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Philippe Urban - Philouplaine - Andras Meridian Virtual Airlines


Philouplaine

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Hi guyz!

After the long and funny Round the World Aerosoft Tour 2015-2017 ... I decided to join you all for repeating Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout journey around the world in 80 days.

In this firt post, I present you the "baby" with which I'll fly this virtual journey honouring Jules Verne's heroes.

I will present the intended route on a nextcoming post later.

I will fly a DH104 Dove in BOAClivery since, most certainly, Phileas Fogg would have chose BOAC company if he had the possibility to do so, no?? :)

 

 

Besides, it's a wonderful plane to fly!!!!!!!!!!

Have great flights and happylandings

Philippe

 

 

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This is the route I plan to take for the first “big leg”: London to Suez in seven days.

I'm choosing London City Airport as my starting and finishing point, since this is the airfield that is the closest to Phileas Fog’s house, I suppose.

I plan to do this “big leg” in ten flights, with mandatory landmarks highlighted in red.

London, United Kingdom (EGLC) Departure Oct 2nd 

London-Ashford-Lydd (EGMD) closest airport to Dover

Calais-Dunkerque, France (LFAC)

Paris-Le Bourget, France (LFPB)

Lugano-Agno, Switzerland (LSZA)

Pesacara-Abruzzo, Italy (LIBP)

Brindisi-Papola Casale, Italy (LIBR) Foggs and Passepartout have boarded the Mongolia steamer here for Suez

Corfu-Ioannis Kapodistrias, Greece (LGKR)

Heraklion-Nkos Kazantzakis, Greece (LGIR)

Alexandria-Borg El Arab, Egypt (HEBA)

Suez - El Tor, Egypt (HETR) Arrival Oct 9th

 

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Hi guys,

 

This is the route I plan to follow for the newt weeks-months ... I changed the first part from what I wrote before.

 

1st Part

Departure: London, United Kingdom

London City airport, UK (EGLC)

. London City airport is located about 10 miles from Burlington Street where Phileas Fogg has his house.

London-Ashford-Lydd airport, UK (EGMD). This airport is the closest to Dover where they board a ship bound to Calais.

Calais-Dunkerque airport, France (LFAC). Phileas Fogg and Passepartout land at Calais and take a night train to Paris.

Paris-Le Bourget airport, France (LFPB). They change train at Paris, going from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de Lyon.

Turin-Caselle airport, Italy (LSZA).

They change train at Turin.

Brindisi-Papola Casale airport, Italy (LIBR). Foggs and Passepartout boarded the Mongolia steamer here for Suez.

Heraklion-Nkos Kazantzakis airport, Greece (LGIR)

Arrival: Suez-El Tor airport (HETR), Egypt

 

2nd  Part

Departure: Suez, Egypt

Suez-El Tor airport, Egypt (HETR). Our travelers are still aboard the Mongolia steamer.

Medina-Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz airport, Saudi Arabia (OEMA)

Aden-Kharmaksar airport, Yemen (OYAA). At which harbor the steamer Mongolia stops and takes coal.

Al Mukalla-Ryan airport, Yemen (OYRN)

Salalah airport, Oman (OOSA)

Muscat-Seeb airport, Oman (OOMS)

Karachi-Jinnah airport, Pakistan (OPKS)

Ahmedabad-Patel airport, India (VAAH)

Arrival: Bombay, at Mumbai-Chhatrapati Shivaji airport (VABB), India

 

3rd  Part

Departure: Mumbai, India

Mumbai-Chhatrapati Shivaji airport, India (VABB) where our travelers took the train to Calcutta, at least they were thinking they could do so in one leg)...

Satna airfield, India (VIST). Closest airport to the village of Kholby where the Indian railroad stopped, at the great surprise of our travelers, and where Phileas Fogg and Passepartout bought the elephant Kioni to reach Allahabad where the railroad to Calcutta was to be found.

Allahabad-Bamrauli airport, India (VEAB) where Mrs. Aouda joined the company.

Benares, Varanasi-Lal Bahadur Shastri airport, India (VIBN)

Arrival: Calcutta, at Kolkata-Chandra Bose airport (VECC), India

 

 

4th  Part

Departure: Kolkata, India

where our travelers boarded the steamer Rangoon bound to Hong Kong via a stopover at Singapore.

Kolkata-Chandra Bose airport, India (VECC)

Chittagong-Shah Amanat airport, Bangladesh (VGEG)

Yangon-Mingaladon airport, Burma Myanmar (VYYY)

Mergui, Myeik airport, Burma Myanmar (VYME)

Phuket airport, Thailand (VTSP)

Melaka-Batu Barendam airport, Malaysia (WMKM)

Singapore-Changi airport, Singapore (WSSS)

where the Rangoon stopped a few hours to make coal.

Kerteh airport, Malaysia (WMKE)

Ho Chi Minh City-Tan Son Nhat airport, Vietnam (VVTS)

Hanoi-Noi Bai airport, Vietnam (VVNB)

Arrival: Hong-Kong, at Hong Kong-Chek Lap Kok airport (VHHH), S.A.R. People’s Republic of China


 

5th  Part

Departure: Hong Kong, SAR-PRC

Hong Kong-Chek Lap Kok airport (VHHH), S.A.R. People’s Republic of China. Where our travelers were separated, in a second state provoked by Inspector Fix, the 'opiumized' Passepartout boarded the regular steamer Carnatic bound to Yokohama, while Phileas Fogg and Mrs. Aouda used the racing yacht Tankadere to reachYokohama.

Taipei-Taoyuan airport, Republic of China (RCTP)

Shanghai-Pudong airport, People’s Republic of China (ZSPD)

Nagasaki-Omura airport, Japan (RJFU)

Hiroshima-Mihara airport, Japan (RJOA)

Arrival: Yokohama, at Tokyo-Haneda airport (RJTT), Japan

this airport is the closest to Yokohama-Tokyo harbor.

 

 

6th  Part

Departure: Yokohama, Japan

Tokyo-Haneda airport, Japan (RJTT) where our travelers boarded the transpacific steamer Carnatic bound to San Francisco in 22 days.

Sapporo-New Chitose airport, Japan (RJCC)

Okha-Novostroyka airport, Russia (UHSH)

Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky-Yelizovo airport, Russia (UHPP)

Shemya-Eareckson Air Station, USA (PASY)

Adak airport, USA (PADK)

Dutch Harbor-Tom Madsen airport, USA (PADU)

Kodiak-Benny Benson airport, USA (PADQ)

Anchorage-Ted Stevens airport, USA (PANC)

Yakutat airport, USA (PAYA)

Juneau International airport, USA (PAJN)

Prince Rupert airport, Canada (CYPR)

Vancouver International airport, Canada (CYVR)

Portland International airport, USA (KPDX)

Medford-Rogue Valley airport, USA (KMFR)

Arrival: Oakland, at Oakland International airport (KOAK), USA

Our travelers arrived at San Francisco harbor but they took the Ocean-to-Ocean railroad at the Oakland station, on the other side of the Bay.

 

 

7th  Part

Departure: Oakland, USA

Oakland International airport, USA (KOAK)  where our travelers boarded the Grand Trunk train bound to Omaha.

Sacramento International airport, USA (KSMF)

Reno-Lake Tahoe airport, USA (KRNO)

Ogden-Hinckley airport, USA (KOGD)

Laramie Regional airport, USA (KLAR)

Kearney Regional airport, USA (KEAR) where the Sioux attacked the train that stopped at Fort Kearney to recieve the help of the US Cavalry. Where our travelers bought a windcar to reach Omaha.

Omaha-Eppley airport, USA (KOMA) where our travelers boarded the fast train to Chicago then New York.

