Google Earth Community: Round the World in 79 days in a Microlight

Remarks:
Best viewed in Google Earth.

Google Maps doesn't show properly all the placemarkers/path.
_______________________________________________

This post is about the achievements of two adventurous and brave pilots of Indian Air Force (IAF) who, on August 19, 2007, completed the circumnavigation of the Globe in 79 days (80th day) in their microlight plane and became the fastest to do so in "Light Sport Aircraft" class.

Such a feat had been done only twice before. Firstly by Brian Milton of UK, who circumnavigated the world in a microlight - travelling 38,624 Km (24,000 miles) in 120 days. Later in 2001, Colin Bodill also of UK circumnavigated the globe (solo), travelling about 22,000 nautical miles (40,744 km) in 99 days in a microlight. The IAF duo covered a total distance of 40,529 Kms (25,183.553 miles) in 79 days (80th day) and achieved an average speed of 21.092 kmph bettering the record of 16.53 kmph set by Colin Bodill.

The expedition was undertaken by Indian Air Force as part of celebration of its 75th Anniversary and Wing Commanders Rahul Monga (team leader) and Anil Kumar were selected by the IAF for this expedition.

Wg Cdr Monga (right) is an experienced helicopter pilot having more than 3400 hours of flying hours to his credit. He also has keen interest and extensive experience in aero-sports and holds several national records.

Wg Cdr Kumar (left) is an experienced jet fighter pilot with more than 3000 hrs of flying, mostly on the MiG-21 and its variants. He had the difficult task of adapting from the high-speed single cockpit fighters to a microlight.

The aircraft used was two-seater ultra-light manufactured by Flight Design (Germany) model CTSW (Composite Technology Short Wing) purchased specifically for this expedition keeping in view reliability, long range, high cruise speed and comfort. It has a length of 6.22 m (20 ft 5 in), wingspan of 8.50 m (27 ft 11 in) and a height of 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in). It is powered by Rotax 4-cylinder, 4-stroke liquid/air-cooled 73.5 kW (100 hp) engine with a cruising speed of 240 km/hr and Max. permissible speed of 301 km/hr and range of 1200 Km.

Its empty weight is about 279 kg (698 lbs.) and fully loaded weight 600 kg (1320 Lbs.).

The aircraft was provided with latest communication and satellite tracking equipment provided by Calgary-based Flyht called "Automated Flight Information Reporting System" (AFIRS) which allowed the IAF to constantly track the airplane in real time and it also allowed the pilots to phone anyone from wherever they are in the world.

The flight crossed 20 countries, touched 80 airfields in 17 countries and flew over varied terrain ranging from plains, dense forests, snow, icy lands/seas and deserts. The original plan was to complete the trip in 64 days, but bad weather hampered the expedition and caused delays mainly in China, Russia, Alaska and Europe but still they managed to complete the circumnavigation on 80th day.

The entire trip has been marked by me on a world map taken from http://maps.google.com/ and each touchdown airport has also been placemarked in Google Earth.

I was lucky to make contact with the team leader Wing Commander Monga, who not only provided me with several clarifications but also sent me a kml file (IAF.kml) of the expedition which shows the actual route. The tracking unit was switched on at their third stop at Baghdogra, India and remained on thereafter till the final landing at Hindon, Delhi. The track displayed by this kml file also has the altitude of the aircraft in flight, and it renders even minor deviations. I have included this as a part of this post.

The expedition was flagged off from Hindon Airbase, Delhi, India by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major on June 1, 2007. Major events of the journey are summarised below;

Asia - First leg

The flight took off from Hindon in Eastward direction and the trip upto Yangon, Mynamar was uneventful.

On the 3rd day of the trip they faced bad weather for the first time. They took off from Yangon and travelled about 150 km (91 Nm) towards Bangkok, Thailand but a thunderstorm forced them to return back to Yangon and they had to spend an extra day there.

