JGFly - Flight Simulation

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

World Tour Leg 37 - Jomsom to Katmandu

To me, this is one of the most important legs in this Tour. I plan to get to near the ceiling limit of the Baron, just to overfly the Tilicho Lake, located at about 18,000 ft height. Then, I'll follow a high altitude valley towards the Manaslu peak, then losing altitude to land in Katmandu.

The take off is tricky due to the short runway and the 9,000 ft height of the airfield, but I manage to get some altitude quick and begin flying in circles till reaching FL195 over Jomsom.

Once I'm high enough and stable, I take the decision of heading towards Tilicho Lake. This is the most dangerous part of this leg. In case of a failure, either I glide back to Jomsom or find a decent spot to emergency land at 17.000-19,000 ft.

Luckily everything went great and the landscapes compensated the tension of the climb. From now on, I'll descend across the valley towards Manaslu.

The Baron behaved perfectly fine and I managed to descend to Katmandu safely. I approached and landed on IFR, due to the bad weather.

Here I just recover quickly, since I'm starting to prepare the next leg, quite iconic due to our destination.

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Technical details:

VNJS - VNKT

08 DNG DARBANG BENI MARPHA 24

Distance: 125 nm

Average GS: 170 kt

Average alt.: FL195

METAR:

N/A

VNKT 190020Z 00000KT 4000 -RA FEW008 SCT030 BKN100 21/21 Q1011 NOSIG

World Tour Leg 36 - Nepaljung to Jomsom

There we go. First leg at the Himalaya. No jobs. I plan to fly alone towards Jomsom, a remote village located at 9,000 ft, with a stunning approach between the Dhaulagiri and the Annapurna.

Taking off was easy, after finally having clear skies. Soon after following few rivers and more fields, hills and small mountains show up, nice prologue to what I will have in front of me in few minutes.

And finally, the Himalaya. Stunning landscape, with peaks overpassing 20,000 ft height. Spotting the valley between the Dhaulagiri and the Annapurna is fairly easy.

At this point, I begin to be very careful with the Baron, since a mistake can be fatal. Without hesitation I enter the valley leading to Jomsom, in tension due to both the landscape and the difficulty of landing at that altitude. Luckily, I spot the airport easily and, after carefully planning the approach, I land in this remote village.