5. LUXOR, HELX, (Egypt) - 20.06.08 -1237NM -10:02

Round the World Flight with HB-PON 2008/09
Rolf Martin FRIEDEN & Manfred Melloh
Fri 20 Jun 2008 20:26

"25:40.2N 32:42.3E"

Dubrovnik (Croatia) - Luxor (Egypt)


Our first really long flight started late, because we wanted to try out our long range fuel tank sitting in the cabin. We noticed a small problem with the leaking fuel filter at run-up and subsequently lost our take off time slot, but we got finally got away around 11 o clock, after getting up early for an anticipated 08:00 departure.

The Flight was uneventful over Albania, Montenegro, Greece, the Greek Isles, over the Mediterranean Sea to the top of Africa Egypt.

Our Comanche went like a dream with the 94 additional Gallons of fuel in the Ferry tank. (94 Gallons as opposed to the 100 Gallons full capacity) required a shallow climb to initially 7'000 fuel with this additional weight.

Regarding the 10 hour flight, the weather was perfect with only one problem, the head winds, which kept our ground speed at average 140 Knots.

Hitting the African coast, the visibility became extremely hazy and we decided to climb to Flight level 110, which put us into clear air. As nightfall came, we took photographs on the way and some of the night shots look really great..

Unfortunately we were rerouted far to the south of our initial flight plan route by Cairo Control, and this added another two hours to our flight via KATAB.

We landed at Luxor way after dark with an ILS approach on Runway 20.

On Egyptian ground, no lights on taxiways, we were greeted by a huge passenger bus and 3 other cars with a total of 5 people. Typical Egyptian style, we then did all the work and they watched us with great interest. We cleared customs and airport checks with a minimum of fuss and met Mohamed, a nice fellow, who then organized transport and the Sofitel Hotel on the banks of the Nile River at Luxor. This evening Mohamed will take us out for a special light show at the Karnack temple. On arrival we had two or three Stella Beers, hamburgers, and went to bed and slept very well until today 21st of June 09:00.

The hotel we stayed was a Great Hotel, with a large park and Pool.

Today the 21st of June there is a day of R&R, Swimming in the pool and get ready for our flight across the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, then the Gulf States into Dubai tomorrow..

After this very late arrival the previous night at Luxor, we decided to have one day of rest there. The hotel recommended by our flight service handling agent was the Sofitel on the banks of the Nile river. Good rate as aircrew and the resort was really first class. We could recommend this hotel to all. Spent some time at the pool and of course later on in the afternoon, we did all the planning for the next day’s flight to Dubai. In the evening we visited the Karnack temple with its Light and Sound show.

What a history of Egypt…….!

Bed time was around 23:00, this for an early wake up at 04:00 LT the next day.

http://blog.mailasail.com/comanche.hb-pon/35/image/jpgLkN62dMWkl.jpg

Approaching the southerly tip of Greece


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At the shores of the river Nile


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A good place to relax a bit at our hotel in Luxor