Post by DI have managed to get 50% working this winter which means I can take a week
or two to make a trip this year. I fancy going from the UK down to Morocco
and across the Atlas Mountains to, say Tunisia, then back home.
Anyone done this or got any tips before I start planning?
VFR or IFR?
You will be going via France and Spain, no doubt. The "Granada"
writeup on my website www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation should be of some
help.
France is easy enough.
Spain is on the whole easy but you get the occassional communication
problem (to put it politely) coupled with totally anal attitudes re
PPR, which one would sidestep if one picked up the phone instead of
faxing, but then you generally need to speak Spanish. Their ATC can be
highly unprofessional which is more relevant if you are going IFR.
Avgas is well stocked but as always, make a positive contact with the
airport - this isn't UK or Switzerland :)
N Africa I have never been to but planned a few trips in that area
e.g. Libya and Egypt. These parts of the world get exciting due to
being totally militarised and often anal re airport PPR, overflight
permits etc. Avgas is also highly variable but (I've been thumbing
through the AIR BP "where to find us" booklet) it is plentiful in the
most suprising places. Crew visas etc can get exciting and that's
where overflight permit agents (some URLs on my site) come in; they
lubricate the right places (the 3rd world runs entirely on
lubrication) and hey bingo you have the permits in 48 hrs :)
However, many Brit pilots have flown to Morocco and found it easy
enough. I would google for some trip reports.
If you want spectacular scenery *and* easy operations planning, go SE
instead of SW, and head for Croatia.
What are you flying now, David?