JGFly - Flight Simulation: May 2020

World Tour Leg 27 - Riyadh to Dammam

After spending the night in a hotel in Riyadh I went back to the airport. The oil of my Baron had been refilled and there were 2 passengers waiting to travel to Dammam. Their plan fitted perfectly fine with my idea of reaching the Persian Gulf today, so I accepted flying together.

After accomodating their luggage on the rear trunk we took off from runway 15L and climbed to 9500 ft.

By following highway 40 we would reach our destination quite easily. Just in case, I also set the VOR navigation. Worst case scenario, I could fly towards the sea and, once there, use the coast for orienteering.

After few miles, we reached the characteristic orange sandy wave that it's well seen from satellite images and crosses Saudi Arabia near its half.

I saw few farms, small villages and scattered buildings that allowed me to estimate the distances and confirm that I was flying in the right direction.

Finally we reached Dammam. Its history is interesting, since Dammam was founded in 1923 by a tribe that moved from Bahrain, first stablishing in Khobar, then in the actual Dammam. From that date, the population has grown to more than 4 million people. Nowadays, Dammam is one of the most important cities in the country, expanded thanks to the oil and fishing industry. Its sea port is the largest of the Persian Gulf and the second in traffic.

But both Dammam and Khobar are a bit far from the airport, so I focused on doing a VOR approach to runway 34 L, quite simple considering the path on the ground leading from the VOR to the runway.

A full hangar just for my Baron. i took advantage to make a revision. It looks like the oil filters will have to be renewed soon. Besides that, nothing weird. It has been a long time I don't have mechanical issues. I want to believe that the money I invested during the first legs in maintenance will be worthy for the rest of the trip. We'll see. Now let's take some rest and get ready to leave Saudi Arabia towards Bahrain, Qatar and UAE, some of the most attractive air spaces in the world.

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Technical details:

OERK - OEDF

KIA KFA

Distance: 200 nm

Average GS: 200 kt

Average alt.: 9500 ft.

METAR:

OERK 082200Z 14005KT CAVOK 27/04 Q1013 NOSIG
OEDF 090000Z 28005KT CAVOK 24/08 Q1009 NOSIG

World Tour Leg 26 - Pump Station 10 to Riyadh

Staying on a Pump Station was not my priority for today, so I decided to quickly refuel my Baron and take off towards Riyadh. No jobs onboard, but the need of progressing is stronger. Runway 36, assuming the tailwind of 6 kt and quick turn towards the east.

I decided to spend my oxygen and fly high, saving fuel and having a better view of the roads and ground features, although I relied on VOR navigation to reach Radiyah safely.

I didn't find anything of special interest during this long leg. But, even though sand landscapes might look homogeneous and flat, the colours and the shapes make them look beautiful from the air.

And I reached Riyadh, the largest city of the Arabian peninsula and the capital of Saudi Arabia, founded during the Umayyad and Abbasid eras. In 1950, King Saud started a modernization of the city similar to American cities, growing it on a grid shape. From 2017, it has been the objective of missile launchs from Yemen, due to the Saudi Arabian intervention on Yemen civil war.

I landed in runway 15L of Riyadh King Khaled Intl., after doing a low altitude right pattern surrounding the whole airport due to the lack of VAC and ATCs.

Time to rest and think about a single leg that would put me right next to the eastern coast, on the Persian Gulf.

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Technical details:

OEPJ - OERK

BIR-DARB AL-DAWADMI KIA

Distance: 320 nm

Average GS: 190 kt

Average alt.: FL135

METAR:

N/A
OERK 072300Z 11006KT 7000 NSC 25/06 Q1015 NOSIG

World Tour Leg 25 - Madinah to Pump Station 10

Yes, there are several airfields in Saudi Arabia known as "Pump Station". And I understand it. Once you get some altitude over the sand of this country you realise how important it is the fuel and its distribution across the country. Very few roads cross the extense desert, so I guess fuel supply is quite optimized here. Actually, this pump station belongs to Saudi Aramco, the most profitable company in the world, with the second world reserve of crude oil and the highest daily production.

Anyway, short flight from the amazing Madinah to Pump Station 10, carrying 5 technicians that work at the destination. About 90 nm heading south west. I decided to take off from runway 18 and quickly ascend to 7500 ft.

By climbing a bit high I could detect some features of the sand and hills that allowed me to fly on VFR. And suddenly I found a surprise that I didn't expect.

Volcanic shapes. Dark ground topped with bright sand. Several of these are scattered at the south west of Madinah. I didn't know about this chain of volcanoes that range all along the read sea, many of them still active.

I left them on my right, following the road to Ad Dumayriyah, where I turned left to follow another road that would take me directly to my destination. The shape of the sand fields helped a lot to not get lost.