Around the World 2015: Summary of Stats

P.S. August 2015

Dear blog followers, we have updated this entire blog with edits and additional photographs. Please feel free to enjoy scrolling through the days of our Journey Around the World 2015. Thanks for your interest along our way.

Diann & Tom Baumann

Summary of Statistics: Journey Around the World 2015

   Nautical miles traveled: 26,689.9

   Average Ground speed:   276.4 Knots

   Fastest ground speed:   374 Knots

   Hours logged in TBM:   96.5 hrs.

   Number of countries landed:   26

   Number of significant of water crossings (> 200 NM):   15

   Cans of Prist added:    27

   Quarts of oil added:  6

   Aircraft repairs: Replaced Radar in TBM in Sinagore

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Day 75, July 23: Seattle, WA to Great Falls, MT (475 NM); Great Falls to Milwaukee Timmerman Field, WI (1,019 NM)

0800 transfer to airport, we did routine pre-flight procedures and embarked on our last two legs of our Around the World Journey.  The forecasted storm with possible icing in the vicinity of Great Falls actually became no threat upon arrival nor on departure. Tailwinds assisted our 1.5 and 3.5 legs today.

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Top of MT Rainier seen rising above the clouds as we continue our climb to 29,000 ft.
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Rocky Mountain High…in USA is familiar terrain.

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Striking terrain with distinct plateau.
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Plateau seen from lower altitude.
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From a previous visit, we remember the airfield setting—on a raised plateau, above the town of Great Falls.
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Short final into Great Falls, MT.
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Bacically a technical stop, we were fueled and wheels up in 30 minutes.
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Milwaukee downtown on the Lake Michigan shoreline.
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FINAL approach at Timmerman….HOME!
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Our welcoming committee: Barbara, Gary and Rio Bova

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Thank you, trusty Pratt & Whitney for our safe trip in our TBM 850. Captian Tom appreciates your reliability!
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End of THIS journey together.

Day 72, July 20 (our second July 20th): Anchorage to rest and explore…

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Yesterday’s crossing of the international dateline found us leaving Russia Monday morning and landing Anchorage Sunday at 2230 in the fading sunlight.  We need to adjust to a new Monday morning!

Anchorage Paris Club

Tom and I explored downtown Anchorage and enjoyed a delicious tenderloin steak sandwich at Club Paris Restaurant (as recommended by our friend, Richard). We came upon the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts where we viewed “Aurora–Alaska’s Great Northern Lights”. How perfectly informative and relaxing to see the stunning digital presentation of the Aurora Borealis with incredible original music scores. It took us across the Greatland, sharing the grandeur of Alaska’s vast landscapes and beautiful star-filled winter skies. I marvel at the patience, pursistance and luck of the photographer, Dave Parkhurst’s, capture of these brilliant lights.

The Air Journey group met for another fantastic dinner at the Simon & Seafort restaurant.

We attended the pilot briefing and then repacked for next day’s long leg—fortunately the forcast calls for significant tailwinds which should give us a non-stop flight to Seattle.

Day 74, July 22: Seattle tour of Boeing Factory, tour of Chateau St. Michelle winery and farewell dinner.

Gradual adjustment to time changes…..

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On flinal approach: view of shipyards and Century football field.

Morning tour of Boeing factory: No photos allowed in factory.

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Over looking the airfield and Boeing factory across the runway.
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Georgia and Betsy admiring large art piece.
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Space needle draws our attention wherever we go.

Chateau Ste. Michelle our next stop.

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Map indicates vineyard locations.
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Labeling machine.
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Attaching the foil wrapper.

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Camouflage for construction work… Pike Place Public Market

The 2015 Around the World  the Cast of characters….

