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I don’t’ know how Roger Krieger got my name
or contact, but there it was sitting in my Inbox….a call to the Wild. I let
it cook there for several days before venturing to write back to Roger, the
call to the Wild too strong to resist. Spoke to Roger once on the dog and
bone and I kind of figured if I put my rambling thoughts to all of you like
minded folks who have responded to the call of adventure, we might experience
some things together….like a bottle of cold Champagne delivered on camel back
while enjoying a desert sunset, contemplating a broken axle or two on our
proposed aerial camel train enroute to Cathay!!
Let’s go do it boys and girls…….
Thirteenth Century Anno Domini- The Old World
Down by Venice way (Oh no not that way by LAX!) in the Old
World, the brothers Polo, Nicolo and Maffeo sat by their hearth fires, stroking
their fine beards, thoughts turned Eastward ho. Well they should, for they
were merchants of experience and repute, their thirst for profits mingled
with their like minded feel for adventure.
Word had it that far eastwards lay treasures. In their rudimentary
map data bases, the area was identified as Cathay.
In their immediate circle of hangers on was a young and
able axle fixer and general grease monkey who ably tended the Corporations
wheeled caravans. Being the total caravan nut that he was and aided by his
proven track record, wise in the merits of various lard compositions for optimal
greasing, he was soon made a valuable part of the team preparing to go East.
How do I know?
Well in another life I was the total caravan nut, now re-incarnated
as the Total Airplane Nut!!
It’s a long story and it goes like this……
The brothers Polo left Venice, Italy ( then the chief entreport
in Europe for eastern trade) in 1260 via Constantinople and the Crimea, leaving
behind Mamma Nicolo Polo, with young Marco . They traveled to Khanbaligh Tatu
( Peking), which Kublai Khan, grandson of the Mongol Empire’s founder, Genghis
Khan, had made the capital of his dominions.
After an absence of nine years, the adventurers returned
to Venice. Being the first European traders to have made the acquaintance
of the great Khan, he had extracted a promise from the two to return to China,
bringing back some friars from whom the Khan wished to enquire about the Christ.
Needless to say their travels had been a great commercial success.
Rather sad news awaited the Polos on their return, for mamma
Nicolo had died leaving young Marco with an uncle and aunt. Marco was fifteen.
They left for the Khan’s court again in 1271, this time accompanied by Marco,
now seventeen, highly intelligent and a strapping young man ready to face
the world with dad and uncle Maffeo.
The party and their caravans went by boat to Acre (present
day coastal Palestine area) picked up two friars as per the Khan’s request
and proceeded North to Ayas (now Banias). From there, the rest of the journey
was overland to the fabled courts of Kublai Khan.
The Marmaluks controlled the turf north of Ayas,the friars’
courage failed them, and the Polos continued without the holy men. From Ayas
North to Erzincan (Turkey), Armenia,Southwards through Persia passing Tabriz,
Kasvin, Saveh, Isfahan, Yazd, Kerman, right down to Hormuz on the mouth of
the Persian Gulf. The idea here was to take a boat along the coast to India
and proceed overland via Tibet. Experienced merchantmen and familiar with
trading ships, they were totally unimpressed with the coastal tramps they
encountered at Hormuz. So, back to the Overland route, north-north east then
veering to east- north-east. They climbed the mountains north of present day
Afghanistan to altitudes of up to 16,000 feet, suffering the effects of altitude
on their hike. They then crossed the plain of Pamir crossing the Tartar’s
famous river Oxus flowing into the Aral sea. All of the preceding terrain
the Polos had traversed thus far was new country, the elder Polos on their
previous trip had taken the Northern route north of the Caspian Sea and east
towards Samarkand.
Now having crossed the plain of Pamir they arrived at Samarkand,
familiar territory again, from their previous travels. The Gobi desert awaited
them testing their resolve to the utmost. Forty days journey out of the Khan’s
domain, the Polos were met by a Royal escort and taken to the great Khan’s
Court.
