The 64 years young Super Cub made it to LELL, many thanks to the Piper Classique team for guiding me in the planning, and looking after me enroute.
Will try and compile some statistics and thoughts on my return, which is planned for Sunday.
The SC performed flawlessly, and on the first long leg flew at an un-Cub like 4,500 feet – resulting in a TAS of 77 knots and a miserly 15 litres per hour. Block planning at 75 knots and 18 litres per hour seems pretty solid.
The GPS kept conking out, but was useful on a couple of occasions where there were few line features, and complex airspace – 90 % of the flight has been using ded reckoning and IFR (I Follow Roads/Rivers/Railroads, or coast lines).
Well done, Robert! Looking forward for your report, and to any pictures you may have.
Well done Robert 
Just to keep you informed, Robert is planning to leave tommorow, monday, and will route via Chauvigny.This will mean I don’t have to post the battery charger he left on our kitchen table…
:)
Some brief statistics, will write up some more on the trip later this week, and post some photos.
Day 1 Thursday 16 April
Weather good VFR, but surface winds at EGMD and LFBI above forecast.
Departed Stapleford Thursday at 0950Z, reaching Lydd at 1040Z. Wind was 070/15G25 with 03 runway in use – while a two pointer (upwind main gear and tailwheel) is more elegant, a firmly planted wheeler landing was the order of the day. Full tanks.
Next leg was Poitiers (LFBI) with a take off time of 1140 and arrival at 1535 – again a gusting crosswind on arrival, but Poitiers have a large grass field just E of 21 so the landing was more or less into wind. The route was mainly west of Rouen and Tours so the distance in the order of 280nm. 58 litres took the tanks back to full.
Last leg was to meet up with the Piper Classique team at Le Blanc (LFEL) 1645-1710Z; and they kindly put me up at their farm house and shared some very good artesenal pizza.
Day 2 Friday 17 April
Weather marginal VFR but improving to the South East, ceiling 2,000 (MSA 1,600) but initial visibility less than 5k in drizzle.
First leg LFEL-LFDM 0915-1125Z, Marmande had a helpful AeroClub and I ‘lobbed’ in as weather was deteriorating. 40 litres up lifted.
Second leg all the way to Sabadell following the Garonne and then the coast 1230-1625Z. 77 litres uplifted.
Day 5 Monday 20 April
LELL-LFDW (Chauvigny), 0720-1235Z again Piper Classique met me and helped re fuel – 79 litres. Most of this leg, by far the longest, had some headwind component.
The next leg LFDW-LFAT (L2K) was a hard slog in low level thermals and a healthy headwind with 1335-1735Z for take off to landing time. 16 knot crosswind on arrival, with another firm plant on the two main wheels – the 64 year old starboard brake decided to say quits, and as the wind was left to right taxying back to parking was a challenge. In the end I shut down and a helpful fireman came over and we pushed the SC to parking. 50 litres uplifted.
Day 6 Tuesday 21 April
LFAT-EGSL (Andrewsfield) – a helpful L2K engineer restored some brake pressure (the hydraulics and drums were fine, but the piston needs an overhaul) and the return flight was uneventful with times of 100-1130Z.
Total distance covered approximately 1,500-1,600 nm with air time of 22:15, or close on 70 knots average ground speed, despite several legs with headwinds.
Approximately 350 litres of Avgas and 2 1/2 litres of oil consumed – roughly 23 mpg in UK car terms.
Times ATC asked whether I was a helicopter: 3.
Times ATC asked whether I was a helicopter: 3.
Hilarious! Then again, it’s a question I would never have expected so you did well to prepare me for it.
Some notes on Day 1.
Weather planning in VFR has more of an emphasis on finding a good window (ie several days where the weather is expected to be good) and planning a route which follows good weather. Day 1 had a low centred near Russia and a weak cold front extending to Northern France. Typically there might be a wave of weather some 150nm ahead of the cold front, and this proved to be the case with OCNL SHRA in the TAF for LFBI Poitiers. Winds were benign in the cruise, although as mentioned above, got caught by a stronger than expected crosswind at Lydd.
Three tail wheel aircraft into the bracing wind at Lydd.
I routed from Lydd to the west of Rouen and Tours to avoid Class D controlled airspace, although on the return routed overhead and through the Class D. To the SW of Tours there are a couple of prohibited areas and the GPS came in handy – apparently entering prohibited airspace over a nuclear power station in France usually results in a prosecution and fine in the order of multiple €10,000’s. Otherwise the flight proceeded on ded reckoning and line features.
There was some SHRA approaching Poitiers, but this was mainly evidenced by a gusting crosswind on arrival. The grass field E of the threshold of 03 was quite lumpy and would suggest only fit for a tail wheel aircraft.
Nuclear plant near Chauvigny.
LFBI were very helpful, and not one, but three Douane officials came to check the Super Cub. Fuel was very reasonable at around €1.30/litre, and I suspect they made a mistake and will get a supplemental bill in the post. Security wanted to see my EASA ‘paper’ licence, the FAA plastic one not deemed official enough!
