Category: 2016 – Cape Town

Today has been a very pleasant day of relaxation at the Bom Bom Hotel beach resort on Principe; a hazy sunny day with a few cumulus clouds.

After breakfast we were taken on a guided jungle walk of around 3 miles. We saw banana and coconut trees and hermit crabs living in holes at the bottom of trees – some quite big. We saw an old Portuguese church with big trees growing up through it which reminded me of Ta Prom temple at Angkor Watt. We saw some pretty kingfisher type birds but not as many as we had anticipated. Phil managed a few photographs of these with his telephoto lens but there is no way of transferring them onto the blog at present.

After lunch, we swam and snorkelled; there were a wide variety of fish to be seen including some very pretty rainbow coloured ones.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it is time for flight planning the next two legs into Angola and Namibia. Phil has just told me that we need to leave Luanda at 0730 local time on Friday morning to reach Walvis Bay airfield before it shuts in the afternoon so another very early get up in prospect!

 

A short flight today to our next R and R spot, Principe. We got up early as we were keen to get to our beach hotel before lunch and there was the refuelling to be done. A slow journey back to the airport in rush hour traffic and it then took about an hour to deal with the various admin before we could taxi down the old runway to the Total fuel depot. Neville, our handler, arranged everything with great efficiency.

 

We were expected and used most of the two barrels of fuel previously ordered and paid for. We also learnt how to optimise the use of our pump and avgas hose; the pump needs to be primed before the hose connection is made and then the fuel flows well; otherwise an airlock is created which the pump cannot clear.

Departure was once again into a very hazy sky. Phil who dealt with most of the admin while I preflighted Juliet Bravo took a picture of the Met Office’s IR sat view of our route, which traversed decaying thunderstorms and sure enough, once we reached our FL100 cruising level, TCU’s appeared above the haze. These we could not avoid but only a few bumps and splashes of rain before Principe Airfield appeared in rather better visibility than we had left and we landed shortly afterwards. I flew this leg. We have now reached the ITCZ.

The ATC man came out and quickly did the paperwork. Then it was off to the Bom Bom Beach hotel for a lunch and swim. We had alerted them of our arrival with the sat phone and their pickup was there at the airport to meet us. Tomorrow is a no flying day.

Douala to Principe: 205 nm in 1hr 30 min

A rather long day; we decided at breakfast that with the forecast headwinds, we needed a little more fuel so ordered 100 litres on arrival at the airport. This took ages to arrive so instead of a 9 am departure, we were not airborne until well after 10 am. No problem with delaying the flight plan; once accepted they are valid “all day”!

Our flight to Douala at FL090 was fine in the sunshine above thick dust haze so we could see not anything on the ground until 600 ft above touchdown at Douala. Parts of the journey was quiet while other parts were very busy with controllers asking for position reports every few minutes. At Douala we were asked for our permit number before we were allowed to land.

Phil was flying this leg and we discovered that the DME arc approach was coded into the RNAV approach so this was impeccably flown. [Wish Jeppesen would do this for the Carlisle arc approach.]

On landing we were told that the Total fuel compound had shut for the day so refuelling now takes place early tomorrow morning. Then it took a lengthy time to pass immigration where our passports were looked at for the first time in Africa. Eventually we got a 24 hour transit visa stamped into then.

Then to our overnight hotel around 25 minutes away from the airfield by a large lake just inland from the sea. My room is reminiscent of what I think a middle east harem may look like but Phil’s looks more conventional. Afterwards the delightful proprietor and his wife produced an excellent dinner.

We are off to a little island tomorrow on a short flight so not sure how good the internet will be from there.

 

 

Accra to Douala: 655 nm in 4hr 50 min

 

 

An early start today with collection by the handler at 0530Z.

We were out at the aircraft by 0550Z and then had to taxi it to a new parking position for refuelling. Flight planning and aircraft preflighting was then done (in the dark as sunrise was not until 0740Z) as we waited for fuel to arrive. We were promised a bowser but in the end two drums of avgas came instead so it was out with our pump and hose. All this took some time to complete so once all paperwork was complete, we were 45 minutes late being airborne at 0825.

Normally at this time of year, a 15/20 kt headwind is expected for the first long leg to Ouagadougou but luckily for us, a light headwind at the beginning turned into a light tailwind by the end so the forecast journey time was usefully reduced. We were on top of a haze layer above the inversion so could not see much of the ground; what we could see was scrubby trees in the hinterland but a fair number of lakes and rivers.

Phil flew this leg and had to demonstrate his holding ability at the end as the President of Burkina Faso was arriving back from somewhere which delayed our landing for a while. We touched down in a dust haze with a temperature of 30ºC and dew point of -6ºC, so very dry air.

Originally the plan was to stay overnight at Ouagadougou but following the recent troubles there, we decided to press on and overnight at Accra. Formalities and fuel were achieved relatively quickly and we were airborne again within about an hour and 45 minutes. I flew this leg at FL90 and as the sun set, the haze thickened and you felt like you were travelling along in a thick soup. We lost ATC contact for a while but a helpful CAT aircraft relayed for us before a night landing at Accra. What a contrast in humidity: Accra reported 28ºC on landing with a dew point of 24ºC.

 

 

We worked out that we have now done about 57% of the outbound mileage to Cape Town.

 

Dakar to Ouagadougou: 952 nm in 6hr 24 min

Ouagadougou to Accra: 414 nm in 2hr 40 min

Today was a rest day. Phil researched and came up with the suggestion that we take a ferry over to Gorée Island which was the centre of the slave trade in the 17th and 18th Centuries and had an old castle and slave house and museum to look at.

We set off in a very rickety taxi to the port, rather further away than we thought to catch the ferry. ID was required to enter the port; passports had been left in the hotel but our PPL/IR crew cards with photograph sufficed, although the guard looked at them very strangely (another first for these useful cards).

