Happy New Year from Malaysia

A Happy New Year from our virtual spot in Malaysia.

Malaysia is a big country with a hole in the middle of it called the South China Sea. We flew into WBKK in Kota Kinabalu. It’s located on the NW coast of East Malaysia which shares boarders with Brunei and Indonesia.  Our first journey takes us east to the TabinWildlife Resort.

We flew our favorite Bell aircraft over Hwy 4, East out of WBKK, towards Lahad Datu. It took us about 2 hours and 30 gallons of fuel to fly. We were surprised to find miles of farm land with pockets of jungle interlaced between them. An impressive Mount Kinabalu out the left side of the Jet Ranger called for us to return to her on our way back to Little Bird.

Following our flight from YDBY, across Borneo, then landing at a cool ass airport  on the East shore of the South China Sea, we looked to relax by enjoying some local entertainment. We found ...Darkey. It was a sold out show.

Our weight increased leaving Australia by 50 pounds. Go figure. Linda said she was going to need a camera and lens to capture the “critters” of the Tabin Nature Reserve …especially at night.

At Night! …In the jungle? Ohhh boyyy, the adventure continues. ...at night, and she says I'm high maintenance.

Santa in the Outback

It’s about 140 miles from YDBY to Broome. It’s a pearling industry town named after Western Australia Governor Sir Fredrick Broome in 1883. It is also home to The Cable Beach Resort.

Imagine a luxury resort built on a pure white sand Indian Ocean Beach, swaying palm trees, Kimberley charm, fine foods and Australian culture; you will have imagined The Cable Beach Resort.  This is a great place for us to spend our last days in Australia.

On this leg of our trip we’ve learned in order for us to really experience Australia we are going to have to see it at ground level. Australia is big …actually, we’ve found this land and her people to define “big”.

It would be fun for us to spend a Christmas in the outback looking for Santa.

The folks at Spirit Safaris would be our go to guys. They’ll help us plan our trip across the Outback and take us along the way. It just makes sense to us …if you’re going to travel across The Outback …it’s good to have mates.

Some Robinson R-44 time in this tour from Spirit Safaris:

A friend of ours recently said “…it took me 17 hours flying home commercial from Australia. I cried all the way. I didn’t want to leave”. We know how she felt as we plan to leave Derby Australia (YDBY) for Kota Kinabalu International Airport (WBKK), Malaysia.

A Goose to Talbot Bay & Horizontal Falls Seaplanes

Today we flew from YDBY to Talbot Bay. What better way to introduce ourselves to Horizontal Falls Seaplanes ...

Final over Horizontal Falls

…than showing up dock side in a vintage Grumman Goose.

It's a short hop over King Sound to get here from our Little Bird parked at Derby Airport (YDBY). Final approach over Horizontal Falls alone is worth the price of admission . The boat ride through them and back again is the icing on your favorite treat.

We’ll stay Overnight with Horizontal Falls Seaplanes on their houseboat anchored in Talbot Bay. We both will forgo their diving with shark’s option. 

 Please enjoy the helicopter tour. It is breath taking. It doesn't take much to see why we love aviation & its machines.

We love these guys too. Jase & Simon of All 4 Adventure. They show you how it’s done in Australia …on many levels. This is their run through Horizontal Falls. We'd like to spend time with these fellas seeing their Australia. To restate ...we've found our people ...they live in Australia.

Our next and last stop in Australia will be Broome. We’re headed for the Cable Beach Club Resort.

Linda & the Boeing 2707 …weight and balance



Lear 45 Custom Interior

She said “…Look back there; we’ve got plenty of room for more stuff. I’ve been reading Little Birds specs and we can carry more baggage”. I tried to explain weight and balance to her. I told her a story of when my father, who was an aeronautical engineer, was working on Boeing’s 2707project.

I was just a kid. One who had Boeing promotional pictures of the 2707 mock up as well as artists drawings of her in flight hanging in his room . I quickly developed a deep love for this future aircraft.



