Bill Randolph's Solo Round-the-World Flight

EAA 119 Member Bill Randolph
Successfully Completes
Solo Round-The-World Flight
in Home Built RV-8

Wednesday March 9, 2005
EAA Chapter 119 member Bill Randolph took off from Watsonville Airport at daybreak this morning on his solo round-the-world flight. More information will be added to this web site as we receive E-mail from Bill updating his progress.

Thursday March 10, 2005
Bill flew to Abilene Texas on his first day, and today the plan was to fly to Fort Lauderdale Florida. After that, San Juan Puerto Rico, Tobago, and then Belem Brazil.

Tuesday March 15, 2005
After a conversation with Bill's wife Shirley, she had this to report:

Bill is in Fortaleza at a lovely hotel on the beach, unspoiled and lovely. He said he created quite a stir when he landed in Fortaleza. Many people gathered round and wanted to know what kind of airplane he had, where he came from etc. They were all very interested and friendly.

One man came up to him and said, "Oh you have an RV-8, I have a RV-9" This same man spoke English and owned the lovely hotel where he insisted that Bill stay. He even drove him there, rolling out the red carpet for him by telling the staff to let him have anything he wanted.. Bill is only charged $39.00 for this very luxurious hotel. After the very unfriendly encounters in Florida and Trinidad, he was so, so grateful. Another pilot he met is helping him get through all the red tape and acting as his agent. The agent he hired never answered their telephone and cannot be reached. Hardly anyone spoke English so he really lucked out with these two extremely nice men.

He had a fuel leak. He thinks he has fixed it and he is fueling up and taking a test flight today. If all is well, he will take off at 0600 tomorrow to cross the Atlantic. He estimates it will take 11 hours. Also his manifold pressure gauge went out. He said he can look at the air speed and RPM's instead.

He flew IFR from Trinidad to Belem and the next day from Belem to Fortaleza. There was torrential rain and "rougher it was than hell", It was not possible to get help with advice from Air Traffic Control about the weather so he climbed to 11,000 ft and got out of some of the rain and some of the roughness. He said he would describe the turbulence as Moderate to Severe. He was thankful for his aerobatic airplane as he was tossed about and he knew the plane could take it. He lost his HF antenna in this storm but brought extra wire to fix that..also rain poured into the cockpit getting his belongs soaking wet (but fortunately not the instruments). He's going to work on finding that leak.
He could never raise anyone on the radios. There is also no radar unless you are very close to a big city. When he flew IFR he was kept busy reporting into each control tower and figuring calculations to report to them. Often the controllers were difficult to understand. One woman impatiently said to him "Don't you speak english?"
Customs and red tape of all sorts, continue to be the biggest obstacle consuming valuable hours when he could be resting or planning etc. It will probably only get worse as he gets to the middle east and India..
More to come later.

Wednesday March 16, 2005
Yesterday Bill worked on finding the fuel leak. He found the leak, fixed it and test flew the airplane. Then he had to go back through the bureaucratic procedures every time he took off. He was charged for every take off. $80.00 each time.

Today at 10am, Bill took off from Fortaleza, Brazil for Dakar. He got up at 4am, couldn't sleep because he was afraid the hotel wouldn't wake him and sure enough, they didn't. He wanted to leave by 5am, but got all tangled up in customs and red tape again. Apparently the Police had to give him permission to take off, however by they time they got there and got through all the things they had to put him through, it was 10am before he could actually leave.
Bill said the people he met in Brazil were the best. Not the system or the police, that part was very difficult. The pilot he met that owned the lovely hotel was so nice. The Bose head set that Bill was using stopped working so his new friend handed Bill his own headset and said, “You can give it back to me when you return, don’t worry”. Bill said this hotel owner and the pilot who was his helper for his entire time there, were terrific. “It would have been double the trouble without them.”

