Month: February 2014

Today turned out to be another long day with two legs; Khartoum to Aswan flown by Phil and Aswan to Cairo October (the Cairo GA field) flown by me. We left our hotel at around 7:15 am for the airport where our handler was waiting and the various formalities were completed quite quickly so that we were airborne by 0550 UTC for the 550nm flight to Aswan completed in 3hr 45 min. Apart from crossing the Nile on several occasions, our flight was over generally featureless desert in CAVOK conditions.

We crossed into Egyptian airspace just south of Abu Simbel.

Aswan picked us up on radar around 100nm out and we were vectored for an ILS approach on to runway 36. Efficient handling and refuelling enabled us to turn round for the next leg in around 75 minutes.

The second leg was around 400nm continuing north and often nearby the Nile and the fertile green strips of land on each side completed in 2hr 55min.

We were picked up by Cairo radar around 80nm out and vectored for a visual approach to 01 at October. There the faffing began. Despite having cleared inbound at Aswan, our passports were taken away and for a long time, nothing happened. Eventually Eddie Gould of G A S E who is looking after us here explained that officialdom could not understand why we should want to visit Cairo on a Friday. Eventually all was well and a retired Egyptian Air Force general kindly allowed us to put Juliet Bravo in his hangar. Then we had what can only be described as an interesting (with a capital ‘I’) two hour plus drive into Cairo – not for the faint hearted! Tomorrow we hope to see something of the Pyramids before continuing our journey back into Europe on Saturday.

A long day today.

Phil arrived as scheduled late on Monday evening and Juliet Bravo’s 50 hour check was completed yesterday morning. Miranda left directly to London on the BA overnight flight yesterday evening leaving Phil and I to start the return flight. The first leg of today was delayed by our handler apparently having a car accident on our way to collect us. We managed to negotiate our way through customs and out to the aircraft but until we had our GenDec which the handler was collecting, we could not depart and this cost us an hour. Then off to Lokichoggio in far NW Kenya to refuel which with a 20kt headwind made it a 2hr 55 minute flight covering 372nm. Somewhat to our surprise, there was a strong wind gusting to 33 knots from 20º off the runway which made for a testing approach for Phil’s maiden landing in a bonanza! It was also very hot doing the refuelling from a barrel and we were pleased to get away again in just under a couple of hours.

Loki to Khartoum was 750nm and we covered this in 4hr 45 min routing through South Sudan, then west Ethiopia before crossing again into South Sudan and finally Sudan. A Monarch charter flight was in our area and it was nice to talk to a Brit and ask him to relay our routine position reports to Addis as we were too low at FL120 to talk to them ourselves. Afternoon cu at our flight level made for a somewhat bumpy first half of the flight but these gradually disappeared as we went north and the weather was CAVOK for the landing at Khartoum in a temperature of 35ºC.

Again refuelling from a barrel for the last time this trip and off to our overnight hotel for much needed dinner and sleep. I heard that Miranda had a good flight home and is now safely back at Holmhead.

Today is a rest day while Juliet Bravo has a 50 hour check at DAC Aviation. Meanwhile I have been checking clearances, flight plans and fuel requirements for the journey home. Phil arrives this evening on the BA flight from London and we are hoping to spend a day on the way home in Cairo sightseeing – demonstrations permitting!

Sabuk Lodge was very different from Lewa camp. Game drives at Lewa were made in four wheel drive vehicles which were able to get very close to the animals and allow some marvellous close up pictures to be taken. In contrast, we spent most of our time at Sabuk on walking drives; we were not able to get so near to the animals as at Lewa but somehow it felt that we were able to see them in a more natural setting. Sabuk is perched high up on the side of a river gorge and is unfenced so there is a constant stream of elephants coming to drink; as well as elephants, we saw lions, giraffes, zebras – the more common kind in great profusion as well as the rarer grevy zebra, impala and warthog. However the leopard remained elusive.

At the end of our stay, our guide Robert and gun bearer Kumbak posed for this picture with Juliet Bravo at Loisaba airstrip. Note the thorn branches round the wheels to prevent the tyres from being eaten!

The flight back to Nairobi Wilson took an hour and we climbed to FL105 to get above the turbulent hot air. Once again Wilson was very busy with scheduled CAT and light trainers doing circuits. We are staying at the East Africa Aero Club, convenient as I can walk round to DAC Aviation tomorrow morning and discuss the 50 hour check to be done on Juliet Bravo.

The Delorme tracker is now working again and I have deleted our outbound route to make it easier to follow us on our homebound route when we set off on Wednesday.

148nm done in 1 hour.

After two splendid days at Lewa Downs with four exciting animal drives and many wonderful pictures of animals taken, it is time to move on to Sabuk Lodge near Loisaba airstrip. This was a short 25 minute flight hopping over some hills and leaving the predominately flat area around Lewa for more rolling countryside at Loisaba. This flight was not shown on the Delorme tracker as I had inadvertently left the unit on at Lewa and the batteries had run down. I have now installed new batteries and it should work on the next leg. We are at Sabuk Lodge for the next four days.

