We have been home for a few days so it time to draw together a few conclusions. The trip, the first lengthy journey in D-FLEX, was a great success; it is a very comfortable aircraft and good to fly and even with very strong headwinds, you still cover ground at a reasonable rate. Miranda was very happy in the back doing her sewing and passing up refreshments from time to time and Phil and I were equally content up front.
It was fourth long trip that Phil and I had done together; planning was straightforward particularly as there was no need to check on fuel availability in advance since Jet A1 is available everywhere. Phil was able to use his BP fuel card at all airfields except for Karachi and Riyadh although it was necessary to get BP to email fuel releases to most places. At a friend’s request, I also checked up on avgas availability and excepting Riyadh, this was also available. [In 2013, avgas was available at Riyadh].
There was an expectation that we had and needed to show crew cards. Phil and I were fine with AOPA/PPL IR cards but Miranda needed some finessing through immigration on occasions without a visa so next time, we must make her an official looking card to wear round her neck.
Mike Gray of White Rose Aviation obtained all our clearances for us as well as recommending en route handling agents and his service was impeccable, including some last minute work required when strong headwinds necessitated an extra fuel stop at Riyadh on the way home.
With the benefit of hindsight, we should have used the plane a little more in India, taking it on from Ahmedabad to Udaipur and Jaipur and returning to Karachi from there. This would have saved a couple of long driving days. We would then have had time to visit Jodhpur, the one city that unfortunately we missed out. Handling in India seemed efficient with less bureaucracy than anticipated, and people there speak of a GA renaissance.
Whither next? Time will tell!