Some early winter fun...
When I replied to Joost this morning I was in the process of getting ready for my next flight, which took us up to Mt. Baldy (visible in the background and standing at 10,064 ft). The down wash of our helicopter made it feel super cold while I was outside to scoop up a bucket of fresh snow and take this photo...
Thank you Enmanuel. Back at the base we had a fun snowball fight with the snow I just brought back from our flight. It felt so good being in warmer temperatures again!
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
Pacific Crossing
Yay! It is time to fly across the Pacific Ocean again. This is another very special vacation for us and on top of it I will be celebrating 13,000 flight hours...
Departure from Los Angeles is this evening with QANTAS— non-stop to Sydney as always! We will arrive on Saturday morning Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT).
I will update on the go as we fly at the edges of time, jumping a day ahead in the process and leaving behind winter in favor of summer in just about 15 hours.
You can track our flight over the vast Pacific here: QF12
Talk to you from the airport later.
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
Pilot:Pacific Crossing
Yay! It is time to fly across the Pacific Ocean again. This is another very special vacation for us and on top of it I will be celebrating 13,000 flight hours...
Departure from Los Angeles is this evening with QANTAS— non-stop to Sydney as always! We will arrive on Saturday morning Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT).
I will update on the go as we fly at the edges of time, jumping a day ahead in the process and leaving behind winter in favor of summer in just about 15 hours.
You can track our flight over the vast Pacific here: QF12
Talk to you from the airport later.
Congrats and have a great time
18 GT3 Manual, 73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs), 06 EVO9 with track mods. Former: 16 Cayman GT4, 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550, 79 635CSi
We are less then 1 hour away from our departure and everything went smoothly so far. The airport is not as crowded as it usually is, but it is chilly here and I’m actually cold :(
Our flight today departs from Gate 156 at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The A380 is parked right in front of me and we are sitting face to face. I hope the cabin is well heated for boarding so I can warm up.
My wife and daughter are still strolling around somewhere and enjoying their time together while I guard our belongings ;)
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
Pilot:We are less then 1 hour away from our departure and everything went smoothly so far. The airport is not as crowded as it usually is, but it is chilly here and I’m actually cold :(
Cold in Los Angles? - Sorry no sympathy for you on that one
Was -2F (-19C) for me on way to work yesterday...
18 GT3 Manual, 73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs), 06 EVO9 with track mods. Former: 16 Cayman GT4, 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550, 79 635CSi
Somewhere over the South Pacific
We made it across the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and are now somewhere over the South Pacific Ocean.
Jet fuel keeps propelling us towards our final destination and the aircraft will have covered over 12,000 km by the time we arrive in Sydney :)
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
It is 4 pm local time and we have stopped on our way to the beach house to buy some groceries. The temperature has risen to 35 C and it definitely feels like summer.
My apologies that I didn’t post much from LAX. Our flight to Sydney was 30 minutes delayed because two passengers apparently didn’t behave themselves and had to be removed from our aircraft. This meant they had to pull their luggage from the airplanes’ belly as well. During that time I fell asleep already because the cabin was so nice and warm— a welcome change from the really cold terminal building, so unfortunately I missed the take off, but not the turbulent patches along the way. The A380 was shaking quite a bit at times and exceeded my loved one’s comfort level, even though in aviation terms we would have classified this type of turbulence as “moderate”. Thankfully for everyone things were not flying around yet ;)
This flight also had a few babies on board and sometimes they seemed to be competing with each other on who could cry the loadest haha. It really didn’t bother us at all because our daughter sometimes did the same back when she was just five weeks old and flying on a Lufthansa 747.
@Grant: Thank you for your congratulations on my flight time and yes, temperatures in the 40’s are already quite cold for us in Southern California!
Alright, commencing en route to our destination ...
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
Update: It is 9:00 pm now and we just had a strong thunderstorm with grape sized hail and quite a light show in the sky. It got really loud from all the little iceballs hitting the glass windows and metal roof. I’m glad I didn’t bring my GT3 ;)
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
I’m up since 3:00 am, after a good 6 hours of sleep. We are staying again at the same lofty beach house about one third of the way up north from Sydney towards Brisbane. The current morning temperature is a very pleasant 21 C :)
My wife and my daughter are still having sweet dreams as I type this up. Overall I don’t feel much jet lag yet, probably because I slept for more than 8 hours on the way Down Under. The actual time difference between here and California at this time of year is only 5 hours, which helps, but we are a day ahead of the rest of the world as you all know ;)
Today’s weather forecasts is sunny which means lots of sunscreen for us!
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
Feb 10, 2019 8:32:00 AM
Pilot:We safely arrived! It is a beautiful Saturday morning with 27 C outside air temperature.
Now we’re waiting at the belt for our luggage.
--
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
Glad to hear that you arrived safely. 27°C outside temp? Oh boy...we had a warm day over here in Bavaria as well...11°C...almost put my beach stuff on.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Audi R8 V10 Plus (2016), Mercedes E63 S AMG Edition 1 (2018), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)
Wonderful to hear you are back in this awful country you seem to love so much.... Who me? Yes, we are exactly the same. Our usual haunt is another 80 km north of you, the Camden Head / Laurieton area. And we are doing our Aussie trip at a different time, November to early January, so another few months yet.
Actually I thought of you when viewing this nice Petrolicious video about a SA gent who ships his vintage 911 to places like Australia and NZ in place of a rental... I had visions of you slinging your GT3 over to Seal Rocks via a (specially equipped long range) Eurocopter.... !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfUZTCySwyk
Enjoy!
2017 Range Rover Sport S/C, 2009 Porsche 911S
This was the second night I was able to sleep through until normal morning hours. The relaxing effect of our surroundings and the warm climate is slowly taking hold. It is in especially stark contrast to crowded Southern California and the perfect getaway for every once in a while.
Yesterday I brought up the fact that we have been lucky and have never seen a snake here in Australia (except those in the zoo). Well guess what? Today we saw not one, but two snakes! Yikes!! Each one of them minded its own business and crawled slowly across the gravel road. These sightings, although fascinating and beautiful, stressed me out quite a bit to say the least. The first one I saw from our patio on the path leading up to our house and the second snake my wife and I almost missed while walking over to the local lighthouse. There was a car coming our way that stopped rather apruptly and I wondered why since we were not close to the car at all. So we just kept walking and it wasn’t until we passed the car that the guy got out and asked us if we saw the snake. We hadn’t and that really freaked me out. So much for a relaxing morning walk
Our daughter identified them as diamond pythons (most likely), which are apparently non-venomous snakes native to the coastal areas here in New South Wales. They’re pretty but I wouldn’t want to accidentally get too close either...
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
RC:Pilot:We safely arrived! It is a beautiful Saturday morning with 27 C outside air temperature.
Now we’re waiting at the belt for our luggage.
--
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS
Glad to hear that you arrived safely. 27°C outside temp? Oh boy...we had a warm day over here in Bavaria as well...11°C...almost put my beach stuff on.
Time for you and your family to give Down Under a visit?
If I don't fly, I drive my .:RS