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Our CNG<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Riding the CNG<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nImmigration was not entirely straightforward. Crew visas (the stamped General Declaration) were valid for 72 hours, and this was causing trouble. Despite the fact that we’d been in Bangladesh about 60 hours, the immigration official was somehow convinced that we had overstayed. Eventually things were sorted out and we continued out to Planey where Mohammad met us. We pre-flighted as we waited for our ADC number – this arrived shortly after 0700. We called for start-up and were soon on our way. <\/p>\n\n\n
Waiting for our ADC number<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>With handler Mohammad<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Taxiing for departure<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe mist enveloped us as we took off, and we climbed through a white world until breaking out into the sunshine at 1500 feet. We climbed slowly to FL090 on our way to the Myanmar border. As was becoming typical, it wasn’t possible to contact the next ATC center, Yangon, so we relayed a message through HiFly flight 1707, and passed the time to the border by hunting mosquitoes in the cockpit.<\/p>\n\n\n
Wooden airliner at Chittagong<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Military turboprops<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departure from Chittagong<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departure from Chittagong<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Into the mist at Chittagong<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cruising on top in Myanmar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAfter a while we could talk to Yangon. They handed us over to the approach controller at Sittwe, who didn’t have much to say, just asking us to report abeam their airport on our way past. It was more of a challenge keeping the engine cool now, and we needed to have the cowl flaps fully open at times to keep the hottest cylinder around 380f – up here at FL090 the air temperature was still 11C. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This leg over Myanmar would be a long one – about 6 hours from one border to the other – and for some reason it felt like the remotest section of the trip. This might be because Myanmar is probably the country I knew the least about. What little I did know was not encouraging. The country has suffered from one of history’s longest ongoing civil wars, and after a brief promising period in the 2010s when elections were held and a civilian government was formed, the military seized control again and the internal fighting has been as bad as ever. <\/p>\n\n\n
One symptom of this ongoing conflict was GPS jamming and spoofing. GPS jamming is exactly what it sounds like – it simply disables GPS navigation. GPS spoofing is slightly more sophisticated, sending false GPS signals that overpower the weak genuine signals and cause receivers to return a false position. We first experienced some intermittent jamming over northern Myanmar and as we continued south towards the capital Naypyidaw and the main city Yangon, this was replaced by persistent spoofing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Garmin InReach was entirely non-operational, and it seemed as if Garmin or Iridium had deliberately disabled it over Myanmar. This was unimpressive. Although the Myanmar military ban satellite communicators in the country they can hardly claim to have any legitimacy as a government, and it would be disappointing if Garmin and\/or Iridium would compromise safety by bowing to the leaders of this coup. Garmin did not yet respond to a request for comment\/clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n
Northern Myanmar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Northern Myanmar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>GPS spoofing begins<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Compound in Myanmar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Temple in Myanmar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Irrawaddy River<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>A significant headwind<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Entering the Gulf of Marbatan<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cockpit views, no GPS available<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe spoofing was unpredictable. The Avidyne 540 panel-mounted GPS was the worst affected, with the Aera 660 and the iPad having long periods where they were functioning correctly. In the end, though, all three GPS gave up. Most of the time they showed our position as stationary over a position near the capital – this had some odd effects such as making the avionics on board Planey think that we were flying into a 143kt headwind. I had expected GPS problems in the Persian Gulf and although we hadn’t encountered any back then, the thought that I’d put into alternative navigation meant that now we were encountering issues here, it wasn’t a big deal. We reverted to more basic forms of navigation; pilotage through matching ground features to the map, and radio navigation using VORs. During the periods that ATC could actually see us on radar and talk to us, they could also give us vectors to keep us on track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We continued to relay messages, the next two going through Emirates flights bound for Bangkok and Hong Kong. Air France and Condor flights could be heard on frequency too, heading from and to Bangkok respectively. Several airliners could be heard reporting that they too were experiencing GPS failures and requesting radar vectors, although I believe that many have inertial navigation systems that can keep them on track.<\/p>\n\n\n
Entering the Gulf of Martaban<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Clashing colours in the Gulf of Martaban<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Island resort off Myanmar<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Thai coast<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Thai coastal village<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Clouds over Thailand<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe continued south over the Gulf of Martaban and as we flew further offshore, some GPS coverage returned. ATC gave us radar vectors further out from the coast, and then turned us back in again to follow the airway towards the Dawei VOR in southern Myanmar. The GPS spoofing returned just north of Dawei, affecting all three GPS once again, so we remained on radio navigation. It was hard to go wrong at this point, though, with the coastline to follow. KLM 844, from Bangkok to Amsterdam, relayed our position report at Dawei for us – GPS returned to the iPad just south of this VOR, and the Avidyne resumed normal operations about ten minutes later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Singapore flight 21 checked in on frequency at FL410, requesting FL430. This was higher than I’d heard an airliner before, and it piqued my interest. Looking it up later, I found that it was an A350-900 flying from New York to Singapore, one of the world’s longest flights at more than 18 hours in length. <\/p>\n\n\n
