Flying Trip
to Ibiza - June 2013
Crew - (right to left)
Phil
Jones PPLA IMC (aircraft owner)
Steve
Patterson PPLA PPLH
Paul
Midwinter CPLH IR (Commercial Helicopter
Pilot)
Aircraft-
G-JFER Commander 114B
Background-
After the
very poor weather in the UK we were keen to get away to sunnier climes if we
could just get an escape window through the UK weather systems.Originally
we planned to go to Cannes and then over to Corsica but the weather for our
chosen week didn't look very inviting so we decided to head on down to Spain
where it was much more promising.
Although the
Commander has an endurance of around 5.5 hours I like to break these kind of trips into 3
hours or so legs, as we than have at least 2 hours reserve fuel and by this
time are looking to stretch our legs and have a natural break. Sleap to La Rochelle fitted this perfectly
and similarly La Rochelle to Valencia was also around 3 hours, also La Rochelle
is a very efficient fuel stop as we have an AirBP card and are not reliant on
the fuelers.
Similarly on
the return journey Bezier was another quick automated AirTotal fill up after
about a 3 hour flight, then another 3 hours up to Cherbourg for our last French
fuel stop.
Leg 1 10/06/2013
Sleap EGCV to La Rochelle LFBH
Sleap EGCV to La Rochelle LFBH
An early
start saw us airborne from Sleap at 0845 Local and we climbed through the broken cloud layer to FL55 and
sunshine.
Called
Shawbury (133.15) for MATZ penetration and Traffic Service
Overhead
Shobdon, changed to London Info (124.750) to activate our flight plan (submitted
the previous day via SkyDemon) and for a brief, Basic Service.
London
handed us over to Cardiff 119.150 for zone transit which was approved at
Altitude 6000 feet so a short climb was required.
Very smooth
air above the clouds and no other traffic seen or detected by our TCAS for the
whole leg.
Cardiff
asked us to freecall Exeter on 128.975 and they provided a traffic service
until we coasted out, close to Berry Head, at which point we changed to Jersey
Zone (125.200) for Basic Service until their zone boundary at which point we
received SVFR clearance to transit at
FL60.
On leaving
their zone Jersey asked us to call Deauville Approach on 120.350 who gave us
onward clearance overhead Dinard
LFRD and then handed us over to
Rennes Info (North) on 126.950 who gave us onward clearance at FL60.
I should
note that it is unusual for a VFR flight to get a Flight Level which is not odd+500/even+500ft
as these are usually reserved for IFR traffic.
Rennes North
then asked us to call them back on their Southern area frequency 134.000
Just after
REDON we were handed over initially to Nantes Info on 122.800 and later their
other frequency of 124.425 they were incredibly busy and vectored us around a
little to keep us clear of their IFR traffic, but then cleared us down to their
W3 VRP and onward to La Rochelle.
We already
had the La Rochelle ATIS and expected a Downwind right join for Runway 27, we descended to 1000 feet and the weather
was quite poor with low level scattered clouds.
We followed
the published noise abatement circuit for 27 and landed at 12:50 local (UTC+2)
Filled with
fuel from the Automated AirBP pump using my trusty AirBP card and parked up on the grass at
'Golf'.
La Rochelle
no longer take payment for landing at the fuellers portakabin, you have to fill
in a form and leave it with the fuel man or if he is not there it can be posted
into the letter box on the side of the portakabin, they then send you an
invoice allegedly, although I haven't had one for my previous trip in May yet!
Tip.. collect some forms while you are there
so you can have it almost completely filled in at time of arrival to save doing
this at the airport.
After a
comfort break and a coffee at the terminal (and the code operated private
pilots gate is now working again) we returned to the aircraft to depart but due
to the low cloud they were not allowing any VFR departures at that time so we
sat in the aircraft watching the rain come down and eating our sandwiches.
After about an hour it was clearing up and although the ATIS was still saying
closed to VFR, we asked tower if we could now depart, which they approved and
were off ! to hopefully sunnier climes !
Leg Summary-
Route EGCV KUKIS EGTE SKERY SKESO LERAK LFRD LFER
W3 LFBH
Total
Distance - 423 nm Flight Time -
03:05 Avg Speed - 137kts
Landing Fee
- 10 Euros Fuel 2.20 Euros/litre
Leg 2 10/06/2013
La Rochelle LFBH to Valencia LEVC
Airborne
from La Rochelle at 15:00 Local
Climbed
through the broken cloud layer to FL65
Due to the
complexity of the airspace south of LFBH I planned to route via the class E
routes to make life a bit easier and this seemed to work well with ATC .
We routed
via A25 B19 R10 to Biarritz overhead than R299 to the international FIR
boundary at BEGUY.
After
take-off La Rochelle handed us over to Aquitaine Info on 120.575 and we were slightly
rerouted over Bordeaux to fit in with their IFR traffic, then at
Biarritz 125.600 then we were handed over to San Sebastian on 119.850 and
followed route R299 to BEGUY and then handed over to Madrid Info who are the
FIR for this region on 124.875
At BEGUY we climbed to FL75 due to MSA
requirements and to escape some of the afternoon thermals.
