Posts Tagged ‘Karpathos’
Posted by Bernhard Daenzer | Filed under Flying, Travelogues
Since all our places of interest in Karpathos were very close to the airport, we were able to get some nice pictures with a wide rigth turn departure.
Handling went great again with the same friendly staff from Swissport Karpathos as on the arrival. Also, things went remarkably smoothly in Greek terms, meaning we could fill all papers and pay all fees in the same office :-)
Also, Karpathos proved our simple yet efficient gust lock designs… They held up to the strongest winds and gusts of at least 40kts during our stay without causing any scratches, damages, falling apart or whatever nasty thing could happen.
It was only a short flight to the local fuel station, Sitia.
The wind situation there however was quite extreme. With 300° at 30kts for RWY 23.
You can see the extreme crab angle in some of the pics. GPS puck to spinner tip is the reference aircraft centerline. And yes, it was a smooth landing and yes, it was even a very well established approach. Wing low decrab in the flare works brilliantly with the RV, much vente parcours obstacle gonflable better than with some other planes i’ve flown.
And yes, I am glad we built the -A version, and no, I wouldn’t want to do it in a taildragger.
The ground handling after the landing was trickier than the landing itself.
Statistics
Planned Distance: 53.3 NM
Actually Flown Distance (TO to LDG): 58.7 NM
Top Ground Speed: 156.9 kts
Average Ground Speed: 119.3 kts
True Flight Time: 00:30
Block Time: 00:42
Posted by Bernhard Daenzer | Filed under Flying, Travelogues
Before leaving for Karpathos, took our local friend Vangelis on a tour around the island, it seems he liked it ;-).
One thing that got me literally upset at Rhodes was an extremely rude and unfriendly HCAA representative. In fact, he was so rude that i will try to file a report against this individual. Simply to help all the other employees at the airport who complain about him for ages but cannot speak up and to help future GA pilots. It’s one thing to discuss about whether having to pay a 12€ passenger charge for my flight attendant without crew ID or not, that’s about a 50/50 hit or miss on the airports i know for a 2-seater small plane ;-) I figure, hey you can always ask. But the aggressivenes and rudeness of this individual was simply unbelievable, one of the “wrong movie” type experiences.
The reason we were visiting Karpathos is that a couple, who is close friends of ours, was on holidays there – windsurfing. Karpathos is known to be very windy, pretty vente jeux gonflables much all the time. That’s why surfers love it. And therefore i had anticipated a challenging approach… Anyway, I was ready, waiting for the wind, but nothing special until touchdown… The usual 15kts in RWY direction, but that was it.
We took extra care tying down, though. Again, awesome handling by very friendly Swissport staff.
The days on Karpathos were spent hanging out with great friends, chilling at the pool, eating good food and simply enjoying vacation. And of course we were able to celebrate my fiancée’s birthday in style.
Statistics (Local Flight)
Actually Flown Distance (TO to LDG): 99.3 NM
Top Ground Speed: 168.7 kts
Average Ground Speed: 136.3 kts
True Flight Time: 00:44
Block Time: 00:48
Statistics (LGRP – LGKP)
Planned Distance: 82.3 NM
Actually Flown Distance (TO to LDG): 71.3 NM
Top Ground Speed: 172.8 kts
Average Ground Speed: 144.4 kts
True Flight Time: 00:33
Block Time: 00:37