Stavanger to Ho Chi Minh City
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: South East Asia
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Day 13
Bangkok - Ho Chi Minh - Vung Tau
A slap-up breakfast at the Silom Sofitel was followed by a traffic free (!) drive to Don Muang. Immigration formalities were swift and painless at the eerily empty airport and we were at the aircraft half an hour earlier than planned. There was a ten minute delay on our taxi clearance, but once we got airborne the routing was as planned. The weather did not present any problems and at 7500ft we managed to avoid getting shot down over the Thai / Cambodian border.
As an aside, our overflight permission from Cambodia proved difficult to get. It seems that their fax machine is unable to send International messages so the long promised clearance fax never arrived. Luckily, a friend in the Cambodian CAA was able to send me the number by sms text message last night. Our hopes of an extra night in Bangkok were dashed!
Arrival into Ho Chi Minh was easy and smiling faces waited. We cleared immigration and customs and then positioned the aircraft to its home base in Vung Tau where more smiling faces and lots of cans of 333 beer were a very welcome sight. The view of Front Beach from the Palace Hotel is as lovely as ever.
Still can't upload photos..watch this space!
Bangkok - Ho Chi Minh - Vung Tau
A slap-up breakfast at the Silom Sofitel was followed by a traffic free (!) drive to Don Muang. Immigration formalities were swift and painless at the eerily empty airport and we were at the aircraft half an hour earlier than planned. There was a ten minute delay on our taxi clearance, but once we got airborne the routing was as planned. The weather did not present any problems and at 7500ft we managed to avoid getting shot down over the Thai / Cambodian border.
As an aside, our overflight permission from Cambodia proved difficult to get. It seems that their fax machine is unable to send International messages so the long promised clearance fax never arrived. Luckily, a friend in the Cambodian CAA was able to send me the number by sms text message last night. Our hopes of an extra night in Bangkok were dashed!
Arrival into Ho Chi Minh was easy and smiling faces waited. We cleared immigration and customs and then positioned the aircraft to its home base in Vung Tau where more smiling faces and lots of cans of 333 beer were a very welcome sight. The view of Front Beach from the Palace Hotel is as lovely as ever.
Still can't upload photos..watch this space!
Last edited by he1iaviator; 16th Oct 2008 at 02:32.
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: UAE & Africa
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This has been a great thread he1iaviator. Have been following it from my home in Johannesburg and office in Dubai - look forward to seeing more pictures. thanks for taking the trouble to write the trip up. It would make a great magazine article!
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nice trip he1aviator.
Loved the cross section of the route showing hard parts and ATC stuff. Can you tell this luddite where you got those from? Don't tell me, probably from an Amazon DVD ROM.
Loved the cross section of the route showing hard parts and ATC stuff. Can you tell this luddite where you got those from? Don't tell me, probably from an Amazon DVD ROM.
Last edited by MrR; 16th Oct 2008 at 08:53.
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: All The Places I Shouldnt Be
Posts: 1,009
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Heliaviator - Great to see you out doing some work for a change, and not being lazy on the boat in Langkawi 
Looking forward to next visit to KL as lunch at that open plan restaurant near the airport was awesome
Cheers and safe flying.
Ned
Looking forward to next visit to KL as lunch at that open plan restaurant near the airport was awesome
Cheers and safe flying.
Ned
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: South East Asia
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mr R. That is correct, for flight planning I use a Jeppesen product called NavSuite. It allows flight planning of routes and has the ability to print-out airport approach plates etc. It also get's the route weather from the Internet automatically and uses that to calculate fuel requirements, has a flight log printout, and as a final trick squirts the route down a wire into my Garmin 296.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: South East Asia
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hangar 7 at Kolkata where they usually park helicopters
Yangon International Airport
Build-ups over Myanmar
Sunset / Moonrise on the way into Bangkok
Don Muang Ghost Airport
Final Approach to Vung Tau
All questions are very welcome. If you need any mored detailed information do not hesitate to PM me.
Yangon International Airport
Build-ups over Myanmar
Sunset / Moonrise on the way into Bangkok
Don Muang Ghost Airport
Final Approach to Vung Tau
All questions are very welcome. If you need any mored detailed information do not hesitate to PM me.
