diabetes world flight

- Aim
"To be the first pilot with Type 1 Diabetes
to fly around the world in a light aircraft and raise money for diabetes research".
- Douglas Cairns

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Flight Diary

29th December
Flight to Moorabbin, Melbourne
The flight to Melbourne was quick, with strong tailwinds pushing ground speed up to 200 kts (230 mph) at times. Australia’s drought conditions were clearly evident as winds whipped up dust particles from parched earth into “dust haze” at lower levels. It was good to arrive at Moorabbin Airport in Melbourne where the St. Kilda Road Parkview Hotel was offering support to DWF over the New Year period (for which many thanks!).

28th December
Flight to Broken Hill via William Creek
In the morning a quick visit was made to the Coober Pedy Hospital to meet Roland Ruff (Ruffy), the Nursing Unit Manager. Ruffy had been forced to leave his career in Movement Control in the Australian Army when diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in his 20s (there was no choice in the matter) and subsequently changed to Nursing. It was a fascinating meeting. Ruffy had spent 16 years as a Remote Area Nurse working in outback Australia, working often with Aborigines. While approximately 6% of Australian population have diabetes, incidence amongst Aborigines is around 20%. The change from hunter-gatherer lifestyle to more sedentary western lifestyle and richer diet has taken its toll over the decades. Many thanks indeed for the chat and also for your donation to DWF Ruffy!

Takeoff was into the midday heat with first landing just 60 miles to the east for lunch at William Creek, a tiny hamlet with a population of just eight! It is an extremely remote spot with the hamlet centering on a tin-roofed hotel that sits beside a dirt runway. On opening the aircraft door, the flies were utterly appalling – zillions of them, and pretty aggressive at that. Ty found them intolerable and swatted frantically as he made a desperate dash for the hotel.

The William Creek Hotel has a fascinating and entertaining interior. The walls are covered with message-adorned shirts plus hundreds of student matriculation and ID cards “donated” after many a boozy night by travelers. It was an enjoyable snack lunch chatting with John Sheedy, the hotel leaseholder, plus a couple of English tourists. It seemed only too soon to brave the flies outside and head for Broken Hill. Once again the flies were numerous and extremely aggressive, with Ty finding the experience particularly disturbing!

The flight to Broken Hill was clear and sunny, and en-route DWF enjoyed flying over Flinders Ranges and Lake Frome and low-flying over Lake Eyre and some picturesque creeks and scrub-covered hills to the north of Broken Hill. Fortunately Broken Hill, a prominent silver, lead and zinc mining township of 21,000, had distinctly fewer flies! It was a welcome stop, being well looked after by Netty Batt at The Grand Guesthouse.

27th December
Flight to Coober Pedy
Ty had been suffering a stomach bug and a day of rest on 26th was welcome. Douglas made a quick climb of Ayers Rock early on 27th, enjoying clear views of well over 100 km from the summit. The path up Ayres Rock is steep in parts with a metal chain to hang on to in order to avoid a couple of perilous drops over the side!

It was a sunny and hot day, and after takeoff a brief detour was made north to Kings Canyon and over valley floors of “Middle Range” and the Peterman Hills (foothills of the MacDonnell Ranges) before turning southeast towards Coober Pedy. Some “Dust Devils” were spotted en-route. These occur when intense thermal heating scoops up air, sand and dust in a twisting motion, looking uncannily like small tornadoes. At one stage three could be seen in a line, each about a kilometer apart, with twisting dust rising at least 1,000 feet into the air. Needless to say, these were avoided.

Coober Pedy is a township of 3,500, supplying 70% of the world opals, and from the air hundreds of small pyramidal spoil heaps could be seen around the town. It is a fascinating place to visit and intensely hot in the Australian summer. Many homes and motels use old mine excavations to provide cool underground rooms as a relief from the intense summer heat.

25th December
Flight to Ayres Rock
Christmas morning was most enjoyable with Kevin and Sandra plus Melinda and Ty (Santa’s socks were much appreciated – thanks!).

