Flying VFR

Epilogue

2008-05-23T16:08:00.005+02:00

Our final thoughts and some facts regarding our trip will follow shortly.
We already wanted to share with you the route we have actually flown:

Day 18

2008-05-19T00:10:00.000+02:00

Monday May 19th, 2008
Leg 23: Midden-Zeeland (EHMZ) – Hoogeveen (EHHO)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 1h36
Landing fee: EUR 42

After arriving at Midden-Zeeland at 1700hours, we needed maintenance. The Cessna needs a maintenance check every 50hours. With a 5 hour extension (what you can do yourself in the logbook) on the plane, we could fly 55 hours instead. And we had 1h06 left after our trip to Morocco, pretty efficient. One more diversion or more headwinds and we would have had maintenance in e.g. France. Since this aircraft has a Thielert/Centurion engine, the 50-hours check only takes 15 minutes or so.

We called Hoogeveen, which closes at 1900 hours but they called us back 15minutes later that 20:00 o’clock was possible today, they would wait for us (for an additional fee). What a service!
So, we unloaded the plane very quickly, got on board, fuelled up and took off at 18:23 hours. The only things we carried with us were our headset, a map and our GPS.

To be honest, we left a bit too much in a hurry and didn’t have a look at the latest weather reports :). In the morning in France we saw the satellite images for the Low Countries and they looked good. But you never know with the weather, it can change really quickly. We were flying south of Rotterdam and we saw that the weather wasn’t that great in front of us. Ofcourse we also forgot our information with visual approach charts, frequencies, etc. But we did remember the ATIS frequency of Rotterdam, just to get a feeling for the weather conditions. The ATIS is a broadcast, updated every 30minutes, with the weather conditions at that moment at a specific airport. Though the sky was not clear, it was good weather to continue.
It really would have been something, if we would have had to divert on this last leg due to bad weather :). North of Rotterdam the weather only got better but we were having some headwinds (15kts), and we really wanted to be there before 20:00 hours as agreed with Hoogeveen airport. Under the Amsterdam area, we saw a lot of big boys flying over our head :)

At Meppel, 15 miles out, we called the tower, just to make sure if it was still open, and fortunately it was. The sky was clear we could clearly see reporting point Victor (VAM for the locals :)). We joined downwind runway 10. Just before, the tower warned us of a lawn mower which was busy on this grass airfield. Well we didn’t want to crash into this one, do we, especially not when they are cutting the field just for you :) (at least that was our wishful thinking).

After a smooth touchdown, we could feel a major ditch in the field (due to the composition of the grounds). Since the aircraft still has a speed of approx 80km hour, it is pretty bumpy :).

Anyway, we were happy that we could deliver the plane tonight, so we could sleep and dream about our adventure the next day.

Frans and Ilona were there too, and helped to park it in the hangar. We thanked Frans and Ilona for renting us their plane for the last weeks And we took a train back to Rotterdam. A bit of an anti-climax :), after flying 5 ½ hours today, we had a 2 ¼ hours to go by train. Sometimes it is just nice to get home and sleep in your own bed.

Day 17

2008-05-18T01:18:00.000+02:00

May 18th, 2008
Leg 21: Carcassonne (LFMK) – Chateauroux (LFLX)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 2h48
Landing fee: EUR 30,86 (highest ever paid by us; fuel was cheap though)

At Carcassonne we discussed for a moment the weather ahead. There was a chance of rain and later in the afternoon even a chance for thunderstorms at our destination Chateauroux. But we would be on the ground 30-60 minutes before the estimated time of this chance would occur. We decided therefore to go.
We were flying at altitudes around 2000-2500ft over the French landscape. We did go to the more flat parts, in order to avoid climbing so we wouldn’t have trouble with the cloud base.
South of Limoges we heard a small plane on the radio leaving for Rotterdam from a field nearby, so flying a good 400 miles. This was fun to hear, and quite a ride too.

Just a interesting field we saw on our way

On our way to Chateauroux we had to zig zag around some rain and pretty gray cumulus clouds. These clouds cause quite some turbulence in the area too and we had our fair share (though not that intensive fortunately).

By continuously changing our course we could avoid all the bad weather and we were pretty happy to see our field in a sunny and dry area. Otherwise we would have to find another field nearby. In France this is not really a problem since there are plenty of airfields. (Though not all of them have the Jet A1 fuel we need every 6.5 hours)

The airfield is also used for testing by Air France

Chateauroux is an airfield in the middle of France (really the heart) and we were surprised a bit why this airfield was kind of busy. There was an Air France Boeing 747 doing some circuits for training and right before us we had an Airbus 320 landing.
Also at the airfield it self there were some old and abandoned aircraft standing (some even without engines and another with its wheels packed)

After landing at Chateauroux we looked at the weather. The chance of rain and thunder up north (around Paris) decided us to stay. We were also a bit tired after being in the air for more than 5 hours today.

