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.
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!
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.
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.
Khartoum to Aswan: 549 nm in 3 hr 50 min