In Australia, given large distances over uninhabited desert regions, a VFR flight plan focuses on a SARTIME - a Search and Rescue Time. If “Flightwatch” or CENSAR does not receive cancellation of SARTIME within five minutes of the allotted time, telephone calls are made and a search party launched if no contact made. Today’s flight was 900 miles to Ayres Rock over central Australia’s desert regions – the “Red Centre”. Takeoff was into blue sky and excellent visibility but soon clouds began to build, eventually forcing DWF up to 9,500 feet before descending through a gap to retain ground visibility. Some heavy rain showers were encountered over the Great Victoria Desert, substantially reducing visibility on occasions before clearing again 200 miles from Ayres Rock. Wide areas of snaking sand dunes, some stabilized by sparse vegetation, could be seen stretching into the distance. Occasionally an “outback” ranch could be seen, a few having a dirt runway beside the homestead. After nearly six hours, DWF joined “The Rock” sightseeing route at 4,500 feet around the Olgas and Ayres Rock – stunning. Ayres Rock is a massive red sandstone monolith rising 1,000 feet above the desert landscape and appears on the front of many tourist brochures for Australia. “The Rock” has Aboriginal spiritual significance and glows fiery red at sunrise and sunset.

22nd – 25th December
Perth
It was a real pleasure to stay with Kevin and Sandra, friends from Edinburgh University. On 23rd Air BP very kindly sponsored fuel and Douglas met with Claude Meunier who runs www.earthrounders.com a website that chronicles past, ongoing and future round-the-world flights in light piston engine aircraft. Claude was a wealth of information and enthusiasm, and also a pleasure to meet.

22nd December
Flight from Shark Bay to Jandakot, Perth,
Early in the morning at Monkey Mia Resort, two female dolphins, each with a year-old baby dolphin, came into shallow water outside the Monkey Mia Resort and swam around quietly, patiently waiting to be fed. It takes a long time for the Resort staff to train the dolphins for feeding, taking care to maintain a balance of hand feeding and surviving in the wild. The staff gave a fascinating commentary on the dolphins. There was an estimated local population of 600 dolphins of which 70% showed signs of being attacked by sharks.

Take-off for Perth was at midday and the first 20 minutes were spent at low-level heading south over Shark Bay. Another shark was spotted in such a shallow area that its tail whipped up sand while scurrying off to deeper water. The coastline was followed southwards for the rest of the 400-mile journey. There was a cool southwesterly onshore breeze blowing for the first 200 miles after which the temperature dramatically shot up from 26 degrees C to 40 degrees. The hot air was a strong offshore wind sourced over inland desert areas, and where this wind met the cool onshore breeze just off the coastline, severe clear-air turbulence was experienced. Some experimenting with this phenomenon was carried out, and at one stage, a change of just 300 feet altitude resulted in a 10-degree temperature change - quite amazing. The offshore breeze had also whipped up dust particles into the lower atmosphere and the resultant “dust haze” reduced forward visibility quite substantially from time to time. Visibility improved towards Perth, however, where a “visual corridor” was followed along the shoreline to Freemantle before turning east to land at Jandakot Airport.

21st December
Flight to Shark Bay, Sharks, Dolphins and Manta Rays……
Australia is known for tremendous coral reefs and fish-life and the flight to Shark Bay certainly unveiled some incredible sights. Prior to takeoff, Air BP very kindly sponsored fuel at Port Hedland, for which many thanks indeed! It was refreshing to be flying VFR (visual flight rules) again, this time at low-level for 500 miles along the coastline to Carnarvon to refuel and then on to Shark Bay. West of Port Hedland, DWF passed over mangroves and endless miles of unspoiled (and rarely visited) beaches, one of which had some kangaroos sitting quietly. (One felt quite sorry for them given Australia’s current drought conditions – it was difficult to see how they could survive.) Just north of Carnarvon, DWF flew low over Lake MacLeod, a large salt-pan which can only be described as extremely inhospitable land. After refueling at Carnarvon, it was a short 60-mile flight to Shark Bay where DWF flew along the beaches near Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort. The water was crystal clear and in shallow sections, two Tiger sharks, several dolphins and schools of Manta Rays were spotted. One shark was particularly large and being within the vicinity of the Resort itself, it was an easy resolution to swim close to the shore that afternoon. (According to the Airport Bus driver, food supply is plentiful for the sharks, including old or ill dugongs and dolphins, and nobody had ever been attacked in the resort’s 30-year history.)

20th December
Flight to Port Hedland, Australia
It was extremely hot and humid prior to takeoff at Denpasar Bali
International Airport for the 725 nautical mile straight-line flight over water to Port Hedland, Australia. Long-range HF radio communication was required given the long distances from land but prevailing atmospheric conditions only allowed successful communication a handful of times (HF communication relies on radio waves bouncing off the atmosphere and conditions can sometimes result in weak or unsuccessful signal-carry). Fortunately, Malaysian Airlines Flight 133 relayed a position report half way across. On cutting engines on arrival at Port Hedland the Quarantine officer handed a can of insecticide spray through the pilot’s side-window and instructed DWF crew to spray inside before opening the doors. Customs arrival formalities were efficient and immediately after a visit was made to see Keith at Golden Eagle Airlines who had earlier advised on Australian visual chart requirements - many thanks for your advice Keith, and for taking custody of visual charts prior to arrival.