Last edited by he1iaviator; 16th Oct 2008 at 02:41.
excellent....cheers for the past two week's entertainment....Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: US
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Who ever said that this would be a great magazine article was right. You should submit this to a mag (Flying, Travel & Leasure, Rotor & Wings...etc). I think someone will publish you.
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: UK
Age: 47
Posts: 1,595
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thank you very much for typing it out.
That is now the third round the world trip in as many weeks I have heard of. I am getting jealous.
Did you have to deliver the aircraft to Stavanger for it's maintenance or did your company buy it only recently?
That is now the third round the world trip in as many weeks I have heard of. I am getting jealous.
Did you have to deliver the aircraft to Stavanger for it's maintenance or did your company buy it only recently?
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: South East Asia
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A little background on your correspondent!
I was a Bristow South East Asia man for many years. I did my first ferry flight between the UK and Singapore in December 1979 in a Puma J and flew an L1 from China to Aberdeen in 1997. I left Bristow in 1999 and now work part time for a European helicopter manufacturer based in Malaysia. Wearing that hat I have done five L2 delivery flights from France to Malaysia / Vietnam over the last four years. I also do some freelance work and this flight was working with a UK company that specialises in arranging helicopter ferry flight clearances around the world. We assisted the Vietnamese company in taking an L2 to Norway this time last year for a major inspection and bringing back a sister ship this time. I worked in Vietnam from 1991 to 1997 and the guys I was flying with on this trip have been my very good friends for many years.
I was a Bristow South East Asia man for many years. I did my first ferry flight between the UK and Singapore in December 1979 in a Puma J and flew an L1 from China to Aberdeen in 1997. I left Bristow in 1999 and now work part time for a European helicopter manufacturer based in Malaysia. Wearing that hat I have done five L2 delivery flights from France to Malaysia / Vietnam over the last four years. I also do some freelance work and this flight was working with a UK company that specialises in arranging helicopter ferry flight clearances around the world. We assisted the Vietnamese company in taking an L2 to Norway this time last year for a major inspection and bringing back a sister ship this time. I worked in Vietnam from 1991 to 1997 and the guys I was flying with on this trip have been my very good friends for many years.
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 228
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sir,
Thanks so much for the great report of your recent trip. What an elegant way to ease into retirement!
It brought back so many memories of the challenges of long distance helicopter ferry flights. I just wish I had taken more pictures and kept better notes.
I should honour all of them - the 55, 58, 61, 76, 204, 205, 206, 212 and 214ST. All of them brought me home safely, and they were all their very own adventure.
Thanks again,
j
Thanks so much for the great report of your recent trip. What an elegant way to ease into retirement!
It brought back so many memories of the challenges of long distance helicopter ferry flights. I just wish I had taken more pictures and kept better notes.
I should honour all of them - the 55, 58, 61, 76, 204, 205, 206, 212 and 214ST. All of them brought me home safely, and they were all their very own adventure.
Thanks again,
j
Fascinating as always, and glad it went without problems.
I look forward to your account of the first RMAF EC-725 ferry flight - should make for an interesting comparison
Note to self - must get my a**e into gear and get over to KL for a beer with you.....
I look forward to your account of the first RMAF EC-725 ferry flight - should make for an interesting comparison
Note to self - must get my a**e into gear and get over to KL for a beer with you.....
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: South East Asia
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
For those interested in the fine details here is the flight viewed in Google Earth. With a bit of luck you just need to click on this link, download the file and, if you have Google Earth installed, double click the file and all will appear. You should be able to see the planned route with all the waypoints, the actual track over the ground, and if you zoom in enough even where we parked.
Don't ask me what ATC were thinking when we departed from Heraklion!
The Garmin 296 threw a wobbly in Bangkok, so the track stops there!
VN-8610 Ferry Flight Norway to Vietnam.kmz
Don't ask me what ATC were thinking when we departed from Heraklion!
The Garmin 296 threw a wobbly in Bangkok, so the track stops there!
VN-8610 Ferry Flight Norway to Vietnam.kmz