Des Moines International airport, USA (KDSM)

Iowa City Municipal airport, USA (KIOW)

Chicago-Midway airport, USA (KMDW)

Columbus-John Glenn airport, USA (KCMH)

Pittsburgh International airport, USA (KPIT)

Harrisburg International airport, USA (KMDT)

Arrival: Newark, at Newark-Liberty International airport (KEWR), USA

Our travelers arrived at New York. They jump out the train to go immediately to the Cunard pier which is just on the other side of the station street. The New York station was at Newark, NJ, and the Cunard pier was at NewarK.  

Hence, my choice of Newark airport.

 

 

8th  Part

Departure: Newark, USA

Where our travelers missed by 45 minutes the steamer China and where Phileas Fogg and his fellows boarded the Henrietta after paying a total of 8000 pounds for the journey to her owner, captain Andrew Speedy. They boarded the ship and departs the New World for the Old one, but bound to Bordeaux and not to UK. P. Fogg, once at sea, deposed (momentarily) the captain and changed the destination to Liverpool.  

Newark-Liberty International airport (KEWR), USA

Portland-Jetport airport, USA (KPWM)

Mocton-Romeo Le Blanc airport, Canada (CYQM)

Saint Pierre-Pointe Blanche airport, Saint-Pierre-et-Micquelon, France (LFVP)

Gander International airport, Canada (CYQX)

Goose Bay CAFB, Canada (CYYR)

Hopedale-Agvituk airport, Canada (CYHO)

Narsarsuaq International airport, Greenland (BGBW)

Kulusuk airport, Greenland (BGKK)

Reykjavik-Keflavik airport, Iceland (BIKF)

Vagar-Torshavn airport, Faroe Islands, Denmark (EKVG)

Inverness-Dalcross airport, UK (EGPE)

Belfast-Aldergrove airport, UK (EGAA)

Cork International airport, Ireland (EICK)

This is the airport the closest to the Irish harbor of Cobh which, before 1920, was called Queenstown. Our travelers deboarded from the coal-empty and wooden parts burned Henrietta at Queenstown, Ireland, and took the rapid train to Dublin.

Dublin-Collinstown airport, Ireland (EIDW)

. Where our travelers took the rapid ship to Liverpool.

Liverpool-John Lenon airport, UK (EGGP)

. Where Phileas Fogg was arrested by Inspector Fix to be a few hours later freed from jail.

Arrival: London, at London City airport (EGLC), UK

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Philippe you van fly this for AMA if you wish. I can set you up routes and a Dove from the fleet, so you can make us cash and earn some hours while at it.

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Hello dear Tobus,

I fully agree with your kind proposal. Just tell me here when I can begin to do this!

I will not be able to do this 80-days tour on real time (I can only make 2-3 flights a week)n but I will stick to FSX time and hope to do this Tour in 80 FSX-based time. Let's see :)

nyway, a great thanks to have proposed me that my friend.

Best

Philippe

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice to see at least one person has read the book and is following it.  I will have to make sure I do not crash into you on the way.  Hopew to see you through the trip;.

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Hello Philippe,

 

I knew that I had something somewhere in my old pictures (early seventies).

 

If you have any mechanical problems, I'll be there to help.

 

Regards,

 

JP

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 15/10/2017 at 9:37 AM, jpgmultimodal said:

Hello Philippe,

 

I knew that I had something somewhere in my old pictures (early seventies).

 

If you have any mechanical problems, I'll be there to help.

 

Regards,

 

JP

 

Please login to display this image.

 

Hi JP!

A great thanks for this very nice picture of a poorly lying-in-the-dust Dove... did you try to encourage me that way JP ??? LOL

I do hope that my BOAC Dove will not end in that condition  ... hopefully!!!

 

Soon, I will begin to fill this diary, I had unfortunately much other things to write before.

But, now, time is to report, leg by leg, this infamous World Tour inititiated by the "dement guyz" at Aerosoft ...

BTW, I do think to complete this world tour with the Phileas Fogg and Jean Padssepartout of 2017 in much less than 80 days!

Well, in FSX time of course, because in real time it will take much longer since I can only manage to fly once or twice a week. In FSX time, there will be several flights flown each day and 7 days a week of course.

You know, the "impassible gentleman" is everything you expect froman English man of the Victorian era but patient!

And Andras Meridian Airlines is deeply concerned to bring extreme satisfaction to its customers, and Mr. Fogg having paid for a World Tour, he certainly is a priviligied customer!

Enjoy your flights guys!

Philippe

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Hi guyz! Here is the beginning of that journey ...

 

A bet was made 145 years ago ...  at Reform-Club, London.

 

And the same bet was made today by the Aerosoft "temptators"!!

 

Two passengers to carry during their fastest as possible world tour ...

 

The impassible gentleman Mr. Phileas Fogg, esq.

 

And his "homme à tout faire" Jean Passepartout.

 

All schedule information for this Round-the-World journey were taken from this book that I just took off one bookshelf in my personal library.

 

 

Let's begin!

 

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Day One: Tuesday Oct 3rd

Le Départ

First day of travel: from London to Turin, via Lydd, Calais, and Paris-Le Bourget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant embarked for their journey on Wednesday October 2nd at Charing Cross station in London, taking the 8:45 PM train to Dover. Then, they crossed the Channel by ship and landed at Calais. Then, they took the night train from Calais to Paris – Gare du Nord. They took a cab at Gare du Nord to reach Paris Gare de Lyon to take the transalpine train going to Turin. Turin will be our first destination for this first day of our air travel with two very special passengers (only two aboard). The British Company, BOAC, lent to Andras Meridian Airlines one of their vessels for that travel, a magnificent twin-engine De Havilland 104 Dove. Later, we will pick up a DH104 Dove of our mother company, AMA, somewhere during our journey. We’ll see…

 

 

 

Flightpath followed on Tue. Oct. 3

 

 

 

October 3 - Leg 1 – London City – London Ashford Lydd

EGLC-EGMD

 

 

We depart London on the early morning, October 3, rather than on the evening of the 2 to avoid night flights. So, we leave London a few hours behind Fogg’s schedule.

 

Charing Cross station was almost on the opposite side of Piccadilly Circus relatively to Saville Row where, at 7, Fogg lives. The distance from his house to the station is a bit less than 2 km. Heathrow is at almost 30 km from Saville Row. The nearest airport to Saville Row is, no doubt, London City airport (EGLC). So our plane and our two special passengers departed from London City Airport … Here we (and Mrs. Fogg and Passepartout) can go!

 

At gate 3 at London City airport, it’s 8 AM and the bird is ready to go for a looooong travel around the world.

 

Taxing to the active runway, with a  last view on the London city skyline.

 

The flight plan makes us first fly east then we will turn on our right to go south directly to Lydd. At our cruise altitude (about 5 100 feet) we fly westward over Dartford.  The two entrances of the Dartford West Tunnel that doubles the Queen Elizabeth II bridge over the Thames river.

 

Just one minute later, we have the Thames river estuary in sight.

 

Preparing our arrival at Lydd airport with a nice view on the Channel and, beyond, to the French coast in the distance.

 

Parked at our gate at Lydd airport after a very short flight from London. This is a short stopover here before crossing the Channel.  This airport is the closest to the harbor of Dover where Fogg & Passepartout boarded the ship to cross the channel. Lydd airport is also known as London Ashford Airport, although it is over 73 miles from central London, and the name officially refers only to its operator, the London Ashford Airport Ltd

 

 

 

 

October 3 - Leg 2 –Lydd - Calais

EGMD-LFAC

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

While we are taxiing to the runway, Mr. Fogg, gazing at the window, enjoys a last look at the English countryside … although he looked at that “without getting flurried in any way”

 

Takingoff from runway 21 at Lydd airport. It’s about 9:30 AM.