They arrived at Khanbaligh in 1275…….four long years of
strenuous travel behind them. A further twenty years of service in office
of the Great Khan as envoy followed, punctuated by experiences that left Marco
with a dubious nickname given him by his unbelieving countrymen on his return
to Venice in 1295…..Marco il Millione ( Marco of a Million experiences
)
Ser Marco Polo’s enduring monument, is his book The Travels,
dictated to a certain Rusticello of Pisa, who like Marco, was incarcerated
in a Genoese prison following a trade war between Venice and its arch rival
city, Genoa.
Marco Polo was seventy years old when he died. Few, if any
men or women have ever seen as much as he did in his allotted ‘three score
and ten’. Many famous men have had memorable dying words attributed to them,
but those for which Marco is remembered have always been accepted…..as a perfect
epitaph .
The story goes that his friends urged the dying man to take
back some of the most obvious exaggerations he had made about his experience,
lest he meet his Maker with lies on his conscience. To which old Marco murmured:
‘I never told the half of what I saw’……..
Adapted from various sources
Fast forward , circa Spring 1990 Anno Domini
An incarnation or two later, there I was at 6000 feet, position
not quite certain, somewhere between Turaif, H1 and Gurait and accompanied
seemingly by two angels of doom…… a pair of Dassault Mirage F1’s , hovering
either side of my Cessna 402 , at max alpha, white wingtip mounted sidewinders
( or some local variant ) glinting in the harsh desert sunlight. They looked
at me , I looked at them (sheepishly} with me desperately trying to raise
Amman Control and at the same time shouting sweet surrender on 121.5 and nobody
talking to me…..
Bad moment, I don’t know what got to me, but all I could
think of was to wave, and pull out my trusty Olympus and shoot off several
frames of the Mirages….God, what a stupid thing to do. They monkeyed around
a bit, barrel rolled over and under my ship and disappeared Northwards, like
the proverbial bats out of Hell.
Amman came up on the horn and we landed at Amman’s Marka
Airport, still shaking
The photos later identified the bogies as coming off Main
Street Baghdad. True and I still have the pics. to prove it……
Those who have gone before
Today’s problems of aviating across the World poses not
a problem for equipment or navigation even for Ultralight airplanes which
have proven capabilities. It all boils down to being able to ‘Winning Friends
and Influencing People’ in the right places to get your trusty craft through
successive political hoops to your destination I’m sure Marco had his times
too, but then he was a consummate diplomat and thought nothing about staying
a year or two, making friends before hitting the road again.
There is enough documented material on several latter day
Alcocks and Browns’ adventures for any one contemplating a voyage to the uttermost
parts of the earth and I refer you to the ‘Earth Rounders Club’, members of
the fraternity of modern day long distance aviators. I’ve met some of them
and their stories are fascinating. I can refer you to the EAA’s ( The Experimental
Aircraft Association ) web pages for links to these wonderful stories of aviators.
Try www.eaa.org
Looking at the currently proposed route for this Air rally
by Ultralight aircraft I beg to share some thoughts with all of you .
VFR Rules OK
It is imperative that the Organisers make very serious attempts
to gain approval to conduct the entire course by Visual Flight Rules (VFR).
There’s no way Ultralights are going to be able to meet IFR requirements,
if these are insisted on or demanded enroute.
During the Air race from Paris to Singapore in 1990, we
pretty much had to flight plan on the existing low level airways, which was
not much fun. Onetime I requested to cancel IFR and go VFR along the beautiful
islands between Heraklion and Kerkira, to which I was brusquely told to maintain
the flight planned route (IFR). Not much fun doing IFR in great visibility,
at high altitude.
On another occasion, we were stuck in Amman because Saudi
Arabian ATC insisted we must fly at a minimum of 14 000 feet at night from
Amman to Bahrain….We had no Oxygen.
…And so on
Overwater crossings
Let’s keep over water crossings to the absolute minimum.
Out at sea a bad moment could occur if one encounters sea fog and loses the
visual horizon. Sea haze is a serious problem for low level flying especially
in warmer latitudes.
