Both aircraft needed exercising so I took the Decathlon
for a couple of circuits on Saturday and the....

...Chipmunk for a trip over Glen Valley to capture the Autumn colours.

The Airbus, flaps and gear down on final for Chiang Mai

The Song Taew at Doi Saket, loaded with produce for markets

The correct way to wei... Men must be on their toes

Too busy

There's always another thing one has to do, it never ends and then we die and who will do it then?
Somebody I suppose.

On Monday the weather was awful, low cloud and rain, but Ted and I went to Langley anyway.
It began to improve, but we went for a cup of tea and gave it a little longer.
The weather improved rapidly, we couldn't believe it! Fired up the Chipmunk and went to Chilliwack for lunch.
The wind was picking up and strong across the runway at Langley. I looked at the crab angle as we approached and thought this would be dodgy, but Ted did a perfect landing... The controller complimented him on doing a crosswind landing better than most do in tricycle aeroplanes!

Big sky on Wednesday afternoon

Tuesday morning (01:30) I took a fourteen hour flight to Taipei and then a shorter flight to Bangkok (China Airlines), and an even shorter one to Chiang Mai (Thai, business class!), arriving Wednesday afternoon.
In bed at 20:00 I woke up at 04:00 but managed to doze a while before getting up at 06:00 which is my usual time.
I'm not a believer in jet lag... I just get on with it and I'm fine...
The bright sunny weather makes it a lot easier I think.

Today, Thursday I took a Song Taew with Mod and her aunt to a Wat halfway to Chiang Rai... I did not realise you can take one of these all the way to Chiang Rai; I thought Mod was joking. It was only a two and a half hour ride to where we were going in the middle of no-where.

At Wats across the country, preparations for Loy Krathong go ahead

Women are to be worshipped

A geko awaits dinner in a light box.

The Buddhas in a cave at a Buddhist retreat near Hot

A girl in costume for the parade on Sunday night

The Krathong can take your troubles down the river

I need a vacation

What I really need is to have some relaxation while someone else does the work! I hope to get this next week in Hua Hin.
On Monday morning I woke up at 04:30 and my mind raced through many things, sort of like the night before an exam!
But what I really needed to do was clean at least some of this apartment.
The desktop computer has been loaded with stuff and was freezing up, it was also loaded with dust inside and needed cleaning out... It'll have to go to a computer servicing place to be rectified.
I had to take the car back to the rental agency by 11:00 but not before I thoroughly cleaned a corner of the apartment, and then I couldn't walk out before I got a step ladder and cleaned the ceiling fan...
There's something to be said for staying in a hotel sometimes.

Robert takes off from Ban Thi

Aviation

Many things have led to the decline of the Chiang Mai Flying Club... I've said enough about this before and so I'll say no more.
Nok is also in decline with only one Cessna 172 available to fly. All aircraft there are up for sale I am told together with the airstrip itself, are there any investors out there???
These things are due both to the troubles here and the economic downturn...
But Robert continues at his Ban Thi - Lanna airstrip; I went there on Sunday morning to catch him just before he took off.
There's an American registration DA40-180 at Ban Thi as well, on a flight around the world and stopping by here for a while.
I drove around to Nok and spoke to a solitary engineer there, it was all quiet otherwise.

Thai dancing in Sunday night's parade

Loy Krathong

This year there seems to be many more people in Chiang Mai; tourism seems to be healthy again.
The parade on Sunday night was full of colour as college and university students paraded in costume. There was a beauty pagent on show on the stage at Tapae Gate as well.
But there were none of the demonstrations of local artistry as I showed on my webpage for last year's festival.
On Monday night we went to launch Krathongs by the Old House in Chiang Mai.

Women are to be worshipped, Beer Chang girls

Kentucky Fried Goong in Chiang Mai

Jomtien: the water flushed brown in the loo, and through the taps

Isawanya Resort Jomtien

The Reds have their own pro Taksin television station

Addy with his smart SportCruiser

Alisdair prepares the Ecoflyer

Thai smile, a real live wire, (renting motorcycle)

The view from Khao Tao

Khao Takiab evening

A bit of catching up to do

I have not been keeping this website up as often as I have during past trips but I have been busy.