 

The cliffs of Dover.

 

Twenty minutes later, we are on our finale approach for runway 24 at Calais-Dunkerque airport. Mr. Fogg, looking out of the window, thinks: “Oh I didn’t expect the French countryside to be like that. It’s much less salvage and wild that I thought...”

 

Almost thirty past ten on the morning, and we are arrived at Calais airport after 29-minutes flight from Lydd on the other side of the Channel.

.

 

 

October 3 - Leg 3 – Calais-Paris Le Bourget

LFAC-LFPB

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

Climbing after takeoff from Rwy 24 “with Oscar”. View of Calais and, in the distance, the White Cliffs of Dover can still be seen!

 

At our cruise altitude (6,000 feet), we fly over Le Touquet, also commonly called Paris-Plage, with a view on the Le Touquet – Côte d’Opale airport (LFAT). Phileas Fogg reads in his “Bradshaw & Wiki’s General Guide”: “Le Touquet has a reputation as the most elegant holiday resort of northern France, the playground of rich Parisians, with many luxury hotels. Since the mid-1990s, Le Touquet’s villas have become extremely fashionable amongst architecture lovers throughout Europe, rediscovering the “folie” of seaside architecture of both the Roaring Twenties and the 1930s.”

 

“Well, we are turning to south, at last” … thinks Mr. Fogg.

 

Most of the travel to Paris was amidst clouds.

 

The finale approach to Le Bourget led us to pass close to La Défense skyscrapers with a  view on the Seine River.

 

 

Can you spot the Eiffel Tower?

 

Parked at gate Golf-8 at Paris – Le Bourget airport, the oldest in Paris, after a flight from Calais of almost one hour. The stopover here is short, one of our two passengers, Mr Fogg, asking us, almost constantly to speed up the whole process. Here follows what eh was saying to me: "I do not need, pilot," said Phileas Fogg, "to advise you to use all possible speed - Trust me, your honour. We are carrying all the fuel the plane will let us (…) – It’s your trade, not mine, pilot, and I confide in you."

 

 

 

October 3 - Leg 4 and last leg of the day – Paris – Turin Caselle

LFPB-LFIM

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

And 45 minutes later, we are takingoff from Rwy 21 “with golf”.

 

One hour later, and the Alps are in sight… We are cruising at 18,000 feet flying on a southeast route.

 

The Mont-Blanc, the highest summit of Europe west of Caucasus (4,808 m), and the valley of Chamonix ahead.

 

First snow over La Vanoise range in French Alps.

 

Flying over Turin while in long finale for runway 36 at Caselle airport.

 

Parked at gate Golf-5 at Turin Caselle airport after a flight of a bit more than two hours from Le Bourget. It is about 3:30 PM and we stop here for the night.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote here: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout wrote here, simply: À suivre!

Philippe

 

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Next day of travel ...

 

 

Day Two: Wednesday Oct 4th

L'Afrique

 

Second day of travel: from Turin to Port-Said, via Brindisi and Heraklion.

 

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant embarked on the steamer Mongolia at Brindisi, so we have to stop there as they did. Then they made a stopover at Suez. Since Suez has no airport, we chose to make a stop at Port-Said, at the other end of the Suez Canal where there is an airport available. We and our two honorable travelers will spend the second night of the journey in Port Said.

 

 

 

 

Flightpath followed on Wed. Oct. 4:

 

 

 

October 4 - Leg 5 – Turin-Brindisi Casale

LIMF-LIBR

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

From Caselle to Casale. It’s 7:15 AM, we are taxiing to the active runway at Turin-Caselle airport, for a flight to Brindisi-Casale AFB. This is a long leg, about 971 km as a crow flies.

 

The impassible gentleman looks at the window and gaze at Turin city and the Alps Mountains in the background … “Ah! Alps are north now … Good.” he thinks.

 

Twenty minutes later, we have the Mediterranean Sea and the famous harbor of Genoa in sight.

 

We fly with theTyrrhenian Sea on our right. The river is the Magra, a short river (62 km-long) that marks the border between Tuscany and Ligura. The compact range of peaks that can be seen just ahead are the Apuan Alps with peaks at 1,900 m.

 

Flying at 9,000 feet eastbound, we approach the Adriatic coast in the vicinity of Rimini.

 

We approach the Bay here stands the famous city of Ancona, with the Monte Conero (almost 600 m high) which lies south of the city.

 

Fifty minutes later, always following the Adriatic Coast, we have begun our descent to Brindisi. We are 3,600 feet descending to 2,500 feet over the city of Ostuni.

 

At parking 15, Brindisi-Casale airport, after a flight of almost 3 hours from Turin. It’s 10:30 AM on Wednesday Oct 4. The Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 1872 arrived at Brindisi by the train on the 5th of October at 4 PM. Mrs. Fogg & Passepartout of 2017 are thus 29h30 ahead of the 1872 schedule… thanks to the exquisite speed of airplane!

 

 

 

October 4 - Leg 6 –Brindisi-Heraklion

LIBR-LGIR

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 11:30 AM and we are takingoff from Rwy 32 at Brindisi. We began the sixth leg of our journey, this time going to Heraklion, Crete, Greece. This is a 864 km-long flight in a direct line. Probably about 2h30min of flight for our twin-engined Dove.

 

After a U-turn, we are heading southeast over the city of Brindisi, its harbor and the airport we have just departed from.

 

After fifteen minutes, we have crossed the Adriatic Sea and we are in sight of the Albanian coast.

 

At our cruise altitude of 9,000 feet, we fly over the nice cultivated fields of the region of Ambracia-Arta. The nice round-bottom valley visible in our left is the valley of the Archeron river … In his “Bradshaw-Wikish companion book for travelers”, Mr. Fogg reads this about this river: “In ancient Greek mythology, Acheron was known as the "river of woe", and was one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld. The newly dead would be ferried across the Acheron by Charon in order to enter the Underworld”.

 

Thirty minutes later, we pass at the vertical of the city of Corinth with a nice view on the Corinth Canal that cuts the Isthmus of Corinth which connects the Peloponnese peninsula with the rest of the mainland of Greece.

 

Ten minutes later, we join the Myrtoan Sea. Just ahead is the island of Idra and, on the other side of this sea is the island of Crete, our destination, the largest and most populous of the Greek islands.

 

Finale for Rwy 09 at Heraklion airport. This approach makes us to flyover the harbor and the city of Heraklion.

 

Parked at gate Tango-1 after a 2h28 flight from Brindisi. Our passengers are going to the airport office to get a stamp on their traveling documents and, we will start the next leg.

 

 

 

October 4 - Leg 7 –Heraklion-Port Said

LGIR-HEPS

 

 

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

 

Departing Heraklion at about 3 PM and flying eastward with a last view on the city and its harbor and on the airport.

 

 

View of the east tip of Crete island, and the Cape Sideros.

 

 

Flying over the Mediterranean Sea.

 

One hour and fifteen minutes later, it‘s the night with moonlight and we are approaching runway 10 at Port-Said airport. We’ll spend the night at Port-Said. The Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 1872 arrived at Suez on Wednesday Oct 9th at 11 AM. Our passengers, Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 2017, arrive at Port-Said airport on a Wednesday too, but on Oct 4th at 6:45 PM. Some six days earlier.

 

P. Fogg, wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

 

 

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Next day of travel ... the THIRD one ...

 

Day Three: Thursday Oct 5th

L’Arabie

 

 

 

 

Third day of travel: from Port-Said to Al Baha, via Sharm El Sheikh, Medina and Port Sudan.