The team reached Haikou, China on 6th day and here they faced their first mechanical failure here when an oil pressure sensor failed. The replacement was procured from Hong Kong and changed by the team members themselves. However heavy rains foiled their repeated attempts to reach Guangzhou, China and they wasted 5 precious days at Haikou and ultimately reached Guangzhou on 11th day.

Bad weather continued to hamper their progress. Torrential rain and floods prevented them from reaching Xiamen, China and they remained here till the 14th day.

On day 15, with improvement in weather the team over flew Xiamen and landed at Fuzhou to save the time. However the improvement in weather was only short lived and they spend extra day each at Dalian and Shenyang.

The team landed at Dalian on Day 19 and were supposed to continue same day to Changchun but again bad weather forced them to stay at Dalian for a night.

On day 20 the flight took off for Changchun but strong wind didn't allow them to land there. Ultimately after flying for 6 hrs 20 mins the team landed at Shenyang - an unscheduled stop! The Chinese authorities were not allowing them to deviate from predefined path/approved touch down ports and take another route to bypass the bad weather. Shenyang was an exception and an unscheduled emergency stop as the microlight was running short of fuel. The lap from Dalian to Shenyang was longest duration lap of the whole expedition.

Bad weather continued to trouble them and they wasted another day at Shenyang. However on day 22 they completed the last lap of their transit through China by flying Shenyang-Changchun-Jiamusi.

Russia-Alaska leg

On day 23 Wing Commander Rahul Monga flew solo and landed at Khabarovsk, Russia. His co-pilot Wing Commander Anil Kumar took a commercial flight from China to Alaska, USA. This was done because the Russian Air Traffic Control converses only in Russian and it is mandatory to have a Russian interpreter in the aircraft during flights within Russia. At Khabarovsk Lt Col Valery Ocheretny of Russian Federation Air Force joined Wg Cdr Monga and remained with him through out the entire Russian passage.

The Russian passage from day 24 to day 36 was also repeatedly hampered by bad weather. Wg Cdr Monga faced bad weather at Nikolaevsk-na-Amur (3 days) and then at Magadan (5 days). Finally on the 36th day he left the Russian port of Buhta Provideniya and flew solo into Nome, Alaska, USA thus becoming the first Indian to cross the Bering Strait solo. Wg Cdr Kumar rejoined him here and they left same day for McGrath, Alaska running about 12 days behind schedule.

On 37th day (7th July) the duo reached Anchorage, Alaska. They made a scheduled stop of one extra day here for servicing of the microlight and took off for Juneau, Alaska on 9th July but had to return back due to bad weather, which didn't allow them to leave Anchorage till day 42 (July 12) when to bye pass the weather they made change in their route and crossed the Canadian border to reach Beaver Creek via Northway, Alaska.

Canada-USA-Canada leg

The journey through the Western Canada (day 42 onwards) and the US mainland was relatively smooth. The team was already running behind schedule so in order to avoid further delays due to bad weather they abandoned their original planned route and took a new route which took them deep south close to the Mexican border and then up again through the east coast to the New York state and into Toronto, Canada on day 55 (July 25).

The team's luck ran out again in Eastern Canada when due to bad weather they lost extra days at La Grande Rivière, Kuujjuak, Kangiqsujuaq and Iqaluit. Finally on day 62 (Aug 1) the microlight left the shores of Canada for Atlantic crossing.

Europe leg

In Iqualuit the team split for a second time. Wg Cdr Kumar took commercial flight to the UK so as to allow the machine to carry safety raft and additional fuel to fly longer distance over long stretch of the water. The trip from Iqaluit till Lossimouth, UK, was flown solo by Wg Cdr Monga.

On day 62 (Aug 1) he crossed Baffin Bay solo when he flew over frozen seas and icebergs for a considerable period of time and reached Nuuk, Greenland. The next lap on day 63 (Aug 2) to Kulusuk, Greenland was the toughest trip of the expedition. The microlight flew up to 13,500 ft (4,114.8 metres) to keep clear of the mountains and the icecap but soon it met icing conditions with the result that the canopy iced up and for about 45 minutes he flew in zero visibility with failed pressure instruments. The engine was sputtering and the microlight on the verge of stall.