Snow on the Pyrenees
Madrid then
handed us over to Zaragoza LEZG on 119.300, We asked for clearance through
their TMA but just got 'Continue' ! so we did...
As we left
their zone they chirped up and handed us over to Barcelona on 135.800, who
could not hear us, so we tried Madrid FIR again but no joy., eventually we gave
up and waited until we could contact Valencia Approach on 120.100
There is
some pretty impressive scenery on this route matched by some equally impressive
mountains, hence the slightly convoluted route to avoid some high peaks. I
would double check the MSA's provided by SkyDemon for the last part of this leg
to Valencia as we should have been 2000' feet above the peaks but it looked
very much less to us.
Strange Landscape Near Zaragoza
The Med at Last !
Valencia has
3 VFR low level entry lanes, we were routing along the coast via VRPs N, N1 and N2 at which point they
clear you into the ATZ, the height of these is 1000 feet AGL and as the
airfield is at 240 feet we routed at
1200 feet
Once in the
ATZ we were routed to a right base for runway 30, all very straightforward, we
were met at the taxiway by a follow me van which took us to refuel as
requested, we were met at the fuel by our handling agents Euraservices, more
about handling in a moment, and after filling the aircraft we had to fill in
extensive forms which included a company name and VAT number and passport details,
all to buy a bit of Avgas! so make sure you have something that looks
moderately official to satisfy this requirement.
After refuelling
the follow-me van reappeared and took us to the other end of the airport to the
GA parking ramp where the handing agents met us with a minibus to cart us and our many bags to the
excellent GA terminal.
TWR
118.550 ATIS 121.075
Flightplanning
I filed this
leg using Olivia, the French SIA on-line flight planning system, reason was
that Sky demon only put one address in the flight plan, Bordeaux, and I
couldn't see how this could work, so filed as explained and all was well.
Handling
This is
mandatory in Valencia and it would be a total nightmare without it, Emilio from
Euraservices was superb and also organised taxis to and from our hotel in the
city, checked our flight plan and provided weather and NOTAMS.
Before the
trip I had some email conversations with Emilio and he was always very fast at
returning the emails and providing information.
contact
details Euraservices LEVC
[handlingvlc@euraservices.com]
Cost of this
was 120 Euros + taxi costs, well
worthwhile ...
Valencia is
a beautiful city and I certainly plan to return to spend more time here, it
reminds me of Barcelona in many ways.
Leg Summary-
Route LFBH ROYAN LFBD ENSAC BAKTA MONOX LFBZ BEGUY
RONKO TANGO VRP N VRP N1 VRP N2
LEVC
Total
Distance - 449 nm Flight Time -
03:05 Avg Speed - 146kts
Landing Fee
35 Euros Handling 120 Euros Fuel
2.9 Euros/litre
Leg 3 11/06/2013
Valencia LEVC to Ibiza LEIB
The handling
agents arranged our pick up from the hotel and we were soon at the airfield in
a minibus on our way to the aircraft.
We called
for start to ground on 121.875 and
received our departure clearance via the southerly VFR corridor VRPs
S2, S1 and S. and then handed to Tower 118.55 and then to Approach
120.100
As it was
early afternoon the temperature was already
35degrees and I hadn't realised quite what an effect this would have on
our heavily loaded aircraft as she clambered up into the air rather slowly....
After
departing the TMA via the VFR corridor we turned East to Ibiza and could almost
immediately see the island in the distance, Valencia Approach 120.100 approved a climb to 3000 feet told us
to contact Palma Approach on 119.400 as
they control the airspace at Ibiza and have a class A TMA at just 1000ft agl
(or in our case amsl)
Approaching Ibiza
November VRP - San Antonio
November 1 VRP
Joining Right Base
Follow Me Truck
On the ground at Ibiza
Once we
reported at N2 they handed us over to Ibiza tower 118.500 who cleared us into a right hand circuit for
Runway 24 and we landed and a follow me van awaited at the hold for us, we
should have refuelled at this point but mistakenly left this for our departure
day - bad move..
Handling for VFR flights is supposed to be free in
Ibiza but we called tower to send the minibus but this never arrived so I
called a handling agent I had previously been in touch with, Ibizair, and they
sorted everything out for us, handling is a must at this airfield. ibizair@contec.es
Leg Summary
Route LEVC VRP
S2 VRP S1 COMPI
NINOT XOSTA VRP N1
VRP N2 LEIB
Total
Distance - 109 nm Flight Time -
00:47 Avg Speed - 139kts
Landing Fee
38 Euros Handling 100 Euros Fuel
3.0 Euros/litre !!
Leg 4 13/06/2013
Ibiza LEIB to Beziers LFMU
After 2 days
R&R in the sun we arrived at the airfield with lots of time to spare as we
expected some delays with fuel, in fact it was a major pain, firstly we taxied
the very short distance from the GA apron to the fuel pump, no fuel man though,
refuelling Ryanair!