 

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant embarked on the steamer Mongolia at Brindisi, the steamer stopped a few hours at Suez. Then, they went down the Red Sea and made a stopover at Aden. So we do! We and our two honorable travelers will spend the third night of the journey in Al Baha, Saudi Arabia.

 

 

Flightpath followed on Thur. Oct. 5:

 

 

 

 

October 5 - Leg 8 – Port Said-Sharm El Sheikh

HEPS-HESH

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

It’s 6:15 AM, sunrise over Port Said. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our flight in direction of the Red Sea. The Phileas Fogg and Passepartout of 1872 left Suez on October 9th. Our honorable passengers of today are four days ahead of the 1872 schedule! The destination of this leg is Sharm El Sheikh at the entrance of the Red Sea where the Gulfs of Suez and of Aqaba join. This is a short flight of about 228 nm.

 

Climbing to our cruise altitude (9,000 ft), with a last view over Port Said and the northern entrance of the Suez Canal.

 

At 9,000 ft, we fly over the city of El Qantara with a nice view of the Suez Canal.

 

View from 9,000 feet of the southern entrance of the Suez Canal with the port city of Suez, where our travelers of 1872 stopped and went to the English Consulate to get their passports stamped. The detective Fix joined them here.

 

The flight over the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula brought the plane close to the mountains of the Ste Catherine Range.

 

Finale approach to runway 04L at Sharm El Sheikh airport.

 

Parked at gate 19 after a 1h27min flight from Port Said. We are parked close to an Airbus A321 of the now-defunct Monarch Airlines. It’s about 8 AM here and the outside temperature is already reaching 28°C.

 

 

 

October 5 - Leg 9 – Sharm El Shiekh-Medina

HESH-OEMA

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 8:45 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Saudi Arabia, and more precisely to Madina, the sacred city of Islam... This is a flight of about 350 nm, probably about 2h30min of flight for our twin-engined Dove.

 

At our cruise altitude (9,000 feet), heading southeast, over the Red Sea. With a view over Gulf of Aqaba. On the right, the coast is Saudi Arabia and the archipelago is that of Tiran Islands (Egypt).

 

Mr. Fogg, from his window, contemplates the Red Sea … “It’s better to be in the air than on this sea. The Red Sea is full of caprice, and often boisterous, like most long and narrow gulfs. When the wind came from the African or Asian coast it is known that steamers roll fearfully” was he thinking while gazing at the panorama.

 

Flying over a sea of sand … the Hedjaz desert.

 

One hour later, we are parked at gate 15, close to a queen of the skies, at Madinah-Abdulaziz international airport after a flight of almost 2 hours from Sharm El Sheikh. Since the city of Madinah is forbidden to non-Muslims, we stay in the vicinity of our plane during the refueling.

 

 

 

October 5 - Leg 10 – Medina-Port Sudan

OEMA-HSPN

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

Departing the airport at about noon, with a view over the city of Madina. The green area at the mountains is Al-Baidha Park. And this is one of the mysterious place on earth, with its “Valley of the Demons”: the Wadi Al-Jinn, a well-known place by Saudi Arabaians and by Muslims. This is a mysterious valley, some 30 km northwest of Madinah city center, “where cars move without drivers touching them (…) Among the many peculiar stories about this valley are those about vehicles moving upward in the mountainous roads, without any need to push the accelerator. Even when the driver would switch off the engine, the car would move. Many people related this to the power of jinns in the valley but it is also claimed that the mountains in this region have some special type of magnetic powers (…) We learned later that the mountains in the surrounding area have magnetic qualities, which attract cars. Any iron object with wheels will move on its own. Geological experts (???) point out that this phenomenon, known as reverse gravity, is also evident in other regions in the Kingdom, including the southern regions of Asir and Najran. Locals who have stayed in the valley at night said they had heard voices of invisible persons asking them to leave. “You don’t belong here. This is our place,” they claimed the voices had told them.” 

(Source: http://www.arabnews.com/news/454515)

Impressive, isn’t it? But not for our impassible gentleman who just smiled a bit when hearing this story.

 

And, again, a sea of sand…

 

Forty minutes after the takeoff, we fly over Taïf regional airport (OETF) at our cruise altitude (9,000 feet) heading south. The city of Mecca is just at 70 km on our right.

 

And after forty more minutes, and having crossed east-west the Red Sea, we approach the African coast of Sudan.

 

Approaching runway 35.

 

Parked at gate 1, Port Sudan airport after a flight from Madina of about 2 hours and 30 minutes. It’s 2:45 PM, local time, and the heat outside reaches 32°C! Many Russian-build United Nations planes parked here!

 

 

 

October 5 - Leg 11 – Port Sudan-Al Baha

HSPN-OEBA

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

3:10 PM at Port Sudan airport, we begin our last leg for today, with a nice Air Sudan bird parked besides us.

 

Again, crossing the Red Sea but west-east, Africa-to-Asia this time. The coast of Saudi Arabia can be seen in the distance.

 

Heading east at 9,600 feet, we approach the Arabian coast while the sun is declining.

 

View through the window of Mr. Fogg seat … typical sunset on the Saudi Arabia coastal range.

 

Parked at gate Golf-1 at Al Baha domestic airport after a 1h45min flight from Port Sudan. The evening is coming fast now and it’s time for us to go to the hotel for the night.

 

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

 

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Next day of travel ... the Fourth one

 

 

Day Four: Friday Oct 6th

La Mer d’Arabie

 

 

Fourth day of travel: from Al Baha to Salalah, Oman, via Jazan, Aden and Mukalla.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant embarked on the steamer Mongolia at Brindisi, the steamer then went down the Red Sea and made a stopover at Aden. So we do! We and our two honorable travelers will make a fast stopover at Aden, then we will spend the fourth night of the journey in Salalah, Oman Sultanate. At Aden, the Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of today landed at this city airport 8 days and 3 hours ahead of their colleagues of Jules Verne in 1872. Those travelers arrived at Aden at 2 PM on October 14th.

 

Flightpath followed on Friday Oct. 6:

 

 

 

October 6 - Leg 12 – Al Baha-Jazan

OEBA-OEGN

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 6 AM. Al Baha, Saudi Arabia. It’s time to leave this city where we spent the night. This city of the desert is also called the "Pearl of Resorts" and the “Garden of the Hejaz", it’s an important touristic destination in Saudi Arabia. For this first leg, we go to the port city of Jazan, a.k.a. Jizan, which lies in the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia and very close to the border with Yemen. This will be a short flight of about 198 nm.

 

Waiting for runway clearance while a Saudia Airlines A320 takes off heading to Riyadh.

 

Twelve minutes later, we have reached our cruising altitude (11,000 feet) over the desert. There are some high mountains ahead.

 

Mr. Fogg contemplates the desert by the window … a bit hypnotizing sight.

 

Forty minutes after the takeoff, we fly over the airport of Abha (OEAB)

 

While descending to our destination, we fly over the city of Abu Arish. The mountains in the distance mark the border with Yemen.

 

Final, with ILS on, for runway 33 at Jazan airport.

 

Parked at gate Golf-1 at Jazan King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz airport after a flight of slightly more than 1 h 30 min from Al Baha. It’s about 8 AM and the temperature is already reaching 30°C.

 

 

 

 

October 6 - Leg 13 – Jazan-Aden

OEGN-OYAA

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

At 8:35 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we will enter Yemen, and more precisely Aden. This is a flight of about 285 nm, probably about 2h of flight for our twin-engined Dove. View of the airport and of the port city of Jizan on the Red Sea, left behind.

