Ham Radio Aviator On Round The World Flight

Landed safely @ Bundaberg - 03/0907z

 

Brian & "Spirit" remain in Bundaberg. Now scheduled to depart for Gunnedah & Warnervale 05-July.

Revised schedule is as fols:

• Bundaberg, Australia : 3-Jul : 2 : YBUD
• Gunnedah, Australia : 5-Jul : 0 : YGDH
• Warnervale, Australia : 5-Jul : 1 : YWVA
• Sydney, Australia : 6-Jul : 0 : YSBK
• Hamilton, NZ : 6-Jul : 8 : NZHN
• Suva, Fiji : 14-Jul : 2 : NFNA
• Howland Island overflight : 16-Jul : 0
• Kiritimati, Kiribati : 16-Jul: 1 : PLCH
• Kauai, HI, USA : 15-Jul : 2 : PHLI
• Honolulu, HI, USA : 17-Jul : 0 : PHNL
• Hilo, HI, USA : 17-Jul : 2 : PHTO
• Oakland, CA, USA : 19-Jul : 3 : KOAK
• Atchison, KS, USA : 22-Jul : 2 : KK59
• Oshkosh, WI, USA : 24-Jul : 5 : KOSH
• Kestrel Airpark, TX, USA : 29-Jul : : 1T7

Note: Dates and locations are approximate and subject to change without notice.

 

see new thread about the flight
http://forums.qrz.com/index.php?threads/busy-time-for-project-amelia-earhart-flyer.572498/

 

Brian & "Spirit" GPS activated in Bundaberg @ 05/0305z.
Airborne @ 0330z

GPS tracking: http://projectameliaearhart.org/tracker/map.php
Radar tracking: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n916bl/#df7d063

 

It appears that Brian may be skipping a couple of stops & going straight on into Sydney.

GPS tracking: http://projectameliaearhart.org/tracker/map.php
Radar tracking:https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n916bl/#df7d063

 

Brian & "Spirit" landed in Warnervale about 05/0705z.
adar tracking:https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n916bl/#df7d063

Don't know if this is his destination for today or if he'll go on into Sydney (It's only 50 more miles on to Sydney.)

Perhaps he'll update his Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/AmeliaEarhart80/

Appears that he'll RON in Warnervale tonight & do Sydney & Hamilton, N.Z. tomorrow (06-July) - Looks like 7 or 8 days off in Hamilton before heading out to Figi on the 14th. (probably gonna go thru "Spirit" from stem to stern with a "fine-tooth-comb" before heading out over those vast expanses of the South Pacific)

What's left?

• Sydney, Australia : 6-Jul : 0 : YSBK
• Hamilton, NZ : 6-Jul : 8 : NZHN
• Suva, Fiji : 14-Jul : 2 : NFNA
• Howland Island overflight : 16-Jul : 0
• Kiritimati, Kiribati : 16-Jul: 1 : PLCH
• Kauai, HI, USA : 15-Jul : 2 : PHLI
• Honolulu, HI, USA : 17-Jul : 0 : PHNL
• Hilo, HI, USA : 17-Jul : 2 : PHTO
• Oakland, CA, USA : 19-Jul : 3 : KOAK
• Atchison, KS, USA : 22-Jul : 2 : KK59
• Oshkosh, WI, USA : 24-Jul : 5 : KOSH
• Kestrel Airpark, TX, USA : 29-Jul : : 1T7

Note: Dates and locations are approximate and subject to change without notice.

 

Brian did a little bit of catch-up on his Facebook site a while ago.
https://www.facebook.com/AmeliaEarhart80/

He writes:

//Quote// "Dashing across Australia too fast to write!

Sorry for the lack of communications. I had hoped to be able to see a bit of Australia (actually, I have seen a LOT of Australia) in a more relaxed fashion. Alas, that was not to happen. In any case, I am in Gosford, a suburb of Sydney but I am only going to be here overnight. Tomorrow morning early I am off to Sydney in order to "clear out" with Customs and Immigration so I can get on my way to New Zealand.

Even so, it has been pretty amazing. I have to come back here just to see it again.

Well, I posted a bit from Ayers Rock (Uluru) including the pictures I took from the plane. It was beautiful and interesting -- and my stay was MUCH too short. From Uluru I headed east toward Bundaberg with a stop in Birdsville, where I ran into wall-to-wall people. A LOT of people had converged on Birdsville for a three-day concert-in-the-desert. Made me think of Burning Man. This meant that the local pub was too packed to get into for lunch. So I wandered around town eventually making my way over to "The Bakery" where I had a curried camel pie for lunch. (Meat pies are a staple here.) Yes, camel. After the kangaroo burger it makes perfect sense, right?

