During my trip to Taiwan I had to get on one of the island hopping flights. At first I thought I'd get on a Dornier 228 but a Twin Otter isn't too bad after all. As they don't operate in Taipei I had to choose a destination that would nicely fit with all the scheduled times. After all I decided to fly from Kaohsiung to Qimei and on to Magong with Daily Air and return to Taipei from Magong with Far Eastern Air Transport and their MD80 (a separate post will come for that). I took to THSR from Taipei to Kaohsiung, hopped on the MRT and arrived at KHH with tonnes of time to spare. So I walked around, took some pictures until finally, one hour before departure I could check-in and proceed through the security area. The waiting area is general for all flights and the 'gate' shows up moments before boarding. We area taken to the plane by bus, seats are assigned I get on my cosy 1C with the best view in town. My head nearly touches the ceiling and my bag sits at 1D. Awesome flight with glances into the paperwork, the FMC and other visible systems. The pilots surprised to learn that I'll be flying with them on the next sector, I disembark, grab some fresh air, wait for the plane to be loaded, papers filled out, the crew to rest and well, I had to check-in for the flight at the local check-in desk. The terminal looks sufficient for the needs of the locals. No belts, everything is manual. Unluckily the weather was gloomy and windy, which after all was a good thing because I did not regret the short stay. I'll have to return one day for a walk around the island.
On the second sector I sit in the fifth row, behind the wing. The only thing I want is for the plane to land in Magong. Wind and the size of the plane together with our low altitude come together for some pretty solid turbulence. Unlucky that there is a storm nearby. Lucky that the flights did even depart. The day before all Daily Air flights have been cancelled due weather.
Overall, I may surely recommend flying those short hops around on those tiny machines. I am still am after the Do228 though ;)
