Updtaed map and log
Leg 67 - Benguela, Angola (FNBG 17th of November Airport) to Bangui, Central African Republic (FEFF M’Poko Airport)
This leg: 1,094Nm, 4:17 flying time
Total so far: 76,088Nm, 291:03 flying time
Today we are heading North into central Africa - literally as we are going to Bangui in Central African Republic. On the way, we are flying over Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, and then we are flying roughly along the path of the River Congo, passing over Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then on to Impfondo, right on the border between the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo and finally on to Bangui in Central African Republic.
So let’s get going. Nice day in Angola today, with a few clouds about and not much wind
Heading North now, out over the Atlantic
Back over dry land and it’s time to head inland now all the way from here
The lush green around the Longa River as it snakes towards the coast
Coming up to Kinshasa
And across the Congo River to Brazzaville
Miles and miles of rainforest below us, with the Congo River meandering inbetween
Approaching Mbandaka and the cloud is thickening and there are flashes of lightning in the air and a lot of low cloud and rain
North towards Impfondo, and the Congo is vast here…and so many trees!
Impfondo is on the Ubangi River - still a big river, but just a small tributory of the Congo - can just about see Impfondo through the cloud - just
Heading North now to out destination, Bangui, following the Ubangi for a short way
And back into thick cloud - hoping this clears before we get to Bangui
Approaching Bangui through the cloud and on to final approach
And down and parked
So, next stage? North to the Sahara, or West to the Coast? Let’s see how we feel.
Updated map and log
Countries landed in
|1|Scotland|
|2|Iceland|
|3|Greenland|
|4|Canada|
|5|USA|
|6|Jamaica|
|7|Greneda|
|8|Colombia|
|9|Peru|
|10|Brazil|
|11|Uruguay|
|12|Argentina|
|13|Falkland Islands|
|14|Chile|
|15|Bolivia|
|16|Ecuador|
|17|Honduras|
|18|Mexico|
|19|Russia|
|20|Japan|
|21|Philippines|
|22|Micronesia|
|23|Fiji|
|24|New Zealand|
|25|Australia|
|26|Indonesia|
|27|Singapore|
|28|Thailand|
|29|Hong Kong|
|30|China|
|31|Nepal|
|32|Sri Lanka|
|33|India|
|34|Azerbaijan|
|35|Russia|
|36|Turkey|
|37|Kuwait|
|38|Yemen|
|39|Uganda|
|40|Malawi|
|41|Mauritius|
|42|Mozambique|
|43|South Africa|
|44|Angola|
|45|Central African Republic|
Countries flown over
|1|Scotland
|2|Faroe Islands|
|3|Iceland|
|4|Greenland|
|5|Canada|
|6|USA|
|7| Cuba|
|8|The Bahamas|
|9|Turks and Caicos|
|10|Haiti|
|11|Jamaica|
|12|Dominican Republic|
|13|St Kitts & Nevis|
|14|Antigua & Barbuda|
|15|Dominica|
|16|St Lucia|
|17|Barbados|
|18|St Vincent and the Grenadines|
|19|Grenda|
|20|Venezuela|
|21|Colombia|
|22|Peru|
|23|Brazil|
|24|Uruguay|
|25|Argentina|
|26|Falkland Islands|
|27|Antartica|
|28|Chile|
|29|Bolivia|
|30|Ecuador|
|31|Panama|
|32|Costa Rica|
|33|Nicaragua|
|34|Honduras|
|35|El Salvador|
|36|Guatemala|
|37|Mexico|
|38|Russia|
|39| Japan|
|40| Taiwan|
|41|Philippines|
|42|Federated States of Micronesia|
|43|Nauru|
|44| Fiji|
|45|New Zealand|
|46|Australia|
|47| Indonesia|
|48|Malaysia|
|49|Cambodia|
|50|Thailand|
|51|Laos|
|52|Vietnam|
|53|Hong Kong|
|54|China|
|55| Bhutan|
|56|Nepal|
|57|India|
|58|Sri Lanka|
|59| Pakistan|
|60|Afghanistan|
|61|Iran|
|62| Azerbaijan|
|63| Latvia|
|64|Lithuania|
|65|Belarus|
|66|Ukraine|
|67|Moldova|
|68|Romania|
|69|Turkey|
|70|Syria|
|71|Iraq|
|72|Kuwait|
|73|Bahrain|
|74|Qatar|
|75|United Arab Emirates|
|76|Oman|
|77|Yemen|
|78|Somalia|
|79|Etheopia|
|80|Kenya|
|81|Uganda|
|82|Tanzania|
|83|Malawi|
|84|Mozambique|
|85|Madagascar|
|86|Reunion Island|
|87|Mauritius|
|88|South Africa|
|89|Namibia|
|90|Angola|
|91|Democratic Republic of Congo|
|92|Republic of Congo|
|93|Central African Republic|
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This thread is amazing and was exactly what I’ve been looking for! You’ve inspired me to retrace your journey since it’s so well documented here. Thank you for sharing this with the community!