 

We entered the Yemen airspace and we have, on our right, the Jabal Maswar, the Mount Maswar that peaks as high as 3,044 m, impressive isn’t it?

 

About half an hour after takingoff from Jazan, we approach Sana’a, the capital city of Yemen, and its airport.

 

Mr. Fogg has a look on the big city of Sana’a. Opening his “Bradshaw & Wiki’s General Guide”, he quietly reads:

“Sana'a is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. At an elevation of 7,500 ft, it is also one of the highest capital cities in the world. Sana'a has a population of approximately 2 million making it Yemen's largest city”.

 

Approaching the coast of the Gulf of Aden, with Aden and its caldera in sight. This is the Indian Ocean ahead.

 

Final for runway 08 at Aden international airport. View on the proper Aden built around the caldera of an ancient volcano. Steamer Point, where the Mongolia made in 1872 travel a stopover for coal supply, is in sight on our right.

 

Parked at gate Golf-4 after a 1h48min flight from Jazan. It’s about 11 AM, local time, Friday October the 6th. The Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 1872 arrived at Aden, Steamer Point for a short 4-hour stopover on the 14th of October at about 2 PM. The Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of today are thus 8 days and 3 hours ahead of their “two-centuries-ago” colleagues. Mr. Fogg just said, while confortably seating in the plane, waiting for our departure: “Plane is way much faster, isn’t it?”

 

 

 

 

October 6 - Leg 14 – Aden-Mukalla Ryan

OYAA-OYRN

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Aden at about 11:30 AM, and flying eastward with a last view on the city, the caldera, and its natural harbor.

 

At our cruising altitude (9,000 feet) over the desert of Mahmeddah about midway between Aden and Al Mukalla. Our route parallels the coastline, on our right.

 

View of Al Mukalla while we are in the downwind leg for the runway.

 

Parked at gate Papa-5 after a 1h45min flight from Aden. It’s about 1:30 PM and the outside temperature is an inferno! The interior of our airplane quickly turns to be an oven under the implacable sun of South Arabia.

 

 

 

October 6 - Leg 15 – Mukalla-Salalah

OYRN-OOSA

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Ryan airport at about 2 PM and flying eastward along the coast.

 

At 9,000 feet we fly over Al Ghaydah, a city close to the border with the Sultanate of Oman.

 

Fifteen minutes later, we are at a hundred nautical miles to our destination and the coastal range becomes more rugged and green here. In the distance we see Cape Sâjir promontory that extends in the Arabian Sea.

 

Cape Sâjir on our left and its huge cliffs. Behind, the coastal range is letting some room for a coastal plain where Salalah, our destination, stands.

 

In the base leg for runway 25 at Salalah airpot, we fly over the port city of Taqah. The water body surrounded by cliffs on the bottom right of the picture is the Khawr Rawrī inlet that extends within the city of Taqah.

 

Parked at gate Golf-6 after an almost two hours flight from Mukalla.  It’s 4 PM and time to go to our hotel to spend the night in and enjoy this Omani city.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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Next day of travel ... the Fifth one

 

 

Day Five: Saturday Oct 7th

Pakistan

 

 

Five day of travel: from Salalah to Karachi, Pakistan, via Qarn Alam, Muscat and Chabahar, Iran.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant embarked on the steamer Mongolia at Brindisi, the steamer went down the Red Sea and made a stopover at Aden, then sailed to Bombay directly through the Indian Ocean. So we do, thru a stopover in Iran! We and our two honorable travelers will spend the fifth night of the journey in Karachi, Pakistan.

 

Flightpath followed on Sat. Oct. 7:

 

 

 

 

October 7 - Leg 16 – Salalah-Qarn Alam Gabah

OOSA-OOGN

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 6 AM, sunrise over Salalah. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and we’re ready to begin our flight to Pakistan, at the end of today trip. This first flight of the day is leading us to Qarn Alam, Oman Sultanate. This is a flight of about 310 nm, over the desert.

 

Climbing to our cruise attitude (9,000 feet for this flight) ... View from the window of Mr. Fogg’s seat. Salalah: the city, its airport and the Arabian Sea.

 

And, one hour later, a sea of sand everywhere ... the same hypnotizing sight, again and again!

 

The airport of our destination is in sight … a green spot in the middle of nowhere. No ILS, no GPS approach in the FSX database for this airport … just a visual approach here!

 

Parked on tarmac at Qarn Alam-Ghaba airport after a flight of about two hours from Salalah. It’s soon 8 AM and the outside temperature reaches a quite hot 32°C !

 

 

 

 

October 7 - Leg 17 – Qarn Alam-Muscat

OOGB-OOMS

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

At 8:40 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Muscat, the capital and largest city of the Sultanate of Oman. This is a flight of only 150 nm, probably about only one hour of flight for our twin-engined Dove. And, again, a sea of sand everywhere…

 

Half an hour later, we have the Gulf of Oman in sight with the coastal range of the Hajar mountains, some of them culminating at 2,900 m, between us and the coastal plain where Muscat stands.

 

In the long finale for runway 26, we fly over the city of Muscat. We can see the seaport of Muttrah at Muscat which is one of the largest seaports in the region.

 

Short finale for runway 26 at Muscat-Seeb airport.

 

Parked at gate 22 at Muscat-Seeb airport after a flight of slightly more than one hour from Qarn Alam. The Indian Peninsula is becoming closer, we see, parked close to us, two Air-India Airbuses. It’s about 10 AM and, on this morning, the outside temperature is a sweet 25°C with a nice smooth breeze blowing from the sea. A very pleasant stay!

 

 

 

 

October 7 - Leg 18 – Muscat-Chabahar

OOMS-OIZC

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

While an Oman Air Boeing 737-800 is leaving the apron, we are ready for our third flight today, this time we will cross the Gulf of Oman to reach Asia and, more precisely, the freeport of Chahbahar on the Iranian coast. This is again a short fight of about 160 nm.

 

While we began our run for takingoff at runway 26, a Lufthansa Airbus A330 is waiting our departure to begin its flight to Munich.

 

Climbing eastbound over the city of Muscat, with the rocky Al-Hajar mountains in the background.

 

Half an hour later, we approach the Iranian coastline.

 

And fifteen minutes after, we are parked at gate 1 at Chabahar-Konarak airport in Iran. A funny precision that is of most interest for our passenger Mr. Phileas Fogg. It’s now 1 PM, Omani time. But, Iran is 30-minutes ahead of the Sultanate of Oman, so, the local time, here in Chabahar, is 12:30 PM. We gained 30 minutes on our round-the-world journey!

 

 

 

 

October7 - Leg 19 – Chabahar-Karachi

OIZC-OPKC

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

Departing Chabahar at about 1:30 PM and flying now eastward toward Pakistan. Mr. Fogg looking outside through his window thinks: “A desert on the south side of this Gulf, a desert on the north side also … desert everywhere in these regions it seems.” This last flight of the day is a rather long leg of about 350nm, a bit more than two hours of flight for us!

 

We enter the Pakistani air space. On our left, the Jiwani bay and the estuary for several rivers. This is the Bahukalat Protected Area in which rivers flow thru a desert area making a unique ecosystem. The very rare Iranian crocodile, or Gando, is living here.

 

Ten minutes later, we have flown over the Paksitani cityport of Gwadar in Balochistan province. Gwadar is situated on a natural hammerhead-shaped peninsula, known as the Gwadar Promentory or also, locally, the Koh-e-Vatil. The city is situated on a narrow and sandy 12 kilometer long isthmus which connects the Pakistani coast the Gwadar Promentory, which reach an altitude of 480 feet and extends 11 kilometer east to west with a breadth of about 1 ½ kilometer.