He got off finally and hit stiff head winds. It took 14 hours to get to Dakar. The weather was cloudy but not rough. He couldn't see the ocean because of the clouds and flew at 10,500 feet. He would have gone higher but it was too cold. He thought he would be nervous flying over such a big ocean but he said when he got up there it was just fine and he wasn’t worried a bit. The flight was long but uneventful. He landed in Dakar Senegal and no one was there when he arrived. Guess they weren't interested in a little airplane flying over the big ocean. Asked what customs was like in Dakar, he said, “There wasn’t any. So far no one looked at anything”.

He said the flying part is challenging. Over the ocean is great because there are no other airplanes and it feels free and you can do what you want to do. On this trip he will be 20,000 miles over water. Actually most of the trip is over water.

Bill is a bit tired so will stay put tomorrow and rest before the 1400 mile trip to Morocco.
I guess that about does it for now. Whew! Glad he made it across the Atlantic.

Friday March 18, 2005
Bill called from Casablanca. I knew things did not go right as he was supposed to be in Rabat. The story is this:
He gets up early each day and plans take off on schedule but something always happens to delay his take off. In Dakar it was officialdom again. He started to fuel his airplane and they told him "Move your airplane" He said, "well, let me fuel and I will move right away", They said, "No! Now!" So he moved his airplane and the fuel truck drove away. It was ages before he could get it to come back. Then a Dakar "Chief" came to lecture him about how it was illegal for him to fly over the Atlantic to Dakar. The lecture went on and on and finally, after an hour or so, the Chief said, "No problem" and let him go. He said a crowd gathered of Senegalese who were friendly and asking about his flight. "Where you come from?" they asked. When he told them, they would just smile and joke showing that they did not believe him.

He finally took off for Rabat. He was later than he wanted to be because he was delayed in Dakar so when he got to Rabat it was 6:28. He was ordered away by the Rabat control tower even though he had clearance. They said "You cannot land as you are too late. You have to be here by 6:30". They would not let him land so he had to go to Casablanca. This was not in the plan and he is not happy about it but what can you do. It is about 50 miles from Rabat.

Coming from Dakar he developed diarrhea... not too bad but bad enough to make him want to get down for the night so when he got to Casablanca he took the first hotel he could find... a not very nice Sheridan for $200+ a night! He said it is manned by unsmiling French people who when he asked for a less expensive room they said sternly, "There is no less expensive room". That is where he is now. Casablanca does not have his grade of aviation fuel - only jet fuel so he cannot re-fuel there, he will have to go to Rabat in the morning to refuel. He has another leak and will tend to that tomorrow, fly to Rabat, get gas and then on to some place on the way to Rome, he is not sure where yet. He cannot land in anything Spanish so it will have to be Italian territory.

He said he has been extremely careful about what he eats and drinks but guess he got caught anyway. He only drinks bottled, sealed water, but he did have a steak and rice at the hotel in Dakar, and a small glass of wine. Guess something in that did it as he had stomach cramps over all that desert from Dakar to Casablanca.
The summary of all of this is that when you get ready to leave any of these places, don't count on it. It takes ages to leave, someone is always finding some reason to delay you. He said he sure saw a lot of desert, lots of sand and empty places. He will be glad to get to Italy and his friend.

Stay tuned..

Saturday March 19, 2005
Bill called from Rabat at noon today. He fixed the fuel leak, it wasn't a major problem. He took an Imodium last night and his stomach is all ok today. So two problems not to worry about and he sounded much better. He wanted everyone to know that the people he has met everywhere (with the except of Florida), have been helpful and kind.
It is just the system he has trouble with and he is getting more resigned to that. In Casablanca, when he arrived late the first night from Rabat, he was ordered to report to the tower. There he met a controller who proved to be so helpful. This man helped him go through the police check and drove him around the area. Even a policeman in Casablanca befriended him. He had an excellent dinner in Casablanca for just $7.00.

