[This is a post on some of the technical aviation details of our flight. If you aren't a flying geek, you might want to skip]
The first day of flying on our third round-the-world (RTW) trip began early on Sunday, November 28 at our home base of Austin, Texas/KAUS and ended in Guayaquil, Ecuador/SEGU with a fuel stop in-between in Liberia, Costa Rica/MRLB.
Because this was one of the few legs where we would be headed east, we departed on this 2,283 NM (2,625 SM) trip just before sunrise in order to assure a landing before sunset in Guayaquil. We normally like to do these "long day" flights totally in daylight, but were comfortable with a night departure from a familiar airport.
Our trusted chariot awaiting the start of another "big trip" at Austin...
The first leg to Liberia was good weather the whole way and somewhat familiar. This was our third trip to Liberia and I have flown many trips to other locations in Central America. The "turn" at Liberia was efficient and painless. We were on our way to Guayaquil in less than an hour.
The flight to Guayaquil was also easy and in good weather. We arrived just prior to sunset as planned and made an easy ILS approach to runway 21.
Overall, an straight-forward trip with no problems or unusual logistics to report.
The next day would be more challenging.
