We have suffered particularly from headwinds on this trip. more so than we may have reasonably expected. This last leg was no exception. We woke up to a mistral at Avignon with the wind at takeoff 31 gusting to 50 kt, luckily straight down the runway. So a turbulent departure which become smoother as we climbed up. The 50 kt headwind persisted until just south of Paris and the forecast reduction to 20 kt only occurred as we crossed the Channel. An undercast and overcast cleared as we went north to CAVOK over northern France and then scattered cu reformed over southern England.
Approaching the English Channel on the MFD.
I contacted Phil on the sat phone to say we were running late and he was there to welcome us at Biggin Hill on our arrival. Tomorrow Juliet Bravo goes to RGV for her annual and Phil is flying us back from there to Carlisle so we off loaded all the baggage from Juliet Bravo into Phil’s car for transfer to G-PTEA. Then it was back to Phil’s for a cup of tea and later champagne and dinner with his family to celebrate the end of our combined tour.
There was the odd difficult moment but overall a great success. GASE obtained our overflight/landing clearances on the way back and apart from a blip at the beginning, these worked well enough.
In a day or three, I will write a postscript with some statistics for the trip to conclude the blog for Cape Town.
Today turned out to be an easier flight than I expected. We arrived at the airport at 9 am to be met by our handler, Elizavet of Skyserve (ex Olympic). They have looked after us well here, at Heraklion and Rhodes over the past four years or so; we remember them and they remember us. We gathered that Corfu is expecting a 20% increase in CAT traffic this year as Ryanair are establishing a base there. PPR for GA will not be a problem providing it is applied for well in advance but refuelling is likely to be much delayed at anything other than quiet times. The airport has now been sold off to a private company and landing charges are likely to rise. There is much to be said to visiting these places off season and we noted that late February is significantly warmer than early February when our visits have usually been.
Visual departure from Corfu for Tigra
The fuel truck arrived quickly and the pump had been mended and then we were off five minutes early. We were offered either a SID for Tigra or visual departure to Tigra and I choose the later. The weather for the first part of the flight was good with the overcast slowly lowering towards us and FEW CU below building to BKN CU by Salerno. We were at FL120.
MFD weather; we were just north of Rome here
We entered slightly convective cloud just north of Naples and picked up a little ice before coming out into a clear layer. The weather ahead did not look good with convective rainfall over Corsica with a few lightning flashes to the south. We amended our routing to go via Elba to keep out of the red/purple areas of the sat rainfall download picture and entered cloud. Rome allowed us to vector ourselves as required to keep in the yellow areas. CAT were not requesting weather avoidance so I deduced that there was no deep convection anywhere. We flew in smooth and benign AS for the next hour or so with an OAT of around -10ºC and no ice build up. Rain was reported from both Elba and Bastia but no precipitation at our flight level. We eventually ran out of the AS as we neared the French coast at STP and the sky started to clear by the time we arrived at Avignon. So, a much easier transit of the front than expected.
Three douaniers met us at Avignon; they were friendly and just looked at our passports. The senior one had done his homework and remarked that I seemed to land at Avignon quite frequently. It is apparent that customs and immigration checks are being much more actively carried out in France.
Squaring the circle; back at Avignon
Phil and I set off from Avignon to Seville on 28th January southbound and Miranda and I have arrived back in Avignon northbound on 28th February to close the loop. Tomorrow we fly back to Biggin Hill and stay a night with Phil and Tracey for a bit of a celebration before reaching home on Tuesday. So tomorrow’s blog will be done when we get home.
Today was a relatively leisurely flight in benign weather conditions although we continue to be plagued by headwinds. There has only been one sector with a respectable tailwind although I am hoping for another tomorrow. The Greek islands looked lovely in the sunshine but large cumulus were beginning to build over the mainland.
The Corinth Canal
Some American CAT spent a great deal of time talking to Athenae Control trying to change his route to avoid Albanian airspace for some reason; he appeared not to be able to find his route on his Jepp chart, assuming he had one. Athenae were very patient with him and it was discourteous of him to eventually leave their frequency abruptly without so much of a thank you.
