Part 2 England to Egypt
In this section we go from civilised aviation to countries that just price gouge.
ENGLAND TO CANNES (France)
When we departed Biggin Hill it was very British and civilised, and although our route was over some of the busiest parts of Europe the service was great.
We elected to go at FL130, and when we hit French air space, the service was as good but the language changed with aircraft talking in French. This was a bit disconcerting as we were unsure as to whether they were conflicting traffic.
Upon entering the Cannes CTA the French controller was extremely professional. The best part was the young French lady who was out liassion person.
Total, the fuel supplier turned up and refused to give us any fuel. The reason being we didn't have any red AVGAS stickers next to the inlet ports. Apparently it is a requirement under EU rules. But after some discussion he found a couple in his truck - all was forgiven and we got the 800 litres at $A2.90 per litre.
The take off from Cannes was interesting to say the least. The temperature was around 40C and we were at gross, the take off roll used most of the runway. But the best part was the locals had built a block of flats close to the end of the runway.
At 50 ft trying to concentrate of maintaining climb profile it was interesting to see out of the corner of my eye washing on the verandahs.
CANNES TO MALTA
This sector was still in Eurocontrol and again was professional as we operated at FL140, even when we entered Italian airspace the accent changed but the service was good.
Coming into Malta is very picturesque, and appeared very dry. You fly over Gozo Island then you see the cliffs of Malta. At our altitude you could easily imagine what it was like during World War II.
Upon landing we were handled by Executive Aviation for a charge of $A700, fuel was $A2.55. These people although expensive were excellent. What they charged for handling we certainly saved on the hotel charge that they arranged.
Again take of from Malta was easy.
MALTA TO IRAKLION (Greece) TO ASWAN (Egypt)
This sector was totally over water at Fl150, the control was great until we hit IRAKLION CTA, Greek control was to say the least chaotic.
To enter the CTA you cross the coast and 15000 to clear the mountains then all of a sudden you need to descend at 2000 feet per minute to enter the circuit.
Our aircraft doesn't like these sort of descent so by the time I was in the down wind sector I was doing 200 kts gear down at 7000 feet. In the end we had a long down wind and turned base at 3000 feet. Finally crossing the threshold at 150kts.
After landing I watched a Russian A320 doing exactly the same type of landing, it just seemed to be the norm.
Handling was done by Goldair, who were not very efficient. Refuelling took over 2 hours, and the cost $A4.40 per litre.
The take off from IRAKLION was easy as we seemed to pick a quiet time. This sector was mostly over water at FL140. When we reach Egyptian air space the standard deteriorated dramatically.
THE NEXT PART WILL BE EGYPT TO BANGLADESH