Following our arrival in Cairo on Thursday evening, we spent Friday morning looking round some of the Pyramids, including the Great Pyramid concluding our visit as the now normal Friday demonstrations after prayers got under way. Nothing dramatic, just a few groups of people marching with slogans and the army and police in side streets ready for any trouble. Eddie Gould of G A S E guided us round and we then had a very pleasant poolside lunch at our hotel before doing some serious flight planning for our return to Europe where the weather is not looking very springlike. Later in the evening, we met Ahmed, the other guiding light of G A S E who organised the clearances. We agreed to meet at 7am on Saturday when Eddie and Ahmed would take us back to October.
A good journey out there in just under an hour and then the problems began. First there was no promised fuel. Next we were told that we could not take our flight planned route to Port Said to clear customs/immigration outbound as the airway was shut because military drones were flying up and down the Suez Canal. The alternative route doubled our flight time. Ahmed then came up with a new plan; we would fly NW to Mersa Matruh, a military base to refuel and then continue on to Heraklion from there. The base commander’s permission for this was sought and gained and Ahmed then set about getting a revised permit from Egyptair to cover this new route, again obtained within an hour or so. Departure loomed, or so it seemed, but then we were held for 45 minutes at the 19 holding point because of ‘miscommunication with Cairo ATC’, tedious in the extreme! Finally we were off to Mersa Matruh.
Phil flew this leg, around 200nm culminating in a RNAV approach. Once on the ground, further problems accentuated by no one there speaking English. Apparently the fuel bowser was broken, and after further calls to Ahmed, he told us that the General commanding the base would let us some avgas from a barrel so out came the refuelling equipment again. The General himself, a charming chap who spoke some English, turned up to personally supervise the operation. Unfortunately no pics as photography here strictly forbidden.
Then it was off to Heraklion with me flying and helped along by a 25 kt tailwind, we covered the 295 miles in just over two hours. Both of us had tricky landings; Phil with a gusty crosswind and blowing sand and me with a 40ยบ offset VOR procedural approach in the dark and then having difficulty finding the runway lights in the glare of surrounding town and industrial area lighting. Fortunately Phil spotted them at the last moment.
Into town and a more modest hotel than the one in Cairo but very adequate. Out for an excellent fish dinner in the town with the proprietor’s lethal grappa to end the meal; we felt we had earned it!!