Jim Keepkie's - Australian Bonanza Society

September 2012 ABS_September 06 NL.qxd 14/09/2012 10:18 PM Page 4 

ONCE WAS NEVER ENOUGH 

The Trip - Wichita to Bankstown - Eastbound. 

Beech Bonanza G36 VH-JKL aka N8074N 

Six and a half years ago, in late 2005, I flew the Pacific in 

my then new G36 from Wichita to Bankstown 

westbound. I was accompanied from Wichita to Los 

Angeles by my son James and from LA to Bankstown by 

a professional ferry pilot, Lyn Gray. 

Don’t ask me why but this time I decided to go the ‘long’ 

way. Adventure, challenge, something to do and talk 

about! Whatever – this is my story. 

I hope it is interesting and maybe will encourage others 

to do the same. I always wanted to fly around the world 

but wanted someone else to organise it and I would be 

the passive flyer. However when I decided to update my 

old G36 and the original delivery time was delayed from 

November 2011 to March 2012 I made the decision to go 

it alone. 

I sold the old G36 in August 2011 and placed the new 

order straight away. Deciding to bring it home via the 

North Atlantic, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India 

and South East Asia seems a long time ago. I started my 

homework by much talking with others and reading 

stories by others who have made similar journeys. 

The Earthrounders website was a great source of 

information. In 2007, at a European Bonanza fly in in the 

UK, Linda and I attended a briefing on crossing the North 

Atlantic. We were guests of my English friend, Tony Zalkin 

who had sent me a video of his own North Atlantic 

crossing in his A36. Maybe that’s where the idea started? 

It was very important to cross the North Atlantic in late 

spring or face the prospect of delays with the fickle and 

quickly changing North Atlantic weather. I particularly 

wanted to fly into Narsarsuaq, Greenland in VMC only 

and with this in mind I delayed delivery of the aircraft 

until mid-April 2012. 

It is probably important at this stage to explain my 

philosophy (in no particular order of importance) 

for the flight: 

v I would have one or possibly two passengers with me 

at all times. 

v No leg should be more the 4 hours 

v We would stay at least two nights at every landing 

(except fuel only stops) thus being able to rest and 

enjoy being a good tourist eating local food and only 

drinking local beer and wines 

v I would be away 3 months 

v I did not want an internal ferry tank and wanted at 

least 90 minutes reserve fuel at every landing 

v I would file IFR plans the entire route 

v I would fly paperless 

v I wanted video of all take off and landings and 

anything special along the route 

v Take as many still photos as possible to be edited after 

I arrive home 

v I did not want to fit a HF 

Ian, James and I leaving Wichita (KICT) 

v I would use FBO’s and Handling Agents where ever 

possible to reduce my hassles on the ground. 

This increased costs but I was much happier when 

someone working for me was arranging my fuel, 

flight plan lodgement, customs and immigration. 

This was particularly important to me in Egypt, the 

Middle East, India and Indonesia. It was mandatory at 

most airports anyway. 

To achieve some of these philosophies I ordered the new 

aircraft with tip tanks (factory fitted D’Shannon fibre glass 

tanks by HB Services at Wichita Mid Continent airport). 

This gave me 7 hours 10 minutes endurance at 75% power 

ROP. I purchased a Flightcam and mounted it on the dash 

to record all landings and take-offs, borrowed a Sat phone 

and good camera from friends and family. 

To achieve the paperless flight I purchased an iPad and 

wireless GPS antennae. I then had the G1000 with all the 

charts loaded, my PC with all the charts loaded plus the 

iPad with the charts loaded and with the back up GPS 

position should the G1000 fail. The PC was also loaded 

with Jeppesen’s FliteStar flight planning programme. 

Jeppesen produce the world wide charts. I had only used 

Airservices charts so I purchased some ‘trip charts’ from 

Jepps to allow me to familiarise myself with the Jepps set 

up and plan some routes. Trip charts are specific for 

designated parts of the world are only valid for a short 

period before they ‘freeze’ and are useless for a long 

journey such as mine. However, they were of immense 

value as I planned some of my flights from the study 

and got used to their format. 

