Menu Sign In Contact FAQ
Banner
Welcome to our forums

Corsica recommendations?

With some 8 airports this looks like an interesting destination to explore. Any recommendations/advice?

jgmusic
North Weald, United Kingdom

On the practical side: most of the airports have some kind of PPR arrangement, particularly for parking. At least in summer.

Ghisonaccia is not regularly open to the public (but still possible to get permission). Solenzara is mil only.

Ajaccio the most expensive of them all (about 80€ for landing and one night parking). All the others are a bit less.

I would say the two most popular ones are Calvi and Figari. At Calvi you can reach the town and nice beaches in a short taxi ride. In Figari, you need a rental car, but then you can go to Porto Vecchio (25 min) and Bonifacio (15 min), as well as to those fantastic beaches in the very southeast of Corsica.

Two words of caution: Corsica is expensive. And don‘t go in July and August.

Last Edited by boscomantico at 22 Jun 15:08
Mainz (EDFZ) & Egelsbach (EDFE), Germany

Propriano LFKO is a small non-controlled one, sometimes with avgas, but limited and don’t count on it unless you ensure tanks are not empty. apart from that, scenic arrival over the beach, runway starts at it. Restaurant is nice, and whole valley is worth spending some time. much better than Figari in the south, windy and expensive, and Ajaccion on the north, that is also very expensive. And these 2 last one have regular lines, so you are in the traffic.



It sums this up. Actually most of time, you land face to the sea like this one:



And it could get somehow bumpy on the downwind, but nothing to do with Figari which is known as “where the wind is born”.

Last Edited by greg_mp at 22 Jun 15:28
LFMD, France

Thanks both – very helpful. Any thoughts on the East coast and the enigmatic Corte which I see has a GAFOR route?

jgmusic
North Weald, United Kingdom

I’ve only been to two airports: Calvi (once, avoid) and Propriano (3 times, recommend). Whilst LFKO is close to the beach, it’s a long walk around the lagoon. There are hire cars that can deliver to the airfield, or alternatively you can trade plane rides for car rides with tourists (my favourite ). I can recommend the restaurant U Pescadori in Propriano town, followed by a walk around the marina at night. With a car there’s loads to do; Bonifacio is definitely worth a visit, and if you’re lucky you’ll see the Canadairs while passing Figari. The lion de roccapina is cool, and the small beach next to it is good. Some of the mountain villages, though scenic, are apparently nests of dangerous Corsican separatists, but I think my friends were winding me up Pietra, the local beer made with chestnuts, is good. Just remember: Le Corse est fier (the Corsican is proud) and you can get ‘Mediterranean customer service’

EGHO-LFQF-KCLW, United Kingdom

It’s been a few years, but here’s a few photos from Corsica

Provence, at the end of the cloud. When leaving the Rhône valley there was a thick broken layer: I went under, but everyone else went on top which would have made my flight much easier

The Mont Ventoux, climbing out from Carpentras. The club used to use Cannes for fuel and flightplans, but it got expensive and too much hassle. Carpentras is farther inland but much quicker turnround. I had taken a photo of the remains of a DR400 in one of the hangars, but I deleted it when I discovered it had been a fatal crash.

The gulf of Saint Tropez, with hundreds of boats. Routing was via the STP VOR then LONSU to Ajaccio’s Novembre Whiskey

The mountains of Corsica appearing out of the haze. It looked much better in real life. This was a very welcome sight as the artificial horizon had died, and with only sea haze and sky there was no real horizon.

The iles sangunaires (bloody islands), or Ajaccio’s point Whiskey. After having been at FL95 for most of the crossing I would rather have been higher, because we were still a distance from the coast.

Joining downwind 27 at Propriano. If you look closely, the runway is just to the left of the compass, and the artificial horizon is drunk. I was in the back on this leg so plenty of photos.

Turning base at Propriano (or pronounced the French way “Propriane” if you want to annoy the locals ).

Three Canadairs landing at Figari. The previous year a couple of girls gave us lifts to the beach so I took them for a sightseeing flight around the south of the island, and there were vast black areas of hillside ravaged by wildfires. The first year we camped just outside the airfield, but it was a long walk to the beach, and the shower was… unpleasant. Using a hosepipe on the side of a hangar was preferable. The second year we stayed in a campsite and had hire cars, which was much more civilised, but a bit less fun. Hotels had been prohibitively expensive at short notice.

The cliffs near Bonifacio. One day was very windy, so instead of flying we had a day trip to Bonifacio, which is really cool, with narrow streets and very tall buildings, all hanging onto the cliffs of a promontory.

Le lion de roccapina from the beach below.

Taking off a couple of days later was difficult. We were at MTOW with a rearward centre of gravity (rear fuel tank fuel, full baggage compartment, chestnut beers, one back seat passenger with the luggage from another smaller plane packed round him). It was very hot, 30+ degrees, and unluckily zero wind as the land breeze and sea breeze were swapping direction. It took ages and ages to lift the tail of the runway.

The citadel at Calvi, with the airport in the background (not my photo).

Me landing at Calvi (not my photo, obviously) and using up all the runway .
Calvi were not friendly at all, allocating parking in painted square on the tarmac, and shouting at people if they left the squares. I’ve already written about my engine problems on the plug fouling thread.

Le Luc airbase. All the R areas had seemed quite daunting when planning the route, but with Nice info it was easy.

There are other places I vaguely remember, but can’t find on google maps and took no photos, like the ancient fortress above a town, or a tiny pebble beach somewhere north of Propriano.

EGHO-LFQF-KCLW, United Kingdom

Capitaine wrote:

but here’s a few photos from Corsica

Lovely stuff, thanks Capitaine

jgmusic
North Weald, United Kingdom

It is now I think 12 years, that I have been at Corte. The field was uncomplicated – no one there – and it is possible to walk n the town. We did it do do some rock climbing near Corte. Our homebase on this vacation was Propriano. So climbing during the day (it was spring) and swimming and camping in the evening on the beach if Propriano. I can underline, that the restaurant was very good at this times.

EDDS , Germany

Corsica is really nice, I visited Calvi and Propriano last September.
Both are uncomplicated.





Last Edited by jvdo at 03 Jul 20:29
EBMO, EBKT

Given a choice between Ajaccio or Figari, would there a preference? Both will be equidistant from my destination but I get the impression Ajaccio is more GA-friendly? Could be wrong though…

jgmusic
North Weald, United Kingdom
15 Posts
Sign in to add your message

Back to Top