• Hawaii Kman
  • Hawaii Kman

WHS TOUR BEGINS: Out of Africa

World Heritage Sites Air Adventures in Africa. Okumaya devam et
  • HUEN - Entebbe, Wakiso, Uganda

    7 Ocak 2025, Uganda ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    I decided to work my way inland of central Africa instead of out to the Seychelles and Madagascar. So I hit 5 World Heritage Sites today.... Including Kilimanjaro National Park at 19K+ altitude (my service ceiling is 23200 ft) and then flew over the Serengeti National Park (https://www.serengeti.com/best-time-to-visit-se…).
    I am currently chilling out in Entebbe, Uganda, but sleeping in the cockpit so I don't find anything stolen or sabotaged. It's currently a Level 3 warning for travelers (reconsider travel). Yet so far, the people are nice, I have plenty of bottled water, a camping stove for my green tea, and lots of Snickers Bars. I might even order some local cuisine if I can find a place recommended that delivers or is near enough...
    Some traditional and historic Ugandan foods include:
    • Posho or kawunga—called ugali in Kenya, it is usually made from maize but also other starches, regional names include kwon. Ugandan expatriates make posho from cornmeal, masa harina or grits. Kwon is a type of ugali made from millet (called kalo in western Uganda) but in other regions like eastern Uganda they include cassava flour.
    • Groundnuts (peanuts)—groundnuts are a vital staple and groundnut sauce is probably the most commonly eaten one. They are eaten plain or mixed with smoked fish, smoked meat or mushrooms, and can also be mixed with greens such as borr.
    • Sim-sim (sesame)—a staple particularly in the north, roasted sesame paste is mixed into a stew of beans or greens and served as a side dish, though sesame paste may also be served as a condiment; a candy is made from roasted sesame seeds with sugar or honey.
    • Matooke—(green banana, not plantain) boiled or steamed (mashed) cooked in or served with a sauce of peanuts, beans, fresh fish or meat.
    • Luwombo—a traditional dish from Buganda, in which a stew of chicken, beef, mushrooms or fish is steamed in banana leaves.
    • Malewa—a traditional dish from eastern Uganda (Bugisu), made from bamboo shoots.
    • Kikomando—a chapati that is cut into pieces and served with fried beans.
    My choice of drinks seem to be:
    Beverages
    Tea (chai) and coffee (kawa) are popular beverages and important cash crops. These can be served English-style or spiced (chai masala). Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Fanta have all made inroads in the Ugandan market and soft drinks have become very popular. Both traditional and Western beers are probably the most widely available alcoholic beverages across Uganda.
    Pombe and lubisi are generic words for locally made fermented beer, usually from banana or millet. Fermented banana wine[1] is also prepared and consumed. Tonto is a traditional fermented drink made from bananas.
    Waragi is the generic term for distilled spirits and these also vary, see for example Uganda Waragi, a brand name for clear or yellow gin.
    It's been beautiful VFR weather the whole way.
    Okumaya devam et

  • FTTD - Moundou Airport, Chad

    9 Ocak 2025, Çad ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    Had the day off (National Day of Mourning, USA) and rainy day at home so... fly I must.
    Currently @ FTTD - Moundou Airport, Logone Occidental, Chad. I flew from HUEN - Entebbe International, Uganda and over to the Murchison Falls National Park and the Victoria Nile where The African Queen was filmed. Then checked out the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Manovo-Gounda St. Floris National Park in Central African Republic before finally landing in Chad.
    I had to refuel twice (and pee) and reheat my green tea, once at an airstrip shown in Foreflight but missing in XP and once at HUPA - Pakuba Airfield, Uganda where they leave fuel and oil drum out in the open for pilots and totally self-serve. I finally found the airfield manager in the only AC-cooled office space watching Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult on VHS and he asked that I pay via their MeyerSkies bitcoin account and I shared with him some Snicker bars as a tip.
    Okumaya devam et

  • FOON - Franceville, Haut-Ogooue, Gabon

    10 Ocak 2025, Gabon ⋅ ☁️ 84 °F

    FTTD to 1 World Heritage Site in Cameroon - One urgent (BOTH fuel tank warning lights came on) Gas Stop at FOGO -- the Texan lacks gas gauges visible from the front cockpit, but I did good flight planning and economical fuel management in flight. - 2 World Heritage Sites in Gabon - Now dinner at FOON - M'Vengue Airport in Franceville, Haut-Ogooue, Gabon. While getting gas at FOGO a very cool A-37 Dragonfly rolled by...

    Hmmm, that might be cool as my first step into jets, and might look good in yellow.... pondering.
    Okumaya devam et

  • FCOU: Ouesso, Sangha, Repub of the Congo

    11 Ocak 2025, Çad ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    Exciting portions of flights; I had to chew my way through a VFR Cloud sandwich (opaque at 9K & 11K ft) for 20 minutes, but had fun landing at a little plateau airport for fuel (FNBC) then on a quick stop in Kinshasa (FZAA - N'Djili International Airport) to drop off some gift boxes of Snickers Bars to my regional fixer/point person and to check out some potential aircraft for sale.
    Back in the air and eventually landing on fumes (literally) because of some VERY BAD ATC commands... I could even see planes all being routed tightly into FINAL and other planes jamming up the runway, so me and 3 other aircraft were waved off at last minute. I almost declared an emergency... I think I landed with only 2 gallons in all. Ugh! I don't like sipping on the dregs in the tanks because of possible debris so I might have maintenance check my fuel system out and change fuel filters just to be safe.