Bill says, the trouble is that there are no procedures for people flying little planes like he is doing. Therefore they don't quite know what to do with him. In Casablanca the people at customs had a big argument over him: Should they or should they not stamp his passport? They finally decided after much discussion that they should stamp it; March 18 in, March 19 out. Wrong! When he got to Rabat he was told he had already exited the country so he shouldn't be coming back in again. Three hours later after further arguments in Rabat, he was accepted in. He is learning how to relax through this which is good. In Rabat he met two Moroccan corporate pilots at the airport who gave him a ride into town.

He said flying is IFR all the way. The air is murky in Morocco. I asked why, and he said "It seems to be a mixture of smog, (lots of old cars there), dust from the Sarah and then moisture from the ocean. Even in town you can't see very far. Worse than LA on a bad day. From 3000 ft you can't see the ground."

Many Moroccans are so friendly. They even told him they liked Americans because "They were kind". Many have gone out of their way to be helpful. When he tried to find a hotel in Rabat he was surprised to find them fully booked. He finally just started walking until he found the little Hotel Terminus. There were lots of tourists in Rabat I guess.
Tomorrow he has 1100 nautical miles to go to Rome. Hopefully he can get started early and get in early.
Rome will be a great place to take it easy for a couple of days and check everything out again.

Sunday March 20, 2005
Just a short note today.

Bill is in Sardinia. It was 5pm his time when he called. He was denied landing in Rome due to the fact that he didn't have a reservation. He had everything else but not a slot to land. Anyway, he is in Sardinia and planning to go to Rome to a small airport in the morning. This little airport is for private planes. It is called Urbe and is VFR only and has a 3500 ft air strip. I guess he doesn't need a reservation there.

He is having trouble finding oil for his engine. There was none to be had in Senegal or in Morocco. He needs it and cannot take of tomorrow without it so will probably be spending the evening trying to locate some.

So maybe tomorrow he will be in Rome with his friend. This wonderful friend worked with Bill years ago in San Francisco and later started working for the international department of his company in Italy. He has been living in Italy ever since - at least 40 years. Bill hasn't seen him since the 70's. He will be a big help with the red tape and the language - not to mention how good it will be for Bill's morale to see him.
to be continued.........

All gassed (and oiled) up, have the approved flight plan and raring to go tomorrow morning, March 24, 8am Rome time, heading for Cyprus. After overnight layover, will head for Dubai on March 25 for a two day layover, the leave on the 27th for Ahmedabad, India. Then next morning, the 28th, leave for Bangkok for one day layover. Then on March 30, expect to leave Bangkok headed for Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Then the following day, the 31st, leave for Bali, hoping that the permit comes through of course.

Tell everyone thanks for their interest and send regards. That's it from Rome,

Bill

More later from Cyprus.

Here goes from Cyprus:

As you know, Bill left Rome at 8:30 in the morning. He arrived Cyprus late afternoon. He of course filed a flight plan in Rome, checked in with all the radio contacts along the way and flew the route he was supposed to fly... BUT...
When he landed in Cyprus his plane was surrounded with police cars and officials of all kinds. He said when he got out, "Everyone was talking at once". He was trying to answer their questions but couldn't because they were all talking and were very excited. He said they were in a big circle around him with him in the middle. Finally he raised his hands and said, "I can't answer questions this way, you will have to speak one at a time" and he choose someone to speak first.

They were so excited because they didn't know where he came from. They said the Greek Air Force was sent out to intercept him and even the American Ambassador was called (they said). "Did you get intercepted by fighters? Why didn't you file a flight plan?, Why did you fly over Athens?, Why didn't you answer the radio?, Why are you here?", etc. etc. After much time and confusion and when all the questions were answered and papers were reviewed to their satisfaction, there was a lot of laughter and amusement at the entire affair.

