Had a quiet morning; tried to rest for our 13 hr. flight to Darwin, Aus. Arrived at airport around 3PM, reviewed our flight plan and forecast WX. Our plan was to depart around 5 PM; however, WX changed and now thunderstorms with heavy rain are forecast. We expected to delay departure about 1 hr.
We cleared customs and immigration. Got back to our plane to wait out delay. Storm track slowed down, our routing was away from storm into clear WX. We departed at 5:45 before arrival of storm. Now flying 5:15 hrs, cruising around 140 kts or 160 mph. Only 7:45 to go. Smooth air, no clouds yet at 7,000 ft.
We have an instrument called a storm scope which depicts lightning associated with severe thunderstorms and turbulence and enables us to divert around severe WX. It has a range of 200 miles and gives us time to decide when to change our heading. The pictures we took last night show the storm scope in action and how storms move.
Should arrive Darwin around 8:45 AM — one of our longer legs. Not enjoyable, but necessary.
Arrived in Darwin in a little over 13 hours. Customs and immigration spent about five minutes with us.
Our great ground handling crew got us to our hotel where we are now relaxing after our marathon flight. Will do some touring today and depart early tomorrow for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. We will be staying with some friends, Norty and Meg Gill, who have a home in Cairns. I met Norty in 1986 when he owned a motel called the Flying Horseshoe Motel. He is a pilot, so we have a lot in common. His wife Meg is charming. ZVI and I are both looking forward to spending time with the Gill’s.
Zvi and I are happy to see donations continuing for Alzheimer’s. We both appreciate the generous donations so many of our old friends and new friends are making and following us on our journey.
Our Birdmen continued east on Saturday from Singapore to Darwin, Australia, around a 13 hour flight in mostly darkness and arrived at about 8:00 am Saturday. Weather was mostly good except for rain and storm threats during the first quarter of the trip. I love the pictures of the Storm Scope . As Ed wrote, the storm scope is valuable in planning and dealing with weather enroute.
Darwin is the capitol city of the Northern Territory of Australia. The estimated population is a mere 150, 000 people. Darwin is the smallest, wettest and most northerly of the Australian capitol cities and is the “top end”s regional center. Darwin is actually named after Charles Darwin, the scientist, geographer and author. He was the creator of Darwin’s theory of evolution, which cause quite a stir in the mid 19th century.
After resting up, Ed and Zvi took off for Cairnes, Australia at about 8 am Monday October 24. It’s only a 6 1/2 hour flight this time and winds and weather continue to be favorable. I’m looking forward to his update on seeing Norty and Meg Gill, it’s been a while.
In Cairnes, Queensland, there will be ample time for our men to rest and visit good friends. They will continue to spread the word about Alzheimer’s research and the quest for a cure.
SPsr
God Bless you. Your passion for flying is only equaled by your curiosity and your inner goodness. The work for this charity is a testimonial to your warm heart.