Yeap, that is them and we get lots in the Aegean with charter traffic.
Nope, “Navigator” on VHF comm’s was certainly not one of them.
Ok, good to know.. what were then these “Navigator X” ? I mean they were staying in that area, in and out of that frequency… was kind of natural for me thinking that it was some sort of training… military..
Edited:
Ok.. I guess I got the answer… Navigator may have been the call sign of this company. The only strange thing is that there were multiple of them in the area.. but being summer months, maybe it is not that strange at all :)
Regarding the DCT: when we were in the air over the Aegean, you could hear Makedonia control, coordinating all the military flights (easy since their call sign was NavigatorX, and there were at least 5 X that day..): so sure enough it was not an excuse..
Nope, “Navigator” on VHF comm’s was certainly not one of them.
The ones I referred to you will never listen, they are on UHF with MIL Radar.
CIV ATC see them on radar but have no coordination with them.
You understand when there is activity by CIV ATC being a bit more nervous and not approving any reroutes requested !
Thanks Petakas.
I don’t know why you did not get the NOTAM.
No idea either.. I tried even later and the operator (a swiss operator) that provides what is called SMART ROUTE NOTAM was not yet showing that one even later in the day..
In any case, I did not consider this a problem. It took 5 minutes to sort it out, and as I said ALL people were extremely friendly and cooperative.
or situations arising on the spot (more on these here ).
That was the funny part of reading Greece NOTAMS 
Was my first time that I was reading NOTAMs that were cancelling the validity of other NOTAMs belonging to another country (Turkey).. Regarding the DCT: when we were in the air over the Aegean, you could hear Makedonia control, coordinating all the military flights (easy since their call sign was NavigatorX, and there were at least 5 X that day..): so sure enough it was not an excuse.. and without strong north winds this was not going to worry me at all.. But again, as soon as we arrived under Thessaloniki approach, they released all the restrictions and gave me everything I asked.
PS: For your second link on the old discussion regarding Milos I had to remove the page 3 part of the URL to see it.
strange.. I can open the link.. I’m afraid anyway that I cannot edit that post anymore unfortunately (I can’t see the EDIT button on it any longer).
Well done!
Io invece sono tedesco al 100%, ma mi sento a casa pure nel Veneto!
Thanks 
of course you feel at home in Veneto too! We are all european.. aren’t we?!
I am glad you visited Kithira – Greece’s most beautiful island.
Try Astypalaia.. actually.. I should probably not suggest that.. I’m jealous of others visiting that place.. (something like.. get your hands off MY butterfly island! )
It is different in many respects to the other islands.. the tallest tree is 40 cm (excluding 10 big oaks that grow in the western part).. yellow and orange colours, which reminded me a lot my hometown.. strong winds.. and crystal clear waters (ok.. this is easy to find in Greece ). It is the place to go if you like fish. Also Ikaria.. there you can do much more than just sea/sun.. hiking in the mountains (1000 meter high!) is as beautiful as lay in one of the many beautiful beaches..
Teo thank you for such a nice report and the excellent multimedia.
You did what a SMART GA pilot shall do in Greece. Avoid the “trendy” places (which almost for sure will have difficult PPRs) and explore the hidden gems lying around easily accessible by GA. You got the true taste of Greece ;-)
The trendy places (e.g. Santorini LGSR, Mykonos LGMK, Skiathos LGSK and others) are still accessible but you will not enjoy laid back style there especially with the airport procedures if you come in July or August. These places are for June or September and for a bit higher budget than Milos LGML, Astypalaia LGPL, Kithira LGKC or Ikaria LGIK.
Just to give you an idea for LGMK in early June I applied for 15 days parking 1-16 August. I got approval for 5 days in beginning and 2 days at end of the requested period.
As you can guess I will go by ferry and spot the (extremely busy – especially private jets) traffic from distance !
Yes I remember that NOTAM for Andravida MTMA.
They handle A LOT of seasonal charter traffic going in and out of Zakynthos LGZA and Kefallinia LGKF plus the MIL traffic of two busy Air Force bases (Araxos LGRX & Andravida LGAD).
Some times it gets really tight in that relatively small piece of south Ionian sea.
As you said they do not block VFR but really want to know about it so that they coordinate.
Its a big MTMA (Controlled Airspace) through which you fly easily VFR as long as they know when and where you’re going.
I don’t know why you did not get the NOTAM.
A nice source for Greece NOTAMs (applicable also to various other countries) is this nice graphical tool
http://metutil.appspot.com/static/maps/NotamMap_LGGG_2DAY_WR.htm?nosplash=y
Regarding no DCTs over central Aegean, yes it can happen if we have intense MIL activity and it does happen often either due to scheduled exercises (always NOTAMed under LGGG FIR code) or situations arising on the spot (more on these here ).
Indeed you were lucky in Kerkira LGKR regarding fuel. Its all a matter of peak traffic hour or not.
Other times I have turned around in 45’ as well and other times it was almost impossible.
On my last flight to Straubing EDMS from LGKR I wanted to refuel at late afternoon on Friday arrival for my morning departure for EDMS.
I would have to wait more than 1~1.5 hour by looking at the charters which had just arrived and were being refueled by one single person the same for AVGAS.
We left for town for a dinner and came back at 00:30 just to refuel in their next shift. I lost an hour’s sleep – valuable for next day – but the 7 am departure went on schedule.
Indeed AVGAS is not available in many airports but at the ones it is its just a simple matter of proper planning.
Same for (small) airport operation hours. Proper homework (NOTAMs) gets you around easily.
PS: For your second link on the old discussion regarding Milos I had to remove the page 3 part of the URL to see it.
Nice to read this account
My own experience of Greece and its people has always been 100%, and we are going back there late September, to do more islands in the Aegean.
A lot of people say Greece is hard but for someone who doesn’t speak the local language it’s easier than say Spain or (especially) Italy because English is well spoken and everybody is so friendly. You can phone up any airport and find out e.g. the fuel or whatever situation, easily.
I am glad you visited Kithira – Greece’s most beautiful island.
Ciao Teo,
your post proves that the degree of satisfaction one gets from flying to any foreign country does not depend on which country it is, but on the pilot’s preparation regarding national particularities. You seem to have been well prepared for Greece (i.e.: checking NOTAMs well in advance, being AOPA member, knowing where to get fuel, etc.).
Well done!
Io invece sono tedesco al 100%, ma mi sento a casa pure nel Veneto!
Ciao Med! Thanks for your message and for reporting those issues. I fixed those typos.
Also: I’m pretty sure that you can wait 2 hours in Kerkira. But I wanted just to witness that it can also be much shorter (45 min in my case, which included: paying taxes, getting euro cash from the terminal, refuelling and calling Andravida/discussing with the HCAA personnel for the re-routing).
KOS must be beautiful too.. definitely next time :)
About the occupation period, I discovered a funny story about Kythira: during WWI Kythira had a short independent period (following Venizelos movement) in which they declared war to Germany and her allies (!!!). Few months later Kythira went back under the Greek authority, WWI ended and apparently they (Greece on behalf of Kythirians) forgot to withdraw the war declaration. Germans did not forget about it during the WWII. After Italians invaded the island of Kythira, Germans decided to transform it into their local/strategical base. It was the first to be freed by the allies. But this is another story.. :)
A presto MedF e grazie per le correzioni ! (io sono calabrese)
Teo