As these people were Cypriots they found it amusing that the Greeks couldn't find him. Bill said he never saw the Greek Air Force so evidently they weren't too quick on the draw or maybe not interested after all. He made radio contact at all the places he was supposed to, reported he was bound for Athens FIR, and followed all the rules, it is just that it is difficult sometimes to make contacts. He said a couple of times he reported in and then someone would radio back "report in". He hired an agent there because the agent he had couldn't be reached and was in another city so wasn't any help. You have to have an agent even to get gasoline I guess.

En route to Cyprus he was required to fly very high. He said it was cold.. -5 degrees but he put on his heater and finally the sun came out and he warmed up. He even had a tail wind. The first! When he went to leave Sardinia there was ice all over his airplane and he had to wait till it warmed up and melted before he could leave - - guess it isn't summer yet over there.

So now he is in a lovely hotel on the beach in the SW corner of Cyprus in a town called Pafos. Everyone very friendly. He was going down to have dinner when I talked to him 6:30 his time. Tomorrow he flies to Dubai. It will be a very long flight as there is really no place in between that would welcome him. He is allowed to make one fuel stop but cannot leave the airport so he figures he should just go all the way, about a 12 hour flight I think. He has an agent in Damascus who has cleared his flight over Saudi airspace and all the others, so hopefully this flight will go well. We will see.

Saturday, March 26, 2005
Just to let you know...

Bill is still in Dubai working with his agent to get permission to land in India. We worked on that permit for weeks here but never received an answer, however they should be alerted to his coming because of all our faxes.. I hope he is successful soon as he doesn't want to stay in Dubai longer than necessary. He says it has a huge commercial airport, big jets everywhere, but no little airplanes or facilities for them.

He was really searched for the first time, personally and his airplane even x-rayed. They took away his survival knife, the one he keeps to cut the seat belt if ever he needed it to ditch. AH well, He is also having trouble again finding oil. He is resigned to staying a couple of days however until he can get his permit to go on. At least now that he is over Saudi airspace, he can be more flexible. I did get to ask him what it was like flying over the Red Sea. He said it was beautiful with sand surrounding it in every direction and right up to the edge of the water. I'll ask more about that when he calls next.

Sunday, March 27, 2005
Happy Easter...

Bill called early this morning from Dubai. He is liking it better now because he has met so many nice people. He was tired that first night after the long flight and things looked different then. With his tiny airplane he felt like a little fish in a pond of big fish.

When he approached Dubai (a huge airport - bigger than LAX he said) they told him to come in at 200 Knots at least. The reason for this is that big jets were landing all around him. He said, "There is no way I can come in that fast". They said you have to. Well, he did the best he could but his little plane has to take it a little slower than that. He thought he might have held things up a bit and said the next time he will ask to just circle until traffic clears and there is an empty space to land, than he won't hold any one up.

The trip from Cyprus to Dubai was routine. Lots of water to fly over, desert and then the Red Sea. The ride was bumpy over the desert and at times really uncomfortable, so without authority he climbed to 12,000 feet to get smoother air. He said he was out of radio contact anyway. To fly low over the desert is always murky due to winds and sand. He had a tail wind of 45K and assumed therefore the wind was really blowing on the ground.

Last night at his hotel in Dubai, he got a call from a British pilot who flies for UAE. This man told him "I hear you are flying around the world so I called to see if I could help?". Bill asked how on earth he found him and how he knew. The British pilot said he read it on the EAA web site! Imagine, way over there in Dubai!. He has offered to help Bill by contacting his dispatcher in India to see if they could help get clearance. Bill is delighted to have met this pilot who said he and his friends were all building RV's. Bill and his agent have been trying to contact India but no response to faxes, e-mails or phone calls. Part of the trouble is that it is a holiday in India so maybe tomorrow they will have better luck.

Bill also met a Danish pilot who was amazed that he could fly in that little plane for so many hours over the Atlantic. He told Bill that his crew complained if they had to make a six hour flight.

