Leg Thirty
Changi, Singapore
to
Henderson, Honiara, Soloman Islands
Flown: March 20th 2004
Departure: 10.00am
Route: FSNAV Direct, Cruise altitude 45,000ft
Arrival: ? (two hours later.. but too many time zone changes to figure it out)
Distance travelled: 3469nm
Aircraft used: Lockheed SR-71a Blackbird
Comments: Leg 30!! Woohoo! Oh... it's HOW long? Right, time for some serious speed again. What better way than one of the fastest aircraft ever built. In fact, even THE fastest aircraft ever built. I can't prove that, but from my cockpit, I'd say yes! What a beauty. I lined up the runway, hit full throttle and blasted off from Changi like I was shot out of a gun. The turning ability of the Blackbird was dreadful, so I had to alter my flight plan slightly, and actually just fly in a straight line. Anything more than that the autopilot couldn't handle. But what a great flight. Only took me two hours to fly the 3400 odd nautical miles. The view was great when there was something to see. The islands of Indonesia looked really beautiful all those thousands of feet below.. whizzing by. But Henderson was the real shining light. What a great little island!! And a nice little airport! I think I'll be returning here as well. Managed to get the SR71 down SOMEHOW (don't ask) and managed to complete my hop. At the end of the next.. I'm in Australia, and so close to home..
Pictures:
Seconds after departure from Changi. Even taking off without the afterburners, the aircraft still rocketed into the sky.
This shot has been cropped, as it was mostly ocean (think the spot plane had trouble keeping up)
Flying over the Gulf of Papua with Papua New Guinea to my left. Nice cockpit except for the lack of visibility.
Passing over Russell Island in the Soloman Islands group, on course to land in Henderson in a few minutes.
And finally down. Hitting the spoiler key auto arms the drag chute, so when you hit the runway, it pops out behind you :) Very cool!