Flight to the lowest place on the planet !

Wow! Striking scenery - doesn't look very conducive to an off-airport landing!
 
Photos look great..I missed a trip to Massada during my little stint in the Sinai...I gave one of my "kids" a chance to go instead. The landscape sure brings back memories...maybe I be lucky enough to go back as a civilian.
 
Great Photos Alon!! For those that have not been, It is truly a beautiful country. I love the Negev.
 
kevin47881 said:
Great photos Alon. Was that an inflatable PFD you had on in one of the shots?
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Hi Kevin

I wear a SRU-21P Survival Vest (U.S.Airforce). It doesn't have an integrated PFD (air force pilots wear one on top of it).

I contemplate buying an Israeli Airforce survival vest (Nomex with Double Cell PFD).
They don't come cheap though.
 
drizzt76 said:
Photos look great..I missed a trip to Massada during my little stint in the Sinai...I gave one of my "kids" a chance to go instead. The landscape sure brings back memories...maybe I be lucky enough to go back as a civilian.
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Hi Scott

If you do come back, the flight to LLMZ is on me :yes:
 
I wanna go there just so I can smoke the hookah in the pilot's lounge.

Great photos.
 
Armageddon Aviator said:
The field (LLMZ) is located next to the Dead Sea which is the lowest point on Earth.
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Um NO it is not.

The Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the deepest point in Earth's oceans. The bottom there is 10,924 meters (35,840 feet) below sea level.

hard to land a plane there but it is still on the earth and is far lower than LLMZ but a cool trip nonetheless.
 
Ken Ibold said:
To fly in to the lowest place on the planet, I think you would need a seaplane to get to the Mariana Trench. :)

Edit: I guess Scott beat me to it!!
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Well, as far as I'm concerned, this is indeed the lowest place on the planet "above the water".

Technically, the VERY lowest point is the Inner Core, beneath the mantle of the planet (try to land there...)

As for the Mariannas Trench...it's the lowest point on the planet if you're an Abyssobrotula galatheae (world's deepest fish) - and they don't fly Cessnas I think :)
 
Now that's different... very cool pictures!
The phrase that popped into my head: "$100 Falafel"... :D
 
Nice stuff, Alon.

My key observation: Rental 172s look the same, everywhere!
 
That brings back memories. I flew a 172 from Jerusalem to Masada back in 1995 during the Pilots' Tour of the Middle East led by Barry Schiff. Minus 1200 feet or so, and it was damn hot there. The day included a tour of the Masada holy site followed by a soak in the Dead Sea. What an amazing trip that was.

Jon
 
I would never fly to Massada during the summer, the temperatures often exceed 45 C (in the shade) - the heat is absolutely unbearable...

An airforce pilot crashed a C-172 on the Massada fortress last summer.
He was lucky to get away with a few scratches.
The Israeli NTSB determined that he had exceeded the MTOW (3 passengers and full fuel) and didn't take the Density Altitude into consideration.
The final straw was a 60 degrees bank under the conditions described above...

I guess it's hard to realize the limitations of a single engine piston aircraft when you are an F-16 jockey ( Fly by Wire controls and an afterburner with almost unlimited thrust) :yes:
 
Alon, those are some great pictures. Thanks for sharing!

Considing the size of an Abyssobrotula galatheae, I think it might take the strength of a couple thousand to fly a plane...

barath.jpg
20cm long

It kind of looks like something you'd find on Scott Migaldi's menu. :)
 
Armageddon Aviator said:
Hi Scott

If you do come back, the flight to LLMZ is on me :yes:
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Alon, sorry I missed your post... I would gladly accept your offer!!! I was just talking to a friend of mine about my time in Israel today and how it would be nice to get back to the land I called the oasis of the Middle East.
 
You are most welcome :)

The best time to fly is between March and May...

The visibility in the summer is generally poor (hazy) and the flights tend to be rather bumpy...
 
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