Another note: In Sardinia when he was having such a hard time finding oil, he ran into some Italian helicopter pilots. They were Search and Rescue pilots and flying land and sea rescues. They said, "Don't worry, we will find you some oil". Sure enough they did and would not let Bill pay for it! Bill couldn't stop talking about how nice they were. So many nice people along the way and now this pilot in Dubai. He plans to be in Dubai for another day or two. This time I will try to remember to ask where he is staying. I can't believe I forgot to do that! Until tomorrow.............

Hi Bob,
He is having lots of trouble getting India to respond. He has an agent working on it and the New Zealand Pilot (not British as I said before) is helping but I think he needs a sponsor on the ground in India. Is there any private plane pilots in India.. Ahmedabad?

I guess his clearance could come through but so far they are asked to send faxes and then India says they never got it. They call and they are not there etc. on weekends they are closed for three days. It is difficult. I thought maybe the EAA knew some pilots in or from India??

Bill is still in Dubai but has received clearance to fly to India. Now he must wait to get permission to fly through the air space of Iran and Pakistan. He hopes to take off for India by the 31st. Because of the wonderful internet, he has received several offers of help to achieve all of this. One remarkable one was from a man in North Carolina who's father lives in India near where Bill will land. This person is also the president of a local flying club and he has offered to help Bill on the ground. We have also received wonderful help from a man who lived in Saudi Arabia for many years and knows the middle east very well. The response from all the readers has been simply amazing. Bill sends his sincere thanks to everyone.

More soon.

Bill has clearance to land one time in India. He is trying to work out a way to make two stops in India, if he can it will save him from having to fly 1800 miles the next day. He has clearance to over fly Iran but is still working with Pakistan. He will fly off shore of course and they want him to fly at 11,000-12,000 feet. If all goes well he will leave Thursday morning his time for India.

He has noted gratefully all the contacts that were sent to him and will certainly put them to use if need be.

Hello all,
We are back and on the way again. Bill arrived safely in Ahmedabad! He gassed up the night before, paid his agent, filed a flight plan, did everything possible for his 6am take off but when he went to check out found the agent had held the flight plan. This meant he had to wait an hour for that to get into the system, another hour for other problems and at last a take off at 10am. He didn't get to bed until after midnight because his agent didn't get the clearance for Pakistan airspace until then.
It was about 7 hours, 1000 miles to Ahmedabad over lots of water with a head wind. Ahmedabad is an International Airport but there were no people and no airplanes, only two small planes and Bill. He loves the airport there as it was just the opposite of Dubai, very peaceful. Also India has turned out to be a very pleasant experience all around. Bill said there was lots and lots of paper work but he was helped with it. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. The contact he made because of the web site and internet, a Ravi Thakkar, a pilot in North Carolina, called his father near Ahmedabad and smoothed the way by having his dad contact Bill to offer his help. Even Ravi's cousin and uncle have offered their help. One of the nicest parts of this trip is meeting these kind, helpful people. So many are thoughtful and willing to help in so many ways. It is certainly heart warming and Bill is very grateful for this and wants to thank them and you all!

He is staying at the Taj Residency Hotel in Ahmedabad now and trying to figure out if he can make one more stop in India. This would help so much as it is such a long flight to Thailand otherwise. The problem is the finger of land that goes down around Thailand but belongs to what used to be Burma and is now Myanmar. He cannot fly over this so he has to go around. This adds many more miles. India does not allow more than one stop, however, his Indian friends tell him it would be ok so he is looking for an airport in SE India and checking that out. Otherwise, he will be on a very long flight to Puket, Thailand. He does have an agent in Ahmedabad - Indian Airlines. He sounded tired so I asked why not stay over another night and rest up. He can't do this because his clearance for Thailand is only good until tomorrow.

One of his radios went out but he found it was a loose connection. Other than that, the plane is performing beautifully and he has no complaints. That's all for day.. maybe Thailand tomorrow or maybe another airport in India.. we will see.