Looking at the over water crossing from Seeb (Muscat) to
Gwadar (Pakistan) this is what it looks like:
Taking off from Seeb, you are directly over water for 212
nm (392km) until your first landfall at Jiwani on the Pakistan /Iranian border.31nm
further you will arrive at Gwadar.
The catch here is you’re going to cut across a small portion
of Iranian airspace. All these FIR’s have extremely strict ADIZ (Air Defence
Identification Zone ) requirements which sometimes require simultaneous communication
on multiple frequencies.
I have flown the route from Karachi to Dubai vv at low level
and the coordination required was tough, to say the least. I have landed at
Chah Baha (Iran), Jiwani and Pasni (Pakistan).
Remember the airliner that was shot down on the short flight
between Bandar Abbas and Sharjah. Volatile……..
Flying in the land of the Maharajahs
I guess the hardest part was trying to get into India from
Pakistan and vice versa. That’ll be for the Organisers to smooth over. But
expect Bureaucracy which has been developed into an almost art form, a legacy
of the British Raj, although the Brits are not to be blamed after half a Century
of absence. The Indians must love paperwork.
Other than that, when you finally manage to stagger into
the air the flying is easy.
Weather warnings are sketchy, if we are doing it in the
spring the weather should be settled.
Tiger Country
Myanmmar (Burma} across to Luang Prabang (Laos) on to Hanoi
(Vietnam) is Tiger country. The terrain is thickly forested and may require
flying at altitude over mountain ranges . And if you’re forced to drop in
at a village to spend the night, please take care of your
shadow….
Young Marco, the traveling envoy of Kublai Khan noted during
his travels in these regions……
"Marco noted a regional custom which Kublai’s order had
stopped : The habit of murdering guests with fine figures who cast a ‘good
shadow’- not to rob them, but to give the house the benefit of the strength
of the stranger’s spirit.
Yikes. Let’s hope they remember the Khan’s orders!!
Into China
Low level flying in China is going to pose a challenge in
staying visual and right side up in the extensive blanket of coal haze prevailing
over most of China at the present time. Well, Marco had noted with great awe
that the locals used ‘burning black stones’ to heat great baths that
enabled the locals to bathe at least three times a week, in winter, every
day if they liked….wow. On their return, the Polos were not recognized because
the were so clean compared to their European bretheren, who hadn’t discovered
coal yet.
And now ……there’s no way one can fly visual at 5 000feet
, without resorting to instruments. I have flown all the way from Hong Kong
to Beijing without ever seeing the ground until 200 feet on the approach
at Beijing’s Capital Airport !!
In China expect to fly in the muck all the time…….
Hong Kong still has an active flying club, which could probably
be roped in to assist.
I believe they have an airstrip somewhere to the North away
from the commercial Airport at Chek Lap Kok, which we wouldn’t want to go
into anyway in an Ultralight airplane.
I do hope the above impressions are not perceived as negative
to ongoing plannig, but serious efforts will have to be made to ensure that
participants get all the assistance to traverse the route without adverse
problems to complete the flight. It can be done and it would be fun…..but
we’ll need all the help we can get from the Powers that be.
Rally Organiser’s Support party
During the 1990 Air Race, the participants were supported
by the Race Organiser in two roving aircraft, a King Air and a Cessna Conquest
(Turbo Props), carrying the Race Marshals.
Well, one participant even had his pit crew rooting around
for him in a Sabre Liner, ahead of him, like calling winds and weather to
the following Racer. We, carried our own spare tyres, bedding and suffered
through the turbulence and ice, once arriving six hours after everyone had
landed.
This Ultralight flying gaggle is going to be a seriously
slow but fun event. Broken axles or worse are going to be a concern from the
outset for both participants and organizers. If one could seriously consider
leaving a downed craft where it was and continued to destination in the Organiser’s
pickup, it might be the worst or best outcome depending on your point of view.
Any how, the best tack is to prepare for the worst.
I would like to see some form of roving rescue party on
route at all times.
