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.
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.
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.
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.
Heraklion to Corfu: 365 nm in 2 hr 45 min