A late lunch with the usual beer
The runway at Corfu changed as we started our descent and it became a VFR downwind join for runway 17 bringing us in at low level across Corfu Town. Then a first; we were parked on the main apron next to a citation belonging to some republic I had never heard of before beginning with “S”. We gathered that the GA apron is presently under repair. Fuel turned up a couple of minutes later, another first for Corfu, but then the pump didn’t work – we seemed to be blighted by faulty pumps of one sort and another on this trip! Later in the afternoon, we gathered that it had been repaired so avgas available tomorrow morning before our departure.
Drying the washing in Corfu Town
Since we were last here a couple of years ago, there have been a number of improved pedestrian areas in Corfu Town which is looking better kept and more prosperous. We arrived in time for a late lunch at one of our favourite places near the windmill on the sea front. Tomorrow we are going to have to grapple with some weather for the first time in a while.
Today was a rest day. On my two previous visits, in 1977 and then in 2014 with Phil on our way back from Kenya, we just night stopped and went on the following morning so this time, Miranda and I decided it was time to see something of Heraklion. The main attraction is the Knossos, the centre of the Minoan civilisation of 1750 to 1350 BC and home to the legendary Minotaur.
Throne room at Knossos as envisaged by Sir Arthur Evans
The Knossos is a short bus ride from the city set in country just outside the city boundary. Sir Arthur Evans and the British School of Archaeology carried out extensive excavation and reconstruction of the Knossos in the early part of the 20th century although much of this is now thought to be speculative rather than authentic. Nevertheless it makes for a fascinating tour and should not be missed.
Peacock at Knossos strutting his stuff
Equally fascinating is a visit to the Archaeological Museum back in Heraklion where most of the smaller objects excavated are now well displayed and written up. Best to see Knossos first and then visit the museum and note that both generally close at the early time of 3 pm local.
Harbour with Fort Koules in the background
The centre of Heraklion has a number of historical buildings of note. After a late lunch, we walked out to the end of the harbour wall and found Pluto, a Monrovia registered general cargo ship of modern design tied up, presumably waiting for a charter. This is a well used way for walking, with or without dogs and jogging; we calculated around 3 miles out and back. On the way is the Venetian Fort Koules, still under restoration as it was when Phil and I were here in 2014.
We enjoyed our visit to Aswan and had a splendid dinner last night from the 13th floor of our almost empty hotel in a completely empty restaurant. Hopefully the tourist industry in Egypt will eventually revive; there are some good things to see.
A long flight today; 600 nm of desert followed by 250 nm of Mediterranean Sea. Samy, the handler, collected us promptly from our hotel at 7:45 am but on arrival at the airport disappeared for around 20 minutes so we were late on our planned airborne time. Then the destination airfield (Heraklion on Crete) – LGIR – had been mistakenly entered on the flight plan as LGIB, which does not exist, and despite my attempts to correct it, the Tower refused to allow a change, so easier to sort it out down the line.
Only saw this for 600 nm today
Phil’s Coelus flight planning program gave me a flight time of 5 hr 34 min and this would have been spot on had Cairo not added a 50 nm dogleg. The weather was good, a headwind slowly became a tailwind and the outside air temperature steadily dropped from 10ºC to 0ºC as we entered European airspace. On handover to Athens, the controller knew nothing about us (probably the flight plan to a non existent destination had been binned by the computer), but all was well. I had rung the handler on the sat phone with our ETA so he at least was expecting us.
Town Hall in Heraklion
After settling in at our hotel, we wandered around the centre of the town, had the usual post flight beer and planned our sightseeing for tomorrow as we are here to Saturday.
A relatively short flight today. We were collected from our hotel by the handler just after 7 am and took off at 8 am so a very quick transit through the airport and excellent service from the handlers. This is the third time I have flown this sector so quite straightforward; just lots of desert, punctuated by the occasional crossing of the Nile. ATC good for most of the way and Khartoum helpful with a short cut direct from Khartoum to Nubar on the Cairo FIR boundary.
