Norman is off to Kolkata, India / some notes on his day to day activity

Norman is off to Kolkata, India also known as Calcutta his last stop before leaving India and entering Bangladesh and the Union of Myanmar previously known as Burma. This flight is about half what he flew yesterday and will be just over 140 miles / 225 kilometers. We understand that Indian national media will be there to see him off at Jamshedpur and some international media will be at Kolkata to greet him. Let us see what happens?


One follower asked some questions about some of Norman's day-to-day activity and here is the Q & A.

• Where does he eat and sleep? - Norman eats and sleeps either in regular hotels or as a guest of a host if lucky. Hotels have varied greatly in price and quality as you can imagine.
• Where does he do his laundry? - Laundry which is limited is done at the accommodation.
• What type of fuel does the autogyro use? - It uses normal unleaded (95) or Avgas. There is a full range of information about Gyrox autogyro on the website http://www.gyroxgoesglobal.com/ 
• How are pictures and blog entries etc. done? - Pictures are sent to the back up base by Norman or who ever else took Them. Blog etc. info is usually delivered by phone, text and some times email depending on access to latter or the time Norman has.  It is then written up at our base and posted on the blog, website, Facebook and Twitter.

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Norman is flying to Jamshedpur Airport, Indian today.

Norman is flying to Jamshedpur Airport, India today. This is a distance from Raipur of just over 300 miles / 480 kilometers flying east. Norman will be flying over a mixture of high lush green forest and drier arid low lands. He will once again need to fly high to avoid the intense heat. This means he cannot fully enjoy the close views of the ground usually experienced by lower flying which autogyros excel at.  

As with his other flights through India he may see some localised forest fires. As he flew over them at over 6,000 feet / 2,000 meters in some cases he could clearly see the flames as they leaped high into the sky. At other times the strips of flame reminded him of lava flows. This brought to mined the erupting volcano in Iceland and the trouble travelers are having in Europe - but Norman flies on! Photo below for illustration purposes and not from Norman unfortunately - inflight photography has proved particularly difficult.

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From the Middle East to Middle India

Well it’s been quite a transition in the last week, from the surprisingly rainy Deserts of Saudi Arabia displaying some cloud cover and hence therefore “relatively” cool, to be now faced with the oppressively hot 47 degree Celsius heat of Nagpur and Raipur. At least it is a dry heat with little humidity, unlike later in the summer as the monsoon creeps across the continent.

The weather for flying has been good  - apart from the daily sauna on the ground whilst getting ready! I don’t recall pre flight checks during my early flight training in Cumbria (N.W. England) make any mention of seeking out the nearest spare baggage trolley to keep the fuel in the shade until the very last minute before departure. Photo below of an Indian maintenance crew not sure where to start on this funny little aircraft.

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Norman flies to Raipur / notes from the heart of India

Norman flies further east from Nagpur to Raipur in India. This is a relatively short flight of 174 miles / 280 kilometers which should take him about 2 hours.

Norman has now reached steaming heat as he flies through the heart of tropical India.  The temperature on arrival at Nagpur was a blistering 47.  While he had the relief of sea breezes the previous day there was no such relief yesterday. Norman below, with the Indian crew, looking a little blurred after his long flight to Nagpur.

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Norman immortalized in a newspaper cartoon because of flying ban

Norman has been immortalized in a newspaper (Belfast Telegraph) cartoon today.  As the rest of Europe and beyond is a no fly zone Norman flies on. The cartoon suggests if he was back at home in Northern Ireland he could offer his services to holiday makers wanting to head for the Mediterranean sun. This of course would be at a slower pace, one at a time with some stops in France or Italy - sounds good!

India here Norman comes!

Norman plans to fly to the Republic of India today the world's largest democracy - staggering 1.2 billion people. This leg of his journey could present the greatest challenge as the last attempt to fly an autogyro around the world faltered here. Expedition Global Eagle (logo below) took place in 2004 and was abandoned in the far east of India because of the monsoon generated difficult weather.

Norman's journey through India will be a total of over 1,450 miles / 2,300 kilometers - a challenge in anyones book. He will be traveling in an easterly direction from the cities of Ahmadabaad in the west to Kolkata in the east.  Below are the places Norman plans stops: 

• Ahmadabaad VAAH - 18 Apri
  
• Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport VAID - 19 April
• Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Int. Nagpur  VANP - 19 April
• Raipur Airport VARP - 20 April
• Jamshedpur Airport VEJS - 21 April
• Kolkata Airport VECC - 21 April

Obviously this is subject to weather conditions, flight permissions and a myriad of other things. Because of the very hot weather Norman is now departing very early in the morning local time. 