With a short break at Kulusuk, Wg Cdr Monga bravely continued his flight, crossed the first leg of the redoubtable North Atlantic and reached Reykjavik, Iceland on same day. The luck ran out again when he met bad weather and had to spend an extra day at Reykjavik.

On day 65 (Aug 4) he left Reykjavik for the Vagar, Faeroes Islands but was forced by bad weather to divert to remote town of Höfn (Hornafjordur), south west Iceland. By this time the expedition was running 16 days behind schedule.

On day 66 (Aug 5) he crossed the second leg of The Atlantic and reached Lossiemouth, North Scotland, UK. This was longest distance covered in a single lap when he flew solo 1055 Km. He also became the first Indian to cross the Atlantic solo. A great achievement indeed.

Wg Cdr Kumar joined him at Lossiemouth and they flew same day to RAF airbase at Halton near London.

Thereafter on day 67 (Aug 6) they flew to Munster Osnabruck, Germany and then to Eggersdorf (Muncheberg) - the headquarters of the manufacturer of microlight "Flight Design (Flightdesign Vertrieb)". The aircraft was serviced here on day 68 but bad weather again overtook them and forced them to remain here for four days. Finally on day 73 (Aug 12) the team flew into Friedrichshafen, Germany.

On day 74 (Aug 13) the team flew over Switzerland, crossed the icy Alps and reached Rome. On next day (Aug 14) soon after take off from Rome (39 minutes) they had to make an emergency landing at Latina, Italy due to engine problem. After its rectification they continued their trip same day and stopped at Kerkyra (Corfu), Greece before re-entering Asia on day 75 (Aug 15).

Asia - Second leg

The team landed at Sabiha Gökçen (Istanbul), Turkey on day 75 and thereafter, although they encountered high temperatures, consequent high altitudes with resultant reduced air density, which posed difficulties in flying, they made good progress and crossed into India on Day 79 (Aug 18) travelling via Kayseri & Van (Turkey), Tabriz, Ahwaz, Banadar Abbas & Chabahar (Iran) and Karachi, Pakistan They got a lucky break when they got permission from Pakistan to land at Karachi for re-fuelling. This way they could save not only one extra day but also avoided another long solo trip from Muscat to India which was considered very risky as the distance between the two shores is at the extreme end of the aircraft range, without reserve.

On day 80 (Aug 19) the duo landed back at home base - Hindon, Delhi to a rousing reception by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Fali, who, 79 days ago, had flagged them off on the round the World trip.

As per the rules framed by Federation Aeronautique Internationale (F.A.I.) for aerial circumnavigations the total distance to be travelled should not be less that 36,787.559 kilometres (22,858.7294 miles) - equal in length to the Tropic of Cancer, where as the Indian duo flew a total distance of 40,529 Kms (25,183.553 miles) flying over 20 countries.

Despite all the obstacle they completed the mission of circumnavigating the earth in the shortest period of time. The crew have taken considerable risk in accomplishing this mission - A well accomplished mission, of which every Indian should be proud. Wg Cdr Rahul Monga especially needs to be lauded, as he was the one who bravely flew the solo legs over the North Atlantic and the Bering Strait, a feat that has been done by only a handful in the world. The survival chances in case of any mishap over these regions especially in a micro plane are almost nil.

In recognition of this achievement, President of India recently conferred on these two brave pilots, the "Shaura Chakra" (an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield). The details of the award citation can be read at at this web site.

Acknowledgements:
1. Indian Air Force - Web site
2. Times of India - Special coverage
3. Flight Design - Web site and
4. Wg Cdr Rahul Monga, the team leader of the expedition. Who not only provided me with valuable information and IAF.kml file but also very patiently replied to many queries which I raised about the expedition.

Note: Several images of the expedition are also available at above web sites.

Special Note: Wg Cdr Rahul Monga <

> has a very keen interest in aero-sports and wishes to promote it. He would love to get in touch with others with similar interests.

Edited by CuriousJM (06/08/08 02:34 AM)