 

Forty minutes later, we crossed the Sonmiani Bay west-to-east and reach the peninsula that ends at Cape Monze, a tip that marks the limit between the waters of the Gulf of Oman, at north, and those of the Indian Ocean, at south. In the distance, the city of Karachi (or Kurrachee) can be seen.

 

But very quickly during the approach to Karachi airport, a dense haze forms that obscure the surroundings.

 

Short finale for runway 25L at Karachi airport … but the runway lights are still not seen. Thanks Lord it’s an ILS approach…

 

Parked at gate 65 after an almost two hours flight from Chabahar.  It’s 4 PM and time to go to our hotel to spend the night at Karachi

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Next day of travel ... the Sixth one

Philippe

 

 

Day Six: Sunday Oct 8th

Les Indes Galantes

 

 

 

Sixth day of travel: from Karachi to Satna, India, via Ahmedabad, Bombay and Indore.

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his servant embarked on the steamer Mongolia at Brindisi, the steamer was heading to Bombay. There, they took the Great Peninsula Indian railway (GPIR) to a direct travel to Calcutta … at least they thought to do so, until the train stopped in the middle of nowhere! We and our two honorable travelers of today will spend the sixth night of the journey in Satna, India … in the middle of nowhere?

 

Flightpath followed on Sun. Oct. 8:

 

 

 

October 8 - Leg 20 – Karachi-Ahmedabad

OPKC-VAAH

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

The twentieth leg of our round-the-world journey! It’s 6 AM, sunrise over Karachi. Our “honorable passengers” have boarded and we’re ready to take off from runway 25L. The destination of this leg is Ahmedabad. This is a flight of about 325 nm.

 

Climbing to our cruise altitude (9,000 ft), with a last view over Karachi and the Arabian Sea in the background.

 

The delta of the Indus River, which is the main supply of potable water in Pakistan.

 

At 9,000 feet, heading east ... a great body of water in the desert ... we fly over the Great Lake of the Rann of Kutch. The Great Rann of Kutch is a salt marsh with a huge central salt water lake located in the Thar Desert, India. It is about 3000 square miles in size and is reputed to be one of the largest salt deserts in the world

 

Forty minutes later, we fly over the Rajhastan, once a very arid area and, now, a highly cultivated region. This is due to the Namada Main Canal that, on about 500 km, brings to this area the fresh water from the Namada River. More than 2 million hectares are irrigated with the water flowing in this canal, inaugurated in 2008.

 

Finale for runway 23 with an ILS approach.

 

Parked at gate 7 at Ahmedabad-Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel after a flight of almost two hours from Karachi. It’s 8:20 AM, Karachi time and, since this part of India is 30 min behind the Pakistani time, it is 8:50 AM, local time.

 

 

 

 

October 8 - Leg 21 – Ahmedabad-Bombay

VAAH-VABB

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

At 9:30 AM, we begin our second leg for today, we go to Mumbai, the Bombay of the travelers of 1872. This is a short flight of about 235 nm, probably about 1h30min of flight for our twin-engined Dove. There are a lots of Indian low-cost airliners around us, Indigo and SpiceJet.

 

View of the huge city Ahmedabad. This is a buzzing city. In 2010, Ahmedabad was ranked third in Forbes's list of fastest growing cities of the decade. Recently, The Times of India chose Ahmedabad as India's best city to live in.

 

Fifteen minutes later, we fly over the large city of Vadodara, which was known as Baroda during the British ruling. View of its airport (VABO) which is located wihin the city.

 

Heading south now, we approach the very large Ukai Reservoir (about 62 km2) and its dam, clearly visible here, the Ukai Hydropower 300 MW Plant, built on the Tapti River. We are midway between Ahmedabad and our destination, Bombay.

 

Thirty minutes later, we have the Vaitarna River on our right, and the terrain becomes more mountainous. In the distance, Salsette Island can be seen, very close to the coastline, on which Bombay lies.

 

Finale for runway 14 at Bombay, in a dense haze.

 

Parked at gate 38 at Mumbai (Bombay) - Chhatrapati-Shivaji, after a one hour and thirty minutes flight from Ahmedabad.  It’s 11:20 AM... with some minor issues in the mesh and terrain rendition (that tha Orbx AEC tool does not correct). Sorry about that.

 

 

 

 

October 8 - Leg 22 – Bombay-Indore

VABB-VAID

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

 

Departing Bombay (Mumbai) at about noon and flying north with a last view on the city and the airport we just left. The Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 1872 arrived at Bombay on October the 20th at 4:30 PM aboard the steamer Mongolia. They left Bombay that same day at 8PM aboard a train of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway for Calcutta. Our honorable travelers of today departed Bombay on October 8th at noon. They are therefore twelve days and eight hours ahead of their 1872 homonyms.

 

Thirty minutes later, we fly again over the Ukai Reservoir, this time heading northeast. The range of hills that can be seen ahead is the Satpura Range.

 

We are following the Narmada River that flows west-east, and separates the Satpura Range from the Vindhya mountains. The Narmada River is one of the seven holy rivers of India. It is believed that a dip in any of these seven rivers washes one's sins away. This river forms the limit between North and South India.

 

Finale for runway 25, an approach that makes us fly over the big city of Indore, with, in the distance on our left, the Satpura Range.

 

Parked at gate 4 at Indore airport after a 1h50 min flight from Bombay. It is 3 PM and the outside temperature is a nice 20°C with a clear blue sky.

 

 

 

 

October 8 - Leg 23 – Indore-Satna

VAID-VIST

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

View of the cramped apron at Indore-Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar airport. It’s almost 4PM and time to fly the last leg for today. Our destination for the 23rd leg of our round-the-world journey is Satna, a little city about 50 miles southwest of Allahabad. Our starting point, Indore, is not very far from the point at which the Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout of 1872 had to unexpectedly get off the train, close to the village of Kholby some 15 miles before the Rothal station. The precise location of these two points was impossible for me to do in 2017, so, reading Jules Verne’s book, I estimated a possible location; hence the choice of Indore for the arrival from Bombay, playing in 2017 the role played by Kholby in 1872. Kholby is the village at which Fogg and Passepartout began, in 1872, their travel with Kiouni, the elephant bought by Fogg for 2,000 British pounds, to cross the mountains and valleys of the Vindhya Range. Satna, our today destination, is not far from the point at which they met and saved Adoua from her programmed suttee ceremony.

 

Mr Phileas Fogg, as impassible as ever despite the presence of Adoua, looks through the window from his seat, the city of Indore while the plane climbs to its cruise altitude. He read in his Bradshaw’s and Wiki’s Continental and General Guide about Indore: “Indore is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, the main part of the Bundelkhand (or Bundelkund) geographical region. At an average altitude of 550 meters above sea level, it has the highest elevation among all major cities of Central India. His Highness the Maharajah Holkar of Indore, Holkar II, in 1870, offered a loan of £10 million sterling for the construction of a rail-line to his capital city of Indore, taking off from the Great Indian Peninsula (G.I.P.) Railway main line. The Holkar Railway required very heavy works due to very steep gradients (up to 1 in 40) on the Vindhya Mountains. It also involved digging of 4 tunnels, deep cuttings and heavy retaining walls. River Narmada was crossed by a bridge of 14 spans, 197 feet each and piers 80 feet above low water level. There are 14 other large bridges with high piers, the highest pier being 152 feet above the bottom of the ravine. The GIPR section linking Indore to Allahabad, and to Calcutta was opened for traffic on December 1874.” … And the Phileas Fogg of 2017 had this thought: “Oh two years after the travel of my predecessors … that’s why”! As stated by J. Verne: “But Phileas Fogg, who was not travelling, but only describing a circumference, took no pains to inquire into these subjects; he was a solid body, traversing an orbit around the terrestrial globe, according to the laws of rational mechanics.”