Boeing 2707

Linda asked my point. I told her how crushed I was the day my dad came home from Seattle and said “…she’ll never fly”. I asked why and he said “…they’re asking her to do too much. We don’t have the compressor technology to pull it off. They want her to carry 200-300 passengers. That is too much weight. To push that much weight that fast for so long takes a great amount of fuel, meaning, more weight. If compressor technology remains consistent and fuel prices inconsistent …she would not be cost effective for any airline to operate”.

Boeing plant Mock Up



Little Bird Spec Sheet

Linda said she understood basic physics and that she could read too …as she has done with Little Birds op specs during our long ocean crossings.

 

She "reminded" me that Little Bird’s max gross weight is 20450 lbs (per FSX_SE). That our girl weighs 11700 empty. Linda said she’s signing the fuel bills and we’re carrying 892 gals at the full mark. She correctly figured fuel weight around 6.7 pounds per gallon and punched in another 5978 pounds. She smiled and asked "…aren’t we and our baggage only posting 770 pounds? That gives me 2000 pounds for baggage, not 200. Look back there …plenty of space for more …stuff."

Oh boy …there go my numbers. We’re off for Derby (YDBY). More later from a heavier Little Bird.

The Trap Door 3 Scan Shuffle to YLZI

Lizard Island

Aural sensory perception is a large part of aviation. Judging how your aircraft “feels” isn’t all touch, it’s how she sounds too. Our simulator package has that virtual aspect covered. We measure audio power output in 4 figures.

Yesterday, today in North America, we arrived at helo pad #1 of Cairns Intl (YBCS). It was 0330 local. I'd planned the flight to YLZI in my weather engine (Active Sky), textures (Rex 4) and finally in the FSX_SE flight planner. Upon arrival at YBCS I shut down the Jet Ranger’s engine & systems to look over my nav plates for YLZI and to assign a monitor location for her nav systems.

 

Suddenly my world rumbled. My ears told me we had a thunder storm rolling in. When I looked outside my real world sky was clear …my inner geek quickly became elated as I realized the incoming storm was from inside "the box". I sat outside of our virtual bird for an hour to watch the sun rise over Cairns Intl and listen to a thunder storm blow in.

Transition from Jet Ranger to Ping Pong Ball

About the thunder storm …pockets of our flight to YLZI were filled with vibrant textures and colors that spanned the rainbow. Those pockets would turn into our beloved ping pong ball in a heartbeat.

We made it to YLZI intact by practicing the Trap Door 3 Scan Shuffle. The HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator) or Trap Door is your go to guy. Call it a trap door because if you don’t pay attention to it …yup, you’ll think you’ve fallen through a trap door. Bring his buddies, “The Fine Tuners”, TC & VSI into your scan and you will know if you’ve got a bad attitude when you can’t see it for yourself.

Lizard Island Resort

As for Lizard Island …we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. "The Great Barrier Reef" is a huge understatement for just how large and beautiful the Barrier Reef actually is.

The Lizard Island Resort ...a first class business that receives a "Best Of" award.



Lizard Island

Skysafari tour of Lizard Island & surrounding Main Land:

Chasing sunrise across The Outback @ FL24



Outback Sunrise over YCMU @ FL24

On this journey ...getting there is the adventure.

 It’s been an on going routine in real life to ensure that our virtual "Little Bird" has all she technically needs to perform above and beyond expectations. We’ve added performance parts to her machine. We have also installed a mod pack for her flight characteristics and instrument panel given to us by a fellow Sym Pilot.

We’ve tried to make our virtual world as real as we can expect from a box filled with processed sand and alloys. At the programs basic level we’ve been captured by the scenery during our virtual fly over of places we never knew existed before leaving home (KPWT). Departing home ...that seems like a long time ago.

We recently added the Rex 4 Texture add-on as well as Trees HD to our FSX SE library. That add-on package made our sunrise flight this morning from YMML to YBCS …stunning. We left Melbourne Intl at 0230 this morning for a 3 hour flight into Cairns.