Jepps allow you to load the charts on three devices in 

addition to the G1000. I was required to purchase a 12 

month subscription for all the charts which I cancelled 

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on return and received a pro rata refund. In March 2012 

I ordered the full set of charts for the trip. I was then able 

to plan every route from the study. I became aware of the 

fact that in Europe you must fly the airways or your 

plans would be rejected by the centralised ATC based in 

Belgium. They also want you to fly the published MEA’s 

which in many instances were much higher than I wanted 

to fly. i.e. 15000ft. I have portable oxygen and after the 

initial 30+ hours on the new engine was happy to fly at 

9000-11000ft. By the time I got to Europe I had flown over 

30 hours anyway and the engine was well run in. 

I flew the aircraft home on the US register. N8074N. 

I had applied from Australia for my US license. The FAA 

verified my license details with CASA and I picked up 

my US license from the Wichita FAA office as planned. 

Simple and just a bit of paperwork. I now have 

Australian, New Zealand and US pilot’s licenses. 

The Trip - Part 1. North America. 

We took delivery in Wichita on the 19 April 2012. I was 

accompanied by my eldest son James and his long time 

school friend, Ian Hill, a Baron owner from Monto in 

Queensland. As in 2005, the delivery experience was 

exceptional. We took the factory tour, the pre delivery 

flight revealed a few squawks which were fixed overnight 

and we enjoyed the delivery lunch with the highly 

professional and helpful HB people and in general 

enjoyed the moment. 

After the delivery I flew the aircraft to the Wichita Mid 

Continent airport (KICT). Three of the seats and the 

table were removed and sent home by FedEx together 

with a heap of paper relating to the new aircraft. 

Less weight (about 100kgs) and more room for the trip. 

We placed the third seat forward so Ian had a good view of 

everything going on. We left Wichita on the 21 April 2012. 

Our first leg was to Niagara Falls, NY (KIAG) via Peoria, 

IL (KPIA). I had weather and Notams via the FliteStar 

system but as I am unfamiliar with the US decided to 

phone the plan through. I was again briefed on the 

weather and Notams for the route (my choice) and 

lodged the plan. Easy, the FAA contract out flight 

services to a private contractor. Following this very 

favourable experience I decided I would telephone in all 

the US plans rather that lodge on line. I still briefed 

myself via the FliteStar system before each flight. It is 

very comforting to know what you have from the selfbriefing 

is reinforced and confirmed by the briefer over 

the telephone. I felt the US ATC system and controllers 

were the best (most helpful and professional) for the 

entire trip. 

We left Wichita in VMC, landed, had lunch and refuelled 

at Peoria and then on to Niagara Falls. Peoria is the 

worldwide home of Caterpillar. As soon as we crossed the 

great lakes we were in IMC as expected. We took some 

rime ice, got cleared to the radar lowest safe altitude and 

landed via the ILS 28R. 

Because of the bad weather and the very low freezing 

level we stayed an extra day in Niagara Falls before 

flying to Caldwell, NJ. (KCDW) 

I had prearranged thorough my friend Bill Frey, to 

change the original engine oil at Caldwell by an 

authorised Beech dealer who looks after Bill’s G36. 

Jim, James and Ian in immersion suits 

We waited a few hours, had lunch and then off to White 

Plains NY where we stayed for a few days with Bill. 

Flying out of Niagara we were in and out of cloud and 

took on some rime ice again. I got a very complicated 

series of arrival instructions and subsequent vectors into 

Caldwell. Sometimes difficult as the accents are difficult 

to understand, particularly New York accents. Out of 

Caldwell I was flying VFR and NY approach cautioned 

me as to opposite direction traffic I was overflying , a G5, 

but when I told him I was looking but could see another 

private jet above me he said don’t worry he is well past 

you! He was 1000 ft. above. The airspace is very busy, the 

controllers very professional and helpful and I am 

pleased with myself that I was able to fly in their busy 

airspace without any problems or stuff ups. 

Whilst we were at White Plains (it is 35kms north from 

JFK) we flew the Hudson River corridor. Linda and I had 

flown this once before as a passenger with Bill. Doing it 

yourself is a challenge but properly prepared and briefed 

no problem. 

We entered the river from the north; I obtained a 

clearance for the ‘Skyline route” at 1500ft which kept me 

in controlled airspace for the entire flight. Flying south 

past the Statue of Liberty we crossed the Veranazzo 

Bridge (connects Staten Island and Brooklyn) did a 180 

turn and back up the river northbound. Approaching 

lower Manhattan I requested a clearance over LaGuardia 

airport and to the north east up Long Island Sound. 