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Leg 68 - Bangui, Central African Republic (FEFF M’Poko Airport) to Tombouctou, Mali (GATB Tombouctou Airport)
This leg: 1,470Nm, 5:41 flying time
Total so far: 77,558Nm, 296:44 flying time
For today’s flight, we are literally heading to Timbuktu - better known in the modern day as Tombouctou. This is in Mali in the Southern Sahara Desert. Why there? Well, we are close by, it’s on our rough direction and, well, you just have to go to Timbuktu don’t you?
Straight flight today, heading North West over central Africa and into the desert. Should be fun.Let’s see what the weather in Bangui has in store for us today - quite a nice morning!
Lots of trees and jungle and greenery here as we still head North
Crossing into Cameroon
Some mountains in Migeria to break up the terrain a bit
Starting to see more desert looking landscape now
Finally we reach the border and move into Niger and some serious desert
Entering Mali, on our final stage towards Tombouctou and proper desert here
Tracking along the River Niger as we start our approach to Tombouctou
Lined up for approach now
And landed - welcoem to Timbuktu!
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Leg 69 - Tombouctou, Mali (GATB Tombouctou Airport) to Mosteiros, Cape Verde (GVMT mosteiros Airport)
This leg: 1,243Nm, 4:43 flying time
Total so far: 78,801Nm, 301:27 flying time
Well, we are about to reach 300 hours flying time on this tour, which feels like we need a celebration. So to celebrate, we are going to pop over to Cape Verde islands in the Atlantic Ocean, just West of Africa. On the way we will fly over Dakar in Senegal. Other than that, a pretty straight route. In Cape Verde, we are going to land at Mosteiros on Ilha do Fogo, one of the smaller islands, and an airport which is just a grass trip. Should be fun.
We are going for an early morning start today, and will be taking off with the sunrise behind us.
The sun beginning to light up the sky properly behind us now and some spectacular views over the desert as we cross into Mauritania
Still heading across miles of barren desert
Crossing into Sengal, actually literally crossing the Sengal River
And approaching the West coast of Africa and the city of Dakar - right on the very point of the furthest West point of the African mainland
And heading out over the Atlantic towards Cape Verde - with our first site of the islands through some low cloud - this is the island of Santiago
Approach Ilha do Fogo
We’re approaching dead in line with the runway, so should be good to land straight in - but windy though!
And down, but it’s tricky to keep the plane straight as we land and we get a little too lose to the water for comfort - but manage to swing around and park on the grass
Nice flight and Cape Verde looks amazing. I think before we head North on our next leg, we’ll take a spin around this island and have a look at the volcanic crator we could see on approach
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Leg 70 - Mosteiros, Cape Verde (GVMT mosteiros Airport) to Lanzarote, Spain (GCRR Lanzarote Airport)
This leg: 1,166Nm, 4:46 flying time
Total so far: 79,967Nm, 306:13 flying time
Today we are flying North from Cape Verde, parallel to the West Coast of Africa up to the Canary Islands. We’ll do a little bit of a detour via La Palma, Tenerife (and via Mount Teide) and Gran Canaria before landing at Lanzarote. We are going to start with a little tour of Ilha do Fogo first to see what the volcanic crater looks like from the air.