Day 16

2008-05-17T01:07:00.000+02:00

May 17th, 2008
Leg 19: Valencia (LEVC) – Reus (LERS)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 1h30
Landing fee: EUR 14 (incl. parking fee of around EUR 1.50/day in Spain)

Today we decided to leave Valencia in order to reach Gerona. The Metar’s and TAF’s looked good, though there was some chance that it would rain today (temporarily during the whole day).
The sky looked better today than 2 days ago when we also tried to leave Valencia. Using Servisair to being brought to our plane set us back another EUR 50,= (incl. the ride to the terminal 2 days ago after returning to the field). Not really cheap for a 5 minute ride, but less expensive than others who love to charge you for “full handling”.

At the security the Guardia Civil wanted to see our flight plan (plan de vol). Well, if you use the flight information office in Amsterdam by phone, you don’t have that :), so we had to ask the local FIO to print our flightplan and show it to him in order to let us pass. (he didn't even know how to read it!)

Finally after take off at 10:04am from runway 30 we headed northwest towards reporting point N. However, we could only fly at an altitude of 1000ft due to poor visibility. At the coastline visibility first got a little worse, though we could still see just enough. After a couple of minutes the weather got a bit better and we continued to fly over the sea with the coastline within our vision while being at 1500ft.

But after more than an hour of flying, we ran into rain and our plan to fly over the sea to pass Barcelona wasn’t really appealing anymore. So we headed back for the coastline and decided to divert to Reus, just south of Barcelona. At Barcelona, VFR traffic is not allowed and there are strict rules how to pass. Our sea route was in our view a no go today and the land route was a big doubt since it is through a valley around the city and the visibility was pretty poor.

After landing in the rain on Reus we discussed what to do with a very enthousiastic guy at the Meteo’s office. Unfortunately he had no positive news (the rain would continue and even tomorrow too). We made new plans in the cantine, and looked at new forecasts a couple of hours later. To our disappointment, we saw that Perpignan (just north of Gerona) was expecting thunderstorms and winds gusting to 35kts (variable direction). We spoke to some English blokes that just arrived from France to Reus and they also told us it was pretty bad around Barcelona and even in Carcassone (France). This all meant we stayed in Reus, also known as Salou :) for the night.

Day 15

2008-05-16T01:03:00.000+02:00

May 16th, 2008

We stayed today at Valencia. We looked at the forecasts and decided to visit the city. It was okay to see, not as nice as Sevilla though. On our way from Holland to Tanger we only needed 2 days, now we are already stuck in Spain for five days.

Day 14

2008-05-15T00:47:00.000+02:00

Thursday May 15th, 2008
Leg 17: Sevilla (LEZL) – Valencia (LEVC)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 3h30
Landing fee: EUR 14 (handling Servisair: EUR 25)

After being stuck at Sevilla and stuffing ourselves with tapas we decided the weather was looking good enough to leave. Unfortunately we couldn’t go through the middle of Spain towards Pamplona or Bilbao due to rain and thunderstorms in the mountains up north. So we decided to head for the coast, destination Valencia.
At takeoff we could enter the runway halfway, to be in front of a MD11. Since there was no wind at all, his wake turbulence would mean long waiting and we were ready to go.
We initially climbed to 3000ft heading west. Just after leaving the CTR and on our way to the TMA border we started to zigzagging around the clouds. After 45 minutes we climbed a bit more, changed course continuously left and right to avoid clouds and then decided to go to FL075, being "VFR on top".

At first the cloud cover quite dense but we could see the ground now and then. We marked the spot where we went through the “roof” :).

At the radar images we saw some clouds on our way, but none at the last few miles towards the coastline. And METAR’s and TAF’s said SCT at most.
At this altitude the winds were pretty good for us and we sometimes had airspeed of 120kts, with a power setting of only 65%.
About 20miles from the coastline we could descent to 3000ft and fly below the clouds again. We saw at the ocean that the weather was not that great. No clouds but a lot of smog, due to the lack of wind here (variable, 1kts). Visibility was therefore not excellent.

Valencia is a very busy airfield with strict entry routes. We had to hold at the last reporting point before joining downwind due to landing aircrafts.

First entry point is visible from far away, no idea why :-)

We were directed to the General Aviation on the South Apron, on the other side of the runway where the Flight Information Office is. Fortunately there was a handling agent picking up 2 pilots from a PH-registration Iberia plane and we could catch a ride.
On the way back to the plane we had to use Servisair (not compulsory) since walking would take you 45 minutes at least. Costs of a ride is EUR 25,=.

Day 12-13

2008-05-14T00:56:00.000+02:00

May 13th and 14th, 2008
The weather in Spain was again too bad to make long distances. Especially going through the middle of the country which is quite mountainous and doesn’t have many airfields you can land at. We decided to stay in Sevilla and enjoy some tapas and made some planning for the next couple of days.

Either flying through the middle of Spain or diverting to a coastline and then climb up. The weather will decide for us what we will do to get home and when :).

Day 9

2008-05-10T00:07:00.000+02:00

May 10th, 2008
Leg 14: Agadir (GMAD) – Casablanca (GMMN)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 3h12
Landing fee: EUR 4.50

We left the hotel quite early this morning to see if we could fly somewhere. Marrakech was out of question yesterday, so we wanted to try it again today, since it is on the route to Fes and then Oran (Algeria). Security at this airport is quite efficient for General Aviation so no problems here.

Everyone comes here, tourists.....

and princes....

We arrived at the Meteo’s office to find out again that the clouds and forecast wasn’t really comforting for flying more inland. So, not wanting to lose another day, we decided to fly to Casablanca. From there it was even a bit shorter to Marrakech. So after arrival we could still decide to go to Marrakech if the weather improved in the mean time.

After taking off from Agadir we requested to turn directly towards the coastline due to visibility. At the coast line we turned north flying towards Casablanca, but stayed over the ocean to avoid some prohibited areas at the coast. At the coast line we noticed that the winds were pretty strong and causing quite some turbulence. The strong wind reduced our ground speed to a mere 65kts. This looked to become a very long flight this way!

When arriving at Casablanca there were some few clouds, though they were towering cumulus (so clouds which are tall) causing quite some turbulence again.

At the airfield there was not much going on and our transponder worked, so we didn’t disrupt traffic this time :).

After landing we found out that the weather had not improved at all at Marrakech. We decided to go to a hotel downtown and walk around at the souks. We were a bit worried though to get back on the apron the next morning, since the last time it took 3 hours and almost being forced to use handling………

Day 8

2008-05-09T00:40:00.000+02:00

May 9th, 2008

We planned to go from Agadir to Marrakesh. Unfortunately, the cloud level was quite low and included CB’s (clouds that can cause thunderstorms and quite some turbulence). Since Marrakesh airfield is situated at 1500ft in a mountainous area inside Morocco, we didn’t fancy going there today and decided to stay at our hotel. Since we asked if we could stay for a second night, we got a “discount” of 20% and also a nice purple bracelet, so we were “all inclusive” :).

Day 7

2008-05-08T00:27:00.000+02:00

May 8th, 2008
Leg 13: Laayoune (GMML) – Agadir (GMAD)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 3h24

This time the turnaround at Laayoune was even quicker than the day before. This time because we didn’t need to put our stickers that “we were here” :).

After the strong headwinds on the way to Laayoune, the next leg to Agadir was a bit better, it is around 30 miles longer so any help with wind was wanted.
Everything went very well, visibility was pretty okay. Due to the heat you can see some “smog” and inland you saw the clouds. But the VFR routes (compulsory) are at the coastline so no problems whatsoever.

Arriving at Agadir was a bit of a challenge. First we had to descent a bit to ca. 1000ft since we had to go more inland (field is ca 10 miles out of the coast) and the clouds were there. Going inland we felt quite some turbulence making it quite intensive flying to watch where the plane is going and to stabilize it also. We then saw some blowing sand rolling on the ground (first time to see that). This didn’t really help our visibility, so to say. Fortunately the cloud level let us climb a couple of hundred feet so we could be “VFR on top” of the blowing sand. You can see the ground between the rolling sand clouds below you and the visibility is much better at a bit higher level than being too low here. Also we did not want to put our air filter through all that sand and dust. At the airfield there is hardly any loose sand so landing was quite easy. We had to clean our windshield though, since it had collected some very fine sand.

Day 6

2008-05-07T23:32:00.000+02:00

Wednesday May 7th, 2008
Leg 10: Tan Tan (GMAT) – Laayoune (GMML)
PIC: Marco
Flying time: 1h48
Landing fee: EUR

This day the delay started at a road block of the police. We had to wait about 15 minutes before the police was ready with checking our passports. After we had reached the airbase everything went very smoothly. We took off and headed directly to the coast line. Upon reaching the coast line, we turned south towards the Western Sahara. The flight went very smoothly. When we were abeam the Layoune airfield, we turned in land. It was a bumpy ride to the airfield. The TAF predicted some wind on the nose but this time the tower reported correctly a significant cross wind. Marco had asked for the wind, well before reaching the field. On final Marco had to struggle with to cross wind, but the landing went very smoothly. The turn around went very quickly; 1 hour between touch down and start up (military efficiency). The only delay we had was caused by the customs office.

The PH-VZV at Tan Tan airbase

Enroute to Laayoune

Marco

Final runway 04 (right runway). Nose towards the wind

Placing a sticker on the door of the ATS reporting office.