Once on the ferry for the short 20 minute crossing, we were assailed by a number of tour guides advertising their services and buxom ladies inviting us to visit their shops on Gorée. In the end, we took on one guide who spoke reasonable English and had an interesting walk round the attractive island. Gorée was first discovered by the Portuguese, who were then ousted by the Dutch and shortly afterwards by the French. There were short periods when it came under Brit rule around the turn of the 18th/19th century. Gorée was where the slaves assembled having been brought from inland for transport over to the Americas.

Our guide pointed us to an excellent restaurant for lunch where we had very good gambettas (large prawns) overlooking the sea.

After a visit to another museum, we took the ferry back to Dakar where our taxi was waiting, and so back to the hotel for a swim and preparation for tomorrow. This will be a long day with two sectors to be flown.

A good day today; for once we were spared strong headwinds. We overnighted in a very luxurious hotel where dinner and breakfast were thrown into the modest price of the rooms. A large buffet catered for every  possible taste at dinner and breakfast. Phil has done all these arrangements for the route out and so far, so good.

Saturday is changeover day at Lanzarote and we managed to get airborne just as the first of the day’s jets arrived to take holiday makers home to the UK, Germany and elsewhere and bring out a fresh load of people eager for the sun. We were given a slightly shorter routing which took us more directly to the African coast and climbed to our cruising level of FL100.

Then it was sand to the left and sea to the right for the whole of the long journey southwards with the occasional odd settlement. Canaries Control kept us right up to the Mauritanian border around 500 miles into our journey; at one stage we were asked for our clearance numbers for Mauritania and Senegal; we had put these onto the flight plan but maybe they were not transmitted. Anyway all was well as we proceeded southwards with first a light tailwind then becoming a light headwind. At times, the weather was quite hazy at our level but generally we were just above the inversion.

We arrived at Dakar at about the same time as an Air Maroc flight and were given an EAT so slowed down to avoid arriving before it and going into the hold. Then an ILS approach in hazy ground conditions. We were parked into a rather remote spot and were persuaded to delay refuelling until very early on Monday morning. I hope that this is not an unwise decision. Then we were whisked through the airport without showing any documents to anyone and taken to our hotel on the beach about 10 minutes away. Once again we celebrated our arrival with a cold beer with a delightful French dinner in prospect.

Lanzarote to Dakar: 961nm in 6 hr 12 min

 

 

 

We self handled at Seville which saved some useful cash and generally worked well but did not allow quite enough extra time to get to AIS, pay landing fees and still get off at the flight planned time. So we departed 35 minutes late, not that this mattered particularly. The morning was fine with the odd cumulus near the coast and we climbed towards the Spanish coast to our cruising level of F100.

Soon we were in Moroccan airspace routing past Tangier towards Casablanca, then Essaouira and so out over the Atlantic towards Lanzarote. Phil was flying and the weather was rather hazy with cirrostratus cloud above us and the odd patch of lower cloud below. The Atlas mountains appeared to the east of Marrakesh and we had lunch as we set out over the sea finishing with a piece of marvellous fruit cake made by Tracey, Phil’s wife. With luck, this should last us until Cape Town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, we had a headwind although not nearly as strong as on the two previous days. We were vectored on arrival at Lanzarote to allow a Condor airbus in first which added a few minutes to the flight. On landing our handler was waiting for us, fuel quickly acquired and the flight plan for tomorrow filed.

Then it was off to our hotel, a good walk along the beach in a fresh NE wind with much wind surfing going on nearby and a relaxing post flight beer and olives.

Seville to Lanzarote: 725 nm in 5 hr 05 min

A rather long flight today with much stronger headwinds than forecast so at the beginning of the flight, ground speed was down to 115 kt – not good. I flew this leg.

We were in clear weather for most of the way with an undercast below which cleared once we were over the Spanish mainland. However the sun then disappeared behind high cloud and it became rather hazy as we approached Seville.

The airport was busy with a fair amount of CAT and military traffic together with the occasional GA movement from the flying school at Jerez.

After refuelling, a 20 minute taxi ride to our hotel just opposite the cathedral and a pleasant walk around the old part of the city as the sky cleared and the sun set.

Avignon to Seville: 704 nm in 5 hr 30 min

Leading up to departure day, it became clear that weather was going to mean a change of plan. Instead of routing to La Rochelle  and then on to Seville, it was necessary to set out southwards for Avignon to keep ahead of a cold front generating icing at our cruising levels.

Phil flew this leg. We left Biggin Hill in rain, strong winds and low cloud. By the French coast, the cloud was beginning to thin and we could see the odd breaks and by Troyes, we started to see the ground but still with thick cloud above us. This eventually started to clear as we approached the Rhone valley with a setting sun to the west lighting up the Alps to the east as the two in flight pictures show.

 

 

We arrived at Avignon as dusk fell and refuelling was quick as the BP man was refuelling an R44 helicopter nearby. Then a quick walk to the nearby Best Western hotel and post flight beer.

Biggin Hill to Avignon: 545 nm in 3hr 40 min

This year a trip to Cape Town is planned. Phil Caiger, who flew back with me from Nairobi in February/March 2014, and I will leave the UK in the last week of January routing down to Cape Town via West Africa due to arrive around 8th February. Phil then takes a scheduled flight back home and Miranda arrives out to replace Phil. Piloting expertise may go down but inflight refreshment services will improve! Miranda and I will be flying back up the eastern side of Africa, stopping off in Zanzibar for a few days before returning to the UK.

I hope to do a short post at the end of each flying day; I will fill this  out and add photographs as and when time permits. To save hassle on spam, I am afraid that readers cannot post comments but do send me an email with any if you wish.