Diabetes in Indonesia
Some sobering statistics……
In some countries people can find it difficult to afford diabetes
medication. Indonesia is one of these. Some sobering statistics were gleaned from a fascinating meeting with Dr. Dwi Sutenagara, the President of the Indonesian Diabetes Association, at Salang Hospital on 18th December.

Total population in Indonesia stands at 220 million and somewhere between 6 million and 10 million have diabetes. To help these millions who are spread over hundreds of islands, there are only 50 Diabetologists and 1,000 Diabetes Educators. There is no government healthcare system and many find it difficult to afford diabetes medication, particularly insulin, and hypertensive medication for those with Type 2 Diabetes plus high blood pressure. The Indonesian minimum monthly wage is 300,000 Rupiah (approx. US$35) and monthly insulin costs total 100,000 while a blood testing meter alone costs 1 million RP. If medication costs are a problem, families will try to help out, but with costs up to one third of a household’s income, this can be seriously limiting. Many doctors’ surgeries donate medicine but people cannot rely on this.

Blood testing for many is just too expensive. These people rely on visiting a clinic or surgery twice a month for blood tests. Such frequency for those with Type 1 Diabetes is a fraction of the broadly recommended four tests per day, and this has an impact on blood sugar control and consequently long-term health implications.

15th - 20th December
Bali
On arrival, part of Kuta Beach area was amazingly busy with locals attending an Indonesian pop concert. However, over the next few days, the aftermath of the appalling bomb blast was only too evident. Tourist numbers were less than 15% of normal levels, as many as 50% of local hotel employees had been laid off, some smaller hotels were closed, restaurants were empty, and in the evenings, several (normally) popular bar and nightclub areas were deserted. Many companies are going out of business, and some beach vendors were quite desperate, selling goods at a fraction of normal prices just to gain enough cash for living expenses.

DWF was staying in thatched bungalows at the Legian Beach Hotel, set in beautiful tropical gardens beside the beach. Overall the atmosphere was subdued at less than 20% occupancy. However, on talking with a number of people, tourist numbers to Bali were increasing again. Holland had rescinded its travel advisory against Bali in November while Germany had recently withdrawn its own advisory. Notably, many flights from Asian cities over the New Year holiday season were fully booked. Hopefully Bali, a stunning tropical island, will recover before long.

The next three weeks will be spent flying into and around Australia. It may be difficult to gain access to the internet for the first few days - more news will follow as soon as possible!

15th December
Flight to Bali
On arrival at Jakarta Halim Airport in the morning, interviews with Kompass (newspaper) and Angkasa aviation magazine were conducted in the VIP lounge. On explaining the USA regulatory blood testing requirements, Donna and D. N. Yusuf, of Angkasa keenly requested a blood test of their own out of interest. It was good to find the results showed 4.0 and 4.8 mml/l respectively - normal readings. Dudi Sudibo, Chief Editor of Angkasa and senior editor of Kompass, proved to be a well traveled aviation journalist (and enthusiast). Many thanks go to Chepy Nasution for arranging these interviews. It was a pleasure to meet Chepy, a local flyer and part of a well-connected “brotherhood” of Asian-based flying enthusiasts.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world with over 200 million inhabitants, and after take-off, the island of Java below displayed dozens of tightly packed towns and villages surrounded by flooded rice paddies. Off to the south, volcano complex summits as high as 11,000 feet occasionally peeked through thunderclouds. DWF’s flight-path deviated around only a few mushrooming thunderclouds, and at one stage it was tremendous fun to wheel by a towering cumulus cloud, literally close enough to dip the left wingtip in (and pleasure at the fact that it no damage would be done!).

Over Bali a huge thunderstorm covered the island’s central volcanoes but DWF was able to skirt along the southwest coastline for a visual approach into Denpasar Bali International Airport. Prior to turning west for landing, the flight-path passed by Kuta, the scene of the tragic bomb blast of October 12th.

Four days are anticipated in Bali during which meetings with the Indonesian Diabetes Association are to be arranged. More news to follow...