 

Heading northeast, we fly over Bhopal and its airport (VABP) Bhopal-Raja Bhoj. The great lake seen on our right is the Upper Lake or Bhojtal Lake. This city is infamous for the accident that happened at a chemical plant there on December 1984 that killed thousands of people around the Union Carbide chemical plant.

 

Flying over the Vindhya Mountains at dusk.

 

Twenty minutes later, short finale for runway 29 … a visual approach. No IlS, no GPS approach, no runway lights! But we made it. After a 1 h 45 min flight from Indore, we landed at 6 PM here and spent the night in this small Indian city of the Baghelkhand.  This night will be certainly more calm than that of the 1872 travelers where they had to deliver Mrs. Aouda, the daughter of a wealthy Bombay merchant, from the suttee ceremony and, thus, from a certain death.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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Next day of travel ... the Seventh one ...

 

 

Day Seven: Monday Oct 9th

La Birmanie

 

 

 

Seventh day of travel: from Satna to Yangon, Burma, via Benares, Calcutta and Chittagong.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. Mr. Fogg and his partners took the second part of the railroad to Calcutta. At Calcutta, they embarked the steamer Rangoon for going to Hong-Kong via Singapore. So we do! We and our two honorable travelers will spend the seventh night of the journey in Yangon, Myanmar, that was known in the colonial times as Rangoon, the capital city of Burma.

 

Flightpath followed on Mon. Oct. 9

 

 

 

October 9 - Leg 24 – Satna-Benares (Varanasi)

VIST-VIBN

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

 

It’s 6:15 AM, sunrise over an hazy Satna, takingoff from runway 29. Our “honorable passengers” have just boarded and are fully ready to begin our flight to Burma. The Phileas Fogg and Passepartout of 1872 saved Mrs. Aouda from her certain death at the suttee, then left on hurry the pagoda of Pillaji with Mrs. Aouda, delivered by Passepartout taking the place of the embalmed Rajah, Mrs. Aouda’s dead husband, descending “from the pyre in the midst of the clouds of smoke, which only heightened his ghostly appearance’.

 

Mrs. Aouda being taken to the sutee ceremony

.

 

They left Pillaji, in the neighbor of Satna, on Tuesday Oct. 24th very early on the morning, the outside was yet dark. Our passengers of today are thus sixteen days ahead of the 1872 schedule! The destination of this leg is Benares on the famous Ganges River. This is a short flight of about 125 nm.

 

View of the Rewa plateau southwest of Allahaba and the numerous breaks in the plateau made by various streams joining the main Tamas River. In this region, there are the Keoti Water Falls is on the Mahana River as it comes down from the Rewa Plateau. It has a total height of 130 metres (430 ft).

 

View from 7,000 feet of the city of Mizrapur on the Ganges River. This city was founded by the British as a trade center at the beginning of the 19th century.

 

On final approach to Benares Rwy 27, the view thru the window at Mr. Fogg’s seat: the large plain of Uttar Pradesh in Northern India.

 

Finale for runway 27 at Benares airport … and ILS approach so quite a cool one.

 

Parked at gate Golf-1 at Benares, known as Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, after a rather short flight from Satna (about 54 minutes). It is still early morning (7:15 AM) and the weather is fine with a rather pleasant temperature (about 25°C) … And an unexpected Uzbekistan Airlines turboprop plane!

 

 

 

 

October 9 - Leg 25 – Benares-Calcutta (Kolkata)

VIBN-VECC

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

At 8 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to Kolkata (the Calcutta of the British Empire). This 25th flights of our RTW journey is a flight of about 340 nm, probably about 2 hours of flight for our twin-engined Dove. The weather is ideal for flying: CAVOK!

 

Mr Fogg, while the plain is clibing, look out the window and gaze at Benares city landscape. He just read in his Bradshaw’s and Wiki’s Continental and General Guide that: “Benares is one of seven holy cities of India, the seven cities known as the givers of liberation. According to legend, Varanasi was founded by the god Shiva. Then a fight took place between the two supreme gods, Brahma and Shiva, and the succeeding combat resulted in one of the five heads of Brahma being torn off by Shiva. When Shiva came to the city of Varanasi, the hanging head of Brahma dropped from Shiva's hand and disappeared in the ground. The land of Benares is therefore considered an extremely holy religious site”.

 

The Great Indian Peninsular Railroad in 1872 … as viewed in Jules Verne’s book.

 

View of the large Sone River in the vicinity of Dehri.

 

View of the Parasnath Hill (1,370 m) that overlook the Chota Nagpur plateau all around. On the mountain top there is a Jain temple, an important site or pilgrimage for the Jainists. This site has a number of temples as well as residences for the pilgrims and wandering monks and scholars. This region is rich of many coal mines.

 

Jain pilgrimage site atop Parasnath Hill.

 

View of the thousands years old city of Asansol on the bank of the Damodar River. We are at 200 km northwest of Calcutta.

 

At 2,000 feet in the approach circuit for Calcutta airport, we fly over the city of Chandannagar on the banks of the Hooghly River. During colonial times, this city was called Chandernagor and was part of the French colonial empire. One of the four French territories within the British India, Chandernagorwas the only French possessions totally enclosed within British India. The Hooghly River, locally called Ganga, is a distributary of the east-flowing Ganges River that flows roughly north-south into the Bay of Bengal. Calcutta is about 20 miles south of Chandernagor, alsoon the banks of the Hooghly River.

 

Parked at gate 41 at Calcutta-Chandra Bose international airport after a 2 hours flight from Benares. It’s past 10 AM and the outside temperature is a fairly pleasant 22°C with a clear blue sky. India at its best!

 

 

 

October 9 - Leg 26 – Calcutta-Chittagong

VECC-VGEG

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Calcutta airport for Chittagong at about 11 AM, we are number 3 for takeoff at runway 19R with, in front of us, a Jet Airways 738 bound for Delhi followed by an Indigo A320 for Bombay.

 

At 7,000 feet, heading east and at midway between Calcutta and the border with Bangladesh.

 

We fly over the Meghna River mouth, at least one of the four mouths of this river. The Meghna is in fact the Ganges River, and this is here, its main mouth. The Meghna has, as a tributary, the Padma  River, a few hundred miles north form here. The Padma results from the confluence of the Ganges and of the Brahmaputra rivers.

 

Finale for runway 23 with, on our right, the seaport of Chittagong on the banks of the Karnaphuli River.

 

Parked at parking 4 at Chittagong – Hazrat Shah Amanat international airport, after a flight from Calcutta of slightly less than one hour and half. Since Bangladesh time is 30 min behind Indian one, it is a bit more than 1:30 PM here.

 

 

 

 

October 9 - Leg 27 – Chittagong-Yangon (Rangoon)

VGEG-VYYY

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Chittagong airport at 2:15 PM and flying south to reach Yangon, the ‘garden city of the East’. Yangon is the Rangoon of the British colonial times, in today Myanmar, the Burma of the British colonial times. The Fogg of 1872 would have say: “My dear Passepartout, we are now going to Rangoon in Burma”; while the today Fogg say: “We are now flying to Yangon in Myamar, my dear Passepartout.”…

 

Twenty minutes later, we fly over Cox’s Bazar in Southern Bangladesh, at the mouth of the Bakkahli River. This city is a known international resort for beach-lovers with its beach, the fourth longest beach in the world: a 75-miles long beach of white sands with a gentle slope… let’s dreaming guyz!

 

Heading southwest, Mr Fogg can see the coast of the Bay of Bengal, and the mountains of the Arakan range.

