12th Leg: OYTZ to OOMA (then OY74)

Take-off from Taiz (Yemen) with the idea of flying SE and then NE, going up the Gulf of Aden. The destination of this flight is the aiport of Masirah Island, a military airport in Oman, facing the Arabian Sea. It turned out things went differently however...

Taxiing at Taiz:

Immediately after take-off, the first part of the leg consists in flying almost due East, toward the airport of Aden on the coast:

So far so good, I am flying over hills and green areas:

But then I notice that the performances aren't the usual ones: the left engine of the Twin Star has a reduced fuel flow. Nothing wrong in terms of engine temperature, but it is providing less power and burning less fuel compared to the other engine.

I do not particulary like this area, it is mostly desert and I am at the beginning of a rather long leg, so I decide to abort the flight and land at the first available airport, which is a very small airstrip labelled OY74. Approaching the runaway:

And checking then what's wrong after landing. It turned out a cylinder wasn't working properly. Time to repair things and keep going. I will simply fly the rest of the leg toward OOMA later on...

11th Leg: OETF to OYTZ

The trip goes on from Taif (Saudi Arabia) to Taiz (Yemen), roughly SE along the Red Sea coast. I take-off in the morning, and there seems to be some kind of sand storm:

Pretty poor resolution in this area;

But the sky is stunning:

Keep flying toward the coast, more or less in the opposite direction of the previous flight:

Descending toward the coast, mountains are more or less over:

The coast close to Mastabah:

NAV2 failure, it has been a while since I had that particular failure. Doesn't create any problem:

Keep following the coast, here we are close to Al Shaiba:

And now leaving the coast to turn toward the destination, passing over OYHD:

Mountains again:

And here's the landing strip:

Kind of desolated place. Let's pass the night here, repair the issues and take off again. Next time, moving NE following the Gulf of Aden, then North to approach the coast of the Gulf of Oman, then fly again E toward India. During one of the various legs, I would like to see the Everest: