Goodbye Cocos Islands, Hello Australia
Island hopping again, Captain Michel Gordillo departed Cocos Islands at 01:19 UTC after a brief stay. He reported to Sky Polaris Headquarters that the Cocos personnel there treated him very well and the airport was very easy to get around on. No fences! He is now flying over-water heading to yet another Pacific island, Port Hedland, Australia! Where navigating to the tiny Maldives and Cocos Islands was a bit tricky to find in the earth’s vast expanse of ocean, finding Australia will be much easier!
The flight is expected to take about 11 hours. As of this writing, Michel is flying over 10,000′ MSL (quite high but prudent for safety reasons when flying over water) and making about 150 kph. This speed is a bit faster than his prior legs so he may have a tailwind. Additionally, thunderstorms are currently forming directly along his route and there are large cloud formations in this area. Although Michel is experienced flying through and around bad weather, the winds that accompany storms can make the flight turbulent. I am sure when he lands, Michel will tell about the rough ride for over 1500 miles.
Australia is an extremely important staging area for the entire Sky Polaris project. It is from Tasmania, Australia that Michel will make the jump to the continent of Antarctica. Getting permission to enter Antarctica was extremely difficult and for a while Michel was doubting that he could make it happen. But thanks to the governments of Spain, Italy, and others, Michel and EC-XLL do have this permission and the mission can proceed as planned.
Thank you to all the officials and sponsors who helped the Sky Polaris Project! Your cooperation and support has made this scientific mission a reality.
The Sky Polaris Staff
9 Comments
At 0520 UTC two thirds seem to be covered at a tremendous speed zooming along in a straight line. Windyty shows a tailwind at FL 100 of 10-20 knots. So it’s gonna be an 8-9 hrs trip, 3 more to go. Happy landing, Michel!
Bravissimo! 3 hrs 20 Minutes.
Hello Don, the distances in the leg-table are statute miles. Last leg was 1350 nm, resulting in 9 hrs enroute at 150 knots.
Peter
Miguel has arrived safely in port Hedland. A tad tired and looking forward to a good sleep
Thank you for welcoming Michel (Miguel) to Australia Mr. Knight! I do hope he is getting some sleep now.
Peter – statute miles, nautical miles, kilometers, mph, kph, kts, – Sometimes I get them mixed up and use all in the same calculation!
As for weather – Michel stated on landing that the sky was clear the entire way. No thunderstorms. Now he is looking forward to seeing as much of Australia as he can before departing for Antarctica.
No problem (sorry thought i was pronounced Miguel)
Yes very clear skies over Oz at the moment, Some gusty Easterly winds but should calm a bit before he departs on Monday. I think you will find the Port Hedland Airport team deserve some credit for helping get him sorted. The town isnt exactly built for tourism but he will at least get to experience the busiest bulk port facility in the world.
Would be very interesting to get some atmospheric particle readings above the skies here……
This is not the best time of year to be flying to Antarctica I would have thought. Hobart is only 42 Degrees South but snow on Mount Wellington and maximum temperatures in the low teens. heavy rain, hail and snow here at the moment. This nasty weather has come from Antarctica. I imagine it is still very wintery down there. I would not fly anything without excellent icing protection anywhere near the place at this time of year. Good luck to Michel if he gets a window to go!!
For sure everything depends on THAT wx window. We’re all anxiously waiting for it. 60 knots winds at FL100 help getting over to antarctica from Hobart…
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