14th December
Flight to Jakarta
It was a frustrating start. An extremely unfortunate misunderstanding with Air Traffic Control (ATC) led to an hour’s delay in negotiating a spiral climb over Seletar to 11,000 feet and tracking immediately south in order to avoid flying over Malaysia. It subsequently transpired that a Malaysian “clearance” was not required at all! A flight plan was duly filed for a normal exit via al Malaysian navigation beacon to the east, and route clearance was promptly given for this after starting engines. When takeoff clearance was given on the runway, however, instructions were suddenly amended to make a spiral climb overhead to 5,000 feet! Thus ensued a most enjoyable few minutes of busy flying, entering cloud at 2,000 feet and having to use the GPS moving map display in order to remain within Seletar’s tight airspace (avoiding airspace of two military air bases nearby). It was appreciated that ATC had accommodated original negotiations even though it had not been necessary.

The next three hours to Jakarta continued to be most enjoyable. By late morning some huge thunderclouds had built up en-route and the aircraft’s weather radar was used to avoid some embedded storms. It was impossible, however, to avoid a number of turbulent clouds with heavy rain. One such rain-shower was so intense that it stripped off part of the “Diabetes World Flight” decal on the right side of the aircraft’s nose.

Some noticeable haze over Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital city, reduced visibility to around 5,000 meters but with the help of the GPS moving map display and radar vectors to “downwind Runway 06”, a visual approach was made. Jakarta Halim International Airport is a quiet and pleasant airfield and has an extensive variety of interesting old aircraft parked around the airfield. PT Suba Air Perdana did an excellent job of ground handling - many thanks Mr. Suganda.

Many thanks also go to Air BP who sponsored fuel at Seletar, Singapore – very much appreciated!

10th -14th December
Singapore
There have been a couple of coincidences while carrying out DWF, but Singapore was really quite incredible.

A press conference on 11th December had been arranged to launch Accu-Chek Compact blood testing meters which have been used by Douglas with Roche Diagnostics’ support since the US. It was a pleasure to participate in this launch given Accu-Chek Compact meters’ ease of use with their revolutionary self-contained test strips plus fast and reliable results. Three panelists were to speak; Dr. Kevin Tan, Honorary Secretary of the Diabetes Association of Singapore, Christopher Parker, Marketing Director of Roche Diagnostics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, and Douglas. Edelman, the Public Relations consultant for Roche Diagnostics, had arranged the press conference. The incredible coincidence is that the Edelman Director, Marketing and Healthcare Southeast Asia, based in Singapore and advising Roche Diagnostics, is Douglas’ ex-wife, Christine Jones. It was difficult not to pinch oneself at the whole situation as Christine introduced the three speakers on 11th December. As agreed, it really was quite “weird” to meet up for the first time in nine years in this setting. It was also extremely good to meet up with Christine after the conference. It really is a small world!

Much was learned about Diabetes in Singapore during the press conference. Over 11% of Singapore’s population of 4 million have diabetes, yet only 20% of those diagnosed carry out regular blood testing for blood sugar control. This is an extremely alarming situation and results in a large proportion classified as having “poor control”. Part of the reluctance to test is the issue of cost, with Singapore’s healthcare and insurance companies not
covering medication or blood testing equipment (unlike the UK where medication and test strips are free, and the US where insurance policies may cover the cost). It was good to be able to publicize this situation and try to promote greater use of blood test meters. Poor blood sugar control can lead to expensive and tragic health complications later in life - it is so worth “investing” in one’s future by testing blood sugars regularly and frequently.

For the visit to Singapore, many thanks go to Christine, Cheryl and Ray of Edelman in helping co-ordinate arrival in Singapore (thanks also to Mr. Yong Kok Hwee of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore). Many thanks also go to Christopher, Lilian and Sebastian of Roche Diagnostics for their valued support while in Singapore and donations to DWF’s fund raising - very much
appreciated.

Overall the three days in Singapore were an enjoyable blur of activity. Onward flight organization was carried out and several friends and ex-business colleagues were met (thanks for lunch, David, and also Kelvin and Suzanne for dinner!). It was also very good to meet up with Lisa and Mike Frost. Lisa has done a great job in designing and managing this DWF website (via www.koolfish.com) for which many thanks!