Well, on to Bundaberg from Birdsville where Rohan Lloyd was waiting for me and helped me park Spirit at the maintenance hangar.

Once again I am reminded that this trip is turning out to be about the people who make my trip possible. I met Rohan Lloyd while in Singapore. He took my failed magneto back to Australia with him to be repaired; he sent me his spare magneto so I could get Spirit back in the air; he helped me with a route to see Australia; and then when I got to Bundaberg, he had things ready to install my repaired magneto back in my plane. Oh, and he and his family put me up at their house for two days.

From a flying perspective he has helped me with the differences between VFR flying in the US and VFR flying in Australia. The differences aren't great but they are enough to be confusing unless you are used to them. And he just filed my flight plan to New Zealand for me. Thank you Rohan!

So tomorrow I'm off to Hamilton, New Zealand. Hamilton is about 55nm SSE of Auckland and being more of a general aviation airport, is a better landing place for me. I should have taken more pictures but that didn't happen. I'll do better in NZ. I think I am just going to have to come back to Oz to hang out for a month or two sometime down the road."//End Quote//

(The song "Tie Me Kangaroo down sport" pops into my mind for some reason)

TBC...

 

What a great adventure!

TOM K8ERV Montrose Colo

 

Brian & "Spirit" departed Sydney bound for Hamilton, N.Z. @ 06-July 0050z.
(schedule shows spending 8 days in Hamilton)

GPS tracking: http://projectameliaearhart.org/tracker/map.php
Radar tracking: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n916bl/#dfac9cb

Today's Hop: 950 miles

*Updated Flight Schedule* ateays:Airport_ID
Hamilton, NZ : 6-Jul : 8 : NZHN
Suva, Fiji : 14-Jul : 2 : NFNA
Howland Island overflight : 16-Jul : 0
Kiritimati Island, Kiribati : 16-Jul: 1 : PLCH
Kauai, HI, USA : 15-Jul : 2 : PHLI
Honolulu, HI, USA : 17-Jul : 0 : PHNL
Hilo, HI, USA : 17-Jul : 2 : PHTO
Oakland, CA, USA : 19-Jul : 3 : KOAK
Atchison, KS, USA : 22-Jul : 2 : KK59
Oshkosh, WI, USA : 24-Jul : 5 : KOSH
Kestrel Airpark, TX, USA : 29-Jul : : 1T7
*Note: Dates are approximate and subject to change without notice

 

corrected mileage from Sydney to Hamilton should read: 1,350 miles (not 950)

 

Brian & "Spirit" nearing Hamilton. N.Z. posts in his Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AmeliaEarhart80/

//Quote//
"Well, Spirit and I are on our way to New Zealand. In spite of a late start it looks like we'll arrive in Hamilton ahead of time, thanks to a 40kt tailwind. Yay! I'm disappointed that I had to leave Oz so soon. I guess I'll have to fly back."
//End Quote//

It won't be long now:

GPS tracking: http://projectameliaearhart.org/tracker/map.php
Picked back up on Radar: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/n916bl/#dfac9cb

I'm sure that "Spirit" will be gone over thoroughly from nose to tail during the scheduled eight days on the ground in Hamilton.

The next leg of the trip will be on 14-July, 1600+ miles from Hamilton, N.Z. to Suva, Figi.
After today, only 9 more stops before "Mission Accomplished" !!

Well Done Man & Machine..

Steve / W5BIB

 

Brian & "Spirit" touched down safely in Hamilton, N.Z. @ 06-July/0800z.
1,377 miles in 7 hours 10 minutes = avg. speed 193 mph !!!

Welcome back to Terra Firma SIR.


Keep up with the project here: https://www.facebook.com/AmeliaEarhart80/

 

Update from Brian's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmeliaEarhart80/

//QUOTE//
Well. Spirit and I made it to New Zealand. The flight was 7 hours. Even so, yesterday was a long day.

I left Bundaberg and flew down to Warnervale, which is about 40nm North of Sydney airport. It was the most convenient airport to my friend Peter Adderley who lives in Gosford.

I was using three different electronic flight books (EFB) to navigate in Oz. I mentioned OzRunways, which I was using for VFR charts. The only problem with OzRunways (and JeppFD) is that they do not get GPS data from Spirit's GPS. So I have to look at the VFR chart data on OzRunways and then try to translate that to the IFR depiction on Spirit's MFDs. As a result, on my way down I managed to nick an active restricted area.