It was refused only because of the runway in use (22) 

conflicted with my planned route. They did offer me to 

fly over Central Park and subsequently cleared me over 

North Manhattan into Long Island Sound. Quite an 

experience. As we approached “Freedom Tower” which is 

on the World Trade Buildings site, my terrain alert went 

ballistic as the top to the cranes were level with the wing 

tips. Of course we were in the river and near to where 

‘Sully’ Sullenberger put the A320 into the river. 

We proceeded to Pawtucket, RI for a prearranged 

briefing on the North Atlantic Crossing before returning 

to White Plains that afternoon. During the flight we were 

in contact with New York, LaGuardia, Teterboro and 

Newark approach controllers. I had arranged the 

briefing by Ed Carlson whom I had met in England a few 

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years ago. He is very experienced pilot with over 200 

crossings to his credit. I considered this briefing or 

something similar, essential for a safe crossing. 

We left White Plains for Goose Bay, Canada (CYYR) via 

Bangor, Maine (KBGR). We cleared US Customs and 

immigration at Bangor. The US customs and 

Immigration at Bangor were the rudest and most 

unhelpful I experienced on the entire trip. I was very 

glad to get away without telling them what I thought of 

their arrogance and rudeness. I would have but would 

probably still be there if I had. James reckoned I should 

have decked the bloke but if I did I would certainly still 

be there. 

It was a long flying day, some 6½ hours. 

Flying conditions were great from White Plains to north 

of Bangor where we entered IMC. Because of the low 

freezing level we again took some rime ice and I was 

cleared to the radar lowest safe for a good part of the trip. 

Another ‘real’ instrument approach, back course on 

runway 26. 

The Trip – Part 2 - The North Atlantic and the UK 

In the fjiord, Greenland 

We delayed our departure from Goose Bay for one day as 

the weather in Narsarsuaq, Greenland (BGBW) was not 

VFR. It was worth the wait. We departed Goose bay into 

IMC with a low freezing level, the weather improved 

progressively as forecast. As we approached the west 

coast of Greenland to icebergs in the water were 

impressive. I descended 1500 ft. in serious VFR 

conditions for the 20 minute flight up the fjord to 

Narsarsuaq. I have the most spectacular video via 

FliteCam of this flight plus many many still photos. 

We were below the height of the fjord cliffs and when I 

changed heading the terrain warning would go off its 

Narsarsuaq, Greenland 

head. The runway in use was 25, right circuit over the old 

glacier flow, low hill and landing downhill. Unusual as 

the preferred runway is 07 with landings and departures 

generally over the water of the fjord. 

Departing Greenland was the most hairy of the entire 

trip. Wind was 22 kts down the runway gusting to 35 kts 

with a good portion of crosswind to deal with. Cloud base 

was 5000 ft. overcast. We climbed to LSAT of 9000ft in 

cloud, set heading to the south east to cross the ice cap in 

the shortest distance. About 12 nm out we were hit by a 

severe downdraft. Initially the auto pilot tried to hold 

altitude until I disconnected it, nose down sacrificing 

height to recover airspeed, full power and rpm. Stalling 

in the cloud over the ice cap was not a good option. 

James was invaluable in this trying time. After we 

recovered from the initial fright and climbed back to 

9000 ft. we were hit twice more but with less severity and 

we were better prepared. Looking at the charts later I 

realised why the terrain warning did not go off in the 

initial incident. The ground height when we first got hit 

was around 2000 ft. Good to know now but we did not 

know that at the time. 

As soon as we cleared the mainland we were in VFR 

conditions all the way to Reykjavik, Iceland. (BIRK). 

Icebergs in the water everywhere en route and volcanoes 

poking their heads out of every cloud over Iceland. 

We departed Reykjavik early one morning, through a thin 

layer of overcast and then we could see that huge volcano 

that closed European airspace for weeks about 2 years ago. 

In addition to the volcanoes (there was no smoke) we 

could see the huge glaciers. Best of all the tailwind and 

clear sky all the way to Stornoway, Scotland. (EGPO) 

The legs across the North Atlantic to Narsarsuaq and 

then to Reykjavik took 4 hrs 20 min each and to 

Stornoway 3 hours 46 mins. Many times we were out of 

VHF range and our position reports were relayed by 

overflying aircraft. 

