Finally we are in Chiang Mai in Thailand! This morning we never thought we were going to get here as the airport authority never let us go.. It took 5 hours this time to get away from an Indian airport! We were proud we could arrange our "self handling" on our own this time (which means we have to coordinate everything ourselves, without an handling company that helps us). It takes a tremendous amount of patience to handle this! In order to get out to the aircraft you need to walk, sit down and wait, walk, sit down and wait and fill in a thick bunch of papers in several offices!

Because of all administration at the airport we got airborne quite late and we knew that there was a risk of thunderstorms in Thailand, but it seemed to be mostly the southern part that was affected. About 1,5 hours before Chang Mai we sighted the firsts lightnings which made us a bit worried as it was getting dark. Thunderstorm is something you need to avoid when flying as the turbulence in such clouds is too severe and also the lightning can destroy the equipment in the aircraft. Our plan was to land in daylight so that we could see the cells (turbulent clouds) and avoid them, but when it is dark this is almost impossible! The good thing with the darkness is that you can avoid lightnings more easily as you can see them far away from where they are. We managed to navigate between all thunderstorms and landed safely in Chaing Mai at about 9 PM local time. Flying over Myramar and Bangladesh was an interesting experience communication wise. The air traffic controller was almost impossible to hear. Not because of my hearing loss, becuase she used something between her local language and English! Many of the airlineres couldn't understand a word in the beginning - I think the crew in World Flyer were the ones that managed best actually. Much thanks to the GREAT headsets from BOSE that gives a superb sound quality! If you havn't tested this headset - do so! I can also tell you that the mountains in Myramar are just beautiful!

Comnig to Thailand from India is wonderful. What a peaceful environment... And it is clean everywhere.. It feels good moving one step ahead!

Need to go to sleep. We are flying early tomorrow to middle part of Thailand!

Written by Johan

Posted by: Johan Hammarström
Dear all,

Thanks for all nice comments! I get happy to hear that so many people like the project. It feels good that this project gives something to the world. I hope it can take the world a few steps closer to a better world for all hearing impaired.

/Johan

Posted by: Yerker Andersson
Mycket modig av dej! Heja då! Lycka till!

Posted by: George Cire
I am an Audiologist in the US and I am also a pilot. I am following your every leg. We are very proud of your accomplishment and I proudly wear my World Flight for Hearing bracelet and tell everyone about your journey. Good luck and Godspeed.

George Cire, Au.D
Audiologist
Littleton, Colorado
USA

Posted by: Vasan Deshikachar
Johan, I being a hearing impaired student Pilot from USA am watching your circum-navigation with a sense of pride and hope for the deaf community at large. I would be curious to know if there is a aviation headset specifically designed for pilots suffering from high frequency nerve deafness so that they can understand ATC better. Also a mobile hand held device (with speech recognition software) or built into the glass cockpit would go a long way to level the field for Hearing challanged pilots and would also make it safer.

I wish the crew every success in this noble cause.