Leg 11: Laayoune (GMML) - Dakhla (GMMH)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 2h24

The turnaround at Laayoune was one our quickest. Within 70minutes after touchdown we were airborne again. We had too, in order to reach Dakhla before the end of day period. In the last moments before reaching Laayoune we reached a ground speed of 110 kts due to favorable wind direction. So quick calculation taught us that we would have 45-60 minutes left after landing at Dakhla. One thing you do know, with the end of daylight approaching and being at least 2 hours from the nearest alternate airfield there is not much choice where to put down an aircraft.
Etienne took care of refuelling and Marco took on the soldiers:). This made the quick turnover possible, also because the military is very helpful and friendly.
Laayoune is a sort of military field just inside the Western Sahara. It was a bit weird to see Antonov aircrafts with UN markings at Laayoune though.
After taking off from runway 04 we turned left to fly along the coast heading south to Dakhla at an altitude of around 1500ft for sightseeing reasons.

The Western Sahara

And the Ocean under the other wing

And once to look at a stranded ship we went down to 700ft. It is funny to see that some stranded ships are even marked on the TPC maps which are 10-20 years old!

The wind was really helping us with a tailwind of around 20kts and sometimes we reached ground speeds of up to 124 kts. From take off to landing and 265 miles took us 2h24, over 1 hour left to end of day light. We made the daylight period by a huge margin :)

A lonely plane in the desert....

Dakhla is a very nicely situated airfield on a peninsula. When we approached it, we could see some kite-surfing in a bay and of course a lot of beaches since everything around is sand. Though it is a small town (40.000 inhabitants) it is clear that the Moroccans put a lot of effort in it to make it a comforting and nice place to go to. The base commander and airport commander where again very helpful and friendly and spoke good English and German. We told them we needed clearance to fly to Mauretania and Senegal but that we haven’t heard anything from these authorities yet. They did there best to get it for us for the next day. The hotel was right next to the airport (like the whole town in fact), which saved us at least 30-45min of travelling back and forth like in the other cities.
Everyone is very relaxed and friendly in this town when we were walking around.

Day 5

2008-05-06T20:52:00.000+02:00

Tuesday May 6^th, 2008
Leg 8: Agadir (GMAD)– Agadir (GMAD)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 0h36

We were quite early at the airport and the TAF and Metar for GMML and GMAT (Tan Tan) were okay. Some clouds but only at 1600ft and higher (SCT016). Visibility at GMAD was fine too, only a little bit of wind. They tell you it is 12kts, but it felt like a lot more, but like most of the time here the wind is on the nose (runway 28 = 280 degrees). Laayoune would be our first stop in the Western Sahara and we where looking forward to it.

We received a clearance number from Rabat through the ARO of Agadir (everyone is very helpful). This clearance number was needed to file a flight plan to Tan Tan, Laayoune and Dakhla. No clearance number, no flight plan, no flight. The number was entered in the flight plan under item 18 ”CLEARANCE xxxxxxxx”).
After take off we got a clearance to climb to 2000ft. But soon after reaching this altitude, we requested to descent to 1500ft due to cloud cover. Everything was fine until we left the TMA of Agadir (flying outside the controlled sector) to the southwest, flying along the coast. There the visibility deteriorated seriously.

Clouds at 1000ft, so we descended to 700ft. This was a bit of a surprise to us since the weather forecasts had not predicted this. We didn’t fancy to fly to Laayoune at 700ft (3 hour flight) or lower, so we returned to the field, flying pretty low to the ground (no obstacles on the approach chart fortunately). GPS in this case was very handy (we had two operating) and also comforting. We are also using the VOR for direction and position.

After landing we had lunch and talked about what to do next. We looked at the new TAF (forecast) and METAR (current weather) for Tan Tan (GMAT) and GMAD and decided that this would be possible at 700ft (they don’t call it sport flying for nothing ;) ).

Leg 9: Agadir (GMAD) – Tan Tan (GMAT)
PIC: Marco
Flying time: 1h54
Landing fee: EUR 13 (incl. parking for a night)

After we had diverted back to Agadir (see leg 8) we discussed whether we should proceed Laayoune or stay in Agadir. At that moment we saw a small piston engine plane with a November registration. This plane was flown by a French family. They had just come from Tan Tan, a field half way to Laayoune. They told us that they had flown all the way at 500 ft due to low visibility. We also spoke with some airline pilots about the weather that they had encountered on their way. They had no problems, but they came in from the north and they were flying IFR (this means that the were flying on instruments and that they didn't need very good visibility). We decided to go and if the visibility would be too low we would again return to Agadir. We made only one change into our plan; we would not go to Laayoune but to Tan Tan. The flight to Laayoune had an estimated elapsed time of 3h 45m. This would be to tiresome for one person to fly under low visibility conditions. Therefore we decided to go for Tan Tan, a field half way on the route to Laayoune.

We both admitted to each other that it feels better to fly under these conditions than to sit next to someone who is flying under these conditions :). Marco was the lucky guy to fly, so Etienne had to hold his breath for the next two hours.

