Weather or not

Yesterday we were asked to take a charter group to Suai in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon.

Sounds pretty simple, right?

For the morning flight, it was - no cloud, hardly any wind, smooth conditions.

Cloud in the valleys near Aileu

Bobonaro gap, looking north

Mt Ramelau and a cloudless sky

Come the afternoon, however, it was a different story.

I took off from Dili and headed towards Suai on the direct route (the same way I had gone in the morning). However there were rain showers filling the valley, so I headed west towards Maliana in the hope of finding a clear route near the Indonesian border.

Overhead Maliana I could see a gap between the cloud and the terrain and sunshine on the other side. It was like flying through a letterbox...

Bobonaro gap, after flying through the 'letterbox'

On the ground at Suai, with towering cumulus over the main range

I met the passengers at Suai and explained that I might not be able to go back the same way but would do my best.

I attempted to take the low route to Maliana but was blocked by a thundercloud. Then I skirted along the foothills towards the Bobonaro gap and had a look to make sure I definitely couldn't get through. I could see it was clear along the south coast, so continued eastwards, knowing that I could get through the Viqueque gap at 2500 ft.

As we flew over Same the cloud and rain cleared and the entire range west of there was clear, so I climbed to clear the range and picked up my usual Same-Dili route.

The flight took 53 minutes instead of the usual 33, but it saved the passengers a 5-hour drive, and was a very useful adverse weather experience for me.

Afternoon flight: Dili to Suai (orange)
Suai to Dili (red)