We did have a side trip planned to Morocco but unfortunately a very stubborn weather system across the Tangier area prevented us for achieving this (next time!)
Note: all times quoted are UTC
Aircraft - G-JFER Commander 114b
Leg 1 - Sleap (EGCV) to La Rochelle (LFBH)
We arrived at the field at 1000 to find things still a bit claggy for a VFR departure, so loaded up the aircraft, checked her out and enjoyed a hot chocolate in the excellent Sleap Cafe.
By 1100 it was looking much more promising and we were airborne by 1125 and climbed up through the clag to FL55 where the sun was shining!
Climb out of Sleap - note the widespread fog patches.
Our route was fairly straightforward down to La Rochelle and we have been this way many times before. It being Sunday the South Coast danger areas were cold and we routed direct to enter the Jersey control area at LELNA and were cleared though at FL55 then on to Brest information, followed by Rennes and Nantes.
Nice view of Alderney as we crossed the Channel
We always route via Nantes VRP W3 (Challans) as Nantes tend to be quite busy and if you attempt an overhead transit they will probably vector you around a bit.
Having checked the NOTAMs for La Rochelle we discovered that the normal GA parking area at GOLF ( a rough field really) was out of commission and we should contact the handling agent Aeroluxe to arrange ramp parking, this we duly did and were told to contact ATC on arrival who would direct us accordingly.
GOLF where we normally have to park - a bit rough to say the least..
On arrival the wind was straight across the runway so they offered us either direction of landing and we chose 09 as it's a nice approach across the bay.
After refueling using our trusty Air BP card we were vectored by ATC to the far side of the main apron for parking. We secured the aircraft, grabbed our bags and hiked over to the terminal, as we passed a scruffy portakabin marked 'VIP Lounge' a guy rushed out and said we had parked in the wrong place and when were we leaving as he had important flights coming in the next day which need the parking space (I should add that we the only aircraft in the whole ramp area) we said we were leaving early next day and showed him the mail with instructions for parking which he had himself sent to us. So happy with that he retreated into the luxury of his VIP portakabin and we grabbed a taxi into town.
La Rochelle Airport is undergoing a big revamp at the moment so it's all a bit haphazard.
Mercure Hotel - La Rochelle
For visits to La Rochelle I recommend the Mercure, its right on the Marina/Harbour area with plenty of bars and restaurants and importantly for GA you can cancel up to 6pm on the day of arrival, so if the weather doesn't pan out you have a good cancellation option.
Its also comfortable and not expensive.
Route Details
EGCV BEKSA BILNI LELNA MINQI LFRD GODAN CHALLANS (W3) LFBH
Distance 412nm
Time on route 2hr45m
Avg Ground Speed 150kts
Leg 2 - La Rochelle (LFRC) to Girona (LEGE)
We had originally considered having a fuel stop at Sabadell or potentially Reus but both of these were notamed as not having Avgas for the next couple of days, so we decided on Girona and as it's mandatory handling we contacted Euraservices to arrange this and also for PPR.
We could see from the forecast that Western France was in the path of a nasty cold front so we were up early to get ahead of this and airborne by 0840, fog banks stretched across France as far as Toulouse which is always concerning from an emergency point of view and we were quite pleased to be informed by Toulouse information that Carcassonne was CAVOK.
We routed over Carcassonne and out to the coast with a right turn to take us down past Perpignan where we were buffeted by the downdrafts from the end of the Pyrenees range.
Snow capped Pyrenees as we tracked East of Perpignan
Once we rounded to end of the Pyrenees into Spain, the wind dropped rapidly as we followed the VFR approach into Girona.
Short Finals into Girona - Ryanair holding for us
We followed the marshalling vehicle to the huge apron where we parked and shortly afterward the Euraservices minibus arrived to take us to the terminal, as in all cases we insisted on refueling before leaving the aircraft as we have been caught before with long waiting times for the fuel truck. To be fair it was quite quick to arrive and filled us up with fuel at 2.47 euros per litre ...
We then went in the minibus to the terminal for a coffee and natural break, then back to the aircraft for the next leg.
