Bienvenue a Port Alfred, direction Durban International Airport
For the solo Flight Information Region (FIR) cross country trip, David and I were each going to complete a 350 nm navigation, including two full stops at different aerodromes. David planned the first leg with a stop in Queenstown (FAQT) and Pietermaritzburg (FAPM). We took off early on a lovely sunny day at 8am with a met report promising fine weather en-route. We were going to discover a different region and contact a different area control service, Johannesburg East instead of Cape Town East, that we would use in our travels from Port Alfred. After the first leg landing and take off from FAQT, the visibility and the cloud started to appear and for us this was a big surprise. Landing in FAPM, I took control after a nice lunch in the airport our direction Margate . During this leg the visibility was 5000m and we could not climb to more than 4000 feet so we decided to divert to Durban International Airport (FADN). It was very nice to land on a runway just behind an Airbus 340 and I started to think what my profession as a pilot will hold in the next couple of years. With a change of frequency to ground request to the tower for taxi we found a parking space. Or own special bus came to pick us from the plane and brought us to the staff office to pay the landing fees and parking. The courteous office staff charged us a very reasonable sum of two euro to park the plane in this big airport overnight!!! We explained to them that we were students and we got away light, they showed us the price of a big jet but it’s top secret. Now it was time to try to find a place to rest and to finish our planning for the next day’s navigation hoping than the weather would be better and permit us to come back in VMC Visual Meteorology Conditions.
We slept in a very nice hotel and found a good restaurant for dinner that night however in a true pilot lifestyle we had no time to do shopping or visit much of the city as we had a wake up call for 6am and again we set off for the airport. The visibility and cloud base were not perfect but the met announced that a cold front probably five days in duration was going to affect Durban and therefore our journey back. We checked all available information and decided to fly via the coast where it was safer for our journey home. It was a very good experience, differing airports, meteorology, pilot lifestyle and plans changing rapidly. In a couple of years we will be flying IFR only and not be able to enjoy the pleasure of a cross regional FIR. This adventure was definitely one of the highlights of our studies so far.
Massi Agher
For the solo Flight Information Region (FIR) cross country trip, David and I were each going to complete a 350 nm navigation, including two full stops at different aerodromes. David planned the first leg with a stop in Queenstown (FAQT) and Pietermaritzburg (FAPM). We took off early on a lovely sunny day at 8am with a met report promising fine weather en-route. We were going to discover a different region and contact a different area control service, Johannesburg East instead of Cape Town East, that we would use in our travels from Port Alfred. After the first leg landing and take off from FAQT, the visibility and the cloud started to appear and for us this was a big surprise. Landing in FAPM, I took control after a nice lunch in the airport our direction Margate . During this leg the visibility was 5000m and we could not climb to more than 4000 feet so we decided to divert to Durban International Airport (FADN). It was very nice to land on a runway just behind an Airbus 340 and I started to think what my profession as a pilot will hold in the next couple of years. With a change of frequency to ground request to the tower for taxi we found a parking space. Or own special bus came to pick us from the plane and brought us to the staff office to pay the landing fees and parking. The courteous office staff charged us a very reasonable sum of two euro to park the plane in this big airport overnight!!! We explained to them that we were students and we got away light, they showed us the price of a big jet but it’s top secret. Now it was time to try to find a place to rest and to finish our planning for the next day’s navigation hoping than the weather would be better and permit us to come back in VMC Visual Meteorology Conditions.
We slept in a very nice hotel and found a good restaurant for dinner that night however in a true pilot lifestyle we had no time to do shopping or visit much of the city as we had a wake up call for 6am and again we set off for the airport. The visibility and cloud base were not perfect but the met announced that a cold front probably five days in duration was going to affect Durban and therefore our journey back. We checked all available information and decided to fly via the coast where it was safer for our journey home. It was a very good experience, differing airports, meteorology, pilot lifestyle and plans changing rapidly. In a couple of years we will be flying IFR only and not be able to enjoy the pleasure of a cross regional FIR. This adventure was definitely one of the highlights of our studies so far.
Massi Agher
No comments:
Post a Comment