Trip Report: Lanzarote to Alicante (Agadir, Casablanca and Tanger)

Hi again,

Three weeks ago I flew from Lanzarote to Muchamiel (Alicante) on a PA-38 Tomahawk. This was a ferry flight, the owner hadn’t flown the airplane for more than a year and asked me if I could help her to bring the aircraft back to Europe.

Planning considerations:
-PA-38 single-prop piston, AVGAS
-90kts IAS on average
-VFR daytime only, VOR w/o DME, Garmin 100 w/o map, no headsets
-3h flight over the Atlantic ocean

Mitigation:
-Conservative fuel planning, conservative wx planning, Paper charts, SkyDemon and Garmin Pilot on iPhone and tablet.
-Water suit and survival kit. PLB w/ GPS and portable radio. Dinghi.

My overall impression of this tour is very good, Morocco has improved a lot aeronautically speaking. Airport installations were good, friendly ATC and friendly ground staff. They adhere to ICAO standards so flying and navigation was not a big deal. The only consideration you have to take into account when flying in MO is that customs and passport takes hours (!), this the only setback I found on the whole trip. Moreover, we didn’t had to pay for handling nor fuel truck fee in any airport. AVGAS was 2,5-3€/L on average being more expensive than in Spain.

Flying VFR in MO is easy but you have to keep in mind that you must follow VFR routes published on their AIP. These routes pass over several towns and villages that you must fill in your flight plan route. ATC’s without radar will constantly ask your for ETA at some reference points.

Lanzarote-Agadir (GCRR-GMAD)

Weather was good at both airports, enroute weather was bkn-ovc at 4500ft so we climbed VMC and flew VFR on-top. Lanzarote was windy as usual and bouncy as well.
Route was GPS direct with 5kts tailwind at FL085.

During our descend the wx was fine and we just encountered 22kts of headwind during the landing. ATC was friendly and allowed us to join downwind with roughly the heading we were maintaining from Lanzarote.

We stayed one night in Agadir and we didn’t go around since we were pretty tired. We just went to a local restaurant by the hotel and had a good Tajine.

Agadir-Casablanca Tit-Mellil (GMAD-GMMT)

Wx was good with local bkn so we planned a flight to Fez but shortly after the departure, just over the Atlas, our airspeed dropped to 57kts GS. I did a quick calculation and the ETA at Fez was way later that our maximum endurance so we had to divert to Casablanca. ATC was friendly with good English and the flight was uneventful. We flew over the Draa river and the landscape over the route was really special. The Casablanca Tit-Mellil airport was difficult to locate at first due its small size and its industrial surroundings. The runway is narrow and short but good enough for our aircraft. There is an AVGAS fuel pump and a small airclub.

Shortly after refueling, checking for wx and filling in the fplan we were airborne again.

Casablanca-Tanger (GMMT-GMTT)

This flight was really straightforward, Tanger airport is not busy and we were cleared to proceed direct to base leg without delay.

Tanger is the city I liked the most in Morocco. It is very international and a true mixture of different cultures. We went to a restaurant called “Le savoir du poisson” that was very genuine. I would really recommend it, dinning was about 20€ all included with fresh fish and several starters, all home cooked. The restaurant is in the city centre, near a small bazaar and the Medina.

Tanger-Murcia (GMTT-LELC)

The next day showed up with bkn-ovc clouds at 1500ft. I was confident that as soon as the sun appeared the land would be warmer and the clouds would disappear and we were luck that is just what happened. We departed with some bkn that we had to avoid until we climbed out of clouds. The ATC was very repetitive about avoiding a P area near the port, I guess it is a military port but we were avoiding it anyway.

We cruised at 4500ft and the radio with Sevilla ACC and Malaga APP was unreadable. Once we get closer to the coast, radio coverage radio improved.
We flew over Almeria airport without delay crossing its CTR from S to N.

We arrived to Murcia-San Javier airport after a 3h flight. This flight seemed to me the longest, probably because we were a little bit tired already but I was happy I was flying to San Javier, an airport I know very well. The airport is inside the military airbase that hosts the Spanish Air Force Academy and it is also home for the “Patrulla Aguila”, the Spanish aerobatic team with the Casa C-101 Aviojet.
ATC was friendly and we also performed a direct to downwind. Police and Guardia Civil officers were very friendly and arrived shortly after our arrival so we had our passports checked quick, no handling needed here. We catched a cab right outside the terminal and we went to my favourite restaurant in the area, “Venezuela” where we had Arroz Caldero which is a rice dish similar to Paella with fish but more tasty in my opinion. If you ever go to Murcia, you must have Arroz Caldero. I lived there for four years while I was studying at the Air Force Academy and I still remember those Sundays having Caldero by the sea.

Back to my origins. I learned to fly here seven years ago before I moved to Badajoz for the Fighter Course on the F-5 and then the F-18. Really good memories!

Murcia-Muchamiel (LELC-LEMU)

After we had this delicious food, we departed to Muchamiel overflying the Alicante airport at 2000ft between incoming jets on the ILS. The key to speed up when crossing through busy airspaces is to talk with confidence on the radio. If ATC sees you as a pilot with SA, having traffic in sight fast and being proficient on the phraseology, they are likely to allow you to cross between incoming traffic. Otherwise, they will make you orbit until there is no IFR traffic.

Landing in Muchamiel has nothing remarkable other than we encountered some 15kts crosswind. The airport is closed on the evenings but we were lucky another guy from the club was landing after us so he opened the gate for us to leave the airdrome.

Parked at her new home.

We took a cab to the train station in Alicante where I catched an AVE train back to Madrid after 3 days of trip and 12 hours of flying.

That was the end of our trip, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, please do not forget your personal belongings before leaving the plane!

Regards,

Speed.