Dam on the Nile near Merowe in Sudan
Like on previous occasions, Aswan airport was deserted and indeed the terminal building had to be specially unlocked to let us in and out, and the immigration officer fetched from home to give us a visa.
A bit of a wait for refuelling but when the military tanker came, it took all of five minutes! A huge noozle more suitable for a DC3 was produced (luckily it just fitted into our wing tanks) and the rate of delivery put our previous hand pumping efforts to shame. Then eight receipts had to be signed for it!
Lake Nasser near Abu Simbel, S Egypt
Aswan on the Nile looks as good as ever and our hotel is on an island in the middle of the river. We have seen a couple of boats with tourists but generally it remains very quiet.
Generally for this trip, I have planned on one sector a day. If the sector is 5 hours as most have been planned for, then allowing an hour at the airport beforehand and an hour after landing for refuelling etc, this makes for a seven hour ‘operational’ day.
This is probably enough for single pilot operation and allows time to see around where we are night stopping as well as writing up this blog and forward planning for the next day or so. It also allows some flexibility in case of delays. On the odd occasion where two sectors a day have been flown, then both second sectors required a night landing; no big deal but not something to be repeated too often. It is no good getting too tired as that is when mistakes are more likely to happen. Having two pilots allows the workload to be shared as Phil and I did on the way out.
A late lunch at the hotel in Aswan
Tonight is our last night in Africa and we return to Europe tomorrow. Time to start looking at the European weather and plotting our route home. Meanwhile a candlelight dinner tonight on the hotel’s roof top restaurant sounds alluring.
Up at 5 am local today to give time for a quick breakfast before the driver came to take us to the airport for a 7 am (0400 Z) departure. The airfield was quiet when we arrived but soon became busy with MAF people getting ready to send two aircraft off to Juba.
About 100 nm SE of Malakal in S Sudan
We were first to depart just after 7 am as the sun came up; even at this hour, it was quite hot and with an airfield elevation of over 2,000 ft, we used most of the 720 m shortened runway on departure. Then climbed to FL120 and radio silence for the next three hours plus. Even CAT far above us were having difficulty speaking to Khartoum. South Sudan is presently quiet so we routed direct to Malakal and then northwards to Khartoum helped by a useful tailwind. At first we were in a thick dust haze so ground contact was minimal but improved as we neared Khartoum and the inversion level dropped to around 4,000 ft.
White Nile about 90 nm south of Khartoum
We were the first of three aircraft to arrive at the final approach fix at about the same time so we kept our speed up on the ILS to land in somewhat reduced visibility and blowing sand.
The avgas barrel soon arrived with a pump but this mysteriously failed at about the same barrel drawdown as our pump did yesterday and we ended up decanting the fuel into a stainless steel bucket into our water filter with avgas spraying around in the brisk wind – health and safety people at home would go nuts!
View from our hotel window
Flight plan to Aswan filed for tomorrow and then to our hotel. Rather luxurious after yesterday’s camp hut!
Up at dawn so as to make a 8 am departure slot from Nairobi Wilson before the heat of the day. Breakfast at the Aeroclub was limited; a splendid breakfast menu was produced but as we started to get quite excited at the prospect, about 90% of the menu turned out to be ‘off’. We got the impression that there had been a gradual decline in overall restaurant quality since we were last there a couple of years ago.
Hilary, a flying student from the EA Flying School, appeared after a while with all our paperwork. We had been cleared to depart directly from the Flying Club apron instead of taxying to customs first, which saved useful time and we were airborne at just after 8 am. Hilary told us he was learning on a Cessna 172 and he hoped to be flying Citations as a commercial pilot in due course. If his flying is as good as the way he looked after us, then he will certainly succeed in his goal.
Just about to cross the Equator northbound
After departure, we were cleared to Nairobi approach to climb to FL120 and then Nairobi Centre to report ‘operations normal’ every hour. We are now back into the rather hazy conditions north of the ITCZ so not much to see but I managed the odd photograph as we passed over very high ground west of Lodvar.