Loy Krathong carried on for three days with parades and partying every night, sanook sanook.
On Thursday I took Nok Air to Don Mueang (2,090 Baht), then a taxi to Sukhamvit Soi 23 (165 Baht), to stay one night at the Thai Pan hotel ($51 through Agoda).
I met up with Pakorn for lunch... He was on standby to fly for Thai Air Asia should they need him... After 12 he thought he was clear but they called him in as a crew had gone over their duty time and a new crew was needed to fly a 737.
Air Asia are geting rid of their 737s in favour of more Airbus 320s and so Pakorn will be upgrading his skills to Airbus standard.

I took the skytrain from nearby Asok station to Sathorn and went to see Norman and Lek.
Norman had had his final chemo treatment the day before and was very sore, he is recovering from colon cancer...
It's good to see old friends from time to time.

Maneeda car hire Vios

Bangkok - Pattaya

The Tai Pan hotel in Bangkok is very comfortable, and I filled up with a good breakfast in the morning. It's worth paying a little more sometimes.
I took a taxi to Lat Krabang to pick up a car from Maneeda. The rental was 1,200 Baht a day and they give you the car nearly empty, I put 1,000 Baht's worth of petrol in the car, too much, 700 Baht would have done.
I dropped into Bang Phra but it was quiet there, so I went to Pattaya Eastern Air Park and then to my hotel at the far end of Jomtien 'beach'. There's a high tide at the moment and so not much beach to see.
The Isawanya Resort is undergoing renovations... The room was $27 a night through Agoda, and I stayed one night.
On Friday night it was Pig Roast night at Pattaya Eastern. Jim has created a great venue for sport flyers in Thailand, always friendly and with activities every weekend.
Saturday morning I was up early to do the first flight in the SportCruiser which has waited a long time to get its five year permit.
Aircraft imported into Thailand get their CxAs fairly quickly, but they also have to have a five year permit to be allowed to fly, and this is limited to pilots who's names have been put on that permit. The five year permit can take months to get and so many aeroplanes sit not able to fly while their owners go out of currency..

The SportCruiser gets airborne for the first time in Thailand

The SportCruiser is a well developed honest and nice flying aeroplane... I'd have one!
I understand that Piper has bought Czech Aircraft Works and will be adding the SportCruiser to its line... This aeroplane is superior to any 'Light Sport' aircraft I have flown so far. It appears to have gone through a proper development program rather than going to market 'unfinished'.
The SportStar is almost as good, and I enjoyed the ATEC Zephyr too, but the SportCruiser wins in my estimation.

In contrast I flew the Ekolat JK05 Junior, Ecoflyer... Alasdair had bought this aeroplane from Addy and had not done any stalls in it.
There's a report that with full flap the Ecoflyer would take 2,000 feet to recover from a stall! We climbed to 3,000 feet with U-Tapao's blessing and stalled it. Every stall had a nasty wing drop and this is not a good characteristic to have in this type of aircraft. We did not lose that much height full flap but it was nasty all the same.
Like with the Allegro, vortex generators will be tried on the outboard portions to cure this bad tendancy. The Allegro's stall and handling were vastly improved when vortex generators were fitted.
The Ecoflyer and Allegro aircraft are examples of under developed aircraft where owners make the mods to make them safe!

I did two more flights in the SportCruiser, and then finished the day with circuits in the Ecoflyer with steeper approaches, power off and slipping to get in over the silos on the approach to 01. Alasdair learned a different style of approach to what he'd seen before and his wife Jill said he came home a happy man...

Jim's Sunday breakfast at Pattaya Eastern kept me going all day

Sunday

Saturday night I stayed at the White House Resort in Jomtien, this is a bit of a run down place for 1,300 Baht a night in the Russian part of Jomtien. After a long hot day I needed a shower so much I did not take the time to make sure there was a towel in the room!

Sunday morning I was up to fly the SportCruiser again... I arrived at the Air Park to find Alisdair practicing circuits in the Ecoflyer. Too fast!, bounce and go, was the first landing I saw, then he came in at the right speed, flared, and landed nicely... Some discussion ensued about going around when it was other than the correct speed on short finals...

