My eventual goal is still Singapore, which is southeast. But I'm fairly close to Nepal and the Himalayas. Now I know I'm not going to cross over Everest or K-2 in my little Cessna. But I think I'd like to at least approach them close enough to see them. And as long as I'm in the neighborhood, I really should try landing at Lukla, which I'm told can be pretty exciting! So, I'm off towards Kathmandu and points east (and up!).
My first leg will be to take 145kg of newspaper and mail just across the border into Nepal, to the unappealingly named Nepalgunj!
End: VNNG, 0930; $7917.37 and 27gal
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After a quick stop for refueling (I won't get another chance until Kathmandu) I'm now headed ESE back across the border into India with 3 passengers (Group Charter) headed for Raxaul.
End: VERL, 1141; $9656.37 and 12gal
Wow. I don't know why (perhaps the very low windspeed), but that was one of my smoothest landings ever!
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I couldn't find any jobs headed the right direction, so I'm going to hop over the Kathmandu on my own. It's only 50 miles, so it's no big deal. But it's also the start of my big uphill climb! So far, the India/Nepal border has been surprisingly low and flat, but now I see mountains ahead of me.
I've got the big haul to Lukla ahead of my, so I'll fuel up to my full 54 gallons (both to allow for my extended climb, and because fuel is REALLY expensive at Lukla!).
End: VNKT, 1221; $9474.21 and 54gal
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Now it gets good! I've got 1 Passenger, 1 Frontier Cargo (which is actually another passenger) and a 1kg Express Envelope going to Lukla! Hope my little Globe Trotter is up to the challenge -- I'll be hitting my head on the maximum ceiling for a Cessna Skyhawk!
Between the increasing altitude and my fairly heavy load (myself, 2 passengers and a full load of fuel), my climb rate is pretty low. With a little hindsight, I probably shouldn't have taken on this much fuel. But I'm pretty sure I'll make it if I do some step-climbing!
Forty miles to Lukla, and I'm at 10,000ft (3,600ft AGL). That's the altitude of the airfield, but there's still the question of the mountains between me and Lukla! So, I'll continue climbing, a few hundred feet at a time. Knowing what I know now, I should have flown this leg empty, but I just couldn't resist the challenge (plus the opportunity to make a little more money!).
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| I aim for the low spots! |
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| Who lives there? And why do they have a pool?! |
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| There's this little mountain in my way! |
That approach was all it's cracked up to be. You have to cross a peak with a few miles of the airport, and then you'd better be lined up pretty well, because you have to dive to get down to 10,000ft to land on the very short runway. That show on the History Channel rated Lukla as "The Most Dangerous Airport in the World", and I can see why. Because of the dive, I was faster than my usual landings (but still only 78kts), and I came very close to overshooting the runway!
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I had planned on stopping here, but they really discourage that. Although not shown in the default FSX scenery, there are only 4 parking spots and no overnight accommodations (unless you brought a tent!). So, it's back to Kathmandu with 2 other Passengers.
End: VNKT, 1425; $12205.71 and 40gal
Total Distance Flown: 15,688 nautical miles
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