After take off it immediately became clear that the weather was worse than forecasted (lesson learned: TAF and Metar in Morocco are too optimistic). We descended from 1500 feet to 500 feet and followed the caost line. The only instruction from ATC was that we had to stay VMC (this means that you have to fly under such conditions so that you can proceed your flight under legal visual conditions). We might have complied...

Half way we saw a small village called Sidi Ifni. It had an abandoned runway on the coast line. Marco decided that this would be our alternate aerodrome if we couldn't reach Tan Tan nor return to Agadir. We might get into difficulties with the Moroccan authorities if we would land there, but at least we would be alive. After Sidi Ifni the visibility got very poor.

We kept on flying, and after a while the visibility got a little bit better. We climbed to 800 ft. Shortly before we turned in land to reach Tan Tan, we were able to climb to 1200 ft (also necessary because the airfield is situated at around 600ft and there are some obstacles). After reaching 1200 feet we turned left towards Tan Tan. Tan Tan is situated on a plateau, reaching above the surrounding terrain. After two hours Marco was happy to have reached Tan Tan. Now with the field insight he asked for the wind direction and the wind speed. The information that he received gave him the impression that it would be a simple landing. This turned out not to be the truth. He was surprised by a very strong cross wind, making the landing unexpectedly difficult.

Tan Tan looks like an abandoned military base in the middle of nowhere. The people working at the base were very friendly.

We got a taxi to the village. On our way to the village we were stopped at a road block of the police. We had to wait about half an hour before we could continue our trip to the village. Tan Tan is a very nice village where you can experience the traditional Morocco. It is also clearly a garrison city. The military is an integrated part of the community. We stayed at a small hotel. It was simple and cheap. Nothing to complain. We had a nice stay in Tan Tan.

Day 4

2008-05-05T21:00:00.000+02:00

Monday, May 5th 2008
Leg 7: Casablanca (GMMN) – Agadir (GMAD)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 2h24
Landing fee: ca. 16 euro (incl. 1 night)

It took ages today to get to our airplane. We left the hotel at 0900 hours to be at the airport at 1000 o'clock so we could in the sky at 1200 o’clock, according to our flight plan. However, security really had a problem dealing with us. When we arrived yesterday, we just walked on the apron to Arrivals and had no problems, but this morning we were not allowed to walk back on the apron. We needed handling, so we were taken to Royal Maroc handling. Fortunately the handling office let us walk to our plane (without the payment of EUR 200,=!!!).
By the way, most airports in Morocco are situated quite a distance from the cities. Taxi’s one way will cost you EUR 20 / Dirham 200 (most of the time fixed prices published at the airport).

We have no idea if Terminal 3 can be used to enter the apron (after arrival yesterday, we had to go to Terminal 2). Terminal 3 is right next to the ARO office.
Finally, at the apron we walked to the ARO. There we found out again that the flight plan filed at AIS in the Netherlands was not in the system at Casablanca. Amsterdam FIO sent it again, after our phone call and the ARO received it. (Tip: file flight plans locally, much easier and even 30 min before take-off is ok). However, we had to wait and ask 3 times for fuel before they got to our plane (and then they showed up with two trucks!!!). With almost another hour of delay (4 hours after leaving the hotel!) we finally took off.

It is pretty funny to start at the beginning of runway 35L and being airborne after ca. 350 meters when the runway is 3300 meters (that thing is long!!!; especially when taxiing to the holding point). There was a nice breeze at Casablanca since the field is situated in the middle of nowhere without the cover of mountains or trees, making the take off very quick.

We had a 15kts tailwind on our way to Agadir, making a ground speed possible of 105-110 kts. Also on this leg we could hardly receive Casablanca Info due to some mountains. We were at FL055 and later on at FL065. With mountains reaching 3500ft, there was still hardly any communications. After the last reference point on the VFR route (lighthouse Cap Rhir) we switched to Agadir Approach.

Then the party started again. Approach wanted us to fly to reporting points which are not on the TPC maps we have and VFR maps are not available (the only new map is the one of the Northern part of Morocco; there are some local 1994-VFR maps, but very hard to get; possible to be ordered at the Aeronautical Office in Casablanca). He gave us some coordinates for a reporting point. But Marco requested if it was possible to fly directions until a certain radial was intercepted to get to the field. But obviously this was too fast for the controller so it was rejected. Finally we got an instruction for "report field in sight". Landing at the field was not that difficult, pretty flat all over the place.

You have to make sure you stay well clear to the north of the city and airfield in order to avoid the prohibited areas and the military airfield. We parked in front of the tower for a refuelling and immediate take off to Laayoune. However, they told us we needed special permission when we wanted to go further south (even to Tan Tan which is not even in the Western Sahara). This is not in the online AIP of Morocco, so we where a bit surprised. Fortunately the ARO was very helpful and immediately sent a landing permission request to Rabat between 6 and 12 May so we could land on the airfields situated in the southern part on our way to Dakar and back. The answer would come the next morning, so we parked our aircraft at the Aeroclub (general aviation).

