As part of its business, my company covers France and Europe but also North Africa. Since my arrival, I had not yet had the opportunity to enjoy a mission to the Maghreb. Until last month.
Bourget morning off and headed south. I spend my iPhone to my captain that he to photograph the sun rising on the left of the aircraft. One never tires of watching the Sun appears above the horizon in a festival of warm colors, from yellow to red through all shades of orange ...
Shortly after, when we had a direct VOR Agen, I shoot the GPS, regretting not having done a minute earlier when we were still at 900 nm (1667 km) from our destination ... We are not all!
We continue our merry way to Spain, and we finally reach the Pyrenees. Big question with my captain: It will pass or not? Thanks to an extremely sophisticated (the thumb extended straight ahead), we compare the results of our respective comments, and believe that yes, it should go (but be sure to 100 %...)
Phew, it's over! We continued our journey over Spain, arid landscapes and its numerous windmills. And here is the sea!
After a covered passage, is Morocco's earth, and therefore the African continent ...
I remember very well the first time I saw Africa. It was in a Cessna 172 in May 2003, when we crossed off Gibraltar. I felt a special excitement, and memories of my childhood reading, books on African adventures, me income. I was returned the following year during the rally Toulouse Saint-Louis, Senegal.
"Ca is 6 and a half years that I had not set foot on the African continent, "I said to my command. I see the count on his fingers, then make a big smile and say:" Ha bah me , it's been 17 days! "... :-) Pffff
After the coast, flying over the eastern Rif , this chain of mountains that crosses the north of Morocco.
After the mountain, here are the cultivated plains. The north of Morocco is extremely green, and that once past Agadir en route to the south, it becomes more and more desert. But Today, we will not go so far into the desert.
weather is superb, and therefore I make a visual approach. It passes vertically from the lake formed after the dam Idriss 1st, 1973, arriving in remote base. Right turn, and here I am in a long final 27. After landing, we will park at the foot of the tower, all white except the watch window. The parking lot is deserted, we are the only aircraft (Fez is Morocco's second largest city yet in terms of population).
It is up to the terminal. Outside the airport, a bus passes the colors of RATF (Probably the Transport Authority of Fes!)
After two hours there, here we go again! From the initial clearance, it is cleared to climb to our cruising level, the FL270 (8230 m). It rises above the lake, then flies over the Rif are back and the Mediterranean.
Spain queue under our wings, and we approach the Pyrenees again, this time with a beautiful late afternoon light that illuminates the peaks partially, allowing me to do this pretty picture:
Then the sun goes down always on our left (yeah, we did a 180 degrees since this morning!) and then again I entrust my iPhone to my captain that he take some pictures on his side:
Just after Toulouse, was obtained from direct to Balodis our IAF. And during the descent, a ground speed was not too uninteresting (352 knots, or more than 650 km / h).
Despite the crosswind, my captain did a kiss on runway 27 at Le Bourget, and under the rain that comes to parking. The big blue sky and 18 ° of Fez are long gone!
total, not far from 9 hours in the day. 4h30 with block-block to go, I beat my record for longest flight in the King Air (which was on the 3:55 flight Poitiers-Katowice, Poland, last July). I have not beaten by cons (but equalized) my record longest flight, since I also made a flight from 4.30 in 2004.
was also on the road to Morocco, it was the first step of the Toulouse-Saint Louis, Cessna 172, between Toulouse and Alicante (Ya no denying the Beech 200 is faster, since for the same period, he left much more to the north and went much further south :-)).
In red, go to the branch, and blue the return flight.
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