Pilots who are adventurous enough, have the passion for aviation and a desire to accomplish the amazing feat of flying their aircraft around the world……

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Captain Jaysen Inverarity flew his Cessna Mustang with his mother, Orlie Inverarity from Calgary, Canada.
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Jaysen’s family joined us in Seattle: wife, Jacquline, Jordan and Cole.
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Captain Warren Dean, First Officer Georgia Dean and Betsy Dean flew their Pilatus PC12.     Colorado Springs, CO
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Captain Andy Laakmann, Wendy, Cami and Alex flew their Pilatus PC12.    Bend, Oregon
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First Officer, Diann Baumann Mequon, WI
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Captain Tom Baumann flew his TBM 850.
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Guillaume Fabry, Director Air Journey, responsible for customs arrangements, flight plan filing and weather briefing with pilots. Whether he is back home in the office or accompanying us in foreign countries, “G” is involved in complete aviation decision making.  West Palm Beach, FL
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Anais Pouille, Air Journey Director is responsible for arranging and assuring the hotel arrangements are top notch and the tour guides are of high quality. She is a problem solver! Thierry Pouille, Air Journey Director is both organizer of tours and aviator, flight planner and briefer. He presents concerns and options to alternative plans.  Jupiter, FL

Day 73, July 21: Anchorage, Alaska to Seattle, Washington (1,260 NM) — our longest flight!

Wheels up at 10:30 am, welcomed 39-75 Kt. tail winds and smooth flight to the lower 48 = great day with a great landing! Longest flight of our trip: 1,260 NM.  Paine Field

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Lined up on taxiway. We are number 6 for take-off. Note airplane on short final.
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Take-off…. rolling…
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Glacier from 31,000
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Climbing up.
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Flight toward Seattle
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Kyak Island….Zoomed in. Our in-flight entertainment.
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See beach on south shore of Kyak Island.

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Overtaking our comrades, the Laakmanns, in their Pilatus.

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Closer to Seattle…approaching Vancouver Island.
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Recognizing airstrip with “golden” grass bordering runway.
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Left side view…Space needle visible, downtown buildings.
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Out right side — amazing shipyards.

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Transferred to the Edgewater Hotel…view of Elliott Bay and Olympic Mountains and experienced an authentic Pacific north west themed hotel.

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View out our window at the Edgewater hotel.

Day 71, July 20, Part One: Petropavlovsk, Russia to Anadyr, Russia (920 NM)————————- Part Two: Anadyr, Russia to Anchorage, Alaska (900 NM) ———-HAPPY TO ARRIVE IN USA!

Flight planning for our longest day of flying, getting out of Russia!

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Aftter dinner flight planning: First Captain: Georgia Dean, Captain Jaysen Inverarity; Captain, Tom Baumann; Director, Guillaume Fabry
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“G”,  pilot briefer; Captian, Warren Dean; Captian, Andrew Laakmann….(First officer & photographer), Diann Baumann

The resort natural creation setting…

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Following the “follow-me” car, taxi to the runway.

 

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Tower at Petropavlovsk
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Agriculture is Russia.
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Military aircraft tucked away in wooded area.

Scenic views leaving Petropavlovsk … IMG_3457  IMG_3465

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Several of these mountains are actually volcanoes.
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Track of flight is up….heading north east.
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Flight track is up…to Anadyr.
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Approach to Anadyr…. winds 130 degrees, 20-30 Kts…landing on runway 19. IFR
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Runway in sight! managing the strong, gusting cross winds called for crabbing all the way on final…then taxi called for significant aileron and rudder control…..Well done, Capt. Tom!!

Part Two: Anadyr, Russia to Anchorage, Alaska

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Anadyr airport.

After a long experience with re-fueling and customs (2 hours) we took -off on our second leg of the day.   900 NM: (3 hrs and 15 min.) with one third over the Bering Sea.  Water looks cold down there!!

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Leaving Anadyr for Alaska…over the Bering Straits.  NOTE: this map is “North up” for our friend, Jimmy!
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Complete flight plan to Anchorage. Track up, flying east to Alaska!!.
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Water looks cold in Bering Straits
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Amazed by the number of commercial flights over the Bering Straits…..and only 1,000 feet separation from us.