Coastal Thailand<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Phuket<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Langkawi Island, Malaysia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Passing Penang, Malaysia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe quality and availability of ATC steadily improved as we flew into Thailand and continued down the coast into Malaysia. We passed overhead Langkawi Island, where I had spent a happy couple of nights on my way through back in 2019, and then over the city of Penang. As we neared Subang the evening started to draw in, with the sun dropping below the western horizon. We were cleared to fly an instrument approach to runway 15, and I noted that conditions were clear and we could accept the visual. Apparently night VFR is not permitted in Malaysia as the response came back “Negative, It is after sunset, remain on the instrument approach”. <\/p>\n\n\n
Evening over Malaysia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sunset off Malaysia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Final approach to Subang<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parked at Subang<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nCaptain Jo had helpfully provided an airport diagram with the taxi route to the Air Adventure Flying Club highlighted, and we followed this to be greeted by several club members in high-vis vests directing us in to parking. They had very kindly stayed on after normal club hours to assist us on arrival. We quickly parked Planey up opposite the hangar, and for the first time this trip I put his cover on. Rain was forecast, and he is not entirely waterproof. The club members drove us to the terminal to pass through customs and immigration, and said goodbye to us as we called an Uber and headed into Kuala Lumpur city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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I met Ben at breakfast after a good night’s sleep. He had woken up to a text from our driver in Karachi, saying “I miss you so much dear”, and signed off with a heart emoji. It was nice to see that they had established such a connection, but I was not sure that Ben’s wife would be so impressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We started the day with a walk to the KL Tower, although we didn’t go up it – we had no shortage of aerial views on this trip. From here we headed to the fashion district which might seem like an odd choice. The reason was that Brishty had let us know that her uncle, Shohag, owned a shop here, and suggested we visit and surprise him. We settled on the idea that I’d say I was looking to buy a gift for a friend but didn’t know her size, and show him a photos of this friend (Brishty) for his guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n
Kuala Lumpur<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Ikea Headquarters, probably<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>With Brishty's uncle, Shohag<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nShohag was suitably surprised and offered us coffees while we called Brishty for a video chat. He told us a bit about his story, of coming to KL before COVID and then the efforts to get the shop going. It seemed as if things were working pretty well now, with a majority of his business coming online, but plenty still happening through the shop front. We said our goodbyes and walked back to a nearby metro station, to take a ride towards the historic city center. <\/p>\n\n\n
KL street scene<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek Mosque<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>KL downtown<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sultan Abdul Samad Building<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Independence Square<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Sultan Abdul Samad Building<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAlighting at the Masjid Jamek metro stop, we walked past the beautiful Sultan Abdul Samad Jamek Mosque and over the pedestrian bridge towards Independence Square. Previously the cricket green of the Selangor Club, it was here that the Union Flag was lowered, and the Malaysian flag hoisted for the first time at midnight on 31 August 1957. Since then, the Independence Square has been the usual venue for Kuala Lumpur’s annual Independence Day Parade. One side of the square is dominated by the impressive Sultan Abdul Samad Building, which was built at the very end of the 1800s and originally housed the offices of the British colonial administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From here our walk took us to the Botanical Gardens, and then down the hill towards the National Museum of Malaysia. It was too late in the day to go in and look around, but there were plenty of interesting things to look out even outside the museum. The first items we came across were a collection of old railway locomotives, including a KTM Class 22 diesel locomotive built by English Electric in the early 1970s for service in Malaysia. Alongside it was an older steam locomotive, also built in England, this time by Kitson and Co, and in service from 1921 until 1969.<\/p>\n\n\n
Cat on a warm tin roof<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Cessna 206 and the KL skyline<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Highway in KL<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>KTM Class 22 Diesel Locomotive<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Steam locomotive by Kitson and Co, England<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Eagle 150B<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nOn a pedestal nearby was an Eagle 150B light aircraft. The museum claimed that this was “the first Malaysian built” aircraft with key engineering work done by Malaysia, but online sources don’t necessarily back this version of the story up. What is undisputed is that it was initially designed and constructed by Australians Neil and Deryck Graham, with further development by Australian aeronautical engineer Graham Swannell and American aerodynamicist John Roncz. It is truly odd-looking.<\/p>\n\n\n
Inside KL Sentral<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Celebratory ice-cream<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>