    I also have less than 24 flight hours left in "Paniolo" before I move on up to my next aircraft so I would prefer not to trash the Texan before then. I plan to fly this AWESOME T-6G from http://www.khamsin.org/ again so I want to be careful.
    Okumaya devam et

  • HUKS Kasese Airfield, Uganda

    13 Ocak 2025, Uganda ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    FZIC (Kisangani Bangoka International Airport, Kisangani, Orientale, Democratic Republic of the Congo) to WHS-Okapi Wildlife Reserve CD - WHS-Virunga National Park CD - FZNP (Beni Mavivi Airport, Beni, Nord-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo) to refuel - WHS-Rwenzori Mountains National Park UG - landing at HUKS (Kasese, Kasese, UG).
    2.7 hours, 359.3 miles.

    I was a bit sad flying over Virunga because the Mai Mai Militia hide in the park and have killed over 2 dozen people since 2018, and several kidnappings. They have also slaughtered many mountain gorillas and other wildlife for money and just expressions of cruelty. They also have many illegal kilns in the forest to make charcoal which aggressively deforests the park and destroys so much of the habitats of wildlife, rare flora and fauna... sigh. I flew at 5K which is a little risky from small arms fire, but it also would allow me to pass over quickly and allow me to see any slender smoke columns rising up from these small illegal kilns that I reported.

    As I was refueling at FZNP, I stared up at Rwenzori Mountains and decided to climb up to the peak. I then landed at HUKS in Uganda and prepared a MRE Chili Macaroni dinner, green tea, and a Snickers bar while contemplating life. The airfield is rather wide-open so I sleep in the cockpit.
    Okumaya devam et

  • HBBA-Melchior Ndadaye,Bujumbura,Burundi

    14 Ocak 2025, Burundi ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F

    Got up early and flew out of HUKS in Uganda. I flew over the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda, and flew over and around the Memorial Sites of the Genocide: Nyamata, Murambi, Gisozi and Bisesero in Rwanda. This comprises the sites commemorating the Rwandan genocide, where between April and July 1994 an estimated one million people, belonging to the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias. These sites are the Bisesero Genocide Memorial Centre, Murambi Genocide Memorial Centre, Nyamata Genocide Memorial Centre, and the Kigali Genocide Memorial.

    After I landed for the day at HBBA (Melchior Ndadaye International Airport (Bujumbura, Bujumbura Rural, Burundi), I was asked to be in a photoshoot with some other "trainer" aircraft: Fouga Magister, Stearman Kaydet, and a Cessna Dragonfly.
    Okumaya devam et

  • HTLI - Lindi, Tanzania (USS Ford)

    16 Ocak 2025, Tanzanya ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    HTLI - Lindi, Tanzania. I don't think I could have discovered a better airport to work on my Carrier Quals. It's found in X-Plane, it's found in Foreflight, it's visible with Ortho4XP, and it has several runways to practice on... and different wind angles. The BEST part.... it is a pilot's BNB it seems. So I have rented a couple of the houses for me, my support crew and guests. A bit of an Aviator's party is happening...

    The Ford's COD, the CMV-22B brought in my flight instructor and LSO; Joseph "Kona" Coffey, a guy actually from the "Big Island" of Hawaii. SUPER nice guy. He got us permission for a flyby of the carrier, and their Naval Mass Communication Specialist (MC) took tons of photos for their crew's use and some potential larger Navy promotional projects.

    Joe had me flying low and fast by the frigate and then out to the carrier. He walked me through different ops and landing scenarios and discussed various needed evolutions and then back to Lindi to do T&Gs as he coached me through a Naval Aviator's perspective of flight parameters. I had him also take the front seat for a spell (his grin was HUGE) after my lessons so that he could be "intimately familiar" with the Texan's personality.... did I mention he had a huge grin? That afternoon, his CO informed him to stay on shore and to be my instructor tomorrow as well, since the other LSOs were slotted for other official tasking on ship.

    So tonight we will BBQ and sip libations and enjoy aviation chats around a sweet fire-pit at the BNB hood. We scheduled for a late morning wake up. WINK!
    Okumaya devam et

  • HTLI-Kikwetu Airport, Lindi,Tanzania

    12 Temmuz 2025, Tanzanya ⋅ 🌙 75 °F

    An exciting day (for me at least - lol). I finished my 100 flight hours (actually 103 hours) by landing at HTMT--Mtwara Airport, Mtwara, Tanzania. I also completed the last 3 World Heritage Sites (including the Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara) in Tanzania. So as I was getting along the shoreline heading to my landing, I pondered that for a Navy trainer, I haven't gotten carrier qualified, and by happenstance The USS Gerald Ford is cruising off the coast.... hmm. So I did a flyby in honor of the Texan's history and I was invited by Captain Rick "Powder" Burgess to get Carrier Qualified before I pack the Texan up and ship it back to Hawaii for lots of mechanical TLC! STOKED!!!!!!!

    We agreed on a bit of an abbreviated qualification process because there are no IFLOLs which is the Improved Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System (IFLOLS) Mk 14 in Tanzania. So they are going to loan three of their LSOs (Landing Safety Officers) to rotate flying in the back seat and we will coordinate some land practice runs at HTLI-Lindi Airport (not as busy as HTMT), and if all three approve, I will get to then begin carrier qualification which includes: a maximum of 16 Day landings... 4 T&G and then I have to score 10 arrested landings. If I pass that then they will add 8 night arrested landings of 12 attempts. It's "close" to their current standards but because of several factors... including that this is an old aircraft and old pilot, they won't pound me too hard.
    Okumaya devam et

    Gezinin sonu
    26 Mayıs 2025