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Diann had a little altitude sickness (Oxygen saturation under 80% on this second flight of the day…calls for oxygen)

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Nap time for First Officer, Diann
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Pulse oximeter gives us feedback on oxygen levels.
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Mt. McKinley — great view! On way to Anchorage.
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Mt. McKinley
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Sample of other Alaskan mountains
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Surrounding terrain near Ted Stevens International, Anchorage.

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Short final…almost 11 pm Alaska time!

Alaska’s late night light gave us opportunity to land before dark…just before 11:00 PM Anchorage time.  Combined with the days first leg (3 hr. 40 min.) we flew a 6 hour and 55 minute day.

Day 70, July 19: Sakhalinsk to Petropavlovsk, Russia. (765 NM)

We had a reasonable wake-up and departure today with a 10:40 am take-off in our TBM. Moved clocks forward 3 hours as we made one of our long over water crossings (over the Sea of Okhotsk).

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Fueled and ready to start up!

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The approach

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Many military planes were parked on this airfield.

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Our second Russian airport was handled smoothly with “Tonya” as our “handler” we were off to our 40 minute ride to another town to an “UP-north” type of resort, Ahmapuyc, with non-air conditioned rooms we actually found the evening cool down quite pleasant. The Russian beer was tasty and their food very good. I enjoyed the borscht soup and the delicious Russian style chicken.

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Path leads to the spring fed swimming pool. It seems to be for hotel guests and local members.
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Beautiful hallway leading to pool.
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Three large cottages, apparently for holiday rent.
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Of course the resident dog….one of a few.
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Lupine….flowers just like northern Wisconsin!
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Tom with Warren (unusual serious face) and Betsy…allways ready for a local beer…or two!
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Interesting heels for the outdoors. How would she escape the bear?? and there are bears in these woods!
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Nice, but not planning to book for next summer.

Day 69, July 18: Nagoya, Japan to the Island of Sakhalinsk, Russia (765 NM)

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Nagoya to Sakhalinsk, Russia

Flight out of Japan

Nagoya, Japan to the Island of Sakhalinsk, Russia. Our customs experience was serious in Russia with 5-6 serious Russian military around our airplane. On a positive note, it was nice to open our door to cooler temperatures (18 C)

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An interested young man greeted us at the airport and took photos of airplanes and pilots.

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Photographer

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These are the best looking of the housing buildings we saw.
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Gray, run down housing buildings are common.
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Temple ….not sure what type.

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This is a stark looking place and there are so many people smoking.

The half-hour drive to the only “decent”  hotel gave us an overview of the town. Reported, there are two oil companies (Exxon and Shell) with large portion of business in Sakhalinsk. The housing buildings are austere, very old and run down, resembling housing projects. Very depressing until we came upon a small, but nice green park near the Pacific Plaza Hotel.

Very basic accommodations! We actually only had time to eat, sleep and dress for next day flight.

Day 68, July 17: Rainy reminants of typhoon Nangka. Day of relaxing in Nagoya.

Second day of rainy weather in Nagoya due to reminants of current typhoon Nangka which hit parts of Japan. This was a great day to catch up on rest, email and blogging.  Unfortunately, being in our room proved dangerous to Diann: I acidently smashed my right foot into furniture and limped the remainder of our trip.  Urgent care at home (July 24th) diagnosed 4th and 5th toe displaced fractures! Happy to pass on walking around Airventure with Tom the day after our return home.

We are fortunate to stay at the Marriott adjacent to the train station and a major shopping mall.  Time to pick up our Japanese gifts or just window shop at the high-end shops.

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Below our window the multiple train tracks. The white pointed nose train on lower left of photo is one of the “bullet”, fast speed trains.
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Gray day looking out at city…rain, rain, rain…
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Thick dark overcast clouds…..all day.

Dinner was entertaining at an Hibachi restaurant — tasty and fun with our group.