Race or Rally?
The competitive juices and spirits will be flowing freely,
which could encourage or unnerve some. Trust me….I have heard loud cockpit
altercations on the radio between a husband and wife team, racing to get ahead.
And….they turned finals, for the wrong airport! I was right behind. At the
reception, they were not talking to each other….oh brother!!!
So what is this going to be, an all out Race or Fun Rally
in the steps of Marco Polo to get everyone to reach Khanbalig Tatu
in one piece.
I’m all for a nice gentlemanly pace of an achievable mileage
of 300 nautical miles (555 km) or five hours flying per day.
Still, I’ll wager a cool case of Buds to a spot landing
competition at suitable landing grounds.
Equipment Requirements
If this is going to be a Internationally Sanctioned Event,
the FAI’s definition of qualified "Ultralights", "Microlights" and "VLA’s"
(very light aircraft), is going to have to be trashed out and accepted before
serious planning can get under way. Has such a craft been defined yet with
certainty?
What max empty weight, max all up weight and max fuel capacity
are my first questions. Starting from there other solutions can be worked
out.
Here are some of my personal specifications of what I would
call a doable craft:
-
In the engine department: RELIABILITY, RELIABILITY, RELIABILITY!
-
Two seats ( one to carry the gear, spares or fuel)
-
Steady min 60 kt TAS (mile a minute) at economy cruise
power setting. Tails, you win heads you lose (the wind I mean). Expect a
tail wind of 20+ kts in spring going east, at low level.
-
Min no wind range of 350 nm (650 km) to dry tanks
-
Wing loading to accommodate "continuous light to occasional
moderate gusts"
What? Did you expect to fly only in the calm?
-
Basic pressure instrumentation for VFR flight, one gyro
instrument for emergency IF.
-
Navigation gear: GPS, SATCOM phone. (Don’t forget the
whiskey compass!)
-
Communication gear: two VHF radio coms min. Forget about
requiring HF.
-
Lots of spare batteries: sponsors to provide free supply!
-
Transponder if it can be accommodated in the craft.
-
ELB and survival gear for all types of terrain.
Weight, Weight, Weight, what shall we do to meet those pesky
requirements.
Registration Marks
To avoid unnecessary conflicts in sensitive areas, can the
FAI be persuaded to grant all participating aircraft "an international sport
aircraft registration" and an easily recognized "tail fin logo", identifying
the aircraft as a sport flying vehicle operating under the aegis of the FAI
in an "International Aviation Event".
That is a long shot indeed, but worth thinking about. After
all the FAI does insist on individual memberships and crews operating under
the FAI are required to be in possession of an "International Sporting Aviation
License" for sanctioned events.
Surely you can’t wave your FAI license to the masked Zorro
in an armed Interceptor for safe passage.
How I would do it ?
If I do get to do this great aerial adventure, I would like
to go in a gaggle of two/three identical craft flying a loose formation enroute,
giving mutual support to each other, and arriving in an ‘echelon break’- Red
Arrows style! Roger can have the cold ones ready when we are parked.
Now can I persuade two/three others to come along with the
old ‘axle fixer’. At least the view would be different and I wouldn’t have
to step on them camel…..never mind.
Objectives
I am hoping that the above tongue-in-the-cheek ramblings
based on actual experiences can benefit anyone contemplating this upcoming
voyage. No offense, malice or innuendos are directed towards any person, orgainsation,
nation or city in the above discourse, which consists of personal observations
and actual situations experienced. I fly regularly from Asia to Europe and
in China, albeit seated in a high perch, but I do constantly look at the ground
below and day dream about what it might be like to do it "low and slow" shadowing
a camel caravan perhaps.
If anyone needs any kind of background information about
sport aviation in Asia, India and the Middle East, feel free to write. I’ll
do my best to find those answers.
With Best Wishes and Regards to everyone contemplating this
Great Aerial Adventure.
Hoping to join you.
Sincerely,
"Siva" Sivaraman
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
November 1, 2001
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