Month: January 2016

Today was a rest day. Phil researched and came up with the suggestion that we take a ferry over to Gorée Island which was the centre of the slave trade in the 17th and 18th Centuries and had an old castle and slave house and museum to look at.

We set off in a very rickety taxi to the port, rather further away than we thought to catch the ferry. ID was required to enter the port; passports had been left in the hotel but our PPL/IR crew cards with photograph sufficed, although the guard looked at them very strangely (another first for these useful cards).

Once on the ferry for the short 20 minute crossing, we were assailed by a number of tour guides advertising their services and buxom ladies inviting us to visit their shops on Gorée. In the end, we took on one guide who spoke reasonable English and had an interesting walk round the attractive island. Gorée was first discovered by the Portuguese, who were then ousted by the Dutch and shortly afterwards by the French. There were short periods when it came under Brit rule around the turn of the 18th/19th century. Gorée was where the slaves assembled having been brought from inland for transport over to the Americas.

Our guide pointed us to an excellent restaurant for lunch where we had very good gambettas (large prawns) overlooking the sea.

After a visit to another museum, we took the ferry back to Dakar where our taxi was waiting, and so back to the hotel for a swim and preparation for tomorrow. This will be a long day with two sectors to be flown.

A good day today; for once we were spared strong headwinds. We overnighted in a very luxurious hotel where dinner and breakfast were thrown into the modest price of the rooms. A large buffet catered for every  possible taste at dinner and breakfast. Phil has done all these arrangements for the route out and so far, so good.

Saturday is changeover day at Lanzarote and we managed to get airborne just as the first of the day’s jets arrived to take holiday makers home to the UK, Germany and elsewhere and bring out a fresh load of people eager for the sun. We were given a slightly shorter routing which took us more directly to the African coast and climbed to our cruising level of FL100.

Then it was sand to the left and sea to the right for the whole of the long journey southwards with the occasional odd settlement. Canaries Control kept us right up to the Mauritanian border around 500 miles into our journey; at one stage we were asked for our clearance numbers for Mauritania and Senegal; we had put these onto the flight plan but maybe they were not transmitted. Anyway all was well as we proceeded southwards with first a light tailwind then becoming a light headwind. At times, the weather was quite hazy at our level but generally we were just above the inversion.

We arrived at Dakar at about the same time as an Air Maroc flight and were given an EAT so slowed down to avoid arriving before it and going into the hold. Then an ILS approach in hazy ground conditions. We were parked into a rather remote spot and were persuaded to delay refuelling until very early on Monday morning. I hope that this is not an unwise decision. Then we were whisked through the airport without showing any documents to anyone and taken to our hotel on the beach about 10 minutes away. Once again we celebrated our arrival with a cold beer with a delightful French dinner in prospect.

Lanzarote to Dakar: 961nm in 6 hr 12 min

 

 

 

We self handled at Seville which saved some useful cash and generally worked well but did not allow quite enough extra time to get to AIS, pay landing fees and still get off at the flight planned time. So we departed 35 minutes late, not that this mattered particularly. The morning was fine with the odd cumulus near the coast and we climbed towards the Spanish coast to our cruising level of F100.

Soon we were in Moroccan airspace routing past Tangier towards Casablanca, then Essaouira and so out over the Atlantic towards Lanzarote. Phil was flying and the weather was rather hazy with cirrostratus cloud above us and the odd patch of lower cloud below. The Atlas mountains appeared to the east of Marrakesh and we had lunch as we set out over the sea finishing with a piece of marvellous fruit cake made by Tracey, Phil’s wife. With luck, this should last us until Cape Town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, we had a headwind although not nearly as strong as on the two previous days. We were vectored on arrival at Lanzarote to allow a Condor airbus in first which added a few minutes to the flight. On landing our handler was waiting for us, fuel quickly acquired and the flight plan for tomorrow filed.

Then it was off to our hotel, a good walk along the beach in a fresh NE wind with much wind surfing going on nearby and a relaxing post flight beer and olives.

Seville to Lanzarote: 725 nm in 5 hr 05 min

A rather long flight today with much stronger headwinds than forecast so at the beginning of the flight, ground speed was down to 115 kt – not good. I flew this leg.

We were in clear weather for most of the way with an undercast below which cleared once we were over the Spanish mainland. However the sun then disappeared behind high cloud and it became rather hazy as we approached Seville.

The airport was busy with a fair amount of CAT and military traffic together with the occasional GA movement from the flying school at Jerez.

After refuelling, a 20 minute taxi ride to our hotel just opposite the cathedral and a pleasant walk around the old part of the city as the sky cleared and the sun set.

Avignon to Seville: 704 nm in 5 hr 30 min

Leading up to departure day, it became clear that weather was going to mean a change of plan. Instead of routing to La Rochelle  and then on to Seville, it was necessary to set out southwards for Avignon to keep ahead of a cold front generating icing at our cruising levels.

Phil flew this leg. We left Biggin Hill in rain, strong winds and low cloud. By the French coast, the cloud was beginning to thin and we could see the odd breaks and by Troyes, we started to see the ground but still with thick cloud above us. This eventually started to clear as we approached the Rhone valley with a setting sun to the west lighting up the Alps to the east as the two in flight pictures show.

 

 

We arrived at Avignon as dusk fell and refuelling was quick as the BP man was refuelling an R44 helicopter nearby. Then a quick walk to the nearby Best Western hotel and post flight beer.

Biggin Hill to Avignon: 545 nm in 3hr 40 min

This year a trip to Cape Town is planned. Phil Caiger, who flew back with me from Nairobi in February/March 2014, and I will leave the UK in the last week of January routing down to Cape Town via West Africa due to arrive around 8th February. Phil then takes a scheduled flight back home and Miranda arrives out to replace Phil. Piloting expertise may go down but inflight refreshment services will improve! Miranda and I will be flying back up the eastern side of Africa, stopping off in Zanzibar for a few days before returning to the UK.

I hope to do a short post at the end of each flying day; I will fill this  out and add photographs as and when time permits. To save hassle on spam, I am afraid that readers cannot post comments but do send me an email with any if you wish.