|
Previous | Next
Tahiti to Christmas Island
to Kona to Lanai
After our long day flying from
Fiji to Bora Bora (11 hours with three intermediate stops),
we decided that the flight plan from Bora Bora to Lanai, Hawaii
was unrealistic. It would be an even longer day and pilot
fatigue was a concern. Our solution was to leave Bora Bora
on Thursday, December 20, and hop over to Tahiti and spend
the night. The thirty-minute boat ride, the hour flight to
Tahiti, and the re-fueling in Tahiti would now be done the
day before leaving for Hawaii. Unfortunately, the autopilot
did not work on the flight to Tahiti and it became obvious
that we would have go to Hawaii without it.
On Friday morning, we were up
a 5:00 AM for our 7:00 AM departure from Tahiti to Lanai,
Hawaii by way of Christmas Island and Kona, Hawaii. Ashley
and I had spent the previous evening with noticeable anxiety
about the next leg. I did not expect the thoughts that ran
through my consciousness. I think I had never fully come to
grips with the enormity of the Pacific Ocean. Tahiti is about
3,000 miles from Australia, the nearest continent. Suddenly,
our airplane seemed so small. It was like we had swum out
into the middle of a large lake and only then realized that
we had to swim back to shore. I was reminded of Shakespeare's
words from Macbeth that I will attempt to quote, "I am in
blood tread so far that returning were as tedious as go ore".
The morning, however, brought
new courage and we were soon on our way. We had decided that
Pam would fly the first leg (with no autopilot) to Christmas
Island. In route, I would sit part of the way in the right
seat and let Tom take a nap so that he would be fresh for
the flight to Kona. The flight to Christmas Island was about
1,300 miles over some of the most isolated water in the Pacific.
We did not see a single ship and there are virtually no scheduled
airline flights between Hawaii and Tahiti.
We were still within range of
the VHF radio in Tahiti and were monitoring their frequency
when we heard the only other voice we would here on VHF for
hours, another pilot that had taken off just behind us and
was also in-route to Hawaii by way of Christmas Island. It
was remarkable because there are so few flights on this route
and also because Tom knew the pilot. He was the owner of "Southern
Cross"; the company from which we had rented the ferry tanks
that were to be installed in Honolulu.
The airplane he was flying was
a Citation V jet that cruises at around 440 knots as compared
to our 260 knots. Although he left after we did from Tahiti,
he arrived on Christmas Island over an hour and thirty minutes
ahead of us. However, he was still there waiting for fuel
when we arrived. Remember the story of the tortoise and the
hare? We were to find that Christmas Island has only one scheduled
flight per week (Monday) and that they don't see private airplanes
but once every thirty to sixty days. They were about to have
two airplanes at the same time.
*********************************
Ashley's thoughts as we're
flying over the Pacific…
Maybe it's an optical illusion,
but it does seem like I can detect the curvature of the earth,
even if we're only at an altitude of 27,000 feet (5 miles).
We've been flying now for about 4 1/2 hours…that's a LOT of
water. I guess I don't think about it so much back home, because
there are so many places to land when there's ground beneath
you. All sorts of things have gone through my mind…What would
it feel like if one of the engines caught fire and we knew
we weren't going to make it? What if we might make it? The
adrenaline involved in survival…Does prayer really work? What
if the answer's not what you wanted? Is death peaceful or
do we feel panic? And then a reflection on 9/11 and what those
poor people went through…those who felt they had to jump…those
who actually saw the plane approaching their office window…everything
that has happened throughout the world since we've been gone
and how different our world will be when we get home.
Tom just told us that in 32
minutes we will cross over to the north side of the Equator
at 11:54 on 21-Dec.-01. We're traveling at 231 knots, 27,000
feet high (I'm reading this off of the GPS. I'll let you know
exactly what time we crossed the Equator (because I'm bored
and I can!)…..12:03:20!!!!!! Happy New Year!!!!! Or whatever….
*********************************
Christmas Island is very easy
to find. You just go to the edge of the earth, turn left,
go another thousand miles or so, and there you are. You have
to arrange for fuel on Christmas Island weeks in advance otherwise
there may not be any. Their only industry is Bone fishing.
That's why the commercial flight comes in once a week. It
brings about sixty fishermen to the island and takes the same
number back.
I was sitting in the copilot's
seat when we first spotted our destination. It has a maximum
elevation of four feet and has numerous ponds of yellowish
water. I don't suppose that has anything to do with the nuclear
testing that was once conducted nearby. As we circled into
the wind for our landing, we could see the fuel truck, which
had just arrived, sitting next to the Citation V. A short
taxi later, we were conversing with the other pilot and waiting
our turn for fuel. We had departed Tahiti at 7:06 AM and we
had touched down at 12:40 PM.
Once we were re-fueled Tom offered
a credit card to the operator of the fuel truck which he refused
to accept. He wanted cash in Australian dollars. After I explained
that I only had American dollars, he did the conversion and
I was soon counting out $900. That computes to about seventy
cents a mile.
I'm not sure I told you but our
air conditioner has been inoperative (again) for several weeks
and it is seriously hot on Christmas Island. Once we are above
15,000 feet, we don't need it anyway. After about an hour,
we had our fuel and were on our way to Kona, Hawaii, U.S.A.,
another 1,100-mile flight. With the expected head winds, it
would take us another five hours and thirty minutes.
Tom was at the helm for this
leg with Pam flying shotgun. This time there were no other
airplanes and, again, there were no ships or boats along the
way. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset and copied more snapshots
onto the computer. About fifty miles from Kona, Pam called
the handler on the VHF radio and asked of U.S. Customs was
expecting us. They advised that they were looking at them
and that they were awaiting our arrival.
Our wheels touched American soil
(asphalt) at 7:25 PM, Friday, December 21. We couldn't wait
to get off of the airplane. But first, we were boarded by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make sure we weren't
bringing any food or plants into the country. Then, a customs
official checked our passports and collected our Declaration
Forms. Finally, we were standing on the ground. There were
lots of hugs and "high fives". We were happy and relieved.
Next came the canine patrol to
check for explosives. We were told that this had been added
after 9/11. The dog was a ferocious looking Golden Labrador
(actually he looked as gentle as a lamb). All of this and
the re-fueling took about an hour so by then it was 8:30 PM
and the Kona tower had closed for the night. Tom called Honolulu
control for clearance and we were soon on our way to Lanai.
When we arrived at the Lanai
airport, it was completely shut down for the night. Pam made
a great landing, we got off of the airplane once again and
Tom opened a bottle of champagne. We were all smiles. Soon
I was off looking for someone to help us just as I had done
in Bora Bora. This time I found a security guard. He called
the hotel and thirty minutes later we were picked up by our
van. At 9:50 PM we were at the hotel. Our day had begun seventeen
hours earlier and 2,400 miles away.
Pat and Ashley
P.S. We have made reservations
on United Airlines to Scottsdale on December 29. We will return
to get N982GA in a couple of weeks. We have made tentative
arrangements with a man we met in Auckland, New Zealand to
put the tanks on the airplane and fly us back to the mainland.
His name is Robin Leach (different guy). We will have more
on this later. He is a real cowboy in the sky having ferried
over one hundred airplanes over the Pacific Ocean.
Previous | Next
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)