Sunrise near Cunnamulla Airport

 

During our younger years we traveled the American Southwest desert. We learned early on in life to travel across hot when the sun is down. We also learned of the rewards from watching the sun come up over the desert.

 

Cunnamulla local

As we crossed over Cunnamulla Airport (YCMU) I realized that seeing the Outback from the ground had become another item from Australia that is now added to our bucket list.

Tomorrow we’ll grab a rotor wing (R-66) and head for Lizard Island. We're told it's a great way to experience the reef. Until then please enjoy the musical talent of The Outback's Ticki Stamasuri.

Critters for Linda - Melbourne’s Great Ocean Eco Lodge

Linda is all about “critters”. It's only natural then that we'd spend time @ The Great Ocean Ecolodge and Conservation Ecology Centre . The GOE is Australians Shayne Neal and Lizzie Corke life’s work. We have a great respect for anyone who devotes their lives to nature and helping out the helpless as they have.

Shayne and Lizzie built a non-profit ecological research, conservation and wildlife rehabilitation centre. They are devoted to protecting and understanding Australian ecosystems.

The GOE only has 5 bedrooms. Your stay there is a personal, unique experience. You'll wake up to the sound & smells of the ocean, a chorus of birdsong and Kangaroos by the dozens playing in acres of grassland.

All profits created by GOE are put back into the Centre. These people, this place, their mission …it grounds us just knowing there are places and people like this sharing the planet with us.

Ahh, the dichotomy:

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. …

High Flight by Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941 …mid-air collision …age 19

Magee understood the pilot’s soul at a young age. What Shayne and Lizzie have built deeply touches our heart & souls. To get to them to personally experience the wonder of their world …that leaves a huge carbon footprint.

From YREN to YMML Little Bird drank 102.2 gallons (386 Liters) of Jet A. Today Jet A is selling in Melbourne at $3.87 per gallon. There is our dichotomy; from Renmark to Melbourne we left a $396 carbon footprint so that we may go enjoy & pay our respects to nature.

 

Drivers & Swingers meet in Renmark

Deepak Chopra

On a stage, in a building located at the back of Microsoft’s campus in Redmond WA, Deepak Chopra told the cameras connecting him to a virtual audience “…creativity can be found within chaos.”  That sure describes our attempts to depart Sydney. Linda is looking for “critters” and I an adventure.

Little Bird ...0.5M @ 1K AGL

She is looking forward to seeing the Great Barrier Reef. I’m, honestly, looking forward to flying Little Bird close to the outback deck @ 0.5M. Can’t do that back home. What a thrill that will be.

Ya, that’d be fun, we hear directed as us, but not near as exciting as what the Pfitzner brothers Kyle and Ryleigh do. We ask, what is it they do? …they race Dinghy’s on the Murray River Basin.

That does sound exciting but not anywhere near as exciting as flying a Lear Jet 500’ AGL @ 380 MPH. Well, we’re told; …my mom could fly a Lear Jet but drive or swing the Murray River at 90 MPH, navigating tight turns, sunken trees and crocks …bet your mom wouldn’t do that. We are finding Australia to be Disneyland for Type A personalities .

We have the virtual funds to burn 1400 gallons of Jet A per hour for a couple of hours. We are ready to let the chaos of desire inspire us and our travels around Australia. So, we are off for Renmark to find folks who appreciate our need for high velocities.  They’ll be practicing for the Riverland Dinghy Derby held next February. We’ll have to plan a trip to see that.

I’m Just an Australian Guy …with a Virtual Lear Jet



Lear 45 ...a leather seat bolted to a Missile built by Bill

We’ve spent a few days absorbing Sydney Australia.  We have been overwhelmed with Sydney’s size, or more to the point, the size of New South Wales.