48nm in 25 minutes

It was hot and humid at Watumi where we were staying in a house right by the beach. Lots of swimming, snorkelling and general relaxing was available as well as deep sea fishing and water skiing. But after four days it was time to move on to the first of our safari lodges at Lewa Downs. More admin to be grappled with before departure as two flight plans had to be filed (and navigation charges for each paid); first for the flight to Lewa Downs and then for a short onward flight to Loisaba Airstrip on day 16. I was told we could file an airborne flight plan for the flight back to Nairobi Wilson from Loisaba and pay the navigation charge afterwards; time will tell on this!

We were airborne just before the daily commercial flight back to Nairobi arrived and climbed to FL85 for the 270 nm leg to Lewa; with a 20kt headwind, flight time was 2 hr 10 min. Soon we were above a sc undercast but this broke up as we reached higher ground with some large CB visible to the south over Mount Kenya. Lewa airstrip duly appeared and in accordance with the EAAC recommendation, we landed on the uphill runway 14. Nairobi Centre provide a flight information service but we were too low to pick this up. The aircraft soon had her cover on and we were off to our safari camp.

Note for David – no thorn bushes required to protect the wheels as there is a constantly manned guard hut just behind the aircraft.

Nairobi Wilson is a very busy GA field from which biz jets to Cessna 150’s fly. While theoretically, one can self handle, there are so many different offices to go to and different accounts that need to be dealt with, I decided to accept the services of the handler that had arranged my Kenya clearances and gave him my flight plan for the short flight to Malindi. Even this took over an hour to process; as well as landing fees, you pay (in a separate office) the equivalent of a Eurocontrol charge based on the length of the flight. I also went to introduce myself to Ken Taylor of DAC Aviation who is doing a 50 hour service on the aircraft when I return to Wilson in 12 days time.

Then it was off to Malindi to spend four days with Richard and various friends of his coming and going on a rolling basis. We took the low level NE corridor out of Wilson and when clear of the Jomo Kenyatta TMA climbed to FL75 for a pleasant VFR flight down to Malindi – 230nm in 1 hour 35 minutes. As arranged by the handler, avgas was waiting for us on arrival. We found Richard waiting for us together with two of his friends, somewhat disconsolate as their flight back to Nairobi was delayed having burst a tyre on arrival (the main runway is quite short and out of wind from the prevailing easterly sea breeze. [They made it back just in time to catch their connection to London].

A long day; starting with a 5:30 am get up and 6 am breakfast, it was off to Khartoum Airport for an 8 am departure. There was a fair amount of general waiting around with not much happening and when it came to flight planning, I discovered it was best to omit the Euroland NAV/SBAS bit as no one knew what it meant! Eventually we were on our way with a long flight taking us first into Southern Sudan then into Ethiopia and then briefly back into Southern Sudan before reaching Lokichoggio in the far NW of Kenya for a tech refuelling stop. Out came the kit again and this time the operation went much more smoothly, once the fuel drum arrived somewhat late from the local Total depot (they thought we were arriving tomorrow). Loki was hot and Miranda sat in the shade fanning herself while all this went on.

Finally off again in bumpy afternoon air to Nairobi Wilson arriving there shortly after a thundery shower; pleasantly cool after Loki followed by a very welcome beer in the flying club where we are staying.

No aerial pictures today because the air was very hazy but a couple of other ones. First the GPS long/lat readout as we crossed the Equator around 50 miles north of Nairobi:-

and secondly my Director of Cabin Services on the ground at Nairobi Wilson!!

Off to Malindi tomorrow to meet up with Richard and his friends at their beach house and then going on safari for a week. This will be the last post until we get ready for our return journey in around a fortnight from now.

 

 

Today’s times:

Khartoum to Lokichoggio: 780 nm in 5hr 04 min
Lokichoggio to Nairobi Wilson: 375 mn in 2hr 30 min

A relatively relaxed start this morning for the 530nm flight to Khartoum done in 3hr 40 min. CAVOK weather all the way although some high cloud started to appear to the east as we approached Khartoum. Soon after departure, we got a splendid view of Lake Nasser to the south of Aswan which stretches for miles as the picture below shows.

We crossed the Nile on two other occasions later on in our flight; once about half way and the second time as we approached Khartoum, which sits on the Nile just before it divides into the Blue and White Nile. At one point shortly after crossing the border into Sudan, a Turkish airliner at FL360 helpfully relayed messages for us to Khartoum ATC until we were in VHF range. On arrival, we loaded fuel from a barrel requiring the use of the fuel pump and hose equipment I had assembled, but not used for our Oman trio last year. All worked well. Very pleasantly warm but not hot weather so thinking of you all at home….!

Our Kenya permit has just come through covering our itinerary round the country including the two safari strips we are flying into so we are off there early tomorrow. Gramet suggests we may see our first proper cloud since we left Crete on Saturday.

We decided to have a relaxed day’s sightseeing in a felucca – a sail powered dhow which Samy, our handler organised. He turns out to be a man of many parts; as well as handling aircraft, he is a competent coxswain of a felucca and displayed his skills today in the fast flowing waters of the Nile around some of the islands in the river, of which there appear to be several around Aswan. Tourism round here is very quiet at the moment but nevertheless, there is still considerable felucca and motor boat traffic on the river as the picture below shows.

 

We passed a rather splendid building shown below which is a mausoleum built for the Aga Khan who died here in 1957; the building stands on a high promontory overlooking the NIle to the west of Aswan.

Tomorrow we fly on to Khartoum and then to Kenya on Tuesday. I am not sure whether internet is available in Khartoum but will update if I can.