There were only two other aircrafts standing there, and we are not sure if we would like to board them :). It does take a good 15 minutes walk to go from the parking area to the arrivals terminal since the runway is so long. On your way we passed some Saudi Arabian boeings belonging probably to a wealthy prince or two (at their parking place the grass is very well maintained :)).

The airport looks so remote and deserted we had the feeling the were getting in the more adventurous part of our trip. We took a taxi downtown and we were shocked to enter such a touristic town, it felt like being at a Costa Del Sol (Neckermann, Sunweb and all the other suspects are here!). With our dream shattered we took a short night sleep and wanted to leave early the next day.

Day 3

2008-05-04T20:44:00.000+02:00

Sunday May 4th, 2008
Leg 6: Tanger (GMTT) – Casablanca (GMMN)
PIC: Marco
Flying time: 2h00
Landing fee: EUR 5.40 (incl. Parking for a night)

The day started with a delay at the entry of the airport. Before we were able to go to our aircraft, the security had to take some time to deal with us. After that Etienne checked the plans that he had filed with the automated system of the Dutch Aeronautical Authorities. To his surprise the flight plans had not been received by the Moroccan authorities. The only thing that Etienne could do is to file all his plans again. At the same time Marco prepared the plane for the flight to Casablanca. After he had finished, Marco spoke with some French pilots. They told him that they were grounded because of the bad weather (IMC). This meant that we also would not be allowed to take off from Tanger. After a while the bad weather cleared up just enough to allow us to leave. We discussed the situation and our options and we decided to go.

In the air we noticed that the weather was not the best flying weather you could wish for, but it was good enough for us.

The beginning of the flight went very smoothly. We had put the VFR route into our PDA's, which run the navigation software PocketFMS, so we knew exactly how to fly. After the reporting point Ibdir we thought we could fly to our next reporting point Tiflet. Too bad, Casablanca control had other idea's. "Report Urtek (?!?) next".

Urtek???, never heart of Urtek and it is not on the Rabat VFR map. So our reply was:
"Could we proceed to Tiflet?".
"Negative, proceed to Urtek. Are you familiar with Urtek?".
"Ehm, negative".
"Okay, no problem, steer heading 215 for the next 33Nm".
So the next twenty minutes Marco had to fly on his Compass, not knowing where he was. After twenty minutes we flew overhead a town called Sidi Allal el Bahraoui. This was Urtek. After that we had to proceed to Bakra, the border of the Casablanca TMA. We were handed over to Casablanca Approach and now the fun started. The reception was very poor so there were periods without any radio contact. Then there was some confusion about the instructions. Marco and the lady from Casablanca approach both spoke English with a different accent which lead to misunderstandings. Approach had cleared us to BRC, a VOR/DME (this is a beacon) close to the field. We noticed that she was constantly asking us for a radial and an estimate to the VOR. Etienne constantly had to recalculate our time to the beacon. The problem was that we didn't have a DME (an instrument that measures the distance to the VOR/DME) so we didn't know our exact distance to the VOR/DME also since it was not on the VFR map. We had not configured our PDA's to act as a DME (we did this right after this flight) and we had never used the old GPS in the plane (now we do). We only used the VOR and ADF receivers (now we use everything that we've got). After a while approach instructed us to report the field insight.

"Field insight".
"Report base".

So we should now turn base and leave our track towards the VOR/DME? Right, no problem. Marco steered towards base. Approach told us that we were number five. This is something that we could not understand, because Marco could not see any other aircraft in the circuit. This could only mean that Approach had misjudged our position in the circuit. Marco immediately reported approaching base, to indicate that we were very close to the field. At that moment an other aircraft (a relatively large aircraft) came in on final and landed (for people unfamiliar with flying; this aircraft showed up right into our windscreen). Approach handed us over to the tower. At first contact Marco immediately reported our position on base.

"Roger, report short final".

Short final? But we are number four??? Or did we misunderstood the message of approach? Then the tower asked for our position.

"Turning final".
"Roger. How long before short final?"
"We are very close to short final (a Cessna 172 doesn't need a very large circuit)."
"Okay, cleared to land runway 35 left".
When we were on final we noticed a B747 waiting at the holding point of 35L. The pilot requested a take off before we would land. A strange request, because if he would take off right in front off us, we would have no other alternative to brake to the left to avoid his wake turbulence. Correctly the tower denied the request and we could land ad 35L.
It was a strange approach and it was unclear why approach had let us fly right between other traffic. After we had parked the plane, a car from Air traffic control stopped next to our plane. O,o. This can't be good...

