At around 4 pm local time I left Murmansk airport and set the course to Syktyvkar (heading 125). The area I was flying over was not very interesting, especially from this altitude (5,500 ft.). The flatlands, just north of Ural Mountains do not seem to be very populated. There were very few towns that I have seen on my way. After crossing Kala peninsula and flying over the part of the Barents Sea, I was over the mainland Russia. As I was getting closer to the Syktyvkar, the weather started getting very bad, the wind picked up and there was a lot of lightning. My plane was bouncing around like crazy. I had trouble keeping my heading during the final approach, but at the end the landing was very smooth. Since I was flying relatively low, I had to pull back on the throttle in order to try to use as little gas as possible. I was keeping my fuel flow at 11-12 g/hr and that seemed to be quite good. I have used about 60 gallons for some 630 nm. If I can achieve the same fuel efficiency on the upcoming long legs I will be quite OK.

Pre flight check at the Murmansk airport Waiting for takeoff clearance Leaving Murmansk Barents sea Flying through the thunderstorm Final to Syktyvkar Done for the day

List of countries: Russia

Flight log: