ADVENTURE TRAVEL : Trip of a Lifetime: What’s It Like to Fly Around the World

In the past few issues I have written about flying your airplane to Cuba, the Galapagos Islands, and across the North Atlantic. I just returned from a journey around the world with a group of turboprops and jet airplanes. Once back home, we sent a survey to the pilots with questions on the land and flying experience. I thought I would share the comments of the pilots as you might now (or one day) think about going on such an adventure: 

 What drew you to an around-the-world flight? 

  • The love of travel, challenge, discovery, and adventure of places hard to reach commercially.  
  • We can always make more money but can’t make more time.  

Favorite flying memory on the journey? 

  • Too many great memories to have one favorite. 
  • We ended up with a one-night delay out of Bali due to an erupting volcano. When we were able to depart, we flew very close to the erupting volcano (Mt. Agung) and were rewarded with stunning views of an active volcano. Amazing.  

How many miles did you fly? 

  • 24,500 nautical miles for most of the aircraft. 

Fuel burn on the journey? 

  • I don’t want to know.  
  • Too scary to calculate…  

Discuss the international flying part. Is it as intimidating as most think? 

  • There were several new items, like QNH, QNE, and QFE, using HPa and (occasionally) meters on the G3000, transition altitudes and transition levels, an “initial approach” procedure, and some of the language the controllers used. I didn’t think any of it was difficult to understand or to apply but there were new things to learn. The part that Air Journey insulated us from (thankfully) was the process of filing flight plans, obtaining the necessary permits, and making arrangements with handlers and fuelers. Otherwise, I would say it was not intimidating at all once I get into it and figured out a few new things.  

Weather along the route 

  • The weather was actually great. We had 2 delays for weather. One was a typhoon over Taiwan (one-day delay in Macao) and the other was due to a volcano near Bali (one-day delay). We also had a bit of convective weather occasionally en route but nothing that was not easily managed with Connext weather and on-board weather radar. I will say that it was hot! It was 47 degrees C on the ground in Dubai, although it felt even hotter in Hanoi due to the humidity. We were frequently flying at ISA +20 degrees C or +25 degrees C. The temps didn’t cause any real issues for any of us, but we were definitely operating at the high end of the temperature tables in the airplane handbook.  

 Foreign air traffic controllers—How were they?  

  • There were some language challenges experienced along the way but for the most part the controllers were very helpful.  
  • Here are two great memories:

  1. Going into Dubai we got handed off from Saudi ATC to Dubai and were greeted by a very American-sounding controller. Turned out he was from Florida. In a strange small-world event, it also turned out that he was sitting next to a controller from New England who happens to be a friend of a friend of mine who is a controller at KBTV.   
  2. On the flight from Kolkata, India, to Chiang Mai, Thailand, we flew through Bangladeshi airspace. These guys were the worst air traffic controllers I have ever worked with. Other pilots on the frequency were terrible, too. There was no respect for the completion of the ATC communication. Pilots would just step all over one another and the controllers. The controllers were unresponsive to requests from pilots and very difficult to understand. It was just a free-for-all over Bangladesh. At one point on our route, I needed to deviate for weather. I requested deviation to the right for weather. No response. I said it again and again, all with the same response: none. Finally, I just did what I needed to do, deviating around a cell that I definitely did not want to fly through. After I deviated, I again contacted ATC, this time with, “Nxxx deviated right for weather.” This time I got a response. “OK” was all I heard.

Favorite destinations? 

  • Greece, because of the food, people, water, and weather. Cambodia because of the incredible temples, but more generally portions of Asia including Laos, Indonesia, and Vietnam were fascinating as we didn’t know what to expect. 

Why traveling in a small group versus alone? 

  • I would not have done the trip by myself, mainly because having a group provided a comfort and safety. 
  • The group makes the trip. Many strong friendships were established and there was always someone interested in doing something that got you out and made you have experiences you might not otherwise have had. 

Piece of advice for anyone thinking about flying their plane around the world? 

  • Do it! Honestly, part of our thought process was that we are healthy, able-bodied, our kids and parents don’t need us for those two-and-a-half months, so we should do this now. Any of those things could change without warning, so do the trip and don’t put it off.   

Packing recommendations (clothes, suitcases…) 

  • I overpacked. I thought we would have limited communications, so I brought multiple iPad, phones, etc, but didn’t need any of them. The world is very well connected now. The internet is everywhere, and there’s cellphone coverage everywhere 

Packing recommendations (how to organize the plane) 

  • One or two suitcases each and a clear bin for each of us in the back for extra stuff you don’t need all the time, or to rotate clothes. 

Biggest difference from previous flying experiences with your plane? 

  • The different regulations and handling at each airport (tight security, customs) but we were briefed the night before on what to expect. 
  • The length of the trip. This does take some special planning to be gone so long 

What do you wish you would have known before the Journey? 

  • How quickly the time was going to go. Also, that 70 days with the same people would be amazing and a tremendous bonding experience. Made friends for life.  

Any advice for pilots? 

  • It makes you a better pilot, gives you more confidence, and takes you outside of your element for a bit. 

Any advice for companions/passengers? 

  • Enjoy the trip of a lifetime and journal daily. 
  • Have your companion/spouse involved as much as possible in the flying, flight briefing, and copilot. It made the whole experience enjoyable for the two of us and it was nice to have someone in the right seat listening to the radios and the foreign accents.   

Air Journey is planning its 10th Around the World Journey in 2020, departing May 13 until July 24. An informational meeting will be held in Palm Beach, Florida, for the prospective participants November 4 to 6, 2019.  Call Air Journey at (561) 841-1551 or [email protected] for more details.