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READ CAREFULLY Welcome to the "Around The World Event". This event is our way to pay tribute to the military by visiting areas of the world that have historical value with the history of those who gave their lives for our freedoms. The rules are pretty simple, you have two choices. One, you can fly the whole event or two, you may pick a leg to participate. There are 22 legs, so please take the time to check them all out so that you may pick a leg you are interested in. Please file your report after each leg is complete. For example Leg 1 had 4 flights after that file your report. ENJOY!!!!!!!!
Leg 1: RevolutionaryFlight Number: AW01 Recommended Aircraft: Any Non-Jet Express Aircraft Total Leg Length: 579NM KDCA-KPHL-KBED-CYQB Leg 1 highlights the American Revolution and the Continental Army’s exploits. Beginning at Washington, home of the seat of our national government and just across from Arlington National Cemetery – one of our most important shrines for our veterans. Next, you move onto to Philadelphia, seat of the Continental Congress. The USS Olympia, veteran of the Spanish-American War, is berthed just upstream from KPHL. After leaving PHL, you “cross the Delaware” in New Jersey and end up in Concord – home of the initial skirmish of the American Revolution. The leg terminates in Quebec City where the American invasion of Canada stalled. Leg 2: Trans-AtlanticFlight Number: AW02 Recommended Aircraft: L-1011 Total Leg Length: 2708NM CYQB-EGKB (Biggin Hill) Leg 2 gets us across the Pond in a tri-jet jumbos. The North Atlantic route used here has been used by countless veterans traveling between North America and Europe. Leg 3: ETOFlight Number: AW03 Recommended Aircraft: DC-3 Total Leg Length: 445NM EGKB-LFRK (Caen) -LFSR (Champaign AB-Reims) -EHEH (Eindhoven AB) Leg 3 is a tribute to veterans of the two World Wars contested on the European continent. The leg starts at Biggin Hill, an RAF base used during the Battle of Britain. Next, you cross the English Channel and land at Caen near the Allied D-Day beachhead in Normandy. From Caen, you move on the Champaign in the Argonne forest. It was here where the Third Infantry Division earned the name “Rock of the Marne” and also where Captain Eddie Richenbacher earned his fame as a WWI flying ace. Just north of here was WWII’s Battle of the Bulge highlighted by the famed stand of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne. The last stop on this leg is Eindhoven where the 82nd Airbourne took one of the bridges in WWII’s failed Operation Market Garden. Leg 4: Berlin Air LiftFlight Number: AW04 Recommended Aircraft: DC-3 Total Leg Length: 302NM EHEH-EDDI (Templehof-Berlin) Once the Iron Curtain fell across Europe, Stalin brazenly blockaded West Berlin from the rest of East Germany. The only recourse short of war was a massive airlift. The youthful US Air Force stood up for the challenge and transported everything from coal to candy and kept the Communist menace at bay. The DC-4 is a civil version of the C-54 transport used by the USAF during the airlift. Leg 5: Welcome to SarajevoFlight Number: AW05 Recommended Aircraft: Any Prop aircraft Total Leg Length: 554NM EDDI-LQSA After the collapse of Yugoslavia as a viable political entity, the United Nations peacekeeping force (including United States troops) deployed to Sarajevo in an effort to bring peace and halt ethnic violence. On this leg, we remember our peacekeepers and haul humanitarian aid in via one of our workhorse transport aircraft. Leg 6: Shores of TripoliFlight Number: AW06 Recommended Aircraft: B737, A320 Total Leg Length: 712NM LQSA-HLLT The young American republic was plagued with efforts to contest its power on the land and sea. One such effort was by the pirates of North Africa who were put down by the Marine Corps and memorialized in the Marine Hymn. Another effort to contest US power came in the 1980s from Tripoli – of course, we did not hear much out of Quadafi after a US airstrike against his capital city Leg 7: Blackhawk DownFlight Number: AW07 Recommended Aircraft: A340, B747, B777, L1011, MD11, DC10 Total Leg Length: 4022NM HLLT-HCMM (Mogadishu, Somalia) -OTBD(Doha, Qatar) This leg provides a view of the deserts of North Africa and Arabia. The first stop is in Somalia where our peacekeeping troops were ravaged by the various warlords and their civilian irregulars. This conflict is featured in the novel and movie “Blackhawk Down”. The final stop is the home away from home for the US Central Command. Leg 8: Arabian NightsFlight Number: AW08 Recommended Aircraft: Any Jet Express Aircraft Total Leg Length: 1872NM OTBD-ORBS (Baghdad Intl) –OIII (Mehrabad Intl-Tehran) -OAKB (Kabul) This leg offers the opportunity to review the Persian Gulf region. The US has fought wars in the region since 1990 and it remains a global hot spot. The first stop is at the recently liberated “Saddam International” airport. Next up is Tehran, Iran where 52 American hostages were taken in 1979 and a failed rescue mission cost several troops and airmen their lives. The leg ends at Kabul, the capital city of a Taliban-free Afghanistan. Leg 9: The HumpFlight Number: AW09 Recommended Aircraft: DC-3, L1049, CV580 Total Leg Length: 1829NM OAKB-Z12S (Sookerating)- ZPPP (Wuijaba-Kunming) After the fall of the Burma Road to the Japanese, the only way the Allies could resupply the Chinese was via the India-Burma-China “Hump”. This rout was called the “Hump” because pilots were forced to transit the Himalayas enroute to Kunming, China. While the recommended aircraft include jets. Don’t forget that you will not be able to fly directly across those peaks in the old Douglas products – stick to the valleys and pick your way through. Leg 10: SE AsiaFlight Number: AW10 Recommended Aircraft: L188, YS-11 Total Leg Length: 909NM ZPPP-VVNB (Noibai Intl-Hanoi) -VVTS (Tan Son Nhat Intl – Saigon) Any visit to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington will explain the meaning of this leg. Between VVNB and VVTS, you will fly over numerous abandoned fire bases and encampments which at one time were as contested as anyplace on earth. Pilots are urged not to wander too far west on this leg to find Colonel Kurtz… Leg 11: I shall returnFlight Number: AW11 Recommended Aircraft: DC-10, MD-11, L1011 Total Leg Length: 3627NM VVTS-RPLC (Clark Field - Manila)-AGGH (Henderson Field - Guadalcanal) On this leg we make good on General Douglas McArthur’s promise to return to the Phillipines. Clark International is a decommissioned US Air Force Base. After Manila, you move on to Guadalcanal Island. This was the first test of the US Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater in WWII. It has been visited in numerous books and films, including “Guadalcanal Diary” and “The Thin Red Line”. Leg 12: Island HoppingFlight Number: AW12 Recommended Aircraft: DC-10, L1049G Total Leg Length: 2343NM AGGH-PTKK (Chuuk Intl -Truk)- PGWT (West Tinian)- RJAW (Iwo Jima) McArthur and the US Navy developed a campaign of “Island Hopping” from point to point across the Pacific Ocean to stymie the Japanese. On Leg 12, you embark on a smaller version. The first stop is at Truk, a major Japanese harbor and stronghold. Next is Tinian where the B-29 which launched the first atomic attacks in history were based. The last stop is at Iwo Jima, most famous for the raising of the colors on Mt. Suribachi – memorialized in the famous photograph and the Marine Corps Monument in Arlington National Cemetery. Leg 13: The Bomb and The DMZFlight Number: AW13 Recommended Aircraft: B737, A320, Total Leg Length: 1076NM RJAW-RJOA (Hiroshima)-RKSS (Kimpo Intl- Seoul) From Iwo Jima, we trace the steps of the “Enola Gay” – the B-29 which dropped the first atomic bomb on our first stop – Hiroshima. From RJOA, we visit the capital of South Korea. Seoul is located just south of the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) which has divided the two Koreas since the cease-fire at the conclusion of the Korean Conflict. Leg 14: Victory at SeaFlight Number: AW14 Recommended Aircraft: B747, B777 Total Leg Length: 4510NM RKSS-PWAK (Wake Isl) -PMDY (Henderson Field - Midway Isl) -PHNL Leg 14 is the longest one. We start by hopping to Wake Island, an early casualty to the Japanese advance in WWII. Next, we stop at Midway Island which is near the great naval victory by the US Navy in the Pacific during WWII. An inferior American force destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers near here in June 1942, effectively crippling the Imperial Japanese Navy. Our final stop on this leg is PHNL which is located adjacent to Pearl Harbor, site of the worst American military disaster. Pilots are recommended to visit the Arizona memorial located near Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. Leg 15: Return from Iraqi FreedomFlight Number: AW15 Recommended Aircraft: B747, B777, B7E7 Total Leg Length: 2265NM PHNL-KNZY (NAS North Island) Few images in American Presidential history will be more inspirational to our troops than that of George W. Bush “trapping” on deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln to welcome her and her compliment home after service in the Persian Gulf. Leg 16: Eastward Ho!Flight Number: AW16 Recommended Aircraft: DC-10, MD-11 Total Leg Length: 980NM KNZY-KSAT Finally, an overland route! You will overfly the Southwestern portion of the US on this leg. Remember the soldiers who guarded settlers here and across the Great Plains as we expanded to our Manifest Destiny. Also remember General Pershing’s campaign against Poncho Villa and his rag-tag army – this was the first time aircraft were used in a military role. Leg 17: Halls of MontezumaFlight Number: AW17 Recommended Aircraft: Any Non-Jet Aircraft Total Leg Length: 771NM KSAT- MMMX(Benito Juarez Intl - Mexico City) -MMVR(Heriberto Jara Intl - Vera Cruz) The Mexican War fought in the 1840’s is often overlooked. It was the training ground for many of the great leaders of the looming Civil War, including Robert E. Lee, Ulysses Grant, Stonewall Jackson, and James Longstreet. The Marines made their famous assault on the fortress Chapultepec and ever since have donned a red stripe down their pants legs in memorial. Like the Spanish conquistidores before them, our troops landed at Vera Cruz and many used Prescott’s “History of the Conquest of Mexico” as a guidebook. Leg 18: Missiles of OctoberFlight Number: AW18 Recommended Aircraft: Any Jet Aircraft Total Leg Length: 805NM MMVR-MUHA (Jose Marti Intl - Havana, Cuba) The world never came closer to nuclear war than in October 1962. Our armed forces were given the unenviable task of policing up missiles while not triggering a world-wide nuclear holocaust. Cuba was also the site of Teddy Roosevelt’s exploits during the Spanish-American War, including the famous charge of his Rough Riders up San Juan Hill. Leg 19: Transition NorthFlight Number: AW19 Recommended Aircraft: L188, L1049, DC-3, Total Leg Length: 715NM MUHA-KVKS (Vicksburg, MS) We now return to the United States again for the final pull on the RTW tour. On this final over water leg, don’t forget the men and women of the US Coast Guard and Merchant Marinesmen who serve our nation as well as any other branch we have honored on the tour. Leg 20: Civil War-Grant and ShermanFlight Number: AW20 Recommended Aircraft: Any Non-Jet Aircraft Total Leg Length: 524NM KVKS-KATL-KSAVThis leg remembers the men who served the Union cause during the Civil War. Grant’s most important victory in the West was the siege and capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi. The city fell on July 4, 1863 while the Battle of Gettysburg raged in Pennsylvania. The citizens of Vicksburg were so sour at the loss that they did not celebrate Independence Day again until WWII. Next, you follow in the trail of William T. Sherman on his March to the Sea. He presented the city of Savannah to President Lincoln as a Christmas gift in 1864. Leg 21: Civil War-Lee and JacksonFlight Number: AW21 Recommended Aircraft: Any Non-Jet Aircraft Total Leg Length: 507NM KSAV-KSHD (Shenandoah Valley, VA) -W05 (Gettysburg, PA) This leg remembers the men who served the Confederate cause during the Civil War. The Shenandoah Valley was where Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson made a name for himself by repeatedly running rough-shod over the Union army. No general in American history was more beloved by his troops than Robert E. Lee. Although he mostly had his way against the Union armies thrown against him, at Gettysburg he got the better of himself and the Confederate Army never again invaded the North. Gettysburg remains the largest battle ever waged on the North American continent and was part of the price paid for the preservation of the Union. Leg 22: The EndFlight Number: AW22 Recommended Aircraft: DC-3, DHC-6 C-377, Volpar Total Leg Length: 60NM W05-KDCA Finally, the end is in sight. This shortest leg provides hardly enough time to reflect on the price paid by all of the members of our armed forces. As you fly into the DC area and view the various landmarks on the National Mall, remember that all of this was made possible on the backs of our veterans. There service can only be repaid in our constant memory of their sacrifices in our behalf.
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