So a nice day in Cape Verde
And starting the steep climb to the top of the island mountain
Too steep to go straight up, so we need to circle around to be able to climb up
Great lava flows in evidence
Cresting the crater and diving down for a closer look
And now climbing the secondary summit
Zooming back out maybe gives a better sense of the scale of the mountain and volcano
And an amazing view of the island as we head North on our flight plan
After a long stretch over the open ocean, we are approaching the Canaries. First up is El Hierro - which looks pretty uninhabited, but still spectacular
On to La Palma and flying right over La Palma Airport before turning East towards Tenerife
Approaching Tenerife, and we are going to divert inland to have a closer look at Mount Teide and the crater and high peak (Spain’s highest mountain)
Heading back to the flight plan and over Tenerife Airport
Gran Canaria is up next and we’ll overfly Gran Canaria Airport
So on to Lanzarote and our final destination wth the island of Fuerteventura to our right
Entering the approach pattern to Lanzarote
And lined up on approach now, but a strong crosswind from the left
And we’re down
I wonder where next? Gibralter seems like a nice idea if we can reach.
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Leg 71 - Lanzarote, Spain (GCRR Lanzarote Airport) to Tunis, Tunisia (DTTA Tunis Carthage International Airport)
This leg: 1,352Nm, 4:58 flyng time
Total so far: 81,319Nm, 311:11 flying time
Today we are heading first to Gibralter, and then East along the Mediterranean Sea to Tunis in Tunisia. Flying quite a lot over water, but we should be able to see the African Coast most of the way and also, near Gibralter, we’ll fly right over Tanger in Morocco. We will do a short stop in Gibralter as well - just because, and we’ll probably do a little fly around the rock etc. Should be fun.
Here we are ready to go
Heading onto the flight plan now, and turning North to cross Lanzarote itself after our South facing take off. By day, Lanzarote seems much flatter than the other Canary Islands
And North East now out over the Atlantic on our way to Gibraltar
Morocco and El Jadida and Sari to our right
Gotta love the Global Shipping mod - that’s us way up in the sky there in the distance behind the container ship off the coast of Morocco
About 80Nm South of Gibraltar and the Moroccon Coast is in sight on our right with Tanger up ahead
Passing over Tanger
A great view here of the Straights of Gibraltar - Europe on the left, Africa on the right
Approaching Gibraltar - we’re going to refuel here. I’m finding the latest SU4 has reduced the range of the TBM slightly from the old performance mod I was using. So we are struggling, flying at only 7,500ft to get 1,300Nm range. Flying over Gibraltar first, then looping back to approach visually from the other side
Here we are, ready to take off again and continue our journey, but first, let’s take a little spin around the rock and see how it looks
Straight West now across the Mediterranean towards Tunis - we’ll hit the North Coast of Africa right around Algiers, so we can have a look at that before heading on to Tunis. Here is Algiers and the Bay of Algiers
Onward and along the North Coast of Algeria - with some Spectacular mountains to the South
The city of Bejaia to our right on the coast and the Bay of Bejaia
Crossing over the city of Annaba
And cross country from here to Tunis - and a bit cloudy and rainy here as we near Tunis - with some flashes of lightning - and heavy rain. Circling over the city to get lined up for final approach
And down and parked
Next time - North into Europe I think!
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Updated map and log book
Rather interestingly Leg 71 has ended up setting a few milestones:
- I’ve now landed in exactly 50 different countries so far
- I’ve now flown over more than 100 countries (Cape Verde was the 100th) - 105 in all now I;ve flown over Tunisia
- More than 80,000Nm flown so far
Still pretty much the whole of Europe to go!
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Leg 72 - Tunis, Tunisia (DTTA Tunis Carthage International Airport) to Athens, Greece (LGAV Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport)
This leg: 928Nm, 3:39 flying time
Total so far: 82,247Nm, 314:50 flying time
Today we are flying to Athens in Greece, via Sicily and across the Mediterranean Sea and over Crete. Shortish flight - just under 1,000Nm. We are going to fly over Palermo and Catania in Sicily as we cross Southern Italy.
Lovely day in Tunis today
Climbing to 7,500 feet for our cruise altitude today
Passing the island of Zembra and leaving Africa now to head out over the Mediterrarean
Approaching the South West tip of Siciliy and the town of Marsala
Alongside the Golfo do Castellammare and the towns of Alcamo and Partinico
Palermo, on the Northern Coast of Sicily - and spectacular views on the mountains in Sicily to our right
We take a quick spin around to fly low over the seafront
Heading East towards Catania
Lake Pozzillo and Mount Etna to our left at 10,900 feet
Here’s Catania on the East Coast of Sicily - a town in the shadow of Mount Etna
Back out over the Med on our way to Crete this time
Passing the island of Skariana just before Crete - not a breath of wind by the looks of it
We are flying along the Northern Coast of Crete
Approaching Heraklion
Turning North now and heading towards Athens acros the sea of Crete
The islands of Milos, Serifos, Kithnos and Kea in the setting sun
Starting our approach pattern into Athens
Lined up on final
And down
Parked. And a beautiful approach in the setting sun into Athens Airport.
