Certainly I made a big mess during the landing. I have spent $40,000 to repair the wheels, suspension, brakes... My account is again near zero. But I find five more passengers that want a tour around the Himalaya and want to land at Paro. And this is perfect, since I plan to repeat the same leg I did on the previous World Tour. Actually, it was the last leg of that tour, so many memories come to my mind.
I check the map and I decide to follow the same route. Last time, I could not cross a crest on the Kanchenjunga due to altitude, but now I can climb 5,000 ft higher, so I expect to explore the north face easily. So again, after checking very carefully the plane, I takeoff.
What a difference from last World Tour. The pressurized Baron climbs so well at these altitudes that I don't suffer at all. I quickly reach FL195, even FL235 near Cho Oyu, the first eightthousander we will see today. The Cho Oyu is the 6th highest mountain, with 8,201 m, easily reachable from a long glacier.
Right at the top of the glacier, I turn right, towards the Everest (8,848 m). I remember perfectly the terrain, even though I flew here 3 years ago. I'm also more comforable, since the responsiveness of this pressurized Baron at this altitude is great.
The Lotshe (8,516 m, 4th) is also very impressive, as well as the glaciers surrounding it. And after this, the Makalu (8,463 m, 5th) is in front of me, although I get a bit confused by near peaks and don't get as close as I should. But beautiful anyway.
And now, time to head to the Kanchenjunga, the last eight-thousander, the third highest with 8,586 m. I remember very well the approach on the previous World Tour, and I follow the same path. But this time, I can cross the crest without problems.
Well, I actually had a big problem. As soon as I reached the top of climb, at about 24,500 ft, I lost pressure manifold, first on the left engine and, few seconds later, also on the right one. Luckily, the engines didn't stop running, although there was no pressure at all, therefore very little thrust. RPMs were still high and the plane was stable thanks to the autopilot. So, after keeping calm and thinking for few seconds, I decided to descend to FL195, where I'm more used to fly, and look for a valley to follow till an emergency landing spot. There's plenty of time for a glide descent, since I'm so high and the ground so low. However, as soon as I descend a about 2,000 ft, I recover manifold pressure in both engines. My guess is that the mixture was not the adequate for such a high altitude, since it has to be controlled in a very precise manner, and as soon as I descended a bit, the mixture was adequate again. Anyway, I'll check the engines at Paro, just in case.
And know, another iconic approach, IFR at Paro. First I fly till TAKTI, at 16,000 ft, and from here I follow the charts to the VOR, at 13,500 ft. From here, a steep descent towards the airport, at 7,300 ft. I descend with approach flaps and gear down, at 2,000 ft/min, but it's not enough. I was expecting it to be easier, but not at all, I'm constantly descending at 160 kt and still high. I even opened the roof knob to get air in the cabin (and friction) and I opened the air conditioning door, although I think it only opens on ground. Anyway, I was not able to decelerate and had to apply the missed approach procedure. I flew over a stunning valley and, after turning around, touched ground at the very end of the runway.
What a stunning airport Paro is. Here I am, 3 years later. From now on, everything is new. And, for the next leg, I'll do the leg I had in mind three years ago. Let's take a rest.
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CHO-OYU EVEREST MAKALU KANCHENJUNGA TAKTI IFR VOR
N/A
VNKT 261630Z 20003KT 8000 TS FEW015 FEW025CB SCT030 BKN100 24/21 Q1012 NOSIG CB TO S AND SW
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