"Good afternoon sir, two small questions: Do you have a VOR/DME on board, because you were constantly changing your estimates for BRC? First 5 minutes and then 8 minutes".

"We have a VOR but no DME"

"A, okay, I understand. Second question, do you have a transponder and is it on? Approach could not see you on the radar".

This came as a surprise to us. We had a brand new transponder (mode S) and it was on. Furthermore air traffic control never told us that they didn't have radar contact. If they would have told us that we would have checked our transponder and if that didn't work we would certainly have suggested to approach to leave their area.

Lessons learned:

if Air Traffic Control (ATC) asks you for an estimate to a DME, simply tell them that you don't have a DME and that you have to make estimates. Most of the time ATC will ask you to report the field in sight.

If ATC is constantly asking for your position, then you are probably not showing up on their screen => check your transponder (or they don't have a secondary radar; in that case it is probably a small field => no spang!).

The things that we have done to prevent this from happening again:

We have checked our transponder and we are now constantly monitoring our transponder
We are now using two PDA's. We have checked the available functions of PocketFMS. One PDA is used as a moving map and the other is used as a VOR/DME/NDB.
Although the software of the installed GPS is out of date, we have activated this GPS and are using it as an additional source of information.

Later that day we had a further discussion with the supervisor. A nice guy who also flies VFR whenever he can. He gave us some useful information about the VFR route for our next leg to Agadir. Due to the delay we had at Tanger, we were not able to continue with this leg on the same day, so we had to stay in Casablanca. It is a very beautiful city, probably the most beautiful city in Morocco (although Etienne prefers Tanger).

Day 1+2

2008-05-02T02:14:00.000+02:00

Friday May 2^nd 2008
Leg 1: Hoogeveen (EHHO) – Pontoise (LFPT)
PIC: Marco
Flying time: 3h42
Landing fee: ca. EUR 9,=

On Thursday evening May 1^st, 2008 we looked at the weather predictions for the next couple of days and viewing some satellite images and decided that Friday was a go.

We left Hoogeveen (EHHO) at 1100am. Just before we took off a parajumping plane took off. Shortly after take off, we had to make a left turn to avoid a para jumper at Hoogeveen.
After more than an hour we past Rotterdam (for pilots: just east of the CTR, near Romeo) at 3500ft. It was funny to see an aircraft from our club passing us (opposite direction)

The French air traffic control was very (as always) helpful. They speak to you in English, but all other traffic is done in French. Advantage: paying attention is not necessary. Disadvantage: missing a lot of what is going on. What we do like about the French is that they watch you closely and warn you about other traffic. Pontoise is a nice field to land, situated westerly of Paris.

Parking and refuelling (Jet A1) was ok. Unfortunately there was nothing to eat, so we opened up our first package of cookies for emergencies J and left again for our second leg.

Leg 2: Pontoise (LFPT) – Bordeaux (Merignac) (LFBD)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 3:06
Landing fee: ca. EUR 50,= (incl. handling)

Right after take off we saw the Eiffel Tower to our left, so we have seen Paris on our quest to reach Dakar.

Flying south of Pontoise we had a south-westerly direction to Bordeaux, crossing various FIR regions, but we were allowed to climb to 3500ft almost right after take-off, since a lot of areas were not active, making things easy. During the route we had to stay clear of some gliders (next time we better not use air fields as reference points).We were glad to approach Bordeaux. This was the first day ever, we flew this long. And makes you realize France is pretty big.

The visual approach points where easy to find (water tower etc), and also PocketFMS (GPS) was very helpful.
Handling is compulsory at Bordeaux and we had pre-arranged that by fax and email. About 20 minutes before landing we called Air Assistance on the radio that we were approaching. This was the first time we had to use handling, and we liked it. They pick you up from the plane, bring you to the hotel (which they also reserve for you), they take care that your plane will be refuelled, in the morning you are brought back to their lounge where you will pay the handling fee (incl. landing) and receive the latest weather forecast for the route you are going to fly. The flightplan to Pamplona was filed by him the night before.

Saturday May 3^rd 2008
Leg 3: Bordeaux (Merignac) (LFBD) – Pamplona (LEPP)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 1:36 hours
Landing fee: ca. EUR 9,=

South-west France looks terrible to fly in with all the restricted and danger areas. However this day, there was no one in the sky. We asked for FL055 (5500 feet = 2 km altitude) and could proceed direct to Biaritz at the border. In our plan we had different altitudes and directions to avoid all the areas. But all this was not necessary.

Approaching the mountains was a bit of an odd feeling after being used to the flatness of the Netherlands. In France, approaching Pontoise you already can see the elevation of the ground, but the mountains in the North of Spain were something different.
Checking a couple of times what the height of the mountains was, we were pretty sure that it should work (we had the QNH also, to see the real altitude, compared to flightlevels, since mountains are not measured in flightlevels).
Climbing to FL065 we easily passed the mountain chains (approaching them make them look lower).