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Leg 73 - Athens, Greece (LGAV Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport) to Nice, France (LFMN Nice/Cote d’Azur)
This leg: 1,110Nm, 4:23 flying time
Total so far: 83,357Nm, 319:13 flying time
Today we are heading back to Italy from Greece, to head up North through the country, seeing the main sites, before heading West to the South of France and Nice. So we are going via Bari, Naples, Rome, Bologne, Venice, Verona and Milan.
Bit cloudy in Athens this afternoon and some spots of rain
Straight over the top of Athens but catching some of the low cloud
Crossing the heart of mainland Greece - stunning views and rugged hills
Views out over the Ionian Sea
And out over water where Ionian Sea meets the Adriatic Sea on our way to Italy
Approaching Bari on Italy’s East Coast
Turning West and crossing Southern Italy towards Naples, passing Monte Vulture on the way on our left
Nearing Naples, with Vesuvius rising up on our left - let’s take a little detour over the top of it before arcing around low over the seafront
Climbing away from Naples towards Rome
Rome
Heading North again now towards Florence - plenty of clearly volcanic craters and mountain ridges
Flying over Florence
And Bologne
And on to Venice over the Laguna di Venezia
Heading West again to Verona
Verona, looking lovely in the late afternoon sunshine
Heading for Milan, and passing the stunning Lake Garda
Milan looks stunning as well
And headingSouth West to Nice and the French Riviera - crossing over the very end of the Alps - the Alpes Maritimes
ATC has given us a straight in approach to runway 22L. 30 Miles to go and approaching the Alps
We need to start our descent soon, which could be interesting with these mountains
And there is Nice and the Cote d’Azur
And down and parked
Great flight, I really enjoyed that
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Leg 74 - Nice, France (LFMN Nice/Cote d’Azur) to Porto, Portugal (LPPR Francisco Sa Carneiro)
This leg: 1,216Nm, 4:50 flying time
Total so far: 84,573, 342:03 flying time
Today we are following the South coast of France and then nipping over to the Balearic Islands before flying around the South Coast of Spain and then on to Portugal, ending our trip in Porto. We are passing over many places on our way; Marseille, Barcelona, Mallorca, Ibiza, Murcia, Almeria, Merbella, Cadiz, Faro and Lisbon before landing in Porto.
It’s a lovely morning in Nice today, for our departure
First stop is Marseille
And on to Barcelona, across the Gulf of Lion
Heading South to Mallorca and over La Palma and heading to Ibiza
Over Ibiza and now heading back towards mainland Spain
On our way to Murcia in Southern Spain
Back to the coast now and the town of Almeria over some rugged, hilly and dry terrain
Next stop is the holiday destinarion of Marbella further along the coast, passing Malaga on the way
And on to Rota Navy at Cadiz, a major port city in Spain, crossing inland across miles of remote mountains and scrub
Here’s Faro
And our last stop before Porto - Lisbon
Heading North to Porto
Lining up for final approach
And down
Leg 75 - Porto, Portugal (LPPR Francisco Sa Carneiro) to Courchevel, France (LFLJ Courchevel)
This leg: 755Nm, 3:04 flying time
Total so far: 85,328Nm, 327:07 flying time
Today we are taking a lazy winding stroll across Northern Spain and into the French Alps - passing by a number of points of interest in true sight seeing style. We start by heading East to Pamplona then into to Pyrenees. There we will fly by Lac de Cap-de-Long and Pic du Midi de Bigorre Observatory before heading on to Stadium de Toulouse. Then further East, we’ll have a close up view of the Millau Viaduct and then on to the French Alps. Mont Aiguille, Sanctuaire Notre dame de la Salette and Perret Tower all await before our final, tricky landing at Courchevel, high in the French Alps.
So a bit overcast and cloudy on the West Coast of Spain this afternoon as we take off, climbing and then turning right to head East towards Pamplona.
