Leg 9 - LFLS-LEMD
Departed: 13:15z (RWY 4)
Arrived: 14:45z (RWY 9)
Weather: Overcast on departure; Heavy cloud up to FL330, with strong 90kt+ headwind; few clouds on arrival
Aircraft: Airbus A320neo
Route: LFLS N0160F350 REPS4W REPSI UN869 ZAR UZ245 TERSA VILA2D LEMD
Approach: ILS-V 32L (ASBIN transition)
Remarks:
- I had an issue with airway waypoints not being added correctly to the flight plan; instead the route was programmed to fly direct from the entry waypoint to the exit, so I had to manually add the intermediate waypoints.
- The weather over France was pretty nasty as I departed for Madrid, with a 90kt+ headwind and thick cloud right up to cruising altitude; after checking the live weather charts, this appears to have been a pretty accurate represenation (see below)!
- Pilot2ATC assigned the VILA2D arrival and the ILS-V 32L approach via the ASBIN transition; unfortunately, I had some issues with the TOD (for some reason the destination airport was in the flight plan twice, which seems to have messed things up), so I ended up entering the holding pattern at ASBIN in order to lose sufficient altitude to fly the approach.
- I also made the mistake of attempting to do a full autoland (in order to get an drone cam video of the landing), but fell foul of a severe autopilot pitch down about 50ft above the runway… I’m sure all the passengers on board appreciated ‘bouncing’ down the runway!
Distance completed: 2,146nm Distance remaining: 44,445nm
I’m sticking with the A320neo for the next few flights, with Madeira (LPMA) next up, followed by a trip back across the Atlantic to Gibraltar.