All this came at an eye watering handling and landing charge of 300 euros!
LFBH LFCY GAI LFMW LFMK SIJAN BAMGO PORBU BGR LEGE
Distance 372nm
Time on route 2hr30m
Avg Ground Speed 149kts
Leg 3- Girona (LEGE) to Malaga (LEMG)
Once airborne from the excruciatingly expensive Girona, we headed West of Barcelona along the VFR route which is up to 1000' AGL to remain clear of Barcelona's massive Class A airspace, this took us past Sabadell (pity no fuel, would have been a great stop off ) then down past a new prohibited are north of Valencia which looks like a nuclear power plant.
New Prohibited area
Interesting and enormous quarry workings son the coast
Spanish Coast
As we approached Valencia airspace they warned us of a large fire North of the field
Natural habitat reservation on the coast North of Valencia
Once past Valencia we tracked through the mountains and climbed to 8500' above the cloud and had some interesting sightings of Cumulus Granitis poking through the cloud layer.
These are High! We were at 8500' as we passed them
As we left the mountains inland of Malaga we experienced moderate turbulence which involved my head banging on the roof of the aircraft so quite glad to get down into Malaga, except they tried to land us right behind a 737 taking off, not a good idea, so we went around and got ourselves some wake turbulence separation!
One on the ground we made the cardinal error of not refueling, this would bite us the next day for sure.
Efficient handling by Swissport and off to our hotel in central Malaga.
Great food on the Marina and a bit of excitement when the ferry pilot lost control and backed the huge ferry into a yacht moored in the marina , sinking it, the police, fire engines and a large crane arrived to fish it out.
Marina Area
The castle
Fishing out the yacht
LEGE VLA LERS LEVL YES LEGR LEMG
Distance 471nm
Time on route 3hr20m
Avg Ground Speed 143kts
Leg 3- Malaga (LEMG) to Viseu (LPVZ)
We hoped to leave Malaga the next day and turned up early at the airport only to be told that fuel would be 45 minutes, however it ended up being nearly 1hr 45mins, a new record for slow fueling, meanwhile the weather closed in and by the time we were refueled the airport was solid IFR so aborted for the day.
Stayed the night in Torremolinos which was pretty wet and dead...
Next day looked better and as we were fueled and ready to go we were in the air by 0910.
Originally we had expected to refuel at Evora, but once again this field was notamed as having no Avgas at the time of our flight, so we picked another filed on our route, the tiny airfield of Viseu 2000 feet up in the Portuguese mountains.
G-JFER on the Malaga departures - why they expected us to leave at 1030 I have no idea..
After paying the 200 euro handling fee, we took off and departed along the coast over Marbella and then through the straights of Gibraltar where it was a pleasure to have a lovely English lady on ATC who cleared us through the narrow Gibraltar TMA. The weather was quite poor through the straights and my expectations of some great photos of Gibraltar came to nothing unfortunately, also it was blowing at 50kts tailwind and our ground-speed was nearly 200kts .
We were then handed over to Seville information who negotiated a transit through the Cadiz military airfield zone and on to Portugal.
The huge high altitude plain
Evora airfield, pity there was no fuel to be had.
Amazing lakes in Portugal
Beautiful Scenery as we traversed Portugal
Paul and JFER at Evora
Leg 5 - Viseu (LPVZ) to San Sebastian (LESO)
A hundred miles of beach - Les Landes
Dune de Pyla - Largest sand dune in Europe
LESO LFBZ LFBH W3 (Challans) GODAN LFRD
Distance 330nm
Time on route 2hr 10m
Avg Ground Speed 150kts
Leg 7 - Dinard (LFRD) to Sleap (EGCV)
Amazing lakes in Portugal
Beautiful Scenery as we traversed Portugal
Viseu is a small airfield perched on a hill at 2000 feet with drops at each end of the runway somewhat like landing on an aircraft carrier and there was a vicious crosswind on landing.
We were the only aircraft there and the fuel guy/manager could not speak English and we of course cant speak Portuguese but we discovered that we both spoke french and used this as an intermediate language which worked fine to get out flight plan closed and but some fuel.
