A change of plan

A very challenging day today. A super early morning after a few hours of broken sleep, then travel delays and confiscation of several items in our luggage at airport security. All of this meant the team were rushing to get wheels up and make our first planned destination of Nagpur before the airport closed at 10am. But we go away safely. All good… until it wasn’t.

It started with the unnerving and telltale sign of trouble with a cylinder on the right radial engine. Since we were cruising at 11,000 ft, we made the decision to reroute to the nearest airfield and investigate the issue. Circling back to the city of Vadodara, we landed safely and the team were out into the heat to take off the cowling and troubleshoot. Turns out the top rear cylinder had cracked and needed replacing. Luckily we had a spare with us so Paul and Zackary got straight to work. Meanwhile, we had several curious airport officials and handlers come tour the aircraft. It was a long hard day for the crew and there’s lots more work to be done tomorrow. Someone kindly reminded us that it’s Friday the 13th. Unlucky for some, I guess.