I've spent few hours on this island, but I'm worried about my Baron, since there is no maintenance in this island. If sand goes into the engine or something happens, I would have to wait a long time to get assistance. So few hours after landed, I decided to continue my World Tour towards the east, now over Abu Dhabi and ending in Dubai.
The take off was smooth and towards east, to gain some time. I used the surrounding islands to guide myself towards Abu Dhabi. Simply heading south would have been enough to reach the coast of UAE, but hopping over the islands was safer in case of emergency.
The history of UAE is similar to the history of Bahrain and Qatar. Neolithic evidence, conversion to islam, Portuguese and British occupation and then the independence, to raise nowdays as one of the strongests economic countries in the world, mainly thanks to oil and natural gas reserves.
Abu Dhabi, known in the past by pearl traders, nowadays is the capital and second city of population of UAE (after Dubai). During the last years it has been quickly urbanized and developed, increasing a lot its size and population. And, from the air, it's easy to spot all this development.
The flight was simple. Just flying over the Persian Gulf along the coast, from Abu Dhabi till Dubai. There are constant evidencies of artificial islands and territory build over the sea.
Obviously, the most iconic artificial islands, where waiting in Dubai. The Palm Islands, the Marina, the Burg Khalifa and the World Islands look amazing from the air. Dubai is the most famous city of UAE, mainly due to its tourism and high quality of life (aka. luxury everywhere). I cannot wait to see a decent scenario of this city, while following the VFR approach (FS2020 maybe?).
This approach is one of the most beautiful urban approaches I have made, following the coast till Khawr river and turning right directly to land, surrounding the skyscrappers.
And suddenly, a big problem. As it happened in Gibraltar, the landing gear didn't work. I was on final and the gear was locked. Luckily, on the second try, I maganed to put it down, so I ended landing safely on runway 12R.
I plan to spend few days in Dubai, and I'll definitely will have to take a look on the landing gear. I'll order some maintenance, since I'm seriously concerned about this. It has happened twice in a month, so I'll have to be careful and consider the possibility of emergency landings more often than I usually do.
I haven't planned my next legs yet, but I aim to fly over Iran, Pakistan and India as quickly as I can, to reach the Himalaya soon. Once there, I won't mind spending as many legs as needed.
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Technical details:
OMAQ - OMDB
ZIRKU MARAWAH AL-ARYAM COAST SP SR GB
Distance: 190 nm
Distance: 190 nm
Average GS: 200 kt
Average alt.: 7500 ft.
METAR:
OMDB 150200Z VRB02KT CAVOK 26/21 Q1005 NOSIG
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