In the visual approach chart of Pamplona there are some fixed reporting points and a strict altitude of 1000ft above ground. But since there was no one else, we got an “at your own discretion” instruction. It is a beautifully situated field and a petty we had to leave soon after landing for our trip to Sevilla (worth going back there for sure).

Leg 4: Pamplona (LEPP) – Sevilla (LEZL)
PIC: Marco
Flying time: 4:30
Landing fee: ca. 10 euro.

Right after take off we climbed to FL065 since Spain has a lot of mountains. After a while when we were cruising through the mountains, we hardly received any communications. We were transferred to Madrid Info through a message relay from another plane high above us, that was our first relay :-) .

In the Madrid TMA there are some corridors you can fly. However these are on the other side of the mountain chain at Madrid. At one point we could not receive Madrid Info for about 45 minutes. Sometimes you could hear other planes responding to the tower, but not the tower itself. After Etienne noticed that our call sign was mentioned in a conversation in Spanish we decided to climb to FL075 in order to get some contact. We supposed that they know that contact is not always possible in the mountain areas but to make sure that they didn’t start a search and rescue mission we climbed a bit higher. This did help, tough not always. Spain is pretty big and when they tell you an aircraft is approaching you from the south going north while you are going south, you are on a sharp lookout. The controller gave us regular updates regarding the distance and altitude (we have never seen the plane though, due to weather (is good enough weather, but some smog). Approaching Sevilla, was like Pamplona, not higher than 1000ft above surface; which is not that high when you enter the CTR in a hilly countryside :-)

At Sevilla they requested a short circuit. So they got a short circuit and a speedy vacating of the runway. “Thank you, sir.”

Leg 5: Sevilla (LEZL) – Tanger (GMTT)
PIC: Etienne
Flying time: 1:12
Landing fee: ca. 4,= incl parking one night.

Taking off from Sevilla to Tanger, we were quickly allowed to climb to FL065 and fly direct to Tanger. Approaching the coast line, we saw a plane flying extremely low. It must have been a visual misconception, but we are both convinced the plane was flying between the windmills.

At the coast we wanted to fly a bit to the left to make the distance over water a short as possible. Even though we were approaching a FIR boundary (leaving Spain) we could not reach Sevilla info anymore. Trying four different frequencies of FIS (flight information services) in the area, we finally found someone who did receive us. This was a bit of a relief, since we had to cross the FIR and we would like the Spanish know we where leaving. The guy that answered was responsible for covering an area as small as a stamp we think, but at least we could ask him if a restricted area near the coast was active or not. Unfortunately it was, due to marine exercises and we had to cross the water almost immediately. The coastline of Tanger is pretty close though. Approaching it we decided to follow to coast line since we had runway 10 (starting at the coastline; see photo) and there are 2 prohibited areas in the CTR). To our surprise the wind was a bit strong and gusty making the approach turbulent, but fortunately the wind was only 10 degrees off runway track.

After landing, customs totally unpacked us at the apron (like what would we bring inside Morocco???) .
Fuel in Morocco is pretty cheap, like EUR 0.75-0.80 per liter Jet A1. And since we fly a foreign plane, they only want credit card or cash in euros (probably local VAT reasons for that), and they never have change.

Getting on the airport the next morning was a bit hard, but everyone is friendly. Speaking French/Spanish is helpful, but since neither of us speak this, we had to do everything in English. But words like “Avion Prive” work like magic though. Tip: try to get an European ID card that you can hang around your neck, we think that helps a lot, when they see your name with a picture. We didn’t have it, but next time I will. We were wearing our bright orange and yellow covers also make them accept you easier.

24 hour delay

2008-05-01T09:45:00.000+02:00

May 1st, 2008
Yesterday Etienne and I discussed the weather forecasts for the Benelux and France. The conclusion was that the the weather was too marginal for a VFR flight. We have decided to postpone our flight for 24 hours.

Preparations for our flight to Dakar, Senegal

2008-04-26T11:52:00.000+02:00

April 26th, 2008
In a couple of days (May 1st) Marco and I will leave for our trip to Dakar, Senegal. Leaving probably from Hoogeveen, the Netherlands. Let's hope the weather permits our leaving...

Our first stop will be Pontoise, near Paris. At the end of the first day we try to reach the south of France. And the second day we try to reach Tanger, Morocco.

After that we go more down south, through the Western Sahara, Mauretania and finally Dakar, Senegal, where we hope to arrive on the 6th of May.

The idea started a couple of months ago. We were talking about where to go for a long flight. At a map at the office, the most southern city was Casablanca, Morocco. But then at a dinner with friends on September 3rd, 2007, Miriam asked a question "Why not further? something special, say Dakar". With this remark an idea that started off as a "is it possible?", was launched and kept us busy with preparations for a couple of months....