The customs, immigration and ATC staff at Stornoway 

were exceptionally helpful. We had decided to press on 

to Oxford, England (EGTK) as it was such a good day and 

they assisted me with the plan and off we went. It was 

here I learnt to note in the flight plan (section 18) “IFPS 

re route accepted” 

Noting all European Union plans with this “reroute” 

acceptance meant that if I planned contrary to the 

European system, particularly airways and altitudes they 

would amend the plan and we would not be tooing and 

froing. Interestingly I only had one problem out of Corfu 

and after accepting the ‘reroute’ they accepted my 

amendment in the air back to my original plan and 

altitude. Tony Zalkin also gave me access to his flight 

planning software and I was able to verify, before 

lodging my plan, that the route would be acceptable to 

Brussels who are the central coordinating body for 

European Flight planning. 

In Oxford I had arranged for another oil and filter 

change. Again this was an authorised Beechcraft piston 

shop. Excellent service and most helpful. They stored the 

aircraft whilst I was there. I was in good company in the 

hangar. A Kingair equipped with surveillance gear for 

the Olympics was also in their hangar. I stayed in Oxford 

for 6 days. After visiting Duxford air museum, James and 



Ian went home on a Qantas 380. Before they left I had 

the pleasure of lunch with two Earthrounders, Patrick 

and Linda Elliott. They had recently flown around the 

world in a LongEze and Patrick gave me some good 

insights into India, particularly the military airport at 

Agra where I was going to visit the Taj Mahal. 

Our friends Tony and Marion Zalkin also come down 

from London for dinner one night. I really appreciated 

the effort these new and old friends made to come to 

Oxford to see us. 

Now the good part, Linda arrived from Sydney. The next 

day we left Oxford for Cascais, Portugal. (LPCS) 

The Trip Part 3 – Europe 

Our European friends. Cascais, Portugal 

We changed our initial plans for Europe after Tony and 

Marion Zalkin invited us to join them and their friends 

in a mini fly in to Cascais. We had met their friends in 

2007 at the European Bonanza Society fly in in North 

Weald, England. Tony and Marion have an A36 Bonanza 

and live in London. Wolfgang and Annette Fehlhaber, 

from Cologne in Germany, and Adrian and Lynn Daley 

from Derbyshire, England both have V tail Bonanza’s. 

Interestingly Wolfgang has relatives in Rockhampton, 

where I was born. 

With the assistance of the FBO (Fixed Base Operator for 

the uninitiated) I filed the plan to Cascais via Biarritz, 

France (LFBZ) for fuel. This was also our entry port to 

the European Union for Customs and Immigration. 

I filed the SID as part of the flight plan on the advice of 

the FBO. Good advice for a complex departure into 

London and then Paris airspace. At 9000ft over the 

Channel I was getting some rime ice and was cleared 

lower. Conditions progressively improved as we crossed 

the French countryside. 

It was a long day for Linda having arrived the day before 

from Sydney then a total of 7 hours flying this day from 

Oxford to Cascais. 

We had a great time in Cascais, 4 Bonanza’s, 8 people and 

4 days is a truly lovely holiday destination. Great to be 

with old friends as well. Lots of food and drink in typical 

ABS style. 

We left Cascais for Faro, Portugal (LPFR) and our friends 

went to their home ports via a stopover in France. Faro is 

the major city in the Algarve region of Portugal, a popular 

holiday area. Flying conditions were VMC and hot. 

Jim, Gibraltar 

From Faro to Gibraltar (LXGB) was so special. 

We tracked south east over the Atlantic. As we 

approached the Strait of Gibraltar we had Spain on the 

left (Europe), Morocco on the right (Africa) and straight 

ahead the Mediterranean Sea. Exotic waypoints like 

Casablanca and Tangier come to mind. Spanish Control 

(Seville) handed me over to the Gibraltar military 

controllers who vectored me through the tight restricted 

airspace between the African continent and Europe and 

set me up for a visual approach to 09. 

I needed special prior permission to enter Gibraltar from 

the English military which was not difficult. 

