Leg 221, Tiksi, Sakha Republic to Mys Shmidta, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia
DAY03_31.PLN (3.8 KB)
A bit of a mix up this leg. I had planned to go directly to UESS but accidentally picked UEBS in the nearest airport list without checking the name (UESS was out of range). Not the first time it happened, and probably will happen again. I double back so often I don’t think twice about reversing direction anymore.
So I planned in some more stops that were now along the way and had a nice break from the snow around Moma. Worth the detour to see the transitions. A long flight again, easier to do with lots of auto pilot time in between for other things. Truth is, most of northern Siberia is all low res sat data, with snow on top it sometimes looks more like a cell shaded artistic impression than actual mountains. The towns are pretty interesting along the way.
03-30 Tiksi UEST 5:21 PM
03-30 Deputatskiy DPT 6:54 PM
03-30 Sakkyryr UEBS 8:15 PM mistake, was planning to go to UESS
03-30 Moma UEMA 9:58 PM
03-30 Ust-Nera UUSR 10:04 PM
03-30 Zyryanka UESU 11:13 PM 20 knot tailwind
03-31 Chersky UESS 12:58 AM
03-31 Pevek UHMP 1:56 AM 15 knot tailwind
03-31 Mys Shmidta UHMI 3:14 AM 26 knot tailwind
Flight time 9:53 8 stops
Departure from Tiski, it took about 2 seconds for the plane to ice up!
Still made it above or rather in between the clouds on the way to Deputatskiy
Over Ust-Yansky District
Deputatskiy located in the Selennyakh Range
Population 2,938
Verkhoyansky District
Sakkyryr Airport
Next to Batagay-Alyta (also known as Sakkyryr) on the Kolyma River
Flying over Verkhoyansky District towards Moma
Climbing to 7,500 ft to get over the mountains
Approaching Moma, seems to be clear of snow
Momskiy Natsional’nyy Ulus
Indigirka River
Ust-Nera Airport
Still some frosty grass around
Pretty place, however rated as one of the coldest permanently inhabited regions on Earth
Temperatures range from 23c high (73F) in July to -47c low (-53F) in Januari
Daylight hours range from 21 hours in June to only 4.5 hours in December
Back into the snow towards Zyryanka
Zyranka on the Kolyma River
Somewhere over Bilibinsky District
Chersky further North along the Kolyma River
Apologies for the cat picture, I was surprised to find a blue bin (recycling box) from Quebec out here
We have one from the city of Hamilton, 40km away, this one is 6,500km from home! They get around.
I offered to bring it back to Quebec but got stuck with the cat instead
Almost ice free again over Ozero Ledyanoye (озеро Ледяное) Lake below
Appeoaching Pevek, the sun getting lower but in no hurry to set
Pevek Airport on Chaunskaya Bay
So hard to judge where the ground is exactly, still a couple ft above it here
Pevek, arctic port town in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, 69.7° North
Not as cold as Ust-Nera in winter (-30c / -23F), sea climate, but only gets up to 55F / 12.8c in summer
I spotted a gap in the clouds on departure, maybe I can get above them without icing up
Tight twists and turns to stay in the clear, chasing the gap
Success, on the way to Mys Shmidta
Ice free
Enjoying the very long sunset this far North
The G1000 is having issues again crossing the 180° line, no effect on AP anyway
Sunset that can last for hours, love it
It does get dark, lining up to land at Mys Shmidta airport
Barely enough light left to spot the runway
And down, where’s my winter coat, gloves, etc
Mys Shmidta on the shore of the Chukchi Sea
I’ll actually be going West a bit again tomorrow to visit the volcanoes on the Kamchatka Peninsula, then cross the Bering Sea via the Rat Islands.