Addy added too much fuel to the SportCruiser, it takes 15 USG a side and can put you well over gross easily. We took off and flew to Dok Krai which was too short for my liking with a heavy aeroplane and so we flew around a bit and I suggsted some circuits at U-Tapao, we can ask and they can say no...
I called U-Tapao approach and asked whether it would be alright if we did some circuits there? "Runway 36, QNH 1014, report 10 DME" came the reply.
We burned fuel doing five circuits on U-Tapao's long runway and then returned to Pattaya-Eastern for breakfast.
Addy defueled the aeroplane a bit more to do circuits on Pattaya-Eastern's short strip.
He did well as we departed off 19 over the silos and around for nine circuits with me saying less to nothing and so I sent him solo.

Addy lands the SportCruiser solo

Jim gives Addy a dousing Canadian style

The car had to be returned... I drove to Bang Phra to drop my licence off. My Thai licence limits me to flying aircraft of the Sport Flyng Association of Thailand and Khun Worawoot is going to the DCA to add Thai Flying Club to my licence to allow me to fly their aeroplanes as well.
I drove back to Lat Krabang, dropped the car off and got a lift to the Airport Bus Station.
There I got a van ride to the Victory Monument in Bangkok for 40 Baht. Travellers on a budget to Thailand can arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport and take a free shuttle bus to the airport bus station and travel cheaply from there to many places.
At Victory Monument I had to carry my bags and ask around until I found a van to Hua Hin. Van's are a little more expensive than the busses, and are not for the weak of heart, these guys drive foot to the floor everywhere snaking through the traffic... The Toyota Commuter that took me to Hua Hin for 180 Baht had seat belts!

Khao Takiab

I arrived here at the Takiab Beach Resort in the evening and had a light supper, Jim's breakfast had kept me going all day.
In the morning I rented a motorcycle and then rode to the railway station for lunch and then to Khao Tao where it was good to sit and feel the breeze in the temple pagodas, and watch the jelly fish swimming around in the sea.

Travelling Hua Hin, Pranburi area

A motorbike is freedom in Thailand and we rode south to Pranburi and along the coast for a few kilometres on Tuesday.

The major expedition was on Wednesday when we rode 135 kilometres during the day.
We went to the large statu of Luang Phor Tuad and then on to the Hua Hin Hills Vineyard for a late lunch. The bistro there is very similar to such places in the Okanagan.

The Pizza Company is expensive here and yet the food is poor by comparison

Thursday I returned the motorcycle to the cheerful girls after arranging a Song Taew to take us to the bus station.
There's a bus to Bangkok every 40 minutes and it costs 160 Baht per person. From Bangkok southwest bus station a taxi to the nearest skytrain station cost me 140 Baht, I thought the BTS system was better during Bangkok's rush hour, and it was an easy walk to our First Hotel on Petchburi RoadThailand is getting a little mean here and there, internet was 250 Baht an hour, and breakfast 236 Baht per person. At 30 Baht to the dollar I think this is expensive and didn't bother with either.

Thursday night we met up with Rodney from New Zealand and his Thai wife Wasana for a meal out. I'd met Rodney on the beach at Hua Hin the last time I went there.

Friday I took a 200 Baht taxi ride to Lat Krabang, rented another Toyota from Maneeda, and drove to Bang Phra, and then Pattaya Eastern. (3,000 Baht for three days plus 500 Baht's petrol).
I met up with Khun Worawoot at the Thai Flying Club... The DCA decided to issue a second licence to me for TFC, so I will have two licence validations at 2,000 Baht each, one to fly SFAT aeroplanes and one for TFC!
In the evening I have dinner with Alisdair and Jill.... I learned that they were on Phi Phi when the tsunami struck!
They were separated and each thought about what they'd do with the insurance money from their lost spouse... They thought the same thing, and sold up everything in Scotland to retire early to enjoy life in Thailand.

This morning I flew with Addy in the SportCruiser... The propeller pitch had been adjusted and it needed another test flight... We did both rate of climb and cruise checks.
It's hot and humid here today.