When the fuel man arrived we had the usual
ridiculous form filling to buy a bit of Avgas, then eventually it was loaded
and we paid by credit card, but the fueler this pressed the button on the
credit card machine which asks if you want this charged in GBP or euros so the
receipt came out in GBP, correctly converted at 1,15 euros/GBP but the fueler
couldn't get his head round this and insisted we owed another 35 euros, so we
called the handling agent to come and sort it out which he did. Another good
reason for handling at these kind of places !
So then a
follow me truck arrived and instead of taking us to the hold took us back to
the GA apron, where we were left for 10 mins engine running and sweating...
Anyway
eventually cleared to the hold, sandwiched between two 737s, cleared for
takeoff and left hand turn out via N1 and N again, then handed over to Palma
who cleared us to the zone boundary at 1500 feet then we climbed to 2,500 feet.
We were then handed over to Valencia for a service as we tracked up the coast from Castellon towards Barcelona.
We were then handed over to Valencia for a service as we tracked up the coast from Castellon towards Barcelona.
We were then
handed over to Barcelona app on 121.150 as they control the FIR in this region,
they then handed us over to Reus 118.150 who cleared us through their zone at 2,500
feet, then back again to Barcelona who required us to descend to 1500 feet and remain
clear of their CTR but cleared us through their TMA 12 miles out at sea ...
Strictly speaking we should have been below 1000 feet to remain below their
class A airspace but they seem quite relaxed about our altitude.
An important
note about stations in Spain , the terrain causes a lot of black spots,
especially at 1500 feet so always ask for the next frequency in case you lose the
current one you are working.
Barcelona
had a number of frequencies 127.700,
126.500, 134.680 and 132.575, we had all of these on our coastal transit!
Next station
was Girona on 120.900 (also 125.250)
We tracked
the coast up to France, a fantastic flight at low level and were then handed
over to Perpignan 120.750 at Cerbere who efficiently routed us between their
VRPs along the coast at 2500 feet then handed us over to Beziers Tower 120.175 who
cleared us in on a right base join for r/way 09.
Landed and
got a cheery wave from the waiting Ryanair pilots.
Parked up on
the grass next to 2 fire fighting aircraft.
Flight ops called us a taxi into town. There is an AirBP
automated fuel pump so we left the fuel until next day again, but with no problems this time.
This is a
great little field, very friendly people, but a bit of a run into town where we
were staying.
Tip- Check
the NOTAMED hours of operation as they close up once all the commercial flights
have gone.
Leg Summary
Route LEIB VRP N1
VRP N CAMBY RIBAS RUBOT VIBIM
LESBA CLE VRP SE BGR VRP SC VRP SE VRP E
VRP N VRP AD LFMU
Total
Distance - 389 nm Flight Time -
02:46 Avg Speed - 141kts
Landing and
parking fee 19 euros Avgas 2.08 euros/litre
Leg 5 14/06/2013
Beziers LFMU to Cherbourg LFRC
Arrived for
an early getaway and refuelled efficiently from the AirBP automated pump and
were soon ready to go.
Talked to
Beziers tower 120.175 and cleared to
1500 feet, then handed over to Montpellier 120.375 who cleared us to FL65.
Pretty much
a straight line up to Cherbourg, got a look at the Millau viaduct on the way, fantastic flying day.
Montpellier
handed us over to Rodez 133.725 who
cleared us through their airspace and then over to Limoges 119.550 who cleared us through and suggested we call
Seine info, we were expecting Nantes but called up Seine anyway and within 5
minutes they told us to contact Nantes 119.400
Nantes
handed us over to Rennes 134.00 and then to Deauville 120.350 who asked us to report 3 minutes from
Cherbourg Zone, and handed us over to Cherbourg App 119.625.
It was
getting pretty windy and we had a right downwind join but the wind blew us too
close to the runway and had to do a bit of repositioning at the end of the ,
thankfully, very long runway, but sorted it in the end..
Cup of
coffee and a baguette in the cafe and refuelled from the AirTotal automated
pump.
Leg Summary
Route LFMU LFCR LFAL MARKU LFRC
Total
Distance - 437 nm Flight Time -
03:05 Avg Speed - 142kts
Landing
fee 12 euros Avgas 2.08 euros/litre
Leg 5 14/06/2013
Cherbourg LFRC To Sleap EGCV
The weather
was looking a bit dodgy in UK so we sat in the cafe checking METARS etc,
decided to give Sleap a call and it was much improved so we jumped back in the
aircraft to get back before the next nasty weather arrived.
Called up
Tower 119.625 then after take off Deauville
120.350 the transferred to Bournemouth Radar 119.475 coasted in at Sandbanks and cleared to
transit Bournemouth airspace the direct track back to Sleap, called Bristol for
a traffic service 136.075 then London
for Basic Service then Shawbury for Matz transit then Sleap .
Leg Summary
Route LFRC
ORIST EGUO SANDBANKS EGCV
Total Distance
- 203 nm Flight Time - 01:19 Avg Speed - 153kts
Totals for
the whole trip..
5 days Trip
14 Hours 7
minutes Flight time
2,010
Nautical Miles
Average
Speed 144 kts
6 Airfields
visited
