Page 10 - January 15 Volume 19 Number 1

A fortnight later, the odyssey resumed with a well-planned African sortie, accompanied by two friends. The initial outbound was a 100-minute hop to Prague, leading them to stops in Aqaba, Djibouti and on to Nairobi, Kenya. Radio communications provided some good entertainment for the pilots during the early stages of the Africa leg. Thick Arabic accents and dialects often had the two airmen asking each other, ‘Did you get that?’ There were several ominous long silences from ATC, leading up to
The Trips Begin
His business and personal pursuits had made many contacts in other countries, friends he could rely on during the course of his travels. The first leg of the summer’s M2 adventure was from Orlando, Florida up to Brunswick, Maine, followed by a flight northeast to Goose Bay, Labrador, the jumping-off point for the trip across the Atlantic. With
accommodating winds aloft, the hop to Reykjavik in Iceland was accomplished easily and the M2’s first European landing was made in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. After some sightseeing, the jet was flown to historic Biggin Hill airport outside London, where it would remain while duty called the owners home.
the crew asking ‘Do you have radar contact with Citation?’ The rapid return answer of ‘No!’ had them squawking 1200 at Flight Level 390 with no radar coverage!
After a safari with Internet and phone service, the flight proceeded to Victoria Falls, located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, and to Johannesburg, South Africa. It was then on to Cape Town, before retracing the southbound hops, back northward to Djibouti, Somalia.
The excitement of the African trip was measured by this narrative, shared with us by the co-owner: “Animals strolled across my “window” every day: our tent was situated along the river and a hippo would sun on the bank every day. He brought along his crocodile friend, and I looked
8 • TWIN & TURBINE
JANUARY 2015