Finally on 13th December a presentation to the Diabetes Association of Singapore (DSS) was made, a most enjoyable two hours of discussion and questions. Dr. Tan Hwee Huan, the President of the DSS, was present, plus Michael Toffs, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 pilot who had just lost his flying career after being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in July. (At this time there is no possibility of flying in Singapore with Type 1 Diabetes, even for private flying). DWF very much looks forward to remaining in touch with members of the DSS and meeting up again in 2003.

10th December
Flight from Phuket to Singapore
This was a tremendous flight over beautiful tropical islands and vast Malaysian rubber plantations. On takeoff, limestone cliffs could be seen rising 1,000 feet out of the water to the east of Phuket (one of which was used in the Bond movie "The Man with the Golden Gun"). After turning south, DWF passed by the resort-island of Koh Pii Pii (which was also used for filming, this time for "The Beach" in 1999) and then crossed the island of Koh Tarutao, a national park with stunning tree-covered mountains. (Koh Tarutao was also renowned as an open WWII prison run by the Japanese, whose inmates, short of food, took up piracy in order to survive.) Once over the Malaysian border, DWF crossed Langkawi and Penang Islands before heading inland direct to Singapore. By mid afternoon large thunderclouds had built up over the mainland resulting in a few course deviations to avoid dangerous turbulence. In between the clouds, and from 11,000 feet, huge areas of rubber tree plantations could be seen (Malaysia is the world's largest producer of rubber resin).

Approaching Singapore, Air Traffic Control gave vectors through broken clouds towards Seletar, an ex-military base on the north side of the island. Singapore has four airfields in close proximity to each other, and with one military airfield with similar runway orientation just three miles from Seletar, some navigational care is required in poor visibility or nighttime. However visibility was good below cloud level, and on base-leg for Runway 03 it was possible to drink in the views of Singapore's Business District skyline - stunning!

Seletar is used specifically for private aircraft, and has customs and immigration offices available as you enter the terminal building. Arrival formalities therefore only took 20 minutes - if only all airports could be this efficient!!

8th December
Flight from Bangphra to Phuket
While preparing the aircraft for the flight to Phuket, interviews were held with Channel 11 tv -many thanks indeed go to Karuna for co-ordinating this coverage. After takeoff a quick pass was made over the airfield after which clear and smooth conditions prevailed for the first hour. Approaching Surat Thani, however, huge thunderclouds loomed ahead with towering cumulus clouds in between resulting in some sporting turbulence. On turning right overhead Surat Thani Airport towards Phuket, it was quite amazing (and welcome) to see that the flight path squeezed in between some of the threatening thunderclouds.

Phuket Island itself was basking in sunshine where a visual approach was made into the airport. DWF was staying at the new JW Marriott Hotel which is located on a stunning and tranquil 17 km beach near the airport. Many thanks again go to Bill Heinecke and Marriott for supporting DWF while in Thailand.

Two weeks in Thailand….23 November - 8th December
Thailand was a meaningful stop, being home base for Douglas since 1996, and where the initial idea for DWF was first sown two and a half years ago. The two-week stop also gave Ty a welcome opportunity to fly back to Florida and see Maria who had been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes while DWF was in Malta.

Much onward planning and organization were carried out and it was great to catch up with friends and old business colleagues. One day was spent at the Bangkok General Hospital carrying out medical examinations to renew both US and Australian flying medical certificates. Dr. Sutuspun Kajornboon (Dr. Kay) as ever was very helpful. For a person with Type 1 Diabetes to renew flying medical certificates, extra medical reports must be obtained every three months, including blood tests to measure average three-month sugar control (HbA1c), cholesterol, kidney and liver functions etc., Good control of diabetes and absence of end-organ damage must be demonstrated.

It was particularly encouraging to find the HbA1c reading on 26th November was 5.7%, within the range of a normal person without diabetes (4.3% - 5.8%). (Target control for people with diabetes is 6.5% or 7.0%, depending on local guidelines.) In addition, no end-organ complications were found. Over the past two months of DWF flying, the combination of regular exercise, measured dietary intake, and importantly, frequent blood testing had contributed to the result. (Overall it is extremely important to strive for good control as this can significantly reduce the risk of life-threatening health complications later in life.)

At Bangphra Airfield, a "100-hour check" was carried out on N30TB, the DWF aircraft. After completion, a test flight was made with Tom Claytor acting as safety pilot. It was very good to fly with Tom who had helped inspire the original idea for DWF and who has subsequently been a tremendous advisor. It was also immense fun to be flying in one's own twin-engine plane around the local area with its rolling hills plus Sri Racha and Chon Buri Flying Club airfields to fly by.

 

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