I then proceeded to Le Blanc to meet with Piper Classique team, in a beautiful evening low level flight.
The last photo shows Le Blanc (LFEL) to the E of the village. This is a busy parachuting centre with the local meat bomber pilot an aspiring fATPL building time on a Pilatus tail wheel turbine – up close makes a DH Beaver look somewhat unde built.
Day 2
Weather was forecast to be poor in the morning, so with the helpful knowledge of local terrain and weather of Barbara and Chris (aka Piper Classique) routing towards the South West, lower ground and better weather, then hopefully heading South East along the Garonne to the Mediterranean. With this plan I retired early the evening before to plog away, with an initial hypothesis of stopping at LFID, a nice aero club field in Condom.
Piper Classique live in a complex of farm buildings and farm house, and I enjoyed the run of a large building which once did duty as the piggery. Fortunately now very comfortable and I awoke to a dawn chorus of cock crowing, and bull frog croacking.
Not wanting to meet Rafales at Super Cub flying levels the AZBA was consulted, and either due to it being Friday or budget cuts the low level military routes were forecast to be quiet.
https://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr/asp/frameset_fr.asp?m=39
Weather was not forecast to improve until around 10Z, but the plan from the evening before looked feasible. At 0900Z weather at Le Blanc was bright to the SW, and ceiling was estimated at my MSA for the first leg of 1,600’. I headed off planning to follow Le Vienne river and then either routing South or South West. The flight proceeded smoothly, but as I headed South over higher ground ceilings dropped and I made a precautionary diversion into Marmande, where I received the usual excellent aero club reception. The CFI was Polish and helped file my plan to Sabadell and settle the AvGas – while I waited for the weather to improve, enjoyed coffee with other club members.
In due course departed and made my way along the Garonne reaching blue skies and sunshine near Carcassone.
The above show the SC reaching the Mediterranean.
TSRA over the Pyrenees and Girona meant routing via Cadaques (of Salvador Dali and Picasso fame), possibly one of the few bits of unmolested coast line on the Eastern Spanish seaboard.
ATC from Toulousse through Girona was excellent, with the Girona ATC being a one man show from radar vectoring the lo cost aluminium tubes onto the ILS, authorising push backs, and dealing with VFR light traffic on the Costa Brava.
Images of the Costa Brave South of Girona, fortunately the Charlie Bravo activity in the rear view mirror.
The VFR routing to Sabadell is straightforward, but somewhat unnerving as you are single engine, low level over extensive built up areas – albeit with the beaches as a forced landing option. Barcelona approach would prefer you to just monitor, at least that was my impression. In any event the Super Cub arrived safely and had a welcoming committee, including the ATC crew who had asked whether it was a helicopter (correct answer ‘a poor person’s helicopter’).
On left base to LELL.
A great read and very nice pictures, Robert!
Lenthamen thank you for the comment.
I spent the weekend in Barcelona, and planned to return on the Monday due to convective activity in the Girona/Perpignac area on Sunday. Will cover the return trip on a later post, but on this post would comment on Sabadell Airport.
This airport is similar to Cuatro Vientos (LECU) in Madrid, in being a substantial airport with ambitious infrastructure but not obviously well utilised. Cuatro Vientos lacked an IFR approach last time I visited, and Sabadell is also VFR only, although I seem to recall it may have had an NDB approach many years ago.
Peter has a good trip report:
http://www.peter2000.co.uk/aviation/barcelona/
My update is to add that charges were reasonable at €66 for landing and three overnight parking, however AvGas was the most expensive by far at €3/litre plus. You can walk to Sabadell Sud train station (25 minute walk), but it involves a km of walking on a dual carriageway which is unpleasant. Sant Quirze metro station is an €8 – 5 minute taxi ride away and is a pleasant overground ride into Plaza Catalunya on the S2 line. This is the way to go and better than battling traffic in a €50 taxi ride.
The abandoned mummies are still there, perhaps not as extensive as the cockroach corner of Cuatro Vientos. Piston twins (Barons, Aztecs past their sell by date) and some Mooneys and Cherokees. Cuatro Vientos used to have some Queen Airs in the weeds. The T-33 and Hispano Saeta training jets also slowly sinking into the weeds at Sabadell. There is an attractive T-6 which is kept clean and smart but is not flying.
The airport doesn’t officially open until 0900 local, and getting flight plans filed and charges sorted is somewhat bureaucratic. They were somewhat concerned that they had not spotted my registration (apparently spent a fair time in the afternoon sun looking for it!), but accepted my explanation that it was carrying original military markings. An attempt to file the flight plan was made, I then filed one by computer, suffice it to say the no gyros, no radio NAV, day VFR only Super Cub left Sabadell for France on an IFR flight plan and it took me until Toulousse to dispel the notion they wanted a 75 Knot TAS Super Cub joining airways!
In general, other than the high priced AvGas, Sabadell staff were helpful and friendly and the public transport links make it an attractive base for Barcelona.
