So here it is. The moment for a challenging and iconic leg that will remain as one of the most interesting of the World Tour. Or I hope so, since I plan to visit five eight-thousanders peaks. A region I have never visited before. I even found some cargo to take to Fukche, a very remote dirt airstrip in India, at the border with China, located at 13,692 ft of altitude.
I carefully load the plane, refuel to the top and proceed with the exhaustive checklist. A long trip over mountains and no emergency landing sites requires to be more careful than usual. And I takeoff very aggresively, basically at Vx, at up to 3,000 ft/min, to reach FL195 from 3,700 ft in less than about 20 nm. I quickly leave the Indus River behind, though we'll meet it again at the end of this leg.
And there it is, the Nanga Parbat (8,125 m), the 9th highest mountain on Earth and the second most prominent of Himalaya, with a South face of 4,600 m. I reach FL195 and I decide not to climb higher and just surround it by the East. Next to it, the Chongra is also easily visible (6,830 m).
From here, I continue flying along Kashmir region, leaving behind the Western Himalaya and heading towards Karakoram. Easy to spot from far, thanks to the eight-thousanders there. Anyway, I also use an NDB at Skardu as secondary guidance. Skardu is a stunning small city located on a flat valley surrounded by huge mountains that for sure would deserve a visit in real life.
At the horizon, four eight-thousanders set my flight direction. From left to right, K2 (8,614 m, second highest on Earth), Broad Peak (8,051 m, 12th) and the Gasherbrum mountains, a circle of 9 peaks, two of which are over 8,000 m. These are Gasherbrum I (8,080 m, 11th) and Gasherbrum II (8,035 m, 13th).
I follow the glacier leading to K2, Broad Peak and Gasherbrums IV and V, not eight-thousanders but very prominent and noticeable from this perspective. K2 is the deadliest of the five highest mountains on Earth, with one person dying for every four that reach summit. The peak on my right, surrounded by glaciers, is the Masherbrum (7,821 m), also known as K1, since it was the first one catalogued at the 19th Century by the Great Trigonometrical Survey.
The whole area is really impressive. I think I like it even more than the legs I did around Everest on my first World Tour. And now a challenging pass over the South East, with a ridge at about 20,000 ft. I was expecting 19,000 from my maps, but my calculation was not accurate and I had to climb over the critical altitude to reach the glacier I'd follow towards India. It was tricky since there was no space to turn around in case of problems and maneuvers at that altitude are definitely slow and difficult to perform. I was able to pass the ridge but I missed a steep left turn I should have made right after the climb, so I ended up descending along the wrong glacier. Luckily, I realised quickly and could return, on a sort of holding pattern, to the ridge and take the correct path towards India.
From here, I enter in India, leaving the K12 on my right, till Pangong Tso, a stunning large lake divided between India and China.
At this moment I realised that the left fuel tank is at zero. I quickly check the fuel flow and the data at the EDM and everything seems right. I realize that the fuse is up, so just the indicator is broken. By checking the used fuel at the EDM regularly I can track the level and continue flying normally.
And here we meet the Indus River again. Starting from Western Tibet, it runs for 3,120 km till Karachi. I'm considering making a tour along it in future And definitely, Pakistan is a country that amazes me. I enjoyed it a lot the Southern coast on the last World Tour and I definitely loved the Kashmir region. I'll fly again around at some point. But now, let's descend and land on a dirt strip at 13,692 ft, without windsock. Luckily it's long enough to not worry much and enjoy a smooth landing on a stunning landscape.
And... very bad news. Right after landing, the right RPM indicator is also broken. And this airfield has basic support, but not a proper workshop. So I decided to shutdown the engines and take a careful look at the plane to assess its general state. I'm considering flying immediately to any near bigger airport with a workshop, since I don't like the idea of waiting here for support. But this is a story to tell in the next leg report.
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NANGA-PARBAT SKARDU CHORICHO GASHERBRUM-V MAHASRUNG LAKJUNG PANGONG-TSO
VISR 232030Z 24003KT 6000 FEW025 SCT090 24/16 Q1011 NOSIG
N/A
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