Gibraltar with its history was certainly worth the visit. 

Access into Gibraltar by land is by a major road from 

Spain into Gibraltar that bisects the Runway. On landing 

and take-off this road is closed to pedestrians, cyclists’ 

trucks and cars. We have some good photos of us holding 

up the traffic! On departure the same procedure prevails. 

I elected to depart on 09 and then made a right turn 

tracking westward through the Straight. Again radar 

vectors to keep me clear of Moroccan and Spanish 

airspace. 

We could not fly from Gibraltar into Spain directly 

because of the differences between the British and 

Spanish over the territorial rights to Gibraltar. 

Consequently we flew back to Faro, re-entered The 

European Union (customs and immigration again), and 

then via a refuelling stop at Portimao (LPPM) we 

travelled to Valencia, Spain (LEVC). 

My flight plan to Valencia was accepted by Brussels and 

then just before take-off at Portimao, Valencia said they 

would not accept me as I had not obtained a landing slot. 

A quick call to a handling agent in Valencia and the slot 

was obtained. A delay of 30 minutes only. 

Our flights in Europe were in good conditions but the 

haze restricted visibility greatly and most of the time we 

had only 10nm visibility. I used a handling agent in all of 

Europe even if in some ports it was not mandated. All the 

landings were VOR or ILS approaches and all departures 

via a SID. I think this is because of the congestion of 

traffic and the severely reduced visibility in haze. 

From Valencia we went to the Provence region of France. 

Initial stop was Avignon (LFMV) then to Cannes 

(LFMD). We were in Provence for 7 days and very much 

enjoyed the area. I had never been to the French Rivera 



and whilst we stayed in Avignon and Nice we took many 

tours of the area. We were fortunate the Cannes film 

festival was on, and the Monte Carlo Gran Prix was on 

the weekend we left. I have never seen so many private 

jets as there were on the Nice airport as well as Cannes 

were we parked. 

Ground speed on landing at Avignon was only 40kts as 

there was this howling northerly down the runway. 

Very cold. This was one place where it was necessary to 

tie down. To land at Cannes you must complete an 

online course which is designed for noise pollution 

reduction. As it turned out the northerly was still 

blowing when we landed there and we were vectored to 

the Locator B approach for 35. 

From Cannes we flew to Venice. On the advice of Tony 

Zalkin we landed at Venice’s Lido airport (LIPV). 1000m 

grass runway, VFR only but let down over Venice (LIPZ) 

if required and then vectors to Lido. It was good VFR 

conditions and we made a visual approach to Lido. IFR 

departure from Lido required a SID which then linked to 

a Venice SID. This was another memorable experience. 

Easy fuel access, very friendly airport operators who 

arranged our water taxi from the back door of the airport 

to our hotel on the Grand Canal. (10 minute ride only) 

Flying in Europe was interesting in that transition levels 

varied from 5000ft to 7500 ft. whereas in Australia our 

transition level is fixed at FL110. Funny to be flying at 

FL060 on 1013. It was difficult, if not impossible to have 

the flight plan amended in flight to ‘shortcut’ legs. 

After many knockbacks I gave up requesting as I was 

wasting their and my time. I had more success with 

varying altitudes. Initial clearances often were taking 

me to FL130 and even FL150 once. I accepted the 

clearance and in the climb requested lower. Most times it 

was approved but we did a lot of flying at FL110. 

We appreciated the portable oxygen then. 

Accents were sometimes very difficult to understand. 

I found the Spanish men the most difficult and the 

Australians in the Middle East the easiest. I quickly 

learned not only to say but spell back the clearances in 

my read back and if I was incorrect they would say and 

spell back to me. That way I was confident I got it right. 

From Venice we went south to Salerno, on the Italian 

Amalthi coast. (LIRI) Beautiful place to visit, we were in 

a quaint hotel with our room 10m from the 

Mediterranean Sea. The hotel and some staff were a bit 

“Manuel from Fawlty Towersl” but Italian style. 

On leaving Salerno I was ramped checked. I think the 

bloke just wanted to ‘tick’ the box to say he had checked 

someone. Anyway he took details of my license, 

registration of aircraft and airworthiness documentation, 

insurance etc. He had some trouble reading English. 

Anyway, I had all he required and we were not held up 

on our departure to Kerkira, Corfu (LGKR) for too long. 

