circling the world, back in chicago...

like every job, too much of the same gets a bit boring, add some exhaustsion due to the completely crazy bodyclock after circling the earth eastbound for 4 times in a row and you get a zombie pilot,
never fully awake and whenever he sees a bed he can immediatly sleep.
while beeing planned and flown fully legal it makes me think if my job was ever considered by the lawmakers.
can't wait to get home for some off-time to recover again...

to stay positive and relax i usually take my camera and walk the streets, blending out the stress and workrelated stuff and focus on the moment which becomes a form of meditation.

today i present the impressions of walking a freezingly cold chicago in april.

cu
nuck

A fuel station for the global economy...

This week i am circumnavigating the earth for the second time within a month.
At the moment the demand to fly goods from Europe and Asia into the USA is still stronger than the traffic from Asia to Europe and thats why we, like many other companies, circumnavigate the earth eastbound. The demand from the USA to Europe is still stronger than vice versa and therfore it starts to make sense that we fly eastbound, but also that the US has a strong intrest in getting rid of custom fees and alike in Europe, hence pushing for the TTIP to sell their goods.
This is also why at first glance TTIP seems to lower prices for the customer in Europe, but at the long run it will further damage the economy in Europe, strenghten the US economy and Europe will be the big looser in the long run.

The demand for goods to be delivered as fast as possible after ordering pushes for more and more air transport and that's why we fly everything from tabletts to underwear and on the way across the Pazific ocean we have to stop for fuel and new rested crews in Alaska, at the moment Anchorage is the favorite for us, while years ago it was Fairbanks.
There the 747s of all different companies line up for fuelling and the crews tumble through the city on their zombie walk to the rest.

Now that the temperatures are getting warmer and the sun stronger it is easy to catch a nice view of the Jumbos coming and leaving and a lot of excellent aircraft spotter pictures are taken here.
here is my contribution of this weeks looks....

brgds, cu
nuck

Iran, Teheran

before the last crises, involving Iran and the West, I liked to fly to Teheran and even planned a motorcycle trip from Baku to Muscat, but over sudden the political environment changed and our company was not allowed to fly there anymore. 

I enjoyed taking a subway ride (German built) downtown to the bazar, one of the largest worldwide, strolling around with my camera, talking to very friendly and open people. 

I am glad that politics is taking another turn and look forward to fly into the diverse, beautiful an cultural interesting country of Iran again soon, where you can enjoy about everything imaginable from skiing to warm beaches at the sea all round the year!

downturn of the city was however the ever chaotic traffic with accidents on every second corner!

join me today on a stroll through Teheran, especially the bazar area:

brgds, cu

nuck

Bangkok

I do have a special relationship to Bangkok!
while pregnant with the idea of changing to long-haul flying at Lauda Air some 18 years ago i took the opportunity to jumpseat with a friend in the cockpit to both directions, east and west, to get a grip on how it would feel to actually do this kind of job.
my choice fell on Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for westbound and short after to Bangkok to check eastbound. while Punta Cana was a nice beach layover feeling like a vacation, i was completly overwhelmed by Bangkok!

getting out of the aircondioned aircraft (B767) and the as well airconditioned terminal to the busterminal for all crew-busses i remeber beeing hit by the heat and humidity and the thick air, like never experienced before. just looking at the weather data doesn't tell you the full story, you have to get there for the feel of it.
after a first short shock i fell in deep love to this special city, despite the quite brown and polluted air at the time (1998). the friendly and open people, the supply of fresh and tasty food at every street corner, the view of the chaotic traffic with cars, tuk-tuk's and hughe flocks of mopeds, the overview of the city from the observation platform of the baiyoke-tower during a tropical rainstorm is breathtaking. let alone all the crazy markets where you just can buy anything.
the whole crew took the funride of showing to me all aspects of the nightlife, as they did later with my wife, it was an unwritten company rule to take firsttimers everywhere.

in a way this city became my favorit city in asia and also an archtype of how i think an asian city should look like, a little bit dirty, a little bit chaotic, fun to be with good nightlife and shopping, excellent food and it should be warm! if i get into an aircraft for 8 hours or longer i don't want to have the same weather like home!

while the sensation of crazy shows wears of quickly my love for the thai food was in to stay and i love coming back to thailand and to head out for all styles of their quisine, starting from simple streetkitchens, via skybars to full grown dinners at more luxurious food temples.
already weeks in advance i start dreaming of the local dishes when i find Bankok on my roster!
cu - nuck


pictures:
- path-pong night market is best enjoyed sitting with a beer watching the hectic.
- food and fresh fruits everywhere.
- also called the asian Venice Bangkok is full of little canals and a boating network
- typical street market like seen on major crossings
- tuk-tuk - if you try to stay too cheap they will take you through advertisement tours like gold-shops,
                 well payed they can be the fastest form of transport despite not the safest...

Today i invite to to Japan...

in particular to the smaller town of Kanazawa.
it shares the airport with Komatsu and we take our layovers in the City Center of Kanazawa.
besides the look of funny aircraft paintjobs i prefer the quiet and relaxing habitat of one of the old samurai houses, which were setup to protect the river flowing through the old town.

the special mix of high quality wood- and stonework together with the clean and airy look and feel of the inside stands in contrast to the garden which is completly overflowing of green, together with the usual gimmics you would finde in a japanese garden, a pond with stones and a bridge to cross it, some little hammer that claps to the waterflow and alike.
the whole set gives a quiet atmosphere with wind rushing throug the leaves and the sound of dripping water, extremly calming and comforting.

despite all earthquakes in the area and weather like in austria with warm summers and cold and humid winters all the wooden doors still work with minimal gaps and everything looks solid as to last forever.
the tea-ceremony room is in first floor overlooking the garden from a higher perspective, but i prefer the living room that is open to the garden, clean and airy.
if wondering, houses of the epoche have a nice heating system with smoke-exhaust from the kitchen running below the floor to create foor-heating; it still looks a little freshening for the winter though...

i visit the house regularly to relax and get a grip to earth again in the otherwise loud and hasty country...
cu - nuck

it looks like this:

Timeout...

taking some vacation after two long years flying like a maniac....

cu soon again, in the meantime enjoy some impressions from the maledives!

broke my speed record...

the last days passed by quickly as i was kept busy filing numerous reports about my last flight from europe to chicago, when exiting a jetstream at FL320 we felt a few abrupt jolts from the moving air-mass and at the next second gained more speed than the aircraft was certified for.
maximum would be MACH 0.90 and we reached M 0.94 despite all efforts to slow down with engines running on idle and the speedbrakes halfway extended.
good thing the 747-8 could take it without the slightest high-speed-buffet and kept on flying nice and smooth to a normal landing in chicago, but had to be parked there for an 7 hours thourough inspection before everybody was shure its still in good shape.
accompanied was the experiance by numerous reports i had to file which kept me busy for a while.

you see today a map of the jetstreams on the atlantic ocean that caused my troubles,
a good groundspeed (there is a website for records by aircraft type: http://www.groundspeedrecords.com ),
and some surfing on top of the clouds into a quick sunrise flying eastbound into the sun.

cu brgds
nuck