Aeroplus, this sounds like a fantastic trip! In fact, it’s one I’ve promised myself to do one day.
However, having flown in Africa, especially South/East, one thing comes to mind – the performance of the airplane you propose to use for this. I’m sure you’ve checked it out, but do run your performance figures for places like Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. Many airports there are at 5000+ ft and on a warm day you can look at jaw-dropping DA values. This regularly catches European pilots out. Also, with a Piper you prob90 won’t be able to get into (or more precisely – out of) many of the lodge strips. And that is something you really wouldn’t want to miss!
For Avgas, you already know where the problems lie. In general, be prepared to pay cash for most things and have plenty of small denomination USD notes of recent issue. The latter is really important, as the US have changed the color of the 20 USD bill a few years back. Older ones – while perfectly legal tender – won’t be accepted. And don’t even dream of getting change for a $100 bill ;-)
Given your proposed routing, there is also one figure to bear in mind – the vertical range of an AK47 is approx 5-6k ft. Always – and I mean ALWAYS – have at least that between you and the ground.
Flying in Africa is perhaps the best flying you’ll ever do. Just be careful out there.
Thanks for all the tips:
Sor far:
(1) Get the fuel hoses insulated with teflon and replace some seals to they won’t leak that easily.
(2) Use the fuel pump in the climb (I have 2 of those installed) and be aware of possible vapor lock
(3) Filter the fuel with a funnel filter (thanks for the link).
Then, if I fly 15 hours on filtered autogas of e.g. 88 or 92 octane (instead of the 98 I now fly in it or the AVGAS), would the ethanol still eat the rubbers that fast?
And should I add octane boosters or as suggested above not do that at all.
That is, of course, that I take the advise and understand that no guarantees are given.
If you install teflon fuel hoses (in place of any rubber ones) and replace all seals (o-rings in all cases I think) with ones in an alcohol compatible material, what else is left?
There are some seals in/under the engine driven fuel pump. Plus in the carb / fuel servo. But most of the fuel system should be metal.
Is the PR1422 fuel tank sealant alcohol compatible? The data sheet suggests it is fine.
I sold my old Commander 520 to Russia. Siberia, In fact. Those guys have bough a number of older airframes with one thing in common: geared engines. Turns out there’s no Avgas in Russia, and almost all the geared GO-435 (in my case), GO-480’s and GO-300’s are certified for around 80 octane Mogas. Mine was certified for 81. One of the benefits of gearing is that you don’t need very high compression to produce power, hence no need for high octane.
Mogas with ethanol is still a problem for these engines as they eat rubber and membranes. So, I think you’ll be better off with an injected engine if you have to. There’s also the case of vapour lock in hot temps as this fuel has a different boiling temp. So if you have booster pumps, use them in climb at least. Also, maybe wrap some insulation around the visible fuel lines to keep them from getting too hot.
There is also no AVGAS above Kenia. Only in Egypt or Jordania. I have a fuel tester to test for water/ethanol. How to filter for dirt?
The rough routing is as follows:
Outbound from Holland as straight as possible to Spain – Gibraltar – Marocco – Canary Islands – Western Sahava – Mauretania (both overflight only if possible) – Mali (Possibly AVGAS available) – Burkina Faso – Togo (possibly AVGAS available there) – Sao Tome island – Congo – Angolo – Namibia – South Africa.
Inbound route goes direction Kenia – then Ethiopia – Djibouti – Yemen (overflight) and Saudi Arabia – then Egype – Israel or Jordan – Israel and further on to Cypres.
I am getting help in the landing and overland clearances from Mike from White Rose Aviation (thanks to the tip of Robert) and from another company that can supply AVGAS in barrels where I might need it. However, the AVGAS price can be very expensive depending on location needed, so would like to stick to MOGAS/autofuel where needed.
There are no aeroclubs in between Dakar and Namibia, so this is the hard part. Some places we cannot go. Others, we can get permission (even for Mali) to land. Overflight is possible and allowed as long as on the airway routes. Insurance wise I covered the whole route including the use of the TurtlePac and even for landing in South-Sudan (not planning to go to it of course) and no war/fighting/shooting clause for excluding these places.
The TurtlePac is only 21 USG, so I have about 48 + 21 US$ useful fuel. I could have bought a bigger one, but I also have to take care of the W&B more of less.
That is very interesting, ploucandco.
10 years ago, when i flew to Crimea (SR20 at the time), I had to blend the remaining 100LL with autofuel and when given the choice between 95 and 98 octance, I didn’t hesitate and chose the 98 octance fuel. Didn’t cross my mind that it might contain some “unhealthy” octance boosters…
Is ethanol really an issue? I doubt! There are aviation engines certified for 15% ethanol.
But what is the real issue is methanol as octane booster.
When I started to operate my Europa in Ukraine some 6 years ago, I used 98 mogas (better according to ROTAX for a 914 turbo). About 10 hours later, the engine (140 hours back then) began to run rougher and rougher. Also, I saw that the map filter coming from the airbox began to become black instead of orange!
I discussed the issue with some local people and understood that nobody was using 98 and everybody just 95 from a specific brand. I also had to change the membranes of the carbs as these were getting like old mushrooms! All that was due to methanol in the fuel I was using.
The advice to filter the fuel is a sound one. On top of that, I would suggest to check with the local flight club or experienced local fliers what brand and fuel type they are using. And it is not always the well known brands that are the safest ones to use!
From own – automotive – experience, I can confirm that Ethanol can seriously damage your hoses and seals. That said, you will probably only use it on a couple of occasions and re-fuel with Avgas asap. I would therefore not worry too much about it. I’ve also heard (no personal experience with this method), that in situations like this it is a good idea to mix the fuels. As boscomantico says, I would be more worried about dirt and water in the fuel – where will it come from? The nearest gas station? What’s your routing and range with the Turtlepack?