This flight was one of our best legs. The sky was clearer, 

VFR and a good tail wind all the way to Kerkira and a 

VOR approach to Kerkira through broken low cloud over 

the mountains. 

Kerkira to Athens again back in haze with low visibility, 

Athens airport is huge with 13000ft parallel runways but they 

were only using one. On landing the tower asked what type 

of aircraft I was as I guess they don’t see many Bonanza’s in 

Athens although there was a Baron on the ramp. 

My youngest son, Mark arrived in Athens and the three 

of us enjoyed exploring ancient Athens together. 

Linda went home and that same morning Mark and I left 

for Iraklion, Crete. (LGIR) 

Mark had big shoes to fill as “co-pilot” following Linda 

and James who have much more experience in the copilot’s 

seat than him. He did very well and soon learnt to 

cope with my impatience. 

Crete was a disappointment for us as tourists. As in most 

of Europe the tourist industry is dead. At least in Crete 

they had a major influx of Russian and French tourists 

when we were there. 

The Trip Part 4 – Africa and the Middle East 

Mark and I on the Great Pyramid 

From Crete we travelled south to Cairo, Egypt. (HECA) 

Mark particularly wanted to visit Cairo and Luxor and in 

spite’;/ of travel warnings we decided to go. In Cairo and 

Luxor we hired local guides (they had been 

recommended to us before we left Australia) to get us to 

the historic sites with a minimum of fuss. 

Cairo handled Customs and Immigration but no Avgas. 

We left Cairo for Luxor (HELX) via “6 October “ airport 

(HEOC) so named after an Egyptian moment in history, 

for fuel only. October airfield is 25 minutes from Cairo 

and literally in the middle of the desert. The trip south 

was effectively in IMC as the dust haze was so dense we 

often could not see the ground. 

Crossing the Red Sea, Luxor to Amman 

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We were made aware of the non-availability of Avgas in 

Luxor about 10 days before we got there. I was forced 

then to change my original plans which were to fly from 

Luxor to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, refuel and then nonstop 

to Dubai (a long day’s flight but little choice as I did 

not want to overnight in Riyadh). I then planned Luxor 

to Amman, Jordan (OJAM), overnight in Amman and 

refuel, then to Riyadh (OERK) and Dubai, UAE (OMDB) 

the next day. (again this was a long days flying in the 

very hot and dusty conditions) 

The flight to Amman was most interesting. From Luxor 

we flew North West across the Red Sea then up the Gulf 

of Aqaba into Jordan. The Gulf of Aqaba is about 12nm 

wide. On the west was Egypt, on the east Saudi Arabia, to 

the North West Israel and to the north east Jordan. At 

one point at the top of the Gulf I could see all four 

countries and three airfields in three of the countries. 

Amman has two very large flying schools and we 

guessed about 40 light training aircraft on the 

tarmac. The FBO service was very efficient both on 

arrival and departure. 

When we arrived in Riyadh the next day it was 44C. 

Very hazy and we were put into a hold for 40 minutes. 

We were number 9 in the landing sequence. Refuelling 

was not easy as the Avgas had to come from outside the 

secure area and this delayed us. Given we had flown 5½ 

hours and still had another 3½ to go to Dubai it was 

frustrating to have to wait knowing the heat we were 

facing when we left the terminal. Never the less with full 

fuel and a very slow climb to FL110 we headed to Dubai 

via the Persian Gulf. This days flying was mostly IMC in 

the dust haze. We hardly saw the desert we flew over for 

7 hours and very little of the Gulf for the same reason. 

Into Dubai we were held for almost an hour as we were 

number 12 in the sequence. 

In Egypt, the Middle East and India I set the Autopilot to 

climb at 119 kts to keep the engine cool. I was taking off, 

even in the morning at temperatures over 40 C. Rate of 

climb was poor and I copied the RPT pilots and told the 

controllers I was heavy and because of the heat could not 

climb any faster. Given early knowledge of this they were 

able to arrange the traffic behind me; It didn’t seem a 

problem to the controllers. 

Bahrain airspace was the first time I heard the Australian 

controllers although many times I had heard pilots with 

Australian accents. It seemed to me that in that area half 

the controllers were Australian. 