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Tales of jagged mountains, Iranian airspace and security conscious Pakistan

Norman flies to Karachi, Pakistan today where it is 33 °C and sunny.  It will take him about three and half hours covering over 300 miles / 480 kilometers. He reached Pakistan via Abu Dhabi and Oman. When Norman departed Abu Dhabi he considered that the Hajar Mountains in Oman might, like the rolling hills of Ulster, offer a quick stop off or a scenic fly by.  Such notions soon evaporated when saw the reality. What he witnessed was something completely different to his home - jagged peaks with very steep plunges. Photo below shows Norman and Gyrox getting the VIP treatment as they are rolled out from the Abu Dhabi hanger by no less than seven staff.

Entering Muscat and for those closely following the SPOT tracker you will notice he had to divert around restricted airspace. When landing and departing Norman drew on his famous haggling skills to try and alleviate the impact of the very high landing and fuel charges he has been met with in parts of the Middle East. He was successful!


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Norman flying to Pakistan / charity and fundraising

Norman is planning to fly to Pakistan today across the Gulf of Oman to the city Gwadar. This over 270 miles / 430 kilometers east to a new continent of Asia and a whole new leg to Norman's journey.

You may remember that Norman is raising awareness and funds for cancer during his trip. We have now establish a 'Just Giving' page for Norman's preferred charity Bowel Cancer UK.  This allows you to donate electronically directly to the charity.

You can go direct to our 'just giving' page http://www.justgiving.com/gforgyro  to donate. You can also access this page via our website, Facebook pages or the link on the right and down on this page. We will be promoting this for the next few weeks.

Thank you for your support and interest up to now from Norman and the Gyrox Goes Global Team

Norman is flying to Oman today

Norman is flying to Oman today, his last stop before he departs the Middle East. He intends to depart at approximately 8.00 (IST) but not directly from Abu Dhabi International Airport.  He plans to make a short flight of about 10 minutes to a local airfield for re-fueling and final checks before flying off to Oman.


His flight to Oman will be in a south easterly direction for about 216 miles / which will take about two hours 30 minutes.  He will need to cross the Hajar Mountains (Arabic: جبال الحجر) which run from the United Arab Emirates to the Omani coast.  They rise to 9,834 feet / 2,980 meters and present an interesting challenge as they are suceptable to low cloud. This may force Norman to land as an autogyro is not supposed to fly without sigh of ground.  He will try to negotiate them by using mountain passes / valleys following roads where he can land if needed.  Only an autogyro can do such landings because of its small size and low speed and is similar to what he had to do in the Saudi desert. Photo below shows the Hajjar Mountains rise behind Nakhal Fort.

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Overnight in the Saudi desert and flight to Doha

Well the middle east has certainly met with expectation so far, Camels, sandstorms, cups of very sweet chai tea, loads of Bedouin tents in the desert. So many in fact that in some regions if you had to have landed you would easily have picked a populated place - the standard set up appeared to be a few big tents, some 4X4s a couple of dozen camels in a herd and the very essential big road tanker lorry presumably full of water (which really is more expensive to buy here than fuel).

Today started with a nice cup of Chai from my very nice Arab hosts - they could speak no English as I no Arabic so we worked with sign language admirably. 

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Norman is flying to Abu Dhabi today

Staying in the United Arab Emirates Norman is flying from Qatar to Abu Dhabi today. This is a flight of over 300 mile / 480 kilometer south 
which will take him about three hours. It is 31°C and cloudy in Doha and similar in Abu Dhabi. Below is a photo of a sand storm Norman witnessed during his forced stop, due to impending storms, in the Saudi desert.

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Norman has landed west of Riyadh because of an approaching storm front

Norman has landed about 70 miles / 110 km west of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia because of an approaching storm front which other aircraft have had to divert around. Norman felt it would be safer in such a small open aircraft to land. He has landed near a filling station near Al Khalaig Alghabiyah where he will camp for the night. Norman has also been able to store the autogyro under cover for the night.

He back tracked earlier this morning as he assessed that he would need extra fuel for this flight, particularly negotiating the leading head winds of the approaching storm front. He therefore flew back on his route to pick up extra fuel from a garage he had spotted earlier.