Route Details
LEMG XAVIR AMPIR LERT VIGIA LPVZ
Distance 427nm
Time on route 2hr 55m
Avg Ground Speed 143kts
Leg 5 - Viseu (LPVZ) to San Sebastian (LESO)
After takeoff we experience severe wind-shear at the end of the runway due to the strong wind and the drop-off of the land.
The high mountains of Spain appeared as we approached the border and we climed to 8000 feet for the crossing.
The high mountains of Spain appeared as we approached the border and we climed to 8000 feet for the crossing.
Approaching Spain
Once at the coast we tracked the coastline to San Sebastian and were given a left base join.
San Sebastian is a little like London City airport, being constructed with water on 3 sides and limited space hence the complicated parking arrangements detailed below.
San Sebastian is a little like London City airport, being constructed with water on 3 sides and limited space hence the complicated parking arrangements detailed below.
Long Finals for San Sebastian
This is another 'handling' airfield but there is precious little done for the 60 euros they charged, upon arrival you must taxi to the 'engine stop zone' then push the aircraft into one of the few parking slots which are pre-allocated by ATC.
I can see how this could be busy in the Summer but of course in February, as usual, we were the only aircraft on the apron, so it all seemed a bit unnecessary.
The 'handling' guy (Iberia) walked over to make sure we understood procedure and walked back with us to the terminal, this seemed to be the extent of the handling for light aircraft. Not even a minibus.
We stayed at the Hotel Londres in San Sebastian, right on the seafront, a grand old hotel in a fantastic position.
We really liked San Sebastian and I'm sure in the Summer it's very busy indeed.
Route Details
LPVZ NEA DGO LESO
Distance 321nm
Time on route 2hr20m
Avg Ground Speed 139kts
Leg 6 - San Sebastian (LESO) to Dinard (LFRD)
The weather in UK was looking quite nasty for our return with a huge cold front traversing the country followed close behind by an occluded front.
We decided to get as far up country in France as possible then wait out the passing of the cold front and hopefully grabbing a window of opportunity before the occluded form moved in.
We were airborne form San Sebastian at 1010 and followed the coast passing Biarritz and then had a surprise clearance to track the coast all the way to La Rochelle, Aquitaine information very kindly negotiated a clearance for us with Cazaux Military airfield.
Amazing sand bars along the French coast
A hundred miles of beach - Les Landes
Dune de Pyla - Largest sand dune in Europe
As we approached Dinard the weather became worse and low overcast, we made it just in time before the rain.
At Dinard you cant use your Air BP card even though bits an Air BP fuel dispenser, you have =to walk to the portakabin by the fire station and get a special key and a code off the fireman and then pay by credit card.
Its a long walk and would be a very long walk in the rain!
Dinard was deserted as the last Ryanair had gone, cafe is not open at all on Thursdays, so we just called a taxi and hastily booked a hotel on line in the airport.
We were pretty hungry and Paul fancied fish and chips. I said no chance at 3 oclock in France, but amazingly we found this place and enjoyed great fish and chips.
There is also a really excellent Thai in Dinard imaginatively named 'Le Resto Thai'
Route Details
LESO LFBZ LFBH W3 (Challans) GODAN LFRD
Distance 330nm
Time on route 2hr 10m
Avg Ground Speed 150kts
Leg 7 - Dinard (LFRD) to Sleap (EGCV)
Fearing the worst we checked the weather the next morning and were amazed to find Dinard VFR, so we got to the airport as quickly as possible and were airborne by 0730 (a new record)
The weather across the channel was pretty disgusting and we were in solid IMC for about 40 minutes then as soon as we reached the UK coast the cloud-base lifted and we had a pleasant flight back up to Sleap, to enjoy the 'Flying Start' breakfast in the cafe.
In all a great trip, some interesting airfield and cities visited and many things learnt.
Route Details
LFRD MINQI LELNA BEVEL SANDBANKS EGHA EGUO NYMPSFIELD EGCV
Distance 261nm
Time on route 2hr 0m
Avg Ground Speed 130kts
