Onwards and Upwards

Start: UKLR, 0634; $8895.11 and 26gal

Another traveling day, with no planned sights. Basically, I'm heading for Berlin. If I can find an interesting stop, I'll make it. Otherwise, I'll head there as directly as FSE will allow. I will make a very slight detour to over-fly Warsaw, but I'm expecting it to be a generic FSX city. I'll also get to see Krakow, which I'm expecting to look just like Warsaw! But maybe FSX will surprise me!

My first leg is taking 232kg of canned goods to Brest in Belarus. Another day, another flag!

This is a very routine flight. The ground beneath is flat, the sky is fairly clear. There are a few summer thunderstorms, but they always seem to be just beyond reach. The Brest runway is within 10 degrees of my flight path; with a light crosswind, I'm down with no difficulties.

End: UMBB, 0802; $9454.03 and 45gal

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I trade my canned goods for 3 Shuttle Service passengers, and we're off to Plock in Poland. We'll pass over Warsaw on our way, so I hope the weather holds for us.

Alas, it was not to be. The sky cleared nicely, but ground fog thickened. By the time we got to Warsaw, it looked like a blizzard!

Is this Warsaw or San Francisco?!

The dense fog continued all the way to Plock. By using the GPS, I knew I was headed in the right direction. At about 700 feet AGL, I could at least see the clearing that contained the strip. I got as low and slow as I could, and there it was -- a slight change in the coloration of the surrounding field. Back the throttle to idle, float down, and there you go!

End: EPPL, 0950; $10432.33 and 33gal

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Three private passengers bound for Krakow. I'm afraid Krakow will look a lot like Warsaw, so this leg is mostly just to take me south to pick up my next job. And, as I approach Krakow, it's starting to rain. Time to get back on the ground....

End: EPKK, 1142; $11767.93 and 22gal

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Well, although my route is quite erratic, I'm going where I want to go, and I'm finding plenty of jobs along the way. I've actually made nearly $32,000 so far, so perhaps I shouldn't be quite so obsessive about going where the jobs take me. I can afford to fly more directly, even if it means I'm empty.

My last leg today is to take 2 JetStar passengers to Pardubice in the Czech Republic. This works just fine for me -- it's going east, and takes me quite close to Prague. Plus, it gets me another flag!

I'm getting a little low on fuel, but I'm going to go ahead and press on. That will give me more time to tour around. With the rain starting up again, I'll fly this last leg IFR. I could use the practice, and I don't want to waste time dealing with weather delays. Maybe I'll even rent a car and drive to Prague (because I don't think it will be much to look at from the air in FSX).

End: LKPD, 1334; $13081.93 and 11gal

Total Distance Flown: 4,411 nautical miles