Yesterday we did 7 hrs. exploring the west coast of the north shore of Crete. Visited some very small high end towns with Crete specialty foods, very reasonably priced. Arrived back at our hotel 9PM for a small dinner. Up at 5:00 AM, at airport by 6AM. Took about 45 min. with our handler to clear air crew customs.
Only had to produce passport 3 times. Downloaded our 12 1/2 hr. flight plan with over 30 waypoints. Departed right on schedule. First 5hrs. 15 kt. headwind, now about 6 kts. We have 220 gal of avgas at 11,000 ft., burning 12 gal/hr.
Blue skies and smooth air so far. We departed at sunrise and we get to see a sunset. Hope to arrive at Abu Dhabi 10:10 PM. Just leaving Egyptian air space and entering Saudi’s.
The guys reported that although the weather was clear there was a strong headwind with about 2 hours of Moderate turbulence. That caused extra fuel burn and about a 13 1/2 hour flight to the UAE. It’s On to India on Wednesday October 12 and still with a headwind for a while. A moonlit night flight that will hopefully avoid the waning Indian monsoons…
SPsr