Four co-owners and me of our Piper Turbo Arrow II, F-HRPC or “Papa Charlie”, are now doing the Aeropostale route from Lille, North-France to Dakar, Senegal. Two guys left yesterday and have now landed in Tanger, Marocco. They will be rejoined by a third owner in Casablanca this week.
Next week, the fourth owner and me, will fly via airliner to Dakar to return Papie Charlie home, Inch-allah !
I plan to document the return flights on my blog. I have started this blogseries by describing the preparation on:
http://www.abeam.be/back-from-africa-introduction/
I want to thank this forum for your tips provided in previous posts, and for your reactions here or on the blog.
@Niner_Mike, clear skies to you. Just in case, here is yet another source of aeronautical information for the places less travelled: http://gis.icao.int/icaoviewer/ (see discussion here)
Have a great flight @niner-mike, tailwinds!
Back from Africa – Day 1 – Airliner Brussels-Dakar
This afternoon I put foot on African soil for the first time. This morning we had an hour delay in our flight with Brussels Airlines from Brussels to Dakar. At the airport in Dakar, we were met by Bruno, our third pilot. We discussed our flight tomorrow over a beer in the hotel: low over the coast to Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. Then we took a cab into the city where I had my first African impressions: fishermen, masks, street vendors – fantastic!
Also check out my blog at:
http://www.abeam.be/back-from-africa-day-1-airliner-from-brussels-to-dakar/
Tomorrow we fly north with Papa Charlie, our 1978 Piper Turbo Arrow III !
Back from Africa – Day 2 – Flight Dakar Nouakchott
Today we have flown first time ourselves in our Dakar-stranded Piper Turbo Arrow III, and we immediately pointed the nose of Papa Charlie to the north. It was a very nice, but pretty eventful day. First, an early beach walk, then a fight with bureaucracy, which I won by means of pilots stripes. Once in the air and out of radio range, we were not allowed to fly within Mauritania: we debated over the ATC frequency and were allowed to proceed because our authorization was indeed OK. Then we crossed the Senegal river and enjoyed the beautiful desert landscapes under our right wing. In Nouakchott we hired a dilapidated taxi to the fish market, where I got into trouble with police as I had taken too many “unautorised” pictures. Some friendly discussion ensued but got resolved somehow. Back in the hotel, we debriefed everything with two fresh beers – alcohol free. Tomorrow we fly to Dakhla!
For more details and more pictures:
http://www.abeam.be/back-from-africa-day-2-dakar-nouakchott/
Great, niner+mike, keep it coming! Brings back loads of memories….
In these country, the most important is not the VFR Chart but the Flight autorization number…
We had to turn back once (to Dakhla) has Mauritania ATC didn’t found it…
Romain
Has the sand caused any issues with for example the retractable gear? Do you cover the engine air intake to avoid filling the air filter?
@arne : no issues withe the gear. But we put some foams in the engine air intakes berore we left the airplane in the zlements (sand wind) overnight
Back from Africa – Day 3 – Nouakchott-Dahkla
Today a slighty cooler day, with lots of sand winds from the warm east. At the beginning of the flight the visibility was bad, but once we crossed the border into the Western Sahara, the desolate beauty of the desert-meeting-ocean unfolded under our eyes: cliffs, marshes, shipwrecks, lonely lighthouses and especially almost no people . After 3h20 flighttime we arrived in Dakhla. After all administration, we made a nice stroll in the city.
For more stories and photos, see:
http://www.abeam.be/back-from-africa-day-3-nouakchott-dakhla/
