SAT 4 JULY - WIENER NEUSTADT (LOAN) (AUSTRIA) TO ISTANBUL (LTFJ)(TURKEY)
739 Nautical Miles - 7 hours 10 minutes flight time in the Cessna 182

We left from Austria last and over flew Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria eventually finishing up in Turkey at the new Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul. There were storms on the route and one of the aircraft turned back and landed at Gorna Oryahoeitsa in Bulgaria to the south west of Bucharest and we hope that he will catch up with us in the morning

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The other aircraft experienced ice and hail. We kept away from the worst of the weather but in doing so it took us 7 hours and 10 minutes which was about 25 minutes longer than it should have.

We were the slowest aircraft, we hobble along at about 110 knots in still air and as we started last we of course got into Istanbul last, about two hours later than the other slowest aircraft.

You will notice more than one line drawn on the map. This is because our planned route keeps changing depending where the "officials" and other factors that dictate which route we must take.

SUNDAY 5TH JULY - ISTANBUL (LTFJ) TO CAPPADOCIA (LTAZ) ALSO SPELT KAPADOKYA IN TURKEY.
313 Nautical Miles and 2 hours 45 minures flight time in the Cessna 182.

The flight was spent dodging storms and rain and as we started in the middle of the pack this time we were second last in. The aircraft that landed in Bulgaria also caught up with us again.

The photo on the left shows one of the Bobs looking through a giant wine bottle.

The region of Cappadocia is distinctive in appearance due to the eroded volcanic rock. Early Christians (fourth century) built caves and entire underground cities as hiding places. We were able to tour the underground city of Kaymakli which was carved out of rock going down four levels. We also toured Goreme's Open Air Museum where many rock churches from the fourth century still have beautiful frescoes. We found out later that Armenia used to own this land, hence the early Christains. Today Armenia and Turkey are still quarreling about the genocide of over one million Armenians.

MONDAY 6TH JULY - CAPPADOCIA - TURKEY.
This was a non flying day and of course the weather was fine and beaut. We went balloon flying over the hills and and valleys of Cappadocia which was followed by a bus tour to the old underground churches and towns.

The balloon pilot was amazing, the flight was about an hour and he flew us in a circle to land back at the point where we started. During the flight he descended into steep narrow valleys and to the top of some ridges.

The Cappadocia area is also known for it's wine and our group was able to tour one of the local wineries and sample it's goods. A wine pouring bottle from this area is a ceramic circular bottle that fits over one's shoulder.

TUESDAY 7TH JULY - CAPPADOCIA (LTAZ) to ERZURUM (LTCE) TURKEY to YEREVAN (UDYZ) in ARMENIA.
325 Nautical Miles and 3 hours 30 minures flight time to ERZURUM.
157 Nautical Miles and 1 hour 40 minures flight time to YEREVAN.

This was our first good weather flying day. However on departure out of Cappadocia, Air Traffic Control insisted on giving us an assigned altitude of 15,000 feet. Despite our many protests and requests for a lower altitude they would not relent and insisted that 15,000 was our assigned level. As soon as we departed out of Cappadocia Air Traffic Control, who had us on radar insisted that we must climb faster. After about an hour we had finally coaxed the old 182 up to 13,500 feet but she refused to go any higher. ATC could see this on their radar and then gave us a new altitude to maintain of 13,000 feet which we maintained until it was time to descend into Erzurum.

Erzurum was only a technical stop for fuel, customs and immigration, however with the efficiency of the officials in Turkey and a false start it took three hours to get through the paperwork and the refuelling. There was insufficent Avgas available at Erzurum so we refuelled with a combination of Avgas and the local Mogas (unleaded petrol) and took on sufficient fuel for an endurance of 13 hours. Erzurum was at 5,700 feet above sea level so it was a high, hot and heavy take off. Fortunately it was a 4,000 meter runway. We could not manage our assigned altitude of 11,000 feet but this time they were happy to give us 9,000 feet.

WEDNESDAY 8TH JULY - YEREVAN - ARMENIA.
This was a non flying day so we took in the local sights with a day bus tour.

Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as the religion for the country so that it could call itself a Christian country and it did this in 301 AD. Armenia is between the two Muslim Countries of Turkey and Azerbaijan.

The apricots in Armenia are something else. One could eat nothing but apricots in Armenia.

The officials in Uzbekistan will not allow us into their airspace so we are going to have to re-plan the next sector from Yerevan. Not sure yet which way we will go as there are some very large mountains between Yerevan and the Caspian Sea.

THURSDAY 9TH JULY - YEREVAN - ARMENIA.
The weather was not so good in Yerevan today. There were some rainshowers and low cloud about. Fortunately we did not plan on flying today.

The church shown in the photo was built in 301 AD and it has on show a piece of timber which it claims to be a piece of Noaha's Ark which is reported to have docked on Mount Ararat. There is also a piece of wood in the church which is claimed to be from the cross on which Jesus was crucified.

We also visited the Monastery of Sevan (874 AD) where the roofs are built of stone. To waterproof the roofs the early builders used egg whites mixed with sand to create a waterproof coating.

Big Bob spent time with some friends of his Armenian friends in Los Angeles, the family of Vahagn and Ellen Papi Kyan. We both joined them on our second day in Armenia to visit the Pagan Temple of Gaini and the Geghard Monastery. After a delicious meal we drove back to Yerevan to visit the impressive and thought provoking Armenian Genocide Museum. We observed a lot of tower crans and much building going on in Armenia.

Yerevan is also famous for its Ararat Cognac and Winston Churchill claimed that it was the worlds best cognac.

CHAPTER 2. ARMENIA TO KAZAHKSTAN TO MONGOLIA(10th TO 15th JULY, 2009)

CHAPTER 3. MONGOLIA TO RUSSIA TO ALASKA(16th TO 25th JULY, 2009)

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