So far, from India to this point, for our flight through Monsoon we had the good weather ahead of our route and nasty weather behind us. It looks like there is a hole with the good weather that is following us.  

Our intention was to fly next to Everest, Due to weather and high terrain we were unable to get too close to Everest. If you look very close on the far left side of the photo you can see a part of Tibet ridge rising through the clouds                                     

Arshid was very concerned about this part of the flight. Therefore, I made this segment of the Freedom Flight solo.  Arshid took a commercial flight from Ankara to Dubai and he was waiting for me at the airport.

 

Since our flight around the world is about the freedom and inspiration of Iran ’s young generation, Arshid was very concerned about the possibility of Iranian government to force land our aircraft, or even potentially shoot us down, once we are over their airspace. Additionally, if we have engine failure we would have to set our plane in Iranian territory.  He tried diligently to convince me not to take such risk, but for our mission, overflying Iran was the most important part of the Freedom Flight. After all, our massage to young Iranian is noting short of their ability to accomplish what appears to be imposable and do what they want to built a batter future.                     

The flight over the Caspian Sea and soaring over the Albourz Mountain as the entry point to Iran was a dream that finally came true.  With the fear of uncertainty of what I could be facing and the sheer excitement of flying over my motherland, it was truly an out of body experience.

My flight plan was approved for flying over Tehran, Esfehan and Shiraz . This flight was about 980 nautical miles and I had 25 knots of head wind that made the flight more challenging over high mountains of Iran and limited fuel.

I climbed to my assigned flight level 190. Fifteen minutes into the flight over the Caspian Sea and still in Azerbaijan territory, Baku radar informed me that Tehran will not accept this flight unless I climb to flight level 210. I accepted the altitude and  climbed.   

Soon after I entered the Iranian airspace Mehrabad control center told me that my flight over Tehran was forbidden and I must take a different route. They vectored me around the west side of Tehran . My original route would put me over the Liberty Sqaure, but the re-routing prevented me to over fly the monument.

My flight over Esfehan and Shiraz was according to my flight plan.  Due to high terrain I lost radio communication for nearly 20 minutes. I finally established radio communication with Shiraz .   

As I was approaching Shiraz I requested to over fly Persapolice . My request was denied and I was tolled that it was a restricted area. Once I was over Shiraz airport, I started to communicate in my native language with the local air traffic controller. I told him about my flight around the world and soon I received overwhelming welcome and cheers from him and other pilots on the same frequency who where flying commuter aircrafts. For the next thirty minutes we used that frequency and talked about the flight. We shared thoughts and information about Freedom Flight. We exchanged names and it was very apparent that we made connection. 

      

The air traffic controller told me when I earlier requested to fly over Persapolice he did not know I was an Iranian, otherwise he would have granted my request. I told him it is not too late and I could turn around. He vectored me to the site. It was the moment of victory and I was overwhelmed with the feeling of pride flying over Persopolice that is the first sign of structural civilization and the symbol of Persian Empire .

I finally crossed the southern boarder of Iran in to Persian Gulf and entered Emirate’s territory. It was a mix emotion of reaching safety, and leaving my motherland and few friends I made behind.  

   

This next flight was over the high mountains of Eastern Turkey and Azerbaijan . I wanted to get an early start and depart by 7 am before the start of the midday heat that causes towering clouds to build up over the mountain. The ground handler tried to squeeze as much money as he could out of us, and kept us there to negotiation a hefty $612 for landing and handling fee. 

Freedom flight finally departed at 8:45. There was a very good tail wind, so it made up for lost time. With about 220 KT of ground speed at only 65% hp setting, the 845 nautical miles took about four and half hours.

On the Eastern side of turkey, I had to climb to flight level 190, and maneuver around many high clouds.

The city of Baku sits at the western shore or beautiful Caspian Sea that is very close to my heart with many childhood memories.

I made friends with Farid and Rafet. We had an opportunity to exchange culture over dinner.  

 

Baku is a city rich with culture. Dancing to the tune of Lezginca on any street corner is common with the people of Azerbaijan . 
 

                            

We left Warsaw this morning for Ankara, Turkey at 8:40 am.  We were cleared to flight level 100.

Our route was over Ukraine and Black Sea .

Weather was clear during our flight. Once we passed the Black see and approached the land over Turkey , we run into high clouds and finally we had to land through thunderstorm. The air traffic controller made no attempt to vector us around the thunderstorm. It appeared as he did not have access to weather radar. We arrived at Esenboga Airport at 2:30.

We left Berlin at 9:30 am for our next destination, Warsaw, Poland . We had high pressure dominating our route and we were expecting a very smooth flight. With 15 knots of tail wind at flight level 110, we pulled the power back to save on fuel, since we had a good tail wind. Our GPS was indicating 189 knots.

Fuel prices were reasonable and the personnel at W.A. services were very helpful.

 

Since we bypassing Moscow, we will stay in Poland and enjoy the city until Saturday and depart for Ankara, Turkey on June 16^th .
 

We tried to relax for couple of days at Poland . Warsaw is very modern, and clean. People are friendly and anxious to share their culture.

 

 

We used this opportunity to do laundry.

 

 

Finding people who are proud of there culture was not that difficult. Find any authentic Polish restaurant, and you will see people in a large group singing and listing to the live music.