...OK I don't want a missile!
Fer' goodness sake, stop worrying about missiles. They're not as bad a problem as they are made out to be. Once you get over the surprise caused by the initial 'bang' (and the roof panels falling down, the doors opening, etc.), and after you pick up your cigarette off the floor and brush the coffee off your lap, it's pretty much the same as any other engine failure. Just poke the appropriate rudder and crank in a little bank. Heck, the airplane even gets lighter (to make single engine handling easier), because a bunch of parts like the cowlings, etc. normally fall off when the thing explodes.
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt... (
click here)
All that notwithstanding, I still think you might be better off to investigate going down the Saudi side of the Red Sea. Compare the gross costs of the flight on the Saudi side (e.g. overflight fees, handling charges, impositions the handlers make such as 100 passenger buses, etc.) to the gross costs of going down the Egyptian - Eritrean - Ethiopian side, and you will probably find it is cheaper on the East side.
Michael
(no disrespect meant to those who lost their lives in the Lear)
Angola 1991