Well, clearly the Australians use ADS-B more than we do. I got a call on the local center frequency, which I had been monitoring. They informed me of the transgression, I got my butt out of the restricted area (I was only about ¼ mi inside) and all was good. Landed at Warnervale right at sundown. Peter Adderly and Gerard Hill were there to meet me. Got the plane parked and headed over to Peter's for dinner and good night's sleep.

Got up too early yesterday but it came down to clearing out of Australia was going to require a visit to Sydney International Airport. That was going to take some time.

On our way to Warnervale airport we stopped in at the ABC broadcast offices in Gosford and I did a quick interview for ABC radio, then headed for Warnervale and fuel. No fuel was going to be available at Sydney.

Knowing that I was going into a very busy major airport I took off and immediately called Center. I got the usual, "did you file a flight plan," to which I responded, "No, but you should have been notified already of my slot time for arrival."
"Stand by," was the response. Clearly I had confused them. The confusion became a certainty when he keyed the mic to say something but didn't. In the background I could hear uproarious laughter and then a woman's voice in the background saying, "In a Mooney?" Even I was laughing at that. In any case, they finally figured it out and I got cleared into the class-B airspace.

Sydney is a big airport with nothing but airliners. I doubt they have seen anything as small as Spirit in ages. I landed and they even sent out a follow-me truck to guide me to the FBO where I was to meet the customs and immigration people. Sure, I could have navigated there by myself but the truck gets me there without any possibility for error. I took it.

The guys from customs and immigration were excited to see me and said I was a celebrity in Australia. First I'd heard of it. Anyway, they signed and stamped all the paperwork so I could be on my way. The FBO waived most of their fee.

Took off again into beautiful clear-blue sky, about an hour late. But a 45 knot tailwind soon had my groundspeed up over 200 kts so my projected arrival tine came back to its original schedule.

Then I started encountering the scattered thunderstorms about halfway out. No problem, a few deviations from course to go around. But around sundown the weather became somewhat solid. A layer formed above my altitude and I realized it was snowing. No choice but to penetrate. There is no turning back on these long over-water legs once you pass the no-return point.

Now if you have been reading this you know that I have Stormscope and that helps me avoid the thunderstorms, but I still really rely on my eyes to avoid the worst of it. No chance of that now it was getting dark and the conditions were widespread. I was going to have to rely on the Stormscope to keep me out of the worst of it. So in I went. No choice. About then the lightning happened all around me. I was in thunder snow.

Thunder snow is different than a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms can tear you apart but thunder snow is more benign, lacking the severe turbulence. The dry falling snow moves electrical charges and then it seems to let go all at once. Unlike a CB where the strikes and cells start to form up on the Stormscope screen over time, when the lightning lets go in thunder snow the Stormscope screen lights up over a huge area all at once, not to mention the bright white flash that envelops the plane! Yeah, it got my attention.

Then there was the impact icing on the airframe. Time to get out of this stuff and get lower where the air is warmer and I'll be out of the thunder snow and impact icing. Out came the gear so I could come down fast without gaining too much speed lest I encounter any serious turbulence on the way. Finally at about 6500' I was underneath in warmer air. No snow, no lightning, no icing. But now I was going 150 kts instead of 200 kts. Fortunately I was ¾ of the way there. A nearly full moon was up which allowed me to make out the cumulus clouds and avoid them all the way in to Hamilton.

The weather had cleared out of Auckland and Hamilton by the time I got there. It was severe clear and I was able to make my approach in VFR conditions. But I used the RNAV GPS Z 36R approach anyway because I knew it would keep me clear of the mountain just to the west of the airport.

Once down I was greeted by the customs, immigration, and agriculture people. I had the correct cans of bug spray to show them and I did not open up the airplane until they got there and I handed them the cans of spray through the window. (You are required to spray the airplane with one spray before departure and then again when you are descending into the airport.) Clearly word is getting out about my trip because the inspectors were excited to meet me and be able to sign the airplane.

So now I am staying with Rex Stentiford and Allison Moore at their beautiful home outside of Hamilton. Faye has joined me here and I am looking forward to a week of mostly rest prior to the really big hop across the Pacific. I do have some work to do on Spirit though. I have a second overhauled magneto that has arrived to replace the un-repaired mag. I am thinking that I really don't want to chance another mag failure on that long overwater flight as it could adversely affect my fuel situation, something I can't afford on such a long leg. It also appears that I am going to have to bite the bullet and get a replacement for the HF, at least until I can get mine fixed. I'm hoping that Bonnie can go ahead and get that spare radio for me that she had lined up back when I first encountered the problem in Brazil.