 

View from 9,000 feet of the Irrawaddy River that flows in central Burma and bisects Myanmar from north to south. It empties through the nine-armed Irrawaddy Delta into the Indian Ocean. It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. After Rudyard Kipling's poem, it is sometimes referred to as 'The Road to Mandalay'.

 

 

Parked for the night at Yangon-Mingaladon international airport, after an almost 2 hour and 30 min flight from Chittagong. We spent the night at Yangon.

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

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Next day of travel ... the Eighth one ..

 

 

Day Eight: Tuesday Oct 10th

Vers Singapour

 

 

 

 

Eighth day of travel: from Yangon to Singapore, via Myeik, Phuket and Melaka.

 

I will follow as precisely as possible the journey of Phileas  Fogg, esq., and Jean Passepartout around the world. At Calcutta, they embarked the steamer Rangoon for going to Hong-Kong via Singapore. Mr. Fogg and his servant embarked on the steamer Rangoon at Calcutta, the steamer stopped a few hours at Singapore. Then, they went up the China South Sea and made it directly to Hong-Kong. So we do! We and our two honorable air travelers will spend the eighth night of the journey in Singapore.

 

Flightpath followed on Tue. Oct. 10:

 

 

 

October 10 - Leg 28 – Yangon-Myeik

VYYY-VYME

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

It’s 6 AM, with sunrise over Pegu River, south of Yangon. Our “honorable passengers” have boarded and are ready to fly to Singapore thru some stopovers. This first flight will lead us to Myeik , a flight of about 300 nm.

 

From the same location, view over the city of Rangoon and its multiple rivers. The Pazundaung River that flows thru the city making huge zigzags. The Yangon River in the west outskirts of the city and that joins the Pegu River just on our right. And, in the distance, the Twante Canal that links the Yangon River to the Irrawaddy River.

 

We fly at our cruise altitude (9,000 feet) over the Gulf of Martaban on a route following the coast. On our left, the mountains seen are those where the Karen people are.

 

We turn at low altitude over the Bay of Mergui which is the other name of Myeik. From the window of his seat, Phileas Fogg can look to the extraordinary blue color of the Bay and to the Kadan Kyun island, the main island of the Mergui archipelago.

 

Visual approach to runway 18 at Myeik, with the Great Tenasserim River that flows to the Andaman Sea.

 

Parked on the grass close to the runway at Myeik airfield after a flight of about two hours from Yangon. It’s now 8 AM and the outside temperature is yet 27°C … We will soon depart from here.

 

 

 

 

October 10 - Leg 29 – Myeik-Phuket

VYME-VTSP

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

At 8:45 AM, we begin our second leg for today, this time we go to the worldwide known resort of Phuket in southern Thailand. This is a flight of about 270 nm, probably about 2h of flight for our twin-engined Dove.

 

At our cruise altitude (8,000 feet for this flight), along the Andaman Sea coast of the southeastern Burma. A magnifiscent view.

 

In front of us, the large Tenasserim Range which is the natural border with Thailand.

 

View of the artificial lake Ratchaprapha in the Khao Sok national park in Thailand.

 

A sight on the beautiful Phang Nga bay which is a 400 km2 bay in the Strait of Malacca between the island of Phuket, our destination, and the mainland of the Malay peninsula of southern Thailand.

 

The typical James Bond island in the Phang Nga Bay.

 

Finale for runway 27 … over the Phang Nga Bay with the Strait of Malacca on the other side of Phuket island.

 

Parked at gate 1 at Phuket international airport after a 1 hour 40 min flight from Myeik. It’s 10:30 AM and the weather is a clear blue sky and a pleasant 25°C. A Chinese Airbus reminds us that we are coming close to East Asia!

 

 

 

October 10 - Leg 30 – Phuket-Melaka

VTSP-WMKM

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Takingoff from Rwy 27 at Phuket, leaving for Melaka, aka Malacca City, the famous harbor of this area of the world.

 

At 9,000 feet heading southeast, we enter the airspace of Malaysia. The islands seen are those of the Malaysian Langkawi archipelago in the Strait of Malacca. Only four of the 99 islands of the archipelago are inhabited.

 

Ten minutes later, we fly by Penang island, which is very close to the Malaysian peninsula. Two major cities can be seen, one on each side of the strait separating the island from the continent. The one on the island is George Town, the capital of the Penang state of the Malaysian Federation and the second largest city in Malaysia. This city was founded by Francis Light from the British East India Company on August 11, 1786 and named George Twon after King George III who was ruling United Kingdom. As soon as 1792, some six years after its foundation the city’s population has increased to some 10,000. On the other side of the strait is the harbor of Butterworth. This city is known as Bagan by the locals but was founded by the Province Brtish Governor Wellesley in mid 19th century as an answer to the booming George Town on Penang island. Butterworth was established as a major transportation hub, which is still is, where cross-strait ferry, shipping, train and road networks all have their terminus, thus facilitating the movement of goods and people across the Penang Strait to George Town.

 

Half an hour later, we fly over the urban area of Kuala-Lumpur (that is on our left), and, on our right, is the city of Kelang, also known as the Royal City in Malaysia.

 

At 4,000 feet in the approach circuit to Melaka airport, we have a view on Mount Bintongan in the Tampin Forest Reserve.

 

Finale for runway 21 at Melaka airport.

 

Parking 1 at Melaka-Batu Berendam airport apron, after a flight of about 2h30min from Phuket. It’s about 2 PM local time. Waiting for the last flight of today …

 

 

 

October 10 - Leg 31 – Melaka-Singapore

WMKM-WSSS

 

Flight route (from FSFK). Green, planned; Red, actual.

 

Departing Malacca City at about 2:45 PM for a short flight to Singapore. This leg is about 110 nm only, a flight of less than one hour with our Dove. View of Melaka.

 

From Mr Fogg’s seat window … the Strait of Malacca and, on the other side of the strait, in the distance, Phileas Fogg sees the coast of Sumatra island at some 50 nm.

 

At 7,000 feet heading southeast, with a view of Pontian on our left. In te distance we can see the west entrance of the Strait of Johor. Just ahead, we see the Cape Tanjung Piai that is the southernmost point of the Malaysia Peninsula and, hence, the southernmost point of the Eurasia continent. The equator line is just 90 nm south from our position.

 

Finale for runway 02L. View of the Singapore skyline.

 

Short finale for Rwy 02L with, on our left, the huge Singapore Expo exhibition building.

 

Parked at gate 208 at Singapore-Changi international airport after a 48-min flight from Malacca City. It’s 4 PM and we will spend the night here, in Singapore. The Phielas Fogg and jean Passepartout of 1872 arrived at Singapore with the Rangoon steamer on the Thursday October 31st at 4 AM. The Phileas Fogg and jean passepartout of today arrived at Singapore onTuesday October 10th at 4PM. They are 20 days and 12 hours ahead of their 1872 colleagues. We are at the third of the Round-the-World journey. A nice result!

 

View of the park-like Singapore island, as drawn in the 1872 book … everything but a city! As jules verne wrote: “The island of Singapore is not imposing in aspect, for there are no mountains; yet its appearance is not without attractions. It is a park checkered by pleasant highways and (…) into the midst of rows of palms with brilliant foliage, and of clove-trees, whereof the cloves form the heart of a half-open flower. Pepper plants replaced the prickly hedges of European fields; sago-bushes, large ferns with gorgeous branches, varied the aspect of this tropical clime; while nutmeg-trees in full foliage filled the air with a penetrating perfume (…)”. Not bad, isn’t it?

 

 

P. Fogg, esq., wrote in his diary: To be continued … and went back to his whist game.

J. Passepartout simply wrote: À suivre!

 

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