 

We asked ourselves …what music cha got for us Australia? As Linda is looking for something shiny the music of Lee Kernaghan comes floating into our ears. It grabbed us with the warmth & love we know from our cowboy family members back in the states. We realize why we feel so at home here, we’re from the American Southwest. We are big wide open country folks. Talk about BIG ...nobody beats Australia on big.

 

Our story has brought a lot of new people into our lives. How cool is that? Our Little Bird has been given a few mods from another Sim Pilot while grounded at YSSY (Thanks Dan!).

We’re looking forward to our flight into YPPH. Until then please enjoy David Hudson's Music & Art from down under as well.

I’ve been saying to Linda …Dang baby, I’ve found my people.

NZ snow to Australian Sun

Mt. Cook sunrise

The sun rises early in late spring down under. Linda and I are eager for warmth after spending a few days in Mount Cook. Our early morning Jet Ranger flight back to Christchurch was stunningly beautiful and uneventful.

Today we flew from NZCH to Sidney (YSSY). After an hour of balancing two balls on top of one another, better known as piloting a helicopter, it was a welcome break to get back to Little Bird and her automation systems.

Safe return to NZCH

 It took us 35 minutes longer than predicted to arrive in Australia due to 50 MPH headwinds that seemed to follow us aloft. We’d increase our alt to avoid strong wind currents and improve our FPH usage only to find wind speed and direction following us up the atmosphere.

Little Bird @ YSSY
 

When we arrived in Sidney we took a 40 minute flight around the area with Will, our guide. After playing around on the glaciers of New Zealand Linda was one happy lady to open up our Little Bird’s cabin door to 90 degree weather at 0900. Will basically pointed out Sidney’s landmarks. We didn’t know the PM lived right across the bay from Sidney’s iconic Opera House.

This appears to us to be Australia’s New York. The people of Sidney smile more than New Yorkers. Maybe that is because they live in Sidney.

Our real world selves have been invited to bring our virtual vacation to Perth. We are guessing at this time that Perth is the Los Angeles of Australia. We’ll stop to see and report the sights along our way West into Perth. We are eager to meet up with spiritsafaris. Our neighbor Neal is a travel specialist in the real world. He say’s “…you and Linda will love these folks, they’re your kind of people.

Until Perth, here’s a taste of what we’re headed for. Wonder if they’ve got an R-66 for us to fly around?

“Lucky to get out Alive” _Mel Parsons knew …

Mt. Cook Lakeside Retreat

Wellington is famous for its winds. We flew in to NZWN from Auckland in an old Mooney hot rod. She is light and fast. She is also a throw toy for the wind. It was a beautiful rollercoaster ride down the coast.

 

The “Little Bird” made the hop to Christchurch a quick little leg stretcher in a nice leather chair bolted to a missile. She didn’t mind a few bumps into NZCH. The Jet Ranger ride to Mt. Cook however, was not for the faint of heart. Our trip up to the Franz Josef glacier, following the “Grand Circle” tour offered by Mt.Cook Ski Planes & Helicopters (we have a deep respect for their flight crews),was close to trip ending. No Bueno. Story over. We were lucky to get out alive.

After recovering from a bad pilot choice  that lead into Settling with Power, over a glacier hiding in the clouds, we choose to land. Finding a hard patch of ice we set down to kiss the ground. On our return into NZMC we found low and fast was much more appealing to us and the bird than up and over.

The Mt. Cook Lakeside Retreat is where we’d lay our heads. Isn’t it a small virtual world that Mel Parsons of Auckland is playing in Twizel. She was singing her song “Get Out Alive”. Linda asked …how’d she know? She’s got to be singing about us.

We listened to Sam Bartells of Auckland on our way down here and we’ll fly off to Australia enjoying Mel’s musical gifts. New Zealand has been very good to us. Its scenery has filled our souls and her music our hearts. Thanks NZ. You’re amazing.

Helo to Hobbiton …via Rivendell

 When we flew into NZWN Linda looked at me and said, “Huh, I thought there’d be mountains here.” I replied, “They must be hiding in those clouds”. I got the look.

