There was one day left before departure from Dili, and I would be using this day to carry out some local flights around Timor-Leste. I headed first to the flight planning room, on the second floor of a half-finished building over-looking the apron. We spent quite some time as they puzzled over what I would, and would not, be allowed to do – eventually my flight plan was entered, but minus the flight leg to the enclave of Oecusse. This…
I woke up at 7am. We drove to Darwin Airport to meet with Australian Border Force in the main terminal and take care of my departure clearance from the country, as this was another international flight. As usual with ABF, the process was quick and easy, and soon I was dropped off at the entry gate to the general aviation area and made my way up to Planey where he waited for me in the grass parking area. I pre-flighted…
Before heading out to Dili, I had planned a weekend in Darwin. I enjoyed the city so much on my previous visit that I wanted to spend more time here, and check out a few more activities and sights that there hadn’t been time for on my first stop. Joined now by Mei, we started off the weekend with a visit to the Parap Village markets. Situated between the city and the airport, this market offers a wide variety of…
The weather for the flight to Port Hedland was great. I woke at 6am, and drove up to the airport to meet Lachie and Griffin just after 7. I found a helpful airport employee who let me through the gate to get airside, insisting that I wear a high-vis vest. An Australian Border Force twin-turboprop patrol aircraft was getting ready for departure, presumably to head out and scan the seas for illegal vessels. We pre-flighted Planey and poured in the…
Lachie, Griffin and a couple of friends pulled up outside my accommodation at 0830 and I squeezed into the final spot in the back seat, Lachie handing me a beer before I had even closed the door. We drove a short way along the road until we came to the Grotto. This is a small cave, hidden away in the forest, which connects underground to the sea. The Grotto is therefore full of water, and a picturesque swimming spot. As…
After a slightly longer pause than planned, April 2025 saw the resumption of the flight to relocate Planey from the USA to Australia. Schedule shifts meant that what I had originally planned to be two separate flights (the final run to Perth, and then a trip to visit East Timor a couple of weeks later) merged into one, leading to a slightly unusual routing. I met up with my copilot for the first section of the flight in Singapore, a…
The Chittagong airport is not a 24-hour operation, and Mohammad had let us know that an 0700 takeoff was about the earliest that could be managed. We therefore planned to meet at 0630 at the airport. We’d been assured the previous day that there would be no problem getting an Uber in the early morning for the ride from hotel to airport. This turned out to be inaccurate, and in the end we took help from the hotel staff to…
My alarm blared out at 0430, and by 0500 we were leaving the hotel. After the short drive back to the airport we were greeted by our handlers from Dnata who led us quickly through the airport formalities to Gate 8, and a waiting minibus to speed us back across the tarmac to Planey. Pre-flight went smoothly, and soon we had powered on the avionics to call for engine start and ATC clearance. This took a bit longer than usual…
We called a Careem and arrived at the airport a little before 5am. The hassle continued; the handlers insisted on charging 260 KWD (almost 850 USD) of “passenger fees”, despite the fact that they agreed we were not passengers and had also charged crew handling fees. The customer service agent present did not have the authority to remove the fees, nobody who did have authority was around at this time, and they would not allow us to leave without payment,…
I woke at 0615, and our Uber dropped us off at the airport a little earlier than planned, just before 0645. Our handler had suggested we arrive at 0700 for our intended 0900 departure. The bemused gate guards invited us to wait with them in their office (the airport is also a military base) until our handler met us ten minutes later and escorted us through the airport and out to Planey. The Avgas truck arrived, but parked with the…