The other side of the coin

June 14, 2013

Pilatypus departing from Ulaanbaatar, copyright Ryan van Geest

Today I will try give you a different picture of our daily acitivities, i.e. our activities or rather our idle-times resp. our completely lost hours. As an example I describe Thursday 13th of June, the day of our flight from Ulaanbaatar to Chita. Our day developped as follows: 0700 getting up (well for me, let’s say 0600 for Urs) 0800 breakfast 0815 settling hotel bill 0830 picked by Ryan van Geest to drive us to the airport Until this moment no time was really lost and mind you Urs used the extra hour to get our FLP [flight plan] printed via the hotel printer. 0900 airport 0915 Handling Agent Batzorig J. of Mongolian Airlines arrived 0945 passing customs 1000 settling bill with Handling Agent 1015 settling bill with a supervisor of Batzorig 1030 preparing a/c 1050

Approach a/c taking off to Chita. Copy right Aerolocarno.

So we actually lost here already 50 minutes in spite of the fact that Ryan accompanied us, in order to guide and control the hopeless Handling Agent. His English was as good as my Sanskrit. However the supervisor of Batzorig was very intelligent and spoke proper English, so without his presence we would certainly have lost much more time. I must admit that Urs needed 10 minutes to talk some Schwiezer Deutsch (pass uuf) with Capt. Adrian Grossniklaus, giving training to Mongolian Pilots.

weather on the way to Chita. No copy right claimed.

1250 arrival Chita, where we lost 2 hours because of the time-zone putting the clock forward so 1450 local time arrival Chita. Pouring rain for the next three hours 1550 through customs check, opening luggage, cowling flaps and small service bay doors 1600 leaving the a/c to prepay in an odd wooden barrack the fuel. Lots of theather. 1630 going back to the a/c 1700 taking (the already paid) fuel 1730 leaving the airport 1810 arriving at Mont Blanc Hotel Chita

Usual fuel ceremony, this time in the rain at Chita Airport

In other words it took us, including a two hours setting forward of the clocks, from 0700 to 1810 to go from one hotel to the next one on a day with a two hours flight only. Since we did not receive any serious application for an aircraft-secretary/flight-attendant until now, we have to count with similar losses of time until we reach the USA. Tomorrow 14 June, for Europe still 13 June, we will take off from Chita for Chabarowsk. Will be continued.