This will be one for the record books. In about 6 1/2 hours, I'm going to visit 5 targets! My first destination is Fukuoka in Japan, just over 280 miles away. Then I'll overfly Kobe, Nara and Kyoto on my way to Nagoya.
Because I have these specific destinations in mind, I'm starting off empty. Hopefully when I land in Fukuoka I'll find a job heading to Nagoya (but there isn't one right now...).
As I head south across Korea, I'm struck by the beautiful, rugged scenery. It seems vaguely familiar, probably from watching re-runs of MASH (which wasn't actually filmed in Korea, I know!).
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| Fukuoka's urban sprawl |
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Well, there aren't any jobs going to Nagoya, so I'll just head off on my own. Just as well; this will be a dedicated aerial tour.
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| Kobe -- where's the beef? |
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| A Japanese metropolis |
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| Nara -- a temple? |
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| Kyoto -- I expected more. It's still quite nice, but feels rather generic. |
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| Nagoya -- not much to see but the airport and what I'm calling the convention center |
What a fabulous day. I will definitely have to spend more time in Japan (not including tomorrow!). For now, I'm thinking about my trip north to the Bering Sea, and then crossing to the Aleutians and down Canada to the US. Although following my handheld GPS has been working wonderfully (I can't imagine doing this trip without it -- I suppose I COULD do all my navigation with VORs and the like, it would definitely be a lot more work). But I'm yearning to have an integrated GPS system, so I can just push the button and follow the magic magenta line when I want to. The fine folks at Japan Airlines Nagoya hub have offered to install the system with onlly a 5% markup, and that seems pretty darn reasonable to me. So, while I head for the hotel and a nice long soak, the GlobeTrotter is going to get her third and final upgrade to full IFR/AP/GPS status.
Total Distance Flown: 35,621 nautical miles
Total v$ Deposited: $170,000
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