So for now Spirit is in good company, surrounded by C172s, Diamond DA20s, and DA42s at CTC in Hamilton, a flight training center. Spirit was the center of attention today as many of the students and faculty came out to inspect her and to ask questions about the trip.

The weather is supposed to break tomorrow so Faye and I hope to be able to pop down to the South Island in order to see Christchurch and the Southern Alps. This is going to be relaxing flying and a time to recharge my batteries and get rested up for the push across the Pacific.

Heading out for dinner. I will try to catch up later on things that got left behind in Thailand and Indonesia. In the mean time, I am comfortably ensconced in New Zealand.
//UNQUOTE//

 

WB6RQN / Aeronautical Mobile
Update: 8 July 2017
Brian Lloyd and his airplane Spirit are currently in New Zealand for maintenance until 14 July.

Note to ham operators in North America, South America, Oceania, and Asia areas:
From 13 July to 19 July it should be much easier to QSO with WB6RQN / Aeronautical Mobile during the flight over the Pacific Ocean.

On 16 July (15 July in America), Brian plans to overfly Howland Island (the famous destination of Amelia Earhart in 1937).
If he has enough reserve fuel at that point, he will continue directly to Hawaii; if not, he will land at Kiritimati Island, Kiribati for refueling.

*Updated Flight Schedule*
Location : Date : Days : ICAO_Airport_ID
Now at Hamilton, NZ : 6-Jul : 8 : NZHN
Suva, Fiji : 14-Jul : 2 : NFNA
Howland Island overflight : 16-Jul : 0
Kiritimati, Kiribati (backup): 16-Jul: 1 : PLCH
Kauai, HI, USA : 15-Jul : 2 : PHLI
Honolulu, HI, USA : 17-Jul : 0 : PHNL
Hilo, HI, USA : 17-Jul : 2 : PHTO
Oakland, CA, USA : 19-Jul : 3 : KOAK
Atchison, KS, USA : 22-Jul : 2 : KK59
Oshkosh, WI, USA : 24-Jul : 5 : KOSH
Kestrel Airpark, TX, USA : 29-Jul : : 1T7
*Note: Dates are approximate and subject to change without notice.

For photos and Brian's commentary on the flight, click here to read Lloyd's Log


Brian Lloyd WB6RQN adds New Zealand flag to Spirit at Hamilton airport on 6 Jul 2017.

 

Here's the latest from Brian's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmeliaEarhart80/


//Quote//
Well, it only took me 8 hours today to get the HF transceiver and magneto from Auckland. That includes drive time, time spent at Customs, and time spent at FedEx actually getting the packages. Hamilton is a lot farther from Auckland than distance would suggest. That having been said, the time spent with Customs rivaled the drive time. At least I got them to understand that I am not importing the equipment and therefore shouldn't be charged GST, which saves several hundred dollars. But they still nicked me about $100 for "fees".

Got back to Hamilton airport just before 4PM, leaving almost no time to work on the plane. I'm going to have to do the work tomorrow. But with the little bit of time I did have, I was able to temporarily install the new HF transceiver unit. It booted right up! Looks like I have HF again! This is good because I need it for the next 3 legs until I get to Oakland.

And speaking of the HF, I would like to thank Tom Haggerty, CTO of Royal Communications, the distributor for the Mobat Micom3 transceiver. Bonnie told Tom that I needed another radio quickly and he got one shipped to me the next day. That is great service and support! Thank you Tom!

So things look on-track to get the work done on the plane tomorrow and be ready to fly Saturday morning heading for Pago Pago. My holiday is over. Back to work and back to flying.

So all you hams out there, I hope to be able to make some contacts on the way to Pago Pago. We'll see if the new tuner and new transceiver has solved the problems.//End Quote//
_________________________________________________________________
Revised schedule:

*Updated Flight Schedule* ateays:Airport_ID
Now at Hamilton, New Zealand for maintenance until 15 July.
Pago Pago, American Samoa : 15-July : 1 : NSTU
Howland Island overflight : 15-Jul : 0
Kauai, HI, USA : 16-Jul : 2 : PHLI
Honolulu, HI, USA : 18-Jul : 0 : PHNL
Hilo, HI, USA : 18-Jul : 2 : PHTO
Oakland, CA, USA : 21-Jul : 1 : KOAK
Atchison, KS, USA : 22-Jul : 2 : KK59
Oshkosh, WI, USA : 24-Jul : 5 : KOSH
Kestrel Airpark, TX, USA : 29-Jul : : 1T7
*Note: Dates are approximate and subject to change without notice.