I just spoke with Bill. He is in Chennai, India, staying at the Radisson Hotel.

He had a interesting day last in Ahmedabad. He got to the airport at 7 a.m. for an early take off. It was 4 pm before he actually took off.

He paid his landing fees and they took him to the control tower. There he was told just why it was impossible to land one more time in India. The explanation went on and on and all the while one controller was shaking his head. When the first speech was over, the friendly controller picked up the telephone and called Delhi. He arranged for Bill to land in Chennai - a city on the part of India closest to Thailand. This controller talked directly to Air Traffic Control and made things ok for Bills flight. Bill thanked this man over and over, took his photo and contact information, and then was told get in his airplane. It is VERY hot in India this time of year and Bill has a metal airplane which doesn't cool things off any so you can picture this next part. He had to wait in his plane 45 minutes before he was allowed to start his engine. Then he was told to taxi out and had to wait another hour. By this time his engine is over heating so he had to come back, wait his turn and start the whole procedure over again. He finally took off at 4pm. He said apparently if there is another airplane anywhere in Northern India , air traffic is frozen on the ground.

When he got going the weather was good but soon it was a very black night. He is getting used to flying at night as he never gets to take off in the morning as planned. When he landed at the Chennai Airport, he was greeted by some friendly people who knew he was coming. He was told to park by the control tower. There were a group of Indian soldiers around the tower who greeted him and helped him get a hotel reservation. When he was ready to leave he asked, "How am I going to walk across the tarmac as that is prohibited?" The soldier in charge assigned Bill a military escort - two soldiers to walk with him across the airport. These men were carrying assault rifles so no one tried to stop them.

The Hotel sent a car for him (this impressed Bill as taxis and telephones are very expensive in India) so this was a big help. So far at the end of a long flight when he would like a small drink or glass of wine of some sort, there is nothing. No alcohol in most of India I guess.

His feelings about his experiences in India were that he had grown very fond of the people. He liked them so much! They were warm, helpful and so kind. (Ravi's father called him and his family was so nice). He said the people too shake their heads at the bureaucracy.

It was 9:30 pm when he got to his hotel in Chennai so he was tired and headed for dinner then some sleep. His plans are to leave in the morning for Phuket, Thailand. He will stay there and leave on Monday for Malaysia.. then on to Bali.. So far so good!

Good Morning,
I had a nice long talk with Bill this morning in Chennai, India. It was 8:30 pm his time and he was exhausted. Not from flying but from an entire day trying to file a flight plan and therefore deal with the system.

The main thing that was wrong was that the Indian telephone system was in the process of changing all their numbers. All the old numbers were worthless. Everything was different and no one knew what the new numbers were so it was impossible to reach any one. He needed to call Air Traffic Control and other officials at the airport to file a flight plan for the next day. After trying for an hour or so himself, he appealed to the desk clerks who took over trying to help him. They were just as puzzled as he was and could reach no one at the airport. Finally after much frustration, the hotel sent a messenger out to the airport to try to secure some telephone numbers. The messenger came back with some but they proved wrong and he had to be sent again to find numbers that worked. Finally they got through and asked to file a flight plan. They were told he would have to come to the airport. He did this and the government official asked for his permit. He showed his permit to fly to Thailand. "No", they said, "You must have a permit to leave India!" That turned out to take up the rest of the day. No one in Chennai could do this but finally toward the end of the day they got through to Delhi and the nice official who remembered Bill and so permission was granted to leave India.

You will all ask why didn't Bill get an agent. He did, it is the law but they don't do anything for you. The first agent accompanied Bill to get his flight plan. When Bill filled out his flight plan he handed it to the agent who then handed it to the government official. The only other thing the agent has consented to do so far is to escort him to his plane tomorrow as he won't have the soldiers again to do that. He says the airport has a list of approved agents. Bill asked to see the list but they said, "No." You take this one". The first agent was from Indian Airlines and he was no help at all. The desk Captain at Bill's hotel called his friend at Air India and he was able to find an agent who would walk Bill to his plane. Bill asked the how much that would be and was told it will be $300.00. The charge for the agent in Ahmedabad was $1000.00. Bill protested and said that was way too high for no service. They finally reduced it to $900.00.