He plans to fly on to Riyadh in the morning depending on weather and related flying conditions. This will be reviewed and updated in the morning.


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Norman is flying to Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Airport, Saudi Arabia

Norman is flying to Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Airport OEDM in the central part of Saudi Arabia this morning.  He departed just before 7.00 am (IST) flying in an easterly direction. The weather is a warm 25 °C with scattered clouds at about 1,000 feet / 3,000 meters and a south easterly breeze. Visability is at 6 miles / 10 km and there is a slight chance of rain.

This will be a flight of just over 300 miles / 480 km. As Norman often uses roads for way finding he will probably follow road 40 then road 50 which brings him direct to Al Dawdmi. The airport lies 18 miles / 30 km west of the town of Al Dawadmi and it is one of the most modern airports in Saudi Arabia.


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Norman has landed safely in Taif, Saudi Arabia.

Norman has landed safely in Taif, Saudi Arabia. According to the Saudi Network Raif is Taif, with its deep rooted history that dated back to thousands of years is famous for its gardens and good quality agricultural production on top of which are grapes, pomegranates and honey (photo of its famous rose plantations below). The elevation of the city by about two thousand meters above sea level, makes it one of the important resorts in the Kingdom.   So Norman has landed in a 'land of milk and honey'.

It is also famous for historical features including the Souk (market) Okaz which played a distinguished role in the history of Arab poetry before Islam. The Souk was a forum for poetry debate in one of the richest era in the history of Arab literature and culture. Other important archaeological features in the city include many pre-Islamic fortifications, and Islamic mosques such as the Mosque of the Prophet's Companion (peace be upon him) Abdullah Ibin Abass.


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Norman landed safely Saudi Arabia

Norman landed safely at Jeddah Airport, Saudi Arabia at 17:40 (IST).  As Eddie Gold who hosted Norman in Cairo said "over 6 hours flying and arriving as the light fades makes this leg of his journey one to remember! 


The initial flight north this morning, the opposite to Normans intended route, was because of the extremly strict flight rules.  This prohibits civil aircraft from flying direct from Aswan in Egypt to Jeddah.  This route must be done from Luxor. As a result Norman had to fly back to Luxor to get on the acceptable airway to Jeddah. 


Norman was further slowed down by the Egyptian bureaucracy this was in contrast to the wonderful people he met there and the help and support he received from them.  Between this and the diversion north nearly two hours were added to his flight time making it an exhausting six hours plus!


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Norman is heading for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Norman is heading for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea today. This will be a distance of over 430 miles / 690 kilometres heading in a south easterly direction. The area of Egypt he is flying across is commonly know as the Eastern Desert. It is crisscrossed by ancient Roman roads and caravan routes used by local traders over hundreds of years.

At Aswan the weather is sunny, clear and a hot 28°C. Wind is out of the north at 27 km/h which should give Norman a little push along. He has a long flight ahead of him across arid desert and open sea.


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Norman has landed at Aswan

Norman has landed at Aswan International Airport, Egypt at 16.00 GMT. This was after nearly five hour flying time from 6th October Airport which saw him cross arid desert and the lush green flood plains of the Nile.

Photo above shows Norman preparing to take of at 6th October Airport with Ahmed Hassan M. Aly left and Eddie Gold right.
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Norman is flying to Aswan, Egypt today

Norman is flying in Egypt today direct to Aswan , the site of the famous Nile dam. He is traveling a distance of about 470 miles / 750 kilometers and he is flying almost directly south.  He will not stop as planned at Asyut and Luxor because he was unable to fly from 6th October Airport yesterday. The weather there is a hot 25°C and sunny and he departed just after 11.00 am (GMT). 

Later today Eddie Gold who was hosting Norman in Cairo will post on Facebook some photos of him sight seeing at the World Heritage Site of Giza. Above is just one sample of those showing Norman in deep contemplation by the Pyramids considering the challenges of the next leg of his journey I am sure!


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Norman is not flying today

Norman is not flying today as '6th October Airport' Egypt is closed. 

His plan to fly on Luxor yesterday was scuppered by slow processing of paperwork which meant she lost his daylight flying window.  Norman is being assisted in Cairo by local man Ahmed Hassan M. Aly and ex-pat Eddie Gold who is also hosting him.

Photo above shows Norman tucking into a traditional Egyptian dish of kushari with feter. Photo was by Ahmed El Heity who was taking care of Norman while in Alexandria. 


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