Capital City, Harrisburg PA - High Alt. Cruise along the way, Fair bit of Icing, Cloud cover 90% of the way, Snow covered Icy Runway upon Landing, Hangar was heated with an Office Heater. Four fuel truckloads to fill the Lady. We held our breath today; She turned heads and did what was asked with a calming rumble. The Hotel Had an English Pub, the boys had stout! :) One day Delay due to Weather and fueling. Overall a Good Start.

Halifax, Nova Scotia - Start early stars in the sky, trying to beat the Weather, flying a window between Harrisburg and St. Johns. Little bit of Icing Over Boston (Thank you Jimmy and the Gang for the Hot Wings). Over Canada it cleared and was Crisp and Beautiful, Canadian north on our Left and the patiently waiting Atlantic on our right. We held our breath today; She turned heads and did what was asked with a calming rumble. Air Canada provided the Hangar and wonderful service. One truckload to fuel cleared customs over the phone. Steak for dinner, local beers for the boys.

St. Johns, Newfoundland - Left at Dawn, clear run to St. Johns, a quiet and surreal time, the beauty, solitude and strength of the Canadian North is truly breathtaking, leaving us with thoughts of settlers, trappers and privacy. She waits off our right not intimidating like I half expected, but inviting, almost promising peace of mind and time alone with her, it's been so long I forget how the ocean can be such an unselfish mistress. We held our breath today; She turned heads and did what was asked with a calming rumble. A nice hotel, right out of the Novel 'Moby Dick' Not quite as old, but the rooms, fire places and rafters, I know all three of us felt the rooms were wasted without ours to enjoy them with us. Dinner was fine, a restaurant that made us miss the Smoke House but fed us well, Local beers for the Boys, we cross tomorrow.

Santa Maria, Azores (Portugal) - Stars again light the night nerves are at the surface, the boys are focused, I am not so, Bob shows calm and it all falls back into place, before we know it the sunrise greats us, the land has left us and the Atlantic is home for a while, and quite comforting, every 30 minutes we report position on the HF radios to Gander then New York and within 200 miles, Santa Maria control (Thanks to Jerry for a Bang Up job with our cockpit setup). 150 miles out the Low Pressure system I was hoping would have left had decided to wait for us. We descended through 11000 feet into the dusk and murk, we were set up for the NDB approach, not a lot of choices to divert to if we cannot see the runway, even fewer for an aircraft needing this much AVGAS in the middle of the Atlantic. Bob took her down to minimums the runway came into view amidst the sideways rain and blowing clouds at 30 kts. Wet runways make for good landings, Bob makes for better. We held our breath today; She turned heads even in the rain and did what was asked with a calming rumble. We're not in Kansas anymore Toto, however the people were wonderful, Hand pumping fuel took upwards of twelve hours, we took another day delay due to fuel even though our friend the LOW wanted to us to stay another day as well. Hotel was nice food was interesting, the boys sampled the local beers and when the sun shone on our last day we saw what we would be leaving and wished we were not.

Tenerife Norte, Canary Islands (Spain) - Leaving the Azores behind the LOW with clear skies and more ocean ahead we were still quiet as we turned southeast the sun on the water and wrapping around the billowing clouds warmed us as it did the air and all seemed one for a while. As we crossed the Cold front off of the LOW the clear skies turned into a warm pea soup, a haze that would stay with us the rest of the journey and would provide a good instrument basic refresher but also a appreciated and comforting cloaking device from the countries without radar that might have thoughts of their own about a large old American military plane that looks like whatever might be on their menu. We held our breath today; She turned heads and did what was asked with a calming rumble. The peaks of the Canary's came into view and as we approached Tenerife Norte the houses and populace of these Islands astounded us, truly a Spanish island haven, haciendas with white stucco and red and blue tiled roofs sitting in the bays or on the Cliffs, quite stunning and romantic even from the air. Our greeters were very helpful Customs was enjoyable as all of their stamps ran out of ink at the same time. TIME, away from the states this seems to be a very cheap commodity? :) Fuel was done with a large truck, one Stop, we were quite ecstatic too say the least. The hotel was an old Mediterranean style large villa with narrow avenues and cafes surrounding it, right out of WB "Pepe Le Pue" cartoons, as we dined and the boys sampled the local beers I waited for James Bond (Connery of course) to round a pillar with a Spanish breeze of a woman, the imagination - a cheap holiday.

Dakar, Senegal - Leaving the Canary's, like the Azores, was bitter sweet. It was the type of place where you could sit at a roadside cafe and watch the world go by while enjoying a sweet cigar and a bitter cup of Jo. Our handler at Tenerife was fantastic, upon meeting us outside the terminal he ushered us painlessly through the necessary security and exit customs to the aircraft. As the Sun rose the engines were turning almost purring in the moist tropical air, we departed from Tenerife still marveling at the Islands flavour and beauty. As we left the Canary's behind the realization that the Atlantic was behind us and that Africa lay ahead began to set in, the Atlantic seemed more inviting!? Communication became the main hurdle during the rest of the trip, HF radios worked fine (Thanks again Jerry and Doug), however due to the low altitudes sometimes we had to get creative with relaying messages (attempting other languages) to the necessary controllers via VHF and other aircraft passing close by. The haze stayed with us the whole way. We held our breath today; She turned heads and did what was asked with a calming rumble. Senegal came into view about three miles out, a dust blown desert pinnacle with a shanty town the size of LA spread as far as the eye could see. Upon arrival a recollection of the old Charles Bronson flick 'Raid on Entebbe' hit me and seemed to settle over us for the rest of the stay. Again thanks to Skyplan, our contracted dispatch service agents in Canada, our handlers were very nice and tried their best with the tools they had. Fueling, we took four truckloads, which led us through a stunning dust filtered sunset and into the night. After the last truckload our handler took us through the necessary customs and outside to our first taste of 'Whoa what the hell are we doing here!!' since leaving Greybull. Senegal is 90% Muslim and without going too deeply about the distaste for Americans demonstrated via the French Language (which I'm not so happy I remember how to understand), the gun shots outside our hotel (best described as an abandoned Russian Embassy with about the same comfort level, mentally and physically) while trying to eat an interesting dinner, local beers for the boys and coming to a unanimous vote to get the hell out of here A.S.A.P. and sleeping, albeit for a short period, while keeping our papers on our person and one eye open. Come 'O dark 30' we were on the way back to the aircraft quite focused on a beeline out of Senegal.