He has to pay of course for parking his airplane. That is $100.00 a day. There are only two prices, one for passenger jets and Cargo jets. No price for little airplanes.

He keeps remembering the Air Traffic Controller in Ahmedabad and how wonderful helpful he was. Another nice experience he had was when he was at the airport in Ahmedabad ready to go to his plane, he was surrounded by student pilots. He said they were really spiffy looking and so nice. They had colorful, starched uniforms and they were interested in everything Bill was doing. They asked a zillion questions about the plane, the flight and about him. Bill took photos of them. It was thanks to them that he got gas. They filled up his tank from gasoline at their flight school!

The desk clerks at the hotel have been life savers. Bill had tipped them generously and today he was so grateful that he wanted to give them more. They said, "No Mr. William, you have already given us a gift". He said again how much he appreciated the kind people. The desk clerks, the air traffic controller, the student pilots. Again, it is just the system that baffles him and the system makes it hard for everyone not just travelers. He said he would rather spend 14 hours in the cockpit any day than deal with the system.

He was a day late for his permit into Thailand so he sent a fax, asking for an extension, and an hour later, it was approved!
It was evening when Bill called. He was going to dinner and then to bed. He wanted to take off tomorrow morning at 8:30 am their time because the flight to Phuket is about 8 hours. However he was told, "no, that is too early, make it 9:30".

All is well that ends well and he leaves in the morning for Phuket.
Stay tuned.

Good morning, Well, lots has been happening that I am sure you are anxious to hear about..Bill has had another adventure.
April 3rd...
As you know, on April 2nd, Bill spent the day in Chennai, India getting ready for the next day......
So on April 3rd, He had already made a flight plan so expected to get underway on time. He was to leave at 9:30 am per their request. They told him he had to be at the airport at 6am. He got up at 4am, got to the airport before 6am but by the time he finished the process it was 2:30pm! He got off at 3pm, which put him in the dark again for the flight into Phuket. He landed late at night in Phuket, Thailand.

He called early our time. He is exhausted but OK.

The plane blew a tire on landing. This caused a spin, which caused the other tire to blow. The friction of the spin or something caused the tire to catch fire. Luckily Bill got out quickly and tried to put fire out with an extinguisher but was unsuccessful, he even tried to smother it with his jacket but to no avail. The airport fire truck came and sprayed foam all over the plane and extinguished the fire. Whew! as the tire is right under the gas tank.

They wanted him to get it off the runway so he taxied over to some grass out of the way. They came to tow the plane away and he told them it would ruin the airplane if they did that. They were not happy that he was on the taxi way but let him stay on the grass as he demonstrated that he was not impeding any air traffic. At this point he went to his hotel exhausted as it was an 8 hour flight and late at night when he got in.

April 4...
After a worrisome night, he came to the airport to see what the damages were. Again he got so lucky with very nice, helpful people. He said he thought he made some friends as everyone enjoyed solving the problem of how to get the plane towed away safely into a safe place. Now he says he thinks he can get by with two new tires and two new tubes.

Bill’s son (who was in Jakarta at the moment) now knows about this and called his friend in Phuket. This friend is the one who had the diving shop in Phuket that was completely destroyed by the Tsunami. This very nice person came out to the airport to help. Bill was touched by his willingness to help when he had so many problems of his own.

Now the plan is for Bill to fly commercial to Jakarta and then to Bali and spend time there with his son until the parts can be delivered by Vans Aircraft to him. He thinks it will only take a day to repair the damage when he does get the parts.

He will call me and I will order the parts. Sounds like a plan..