Highlands to the west of Lodvar in Kenya
An unwelcome surprise awaited us at Loki. After checking in with the tower with our ETA, we were asked whether we knew about the displaced threshold for runway 09. It turns out that they are remaking the runway and what was previously a length of 1,800 m is now just 720 m. Still this should be enough if we depart at dawn at the coolest part of the day. Given that the work has been going on for a year apparently, we were surprised that Jeppesen had not caught up with it on their charts.
Our fuel arrived from the Total depot and with pump and hose assembled, we started pumping. The starboard main tank was filled but when we started to pump for the port main tank, nothing happened. Phil and I had trouble with the pump on the way down and I reckon it is caput. Fortunately Richard, the Total chap, managed to find a spare pump looking much like the one I photographed for the blog from the Franschhoek Motor Collection and the job was soon completed. Still it was very hot work in the blazing sun and a temperature of around 37ºC. I texted Eddie who has arranged for a spare pump to be available to use at Khartoum and then Phil and I will have to decide what we do on our return to the UK. Considering it has only been used perhaps half a dozen times, not very good.
Relaxing at Camp 748 awaiting lunch
Flight plan filed for a 7 am departure to Khartoum tomorrow, paid the landing and navigation service charges and then our driver took us off to Camp 748, around 5 minutes away. This is very ethnic with huts dotted around the compound with a central eating/bar/pool table area. Just up your street, Phil! Anyway, they produced a good late lunch for us plus of course the inevitable Tusker beer so a relaxed afternoon now in prospect. We gathered that all the airfield people come here in the evening so look forward to a jolly evening with them.
Loki airfield seems quite busy with half a dozen MAF flights arriving during our refuelling. At one stage, we had thought of moving on to Khartoum this afternoon but a good thing we decided not to; the heat and much shortened runway would have made this a very touch and go operation.
Nairobi Wilson to Lokichoggio: 372 nm in 2 hr 45 min
A short flight for us today leaving a hot and humid Zanzibar and arriving at a cooler and fresher Nairobi Wilson. At FL120, we were just on top of the inversion.
Mt Kilimanjaro in the cloud
GASE arranged for a local air taxi pilot Capt. Mohammed to help us through the formalities at Zanzibar and very efficient he was; to customs for a stamp on the GenDec, then fuel then flight planning and landing fees etc all done in half an hour.
Juliet Bravo at Wilson with Kenyan Mirage in the background
At the Nairobi Wilson end, likewise someone from the East African Aero Club where we are staying helped with parking, paying landing fees and filing the flight plan, all of which has been done in contemplation of an 8 am departure tomorrow morning. Unlike last time here, Juliet Bravo is parked on the Aero Club apron so no long walk with the luggage.
Juliet Bravo at the EA Aero Club apron
Then a Tusker to cool down with and write this blog. I had hoped we would have a good view of Mt Kilimanjaro on the way but unfortunately as the photograph shows, it was covered in cloud.
View from our room. The reef can be seen in the far distance beyond the dhow.
We arrived at Matemwe Camp rather late on Wednesday evening just in time for dinner. It consists of a series of traditional one room houses, of which we have one, scattered round a beach site with separate buildings for the dining room, bar & etc. The camp was founded by a couple of Swedish ladies in the 1980’ties and is built on the NE side of the island, very much away from anywhere. People come and go on a daily basis, quite a few from Dubai on half term break.
View along the beach from Matemwe Lodge
No air conditioning so with the rather humid heat, one soon adapts to doing things rather slowly. There is an excellent chef who produces light gourmet meals, a bar made out of an old dhow and a couple of swimming pools.
Early evening drink at the bar.
So life revolves round swimming, snorkelling out beyond the reef, around 800 metres off the beach, eating, drinking, reading our books and snoozing. In all, a real battery charging existence. Everyone is very friendly.
We continue our homeward journey tomorrow with a short flight to Nairobi Wilson.