In Dubai we stayed for two nights with my daughter, 

Natalie. Nat has lived there for 10 years and has a lovely 

unit in one of the new developments. Great to get there 

to see her and sad to leave her. 

Dubai to Muscat, Oman (OOMS) for fuel. 

We overnighted here and unfortunately this was the 

worst place for service by our FBO and handler. 

Fuel service was good though. 

The Trip Part 5 – India 

It was a 5½ hour flight over water and through Pakistani 

airspace to Ahmedabad, India. (VAAH) Some of the time 

we could see the Pakistan coastline to our north but 

again the haze reduced visibility. Ahmedabad was only 

Mark and I, Taj Mahal 

an overnight fuel stop. I paid the highest fuel prices for 

the journey here as they had to truck it in at late notice 

from Delhi. I knew the price before I got there so decided 

to pay rather than have to significantly amend my flight 

plans and permits in India. 

Omani, Pakistani and Indian controllers were all very 

helpful and efficient. 

From Ahmedabad we flew to Agra, (VIAG) the home of 

the Taj Mahal. Most impressive and worth the visit. 

Agra is a military airfield and no landing charts are 

published. I had some information from the Elliott’s 

from England and Google Earth gave me the runway 

orientation. The military controllers welcomed us and in 

fact came down to meet us. 

As I had decided to fly into Kathmandu, Nepal we flew 

east to Patna (VEPT) to use as our base to Kathmandu. 

I arranged for an instructor with an ‘approval’ to fly into 

Kathmandu from Patna with us. Unfortunately the 

weather was rotten, (low broken cloud becoming overcast 

at 10000ft and very hazy) so I cancelled Kathmandu. 

We were hoping also to see the Himalayas and Mt Everest 

but the weather prevented this from happening. 

Refuelling Patna 

As in Egypt and the Middle East I found that flying at 

9000ft was ‘perfect’ for the weather conditions. 

We generally had a tail wind, were above most of the 

haze of the desert and above the broken cumulus of the 

Indian sub continent. All the time we were below the 

overcast which was generally at 11-14000 ft. above us. 

In India and South East Asia at 9000ft I could see the 

towering cumulus of the monsoon in front of us and 

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plan around the cloud. The Stormscope was invaluable 

in planning ahead as well. We were fortunate that we did 

not encounter any of the heavy monsoon rain which 

seemed about 10 days behind us through India. 

India is renowned for its beaureacy and the frustration 

of pilots unable to get things done timely and efficiently. 

Patna enhanced that reputation. 

Patna to Calcutta (VECC) was an easy flight. 

Very efficient FBO. Mark left me here to go home and 

Linda arrived back from Australia. 

The Trip Part 6 – South East Asia and Home 

Linda and Thai tiger 

We left Calcutta early in the morning with the assistance 

of a very efficient FBO. Our flight took us across 

Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), and into Chiang Mai 

(VTCC) in the north of Thailand. Chiang Mai was 

fabulous. Great handler made the arrival, refuelling and 

departure so easy, unlike the Indians and Arabs. 

The Tiger Park is an experience not to be missed and we 

purchased some ceramic souvenirs, something we 

normally do not do. 

From Chiang Mai we went for a few days to Langkawi, 

Malaysia (WMKL), a comfortable 5 hour flight. 

From Langkawi via Penang for fuel and then on to 

Seletar, Singapore (WSSL), an easy 2½ hour flight down 

the west coast of Malaysia. Seletar has no published 

approaches (they have a VFR joining procedure) so we 

were vectored by Johor Bahru Control and Singapore 

Approach onto final for runway 21. 

In Singapore I had arranged for the aircraft to have the 

oil and filter changed, general check, refuel and clean. 

Enroute to Bali with Volcanoes on our right 

No problems. Hawker Pacific has a very good facility in 

Seletar. We stayed in Singapore for a few days and 

caught up with my old friend TS Phang and his family. 

On departure from Seletar we were handed over to JB 

Control, then Singapore Control, overflying Changi en 

route to Jakarta, Indonesia (WIHH) 3 ½ hours away. 

We refuelled in Jakarta and then left for Bali. (WADD) 

The fuel man ripped me off in Jakarta. The worst thing 

was that I knew it and could do nothing about it. 

I’m sure I got ripped off elsewhere on the trip but I 

didn’t know therefor it didn’t hurt. 