When we arrived in New Zealand we knew 2 things. The first thing we knew was that we pre-arranged to transition a TBO Jet Ranger from NZWN to NZAA for gas (Jet-A) money. The second thing was we could take 48 hours to do it …oh yeah, and a third thing. Linda could only bring 30 pounds of luggage. I got 5 pounds.

Central New Zealand is a bigger land mass than we’d expected. Not really knowing much more than our basic fuel requirements & navigation we left the Little Bird in good hands at Wellington Intl and headed North East. Our plan for the evening was to stay overnight at a Farm B&B in Hobbiton just outside of Matamata. We were off to find Linda some mountains.

Shortly after we departed NZWN we arrived over Kaitoke Park, home of Rivendell from the Lord of the Rings films. We followed the mountain range North East overflying Lake Taupo into scenery that seemed to transport us into a living Tolkien novel.

Lake Taupo

In route to Matamata, once out of the mountain ranges, we overflew vast open spaces with pockets of life gathered around collection points of what seemed to be an endless supply of rivers and streams.

 

 

Matamata NZ.  Hobbiton ahead on hillside

 After we set down in Matamata we opened the door of the Jet Ranger into Middle Earth. Now we know how Peter Jackson must have felt using a helo to look for Hobbiton.

 

How could our sunrise flight into Auckland tomorrow morning ever top this? Once again on this journey that question arises. Can Linda really survive another 48 hours living with only 30 pounds of luggage? That is the real question.  Her favorite “S” words have become Shopping & Shipping.

Weather determines whether or not to go.

Reporting of being there from here requires several things.

1.     A wild ass imagination.

2.     Technology

Walt Disney inspires creative people by reminding them that our only limitations are our imagination. “Imagine if you will” planning and executing a trip around the world, virtually, traveling in real time. How would you want to travel? Your imagination is your vehicle of choice. This reporter chooses to travel fast in order to see as much as possible in a short period of time. Money is not an object; once again, I have a wild ass imagination.

The technology for this journey lives in a box before me. It has cool terms associated with it. Terms like Terra Bite, Six Core, DDR3, Liquid cooled …it’s all protected by a metaphorical big ass bouncer called 1 to 1 push pull transformer. That part of the technology is for navigation and research, it’s the visual component. The audio component is …let’s just say it represents the inside of a Lear Jet extremely well.

All this technology requires electric current to live. So, as our virtual selves sat in Fiji waiting to depart for New Zealand our real time selves shut down all this technology to protect it from bad things that happen to technology when 70 MPH winds run among tall timber and power lines.

Leaving Laucala for NFFN

The flight from Laucala Island to NFFN to return the Goose and transfer ourselves back into our Little Bird was not without challenge. High cross winds along with 200# of "stuff" placed aft made our water take off memorable. On final approach into NFFN some other pilot, who does not know the rules, pulled onto our active runway causing the tower to wave us off of what was a darn pretty approach.

We leave Fiji behind.

More later …

Laucala Island & G'Bye to Goose

 

 

Today was just a short hop from one place in paradise to another. It may be paradise here in the arms of our host but this is a developing country. They have customs much different from our own but not all that strange to us.

 

 

A side trip around the island

Tomorrow we fly back to the big city of Nadi. A city filled with scads of people ready to help you out …for a fee. Arrive from an outline resort and you’ll meet more help than you thought could exist. Arrive in a Lear 45 …you get the point. It is like anywhere else, be smart, be heads up.

Put that all aside. Let the world pass by at one of the finest resorts on the planet:
 The Laucala Island Resort.

Tomorrow we plan our trip to Wellington New Zealand.  Then back to NFFN to say goodbye to the Goose and pick up the Little Bird.




I do love the shake, rattle and roll of the old Goose. She is a grand old lady. It’ll be nice to once again be snuggled into a fine leather seat strapped onto a missile built by a man named Lear.






Landing at Laucala Island Resort