A placard in the Jeep truck

This is a crocodile farm, a forced landing would be hazardous

From the White House (Resort)

For some reason ths area of Thailand attracts a lot of Russians and perhaps a few Poles. Many things are written in the cyrillic alphabet...
I met another pilot and his girlfriend/wife... she has a bar in one of the sois near where I was staying and so I looked in as I went out for a walk. There were two pleasant girls there and one who kept pointing at her lower parts!
Later I played pool there with the owner and two of the girls... An old man came down the stairs with a girl who looked like she was barely of age, he hugged her and was tender and nice to her, and then paid his bill and left. I was offered the same, "there's a room upstairs" I was told... No thanks, I have never been with a prostitute and I never want the possibility of catching something!
It's all part of the daily life in the Pattaya region of Thailand where many old blokes go to sleep with 'willing?' Thai girls. It's not my favourite place.

Hotels along the coast by Jomtien

Hospitality on this trip was provided by Alisdair and Gill and on Sunday morning after Jim's excellent breakfast I went for a flight in their flex wing! It's a different experience relying on a single bolt with a wing floating around above your head. Everthing is backwards, the 'rudder' pedals are only connected to the nosewheel and work opposite to a regular aeroplane, and in flight you move the bar in the opposite direction to a control column. I found this to be somewhat awkward and will need a lot of practice to get it right.
Alisdair demonstrated a couple of stalls, the second one power on with a deep nose drop, plunging is not one of my favourite past times...
Still, it was fun and another experience.

I went flying in this Extra, very easy aerobatics

In the afternoon I drove to Bang Phra where Jim's breakfast had an aerobatic test in the Extra 300L, it passed!
We did four circuits on the narrow runway, it's not easy to land this aircraft off an obstacle approach (obstacle = mountain), on a downsloping runway 23.

I drove back to Lat Krabang, dropped the car off and took a taxi to the Tai Pan hotel... Went for a walk and had a pint of Caffrey's in the Robin Hood pub on Sukhamvit Road.
Once again Jim's Sunday morning Pattaya Eastern Air Park breakfast lasted me through the day and until breakfast this morning... Now I'm hungry!

Bringing health care to the mall; diabetes testing at MBK

Cowboy street between Tai Pan hotel and Sukhumvit Rod


The fat one gets two new nosewheels

Bangkok morning

It's too soon...

I was just getting into being in Thailand and being on vacation and now I have to return...
Relaxation depends upon how many hours you put in in your job, it can take two or more weeks for me to begin to relax!
Anyway, Monday was a run around day for me... I went to the MBK mall where there are a large number of shops offering all sorts of bargains and I bought nothing!
I had a lunch appointment at the Sizzler in the Central World Mall and so I marched over there in the hot of Bangkok and the cool of the aircon malls enroute. I met up with Kiwi Rodney and his Thai wife Wasana.

I got a text message to meet Khun Worawoot at the DCA... So I marched to the Skytrain, connected on to the underground to Lumphini, and took a short taxi ride to the Department of Civil Aviation... There I was issued a second licence validation which will allow me to fly aircraft of Thai Flying Club as well as the Sport Flying Association of Thailand. All of this has been money out money out and these three weeks have cost me more than usual.

Another walk about and I went back to the hotel to shower off the sweat... Then met Pakorn and his wife for a chinese dinner nearby followed by a trip to an Irish pub and a Kilkenny beer.

Knowing the Bangkok traffic, I was up and out of the hotel early lugging my bags to the Asoke skytrain station for a ride down to On Nut where I took a taxi.
The taxi driver went a bit out of the way. From On Nut you can come to the airport from the south but he went north to number 7 motorway and then back south from there... 220 Baht.

The Cathay A330 was loaded early and on time departing the gate.
I was given a questionaire in which I answered my experiences of satisfaction or dissatisfaction... The FAs liked what they read and gave me chocolates aas I left the aeroplane at Hong Kong.

The connecting flight was also on time departing and 20 minutes or so early arriving but we had to wait a while for the luggage>
This was a fairly new A340 aircraft with a new type of reclining passenger seat with larger screens to view movies. I watched two, and slept most of the flight.

Now I'm back in Ladner, it's very quiet... Gone is the energy of noise of motorbikes and tuk tuks, and I miss it.
Quietness is to be desired from time to time, but I'm not so sure I prefer it.
And it's cold and damp!