Accra, Ghana - Back at the airport in Senegal our Handler unfortunately met us after we stumbled through security and customs ourselves with the obligatory thanks that can only be expressed by a dead American President. Our girl seemed as keen to leave as were we, so with the necessary niceties we bid Senegal Good Bye and quietly (well as quiet as possible) headed south and offshore. Radio communication continued to deteriorate, language and reception being the main culprits, we stayed a fair distance off shore and each of us silently enjoyed the blanket of Haze while we passed by countries like, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. We held our breath today; She stayed hidden and did what was asked with a calming rumble. Towering Cumulus were dotted about the route and increased in intensity as we neared Accra, circumnavigating these provided no major problems and upon entering Ghana’s' Airspace we were pleasantly surprised by the professionalism of the controllers which set the tone for the rest of our time in Ghana. I had planned for Ghana with the hope that the Country must have a certain level of organization due to its strong link with the 'United Nations' (Mr. Koffe Ahnahn), I was not let down. Our Handlers were excellent and the people were warm and very friendly, the shantytowns existed still but the desert had given way to fauna and a lush shoreline and unlike Senegal the people, though poor (financially), had a pride and respect for themselves, which transferred easily into how they treated others. Upon landing and parking next to a Gulfstream V from the U.S. (the contrast made us smile) we were proud that our girl shadowed such a lovely lady with the local interest. We cleared customs with the help of nine President Jackson’s, for fun I asked for a receipt, this brought a hearty laugh and a don't screw with me smile, with that we thanked the customs man and made a polite exit. Fuelling started the next day from 50 55 gallon drums, and like the Azores the fuellers helped us with the project and throughout remained happy, helpful and amazed that she could take so much fuel and that we had come all the way from America in her! As the day came to a close our girl was full and resting next to her U.S. friend and we were at the hotel, a South Pacific like, open air, palm tree laden Oasis, feeling safe and the boys were enjoying the local brews. After Senegal a relatively good sleep came much deserved. In the morning we were picked up by our handlers and whisked to the aircraft, I filed a flight plan with the local Government who politely asked for the thanks of another American Dead President and without much more adieu were held on her wings for a flight towards the Equator.

Libreville, Gabon - Airborne, the blanket of haze is wrapped all around us, once clear of Ghana’s' airspace communication becomes non-existent. The flight becomes surreal in a way, almost like floating along, approaching places that we're not quite sure what to expect, I play 'Crosby Stills and Nash - Southern Cross' in my mind almost the whole way, I miss my Sophia, the Boys are quiet. We held our breath today; She stayed hidden and did what was asked with a calming rumble. Small Islands come into view, similar to ones I've seen on TV around the mouth of the Amazon, the humidity has increased to saturation point and the green carpets the land, suddenly I can talk with Libreville, upon giving them my Clarence code, feeling like I'm trying to enter 'OZ', they carry us all the way to an airport on the dark sand shoreline cut out of the forest canopy. The controller parks us next to the President of Gabon’s DC-8, free security! We are now in Russian and South African territory, I'm always amazed how the Russians keep their equipment running, their ability to adapt and keep going, admirable!! A couple of south African Cargo Pilot tell us of how the Russians will fly anything you can fit in their aircraft anywhere they are allowed to go for the price of Gas and a case of Vodka, I like the Russians. We fuel with three truckloads, relatively quick. Customs, a smile a bribe, a stamp. It's late at the hotel we're ready to be done, the boys tried the local brews but our minds were elsewhere. Tomorrow we cross the Equator and run our last leg, the South Africans have strongly advised us to avoid Angola, I reviewed the flight plan and adjusted it a wee bit further offshore.

Walvis Bay, Namibia - We were picked up early and taken straight to the aircraft, we are ready, it is humid and a crowd has gathered. To see a large Piston powered Aircraft reverse itself leaves an impression. We lift off and stay low along the coast until near the Congo then begin offshore communication dies and the decision to run silent through Angola is made Six hours of heightened senses, We held our breath Today, She stayed hidden and did what was asked with a calming rumble. Our comforting Haze remained with us oddly enough until the coast of Namibia. As we allowed ourselves short breaths, feeling close also brings anxiety; we must concentrate and operate as though this was the beginning. We brought her into the Skeleton Coast and watched it slip by lifeless and sharp. Walvis Bay sound in our headsets about 100 miles out, they sound like they've found a lost pet. We landed and began to breathe for the first time since Greybull, The tower controller advised us that we had been shadowed for some time by a couple of fighters, we stooped breathing again. Bob, our Girl, Jim and his Crew back home had brought me half way around the world the hard way. I'll be amazed for years, I think I'm going back to Boating, Flying's for the Birds!