoon, Myanmar. The departure was in the very early morning local time, so as I approached Yangoon International Airport, a glorious sunrise welcomed me
From Yangoon the next leg took me to Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand. I parked the aircraft just next to the airliners terminal
Departure time was in the middle of the afternoon local time and the air was boiling hot
Countryside in Myanmar
Some contrails well above me
At sunset I finally approach Bangkok. Here on final at the Bangkok Don Mueang International airport: this was Bankgok main airport until the new Suvarnabhumi Airport was built in 2006. On the background the modern Bangkok city center can be seen
continue ...
From Manama, I decided to make a direct flight to the UAE across the Persian Gulf. I landed at Sharjah International Airport. No pictures of the landing as I was super busy with the air traffic controllers on Vatsim, but on the departure I have some pretty good ones
Heading eastbound, I have a stunning view at sunset of the Dubai skyscrapers
Heading further eastbound to Muscat, Oman capital city, the sky gets darker and the weather a bit hazy on the desert
The next picture is showing the climb from Muscat International Airport towards Karachi International Airport. The Oman coast is already behind me and it will quite a long flight over the sea!
At Karachi the weather became very hazy (and this tendency even worsened in the following 4/5 legs) and super hot. So it was not worth to take many pictures. Here's an example on takeoff from Karachi to Ahmedabad, our first Indian city
India is an enormous country so I had to make three legs: from Ahmedabad to Nagpur to Kolkata. Then from Kolkata to Chittagong, in Bangladesh. In the next picture another photo of the hazy weather in the outskirts of Kolkata
From Chittagong, Bangladesh we took of to Yangoon, Myanmar. The departure was in the very early morning local time, so as I approached Yangoon International Airport, a glorious sunrise welcomed me
From Yangoon the next leg took me to Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand. I parked the aircraft just next to the airliners terminal
Departure time was in the middle of the afternoon local time and the air was boiling hot
Countryside in Myanmar
Some contrails well above me
At sunset I finally approach Bangkok. Here on final at the Bangkok Don Mueang International airport: this was Bankgok main airport until the new Suvarnabhumi Airport was built in 2006. On the background the modern Bangkok city center can be seen
continue ...
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
Onto the next leg, I head south towards Phuket. Here leaving Bangkok
I'm finally approaching the equator. As a consequence the weather gets more stormy
The sun is set in Phuket when I land
On departure day a quick view to the pretty big airliners terminal
From Phuket I leave Thailand for Malaysia. Some thunderstorms and rain showers as I approach Penang, my first Malaysian airport.
The next legs were from Penang to Senai then to Palembang entering Indonesia. From Palembang I headed further south to Indonesia capital city, Jakarta. The next picture shows Jakarta during a night departure from Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport
From Jakarta I cross Java Island in its full lenght from west to east before approaching the worldwide famous island of Bali. On the departure to Makassar, I can have a look at the absolutely beautiful terminal
As I said before, from Bali I headed north-east to Makassar on the Sulawesi island. From then to the most remote parts of Indonesia in the Maluku Islands and then on the Indonesian half of the New Guinea island.
Most of the island I mentioned are full of rainforest with some very sparse cities and airports
On the following picture I-AMAU is sitting the at Mozes Kilangin Airport in Timika, Papua Indonesia. I think it's on the of most remote airports I've ever visited, completely surrounded by rainforest. This was the last airport before reaching Australia.
And here we are on the last leg flown yesterday evening: from Timika, Indonesia to the Horn Island Airport (YHID) in the Torres Strait, Northeastern Australia. As I approach weather is not so clement but I still manage to see the northernmost extremity of Australia
Minutes to go: on final at Horn Island airport
And finally the parking, next to a Q400 by Qantas Link
It's been an incredible adventure: more than 10000 miles flown, 31 legs in total, and more than 95h flown. Now I'm planning to fly in Australia for a while
Thanks for watching!
I'm finally approaching the equator. As a consequence the weather gets more stormy
The sun is set in Phuket when I land
On departure day a quick view to the pretty big airliners terminal
From Phuket I leave Thailand for Malaysia. Some thunderstorms and rain showers as I approach Penang, my first Malaysian airport.
The next legs were from Penang to Senai then to Palembang entering Indonesia. From Palembang I headed further south to Indonesia capital city, Jakarta. The next picture shows Jakarta during a night departure from Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport
From Jakarta I cross Java Island in its full lenght from west to east before approaching the worldwide famous island of Bali. On the departure to Makassar, I can have a look at the absolutely beautiful terminal
As I said before, from Bali I headed north-east to Makassar on the Sulawesi island. From then to the most remote parts of Indonesia in the Maluku Islands and then on the Indonesian half of the New Guinea island.
Most of the island I mentioned are full of rainforest with some very sparse cities and airports
On the following picture I-AMAU is sitting the at Mozes Kilangin Airport in Timika, Papua Indonesia. I think it's on the of most remote airports I've ever visited, completely surrounded by rainforest. This was the last airport before reaching Australia.
And here we are on the last leg flown yesterday evening: from Timika, Indonesia to the Horn Island Airport (YHID) in the Torres Strait, Northeastern Australia. As I approach weather is not so clement but I still manage to see the northernmost extremity of Australia
Minutes to go: on final at Horn Island airport
And finally the parking, next to a Q400 by Qantas Link
It's been an incredible adventure: more than 10000 miles flown, 31 legs in total, and more than 95h flown. Now I'm planning to fly in Australia for a while
Thanks for watching!
- Lewis - A2A
- A2A Lieutenant Colonel
- Posts: 33313
- Joined: 06 Nov 2004, 23:22
- Location: Norfolk UK
- Contact:
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
Smashing job! Thankyou for posting your adventures so far and great screenies. Love the repaint you are using hehe
Enjoy your next Ozzie adventures, look forward to seeing those
cheers,
Lewis
Enjoy your next Ozzie adventures, look forward to seeing those
cheers,
Lewis
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Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
Wonderful pictures indeed. But the Cherokee is really a beauty, and I'm also loving the flight dynamic's of the model. Thnx for posting.
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
I thought that was the Comanche at first! But then realised your are taking the Cherokee!
That's a long way to go in a small thing like the Cherokee. Looks like you had a blast
That's a long way to go in a small thing like the Cherokee. Looks like you had a blast
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
Thank you Lewis. I'll post some pics of my trips down underLewis - A2A wrote: ↑23 May 2020, 13:46 Smashing job! Thankyou for posting your adventures so far and great screenies. Love the repaint you are using hehe
Enjoy your next Ozzie adventures, look forward to seeing those
cheers,
Lewis
Thank you very much!
Indeed it was long! I planned my legs in order not to exceed 3 hours, but sometimes I was overflying very sparsely populated areas and a couple of flights were nearly five hours long
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
Quite the journey indeed! I enjoyed the updates and the flight pics. The Cherokee is a fun little plane to fly around in for sure.
-
- Airman
- Posts: 30
- Joined: 14 Nov 2016, 15:41
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
What an adventure!
Great pics, well done
Great pics, well done
C182 and Comanche
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
Nice write-up and cool pics! What an awesome adventure!
Re: [Trip Report]: Italy to Australia with the A2A Piper Cherokee
Appreciated, thanks!
Thank you!
Thank you very much!
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