We had a great stay in Bali before heading off to Darwin 

(YPDN) via Kupang in West Timor (WATT) for fuel. 

There were several places between Singapore, Darwin 

and Rockhampton where we ran out of VHF coverage. 

I relayed our position via overflying aircraft but had the 

Sat phone on just in case. 

From Seletar to Jakarta, Bali and Kupang we were 

generally on the northern side of the Indonesian islands. 

The volcanoes were sometimes shrouded by a halo of 

cloud and sometimes just in the clear sky. Many times 

they were well above our cruising altitude of 9000ft. 

No smoke but you could sense the power of many 

volcanoes. 

It was sense of achievement to make the contact with 

Darwin Approach and subsequently land back in 

Australia. Customs, Immigration and Agriculture were 

on hand as arranged and we were soon in our hotel 

nearby to the airport. A good steak and a few XXXX to 

fortify ourselves for the 9½ hours to Rockhampton 

(YBRK) the next day. 

We certainly live in a huge country. From Darwin we 

travelled to Mt Isa (YBMA) for fuel and onto 

Rockhampton, overflying some of Central Queensland’s 

coal mines on the way. Departure before dawn from 

Darwin and arrival after dark into Rockhampton. 

We stopped for 2 nights with my Mum in Rockhampton 

before an early start to Bankstown, (YSBK) our home airport. 

Observations 

v I used an experienced handler for my landing and 

overflying permits from Egypt through to Indonesia. 

His agents also arranged my fuel in that part of the 

world. Mike Gray is from White Rose Aviation and you 

can find his details on his web page. I cannot speak 

more highly of him. I used FBO’s in the US, UK and 

Europe and this made the journey easier. 

v When we had the time to be tourists we did the “Red 

Bus” thing or hired cars with English speaking 

guides. 

v Avgas is an issue and even though I was well prepared 

Avgas was not available at Luxor and Ahmedabad as 

originally planned. 

v For anyone interested or contemplating a trip I have 

the detailed plans which I am happy to share. 

Some basic statistics: 

v was away 13 weeks, filed 48 different flight plans and 

landed at 46 airports (2 twice) 



v Total VDO time was 132.6 hours. Total distance 

covered was 19,964nm or 36,973 kms. Average ground 

speed was 152.7kts or 283 kms per hour. 

v The only squawks Hawker Pacific found on the 100 

hourly were two beacon lights and one Nav light out, 

an oil leak on the nose wheel push rod as it leaves the 

gearbox caused by a pinched O ring seal and the EGT 

probe for number 3 cyl was also u/s. 

v I took a wrong taxi way in Athens and loaded an 

incorrect VOR into a departure from Cascais. 

Apart from that and a rebuke from Canadian ATC for 

not having a HF for the North Atlantic crossing I 

think I handled the rest pretty well. 

Thanks to all who supported me and followed my 

journey. Particularly my passengers - my wife Linda, sons 

James and Mark and Ian Hill. 

As I said at the beginning “Once was never enough” 

Jim Keepkie - 08 September 2012 

In the Hudson 

Dear ABS Members 

The ABS is pleased to now offer an online interactive Magazine in conjunction with your regular printed 

quarterly Newsletter. 

Some advantages of the Online Edition are: 

v Provides page turning animation & zoom. 

v Detects embedded URL’s and email addresses. 

v Has the ability to add flash video and audio interactivity. 

v Will allow us to publish additional content beyond the Printed Edition. 

v You will be able to search all archived newsletters by a keyword search. 

v Our emagazine is downloadable with full or selectable page printing. 

v In the future will provide an online Event Registration Form. 

v Allows publication of any number of page extents. Any odd or even number of pages is acceptable. 

v Ability to publish more frequently than quarterly (if required) 

v No time delay between graphic design and distribution. 

v Environmentally friendly with a zero carbon footprint. 

Please click on this link to view the Online Newsletter: 

http://www.abs.org.au/index.php?beechcraft_aircraft=34 

It is important to note that we will continue to print and distribute our regular Printed Edition as previously. 

The ABS welcomes comment about its new Online Newsletter to info@abs.org.au 

Regards, Peter Gordon, ABS Newsletter & Website Editor

Jim Keepkie's - Australian Bonanza Society

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