Dear patient people,

I didn't mean to keep you wondering what had happened but I didn't know myself for awhile.

Bill managed to secure a safe place for his airplane in Phuket and as he had to wait for the parts to be sent from Vans Aircraft in Oregon, he thought it best to wait in Jakarta with our son. He flew commercially to Jakarta where he can relax and visit. Today he called me and gave me a list of the parts to order and an address to send them to. I called Vans to place the order and they were very helpful. They are getting everything ready to send to Bill and said it will only take a day or two for the parts to reach him. Isn't that amazing!

So as soon as Bill gets the parts he will fly to Phuket and begin putting things back together. This isn't a very newsy up-date but I just wanted you to know that you probably won't be hearing from me for awhile - at least not until Bill gets the parts and begins work to fix any damage. I will write as soon as I get any word.

Thanks for listening.

Good Morning,
I am sorry I have been so quiet but Bill has just been waiting. He received the shipment of the parts he needed eight days after ordering. The company sent them out the first day but due to customs etc. it took eight days to have them in hand. When he opened them, some things were not included so he had to re-order. Things are looking good now however, he is in Singapore and has just picked up the second shipment.

The plan is this: Stay in Singapore tonight (it was already night there when he called here at 6:30 am.), then continue on to Phuket by commercial air on Tuesday. Arrive Phuket on Tuesday sometime late and will work on the airplane there probably Wednesday and Thursday and then fly to Malaysia on Friday and on to Bali on Saturday. Lets hope things go according to plan. He likes most everything about the flight except the waiting. That is the hard part but soon he should be on his way. He will call from Phuket to let us know how he is doing with the repairs.

Hopefully the story will continue soon. Bill sends his regards to all of you faithful followers of his trip.

It's Wednesday , April 20th here but early Thursday morning the 21st in Phuket, Thailand.

Bill arrived in Phuket after picking up his shipment in Singapore. He got a hotel and went right to work on the airplane. He had taken along a special device with him to jack up the airplane but when he first used it, it broke. This meant he had to figure another way and it wasn't easy. When I talked to him this morning (Wednesday night in Phuket) he said, "I got the wheels on". He sounded exhausted as he had worked all day in the intense heat. (I looked up the weather in Phuket and they said "the temperature is 79 degrees but feels like 85 as the humidity is 94%!".) I told him to be careful about heat stroke and he said he had been drinking buckets of water and would be careful. What can you do, there is no air conditioning where he is working. Also he has few tools to work with, except for what he brought with him, so the entire effort is a challenge. He mentioned the lack of tools several times so he will have to be inventive. He said there is no Av-gas there either but he has 40 gallons so can get to his next destination. When he awakes he said he will search for some brake fluid, which he also needs.

Fortunately they make good beer in Thailand so he enjoyed one before turning in.

He thinks he will be in Phuket for a couple more days to finish up and then go to Johor Bahru, Malaysia and the following day on to Bali. Well, that is the plan anyway. Just wanted you to know that the repairs are underway and so far going ok.

To all of you reading this, I hope you have enjoyed reading about Bill's flight, and thanks for the interest you have shown.
For anyone in the central coast area, Bill and his airplane will be at the Watsonville Fly-In and Air Show from Friday through Sunday. We invite you to come out and talk to Bill and see his airplane. For details go to http://www.watsonvilleflyin.org.
And to Bill. Bill,I am thankful that you have arrived back home safely, not surprised, just thankful! I am also very happy and very proud of you for having the courage to fulfill your longtime dream. Bill, you have shown all of us that if you want something enough, go for it! Do your best to reach that goal! If you fail, well you had the courage to try. If you accomplish that goal, well... you're on top of the world!
Bill, right now, you must be on top of the world!
My most heartfelt congratulations,
Bob

Winding Down
May 31

Tuesday Morning, May 31, 2005

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Thank you Shirley!

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Experimental Aircraft Association, Chapter 119
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updated 05/31/05