Heading across Northern Spain - some clouds, but not too bad
Here’s Pamplona and the Fuerte Alfonso XII San Cristobal
Our next stops are Lac de Cap-de-Long and Pic du Midi de Bigorre Observatory. We need to climb up to about 11,000 feet to get over the top of the Pyrenees mountains to reach them. Spectacular views of the mountains through the clouds
Aproaching Lac de Cap-de-Long - hopefully not hidden by the clouds - and no - the clouds clear perfectly to give us a fantastic view
And onwards to the observatory - which is, unfortunately shrouded in cloud today - just visible through the murk
North East to Toulouse, clearing the Pyrenees, still lots of low cloud about though
Onward to the Millau Viaduct - spectacular
Climbing now towards Mont Aiguille, crossing the Rhone valley
Unfortunately the airstrip is shrouded in mist
More stunning scenery as we head to Sanctuaire Notre Dame de la Salette
On towards Perret Tower - a little hard to see in the gloomy mist, but it’s there
And now our final approach into Courchevel, circling around to approach runway 22 - hoping visibility improves - passing right overhead before we turn back around
And down and parked
What a great flight! Loved that.
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Leg 76 - Courchevel, France (LFLJ Courchevel) to Prague, Czech Republic (LKPR Ruzyne)
This leg: 635Nm, 2:43 flying time
Total so far: 85,963Nm, 329:50 flying time
Today we are sight-seeing across Central Europe, heading North initially to Geneva, and then cutting across East, all the way to Prague and Ruzyne Airport. On the way, we’re going to fly by a few sights. First is the Arc-Et-Senans, then on to Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg before we head to Strasbourg, Neuschwanstein Castle and finally Hohensalzburg Fortress before heading North East to Prague.
Unfortunately, the weather in Courchevel today is best described as “foul”
Well, if the weather doesn’t improve, we won’t be seeing too many of the sights we’ve picked out!
You can just about make out Geneva below us here, but a sudden break in the clouds reveals a stunning Lake Geneva
A little glimpse of sunshine maybe as we head North East, but it looks more ominous ahead
There, below us, is Arc-Et-Senans
Continuing North East to Chateau du Haut-Koenigsbourg…getting cloudier again!
Well, the Chateau is down there somewhere…honest!
On now to Strasbourg…and unfortunately for us today, the weather is not playing ball. Not had many trips like this so far - let’s just call this one as unlucky. But, for the record, here is Strasbourg
Neuschwanstein Castle is next up, and really hoping the clouds clear a bit before we get there. Maybe we’ll get lucky…or maybe not
There’s the castle, at the foot of the mountains
On to our last visit to Hohensalzburg Fortress
Spectacular views of the Alps and some improving weather too
And here is Salzburg and the Hohensalzburg Fortress
And our final leg towards Prague, scooting under the low cloud
Turning to take up final approach, lining up nicely on the glideslope
Coming in nicely
And down
Cool. Next we will be heading North to Scandinavia think
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Leg 77 - Prague, Czech Republic (LKPR Ruzyne) to Vaasa, Finland (EFVA Vaasa)
This leg: 1,166Nm, 4:45 flying time
Total so far: 87,129Nm, 334:35 flying time
Today we are heading North from Ruzyne and into Scandinavia. First we are heading to Malmo then turning to the North East and taking in the Oland Bridge and Kungsangen before onwards to Stockholm. Further East from there to the Bomarsund Bridge and Turku Castle before Helsinki. Lastly going North to Ylisto Bridge before finally heading West to Vaasa.
Should be a fun flight. Much better weather in Ruzyne today too.
Pretty flat here in the Czech Republic and the River Elbe
Crossing back into Northern Germany, still following the River Elbe and approaching the Northern coast of Germany
Heading across to Malmo and our first sight of the Swedish coast and the Oresundsbron Bridge
On to the Oland Bridge, the bridge between the Swedish mainland and the island of Oland
North to Kungsangen
East on to Stockholm
Bomarsund Bridge
Into Finland and Turku
Finland is very flat, much like Sweden, at least this far South
Clouds coming in as we come over Helsinki
Ylisto Bridge
Cloudy now as we head towards Vaasa
Landing in this could be tricky
Coming in for approach and a big crosswind
And down, with a big crab on!
Cool flight. Next leg will probably be further North to see more of the Scandinavian sights
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