Ta-ta to Tallinn - Part 1
Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 7:16 pmI was woken up by the phone next to my hotel bed. I'd listed the Cessna with Global Aviation Brokers a couple of months before and they were phoning urgently with the news that Zulu X-Ray had been sold and that the new owner, who'd viewed the plane just before I'd left the UK, was arriving in Tallinn later in the day to pick her up. This left me with a bit of a problem as I'd made some arrangements of my own about a possible replacement in a few days time.
I'd bumped into a company pilot at the airport and luckily he answered his mobile when I phoned a couple of hours later. He said he was heading in the direction I wanted to go delivering electronic equipment and said he'd be happy to give me a lift. So we met up on the apron a few hours later.
The Pilatus PC12 is 'pretty' ....... in a shark-like way if you like that sort of thing I guess. Me, I can take it or leave it.
Anyway, I loaded my jolly old Louis Vuitton in the back - have to travel in style doncha-know ;-) - and was surprised by how spacious the interior is. This is not that small an aircraft.
After the usual formalities we were up-and-away heading south. It was hard to believe with the skies as clear as they were that the en-route forecast was for local active Cb's in the area of our final destination, but we would have to see just how accurate the forecast was.
I got some time in the left hand seat (if you can call it that with the bird on full autopilot) which gave me time to see how much bigger the cockpit was compared to the Cessna. Hard to believe that Good ole Zulu X-Ray was now a thing of the past
The skies stayed clear for much of the flight.........
..... but as our route took us back over land, a few puffs of cloud began to build
Pretty soon we had almost total cover and with a few rumblings of thunder, first to the left and then to the right.
The forecast was proving to be worryingly accurate, and things were beginning to look not too good.........
I'd bumped into a company pilot at the airport and luckily he answered his mobile when I phoned a couple of hours later. He said he was heading in the direction I wanted to go delivering electronic equipment and said he'd be happy to give me a lift. So we met up on the apron a few hours later.
The Pilatus PC12 is 'pretty' ....... in a shark-like way if you like that sort of thing I guess. Me, I can take it or leave it.
Anyway, I loaded my jolly old Louis Vuitton in the back - have to travel in style doncha-know ;-) - and was surprised by how spacious the interior is. This is not that small an aircraft.
After the usual formalities we were up-and-away heading south. It was hard to believe with the skies as clear as they were that the en-route forecast was for local active Cb's in the area of our final destination, but we would have to see just how accurate the forecast was.
I got some time in the left hand seat (if you can call it that with the bird on full autopilot) which gave me time to see how much bigger the cockpit was compared to the Cessna. Hard to believe that Good ole Zulu X-Ray was now a thing of the past
The skies stayed clear for much of the flight.........
..... but as our route took us back over land, a few puffs of cloud began to build
Pretty soon we had almost total cover and with a few rumblings of thunder, first to the left and then to the right.
The forecast was proving to be worryingly accurate, and things were beginning to look not too good.........
Stunning outside pics! Unfortunatly the panel leaves some to be desired....
but where can i get that plane from?