Progress report

European legs progress...

Stats for the tour so far

Legs:            26

Total time:   47:36

Total dist:    13430 nm

Fuel used:     20456kg / 45003lbs

Rijeka to Bucharest

DAY 5, LEG 26 - Rijeka to Bucharest

The last leg of day 5 took me to Bucharest, Romania.  There are two international airports in Bucharest located a few miles from each other, but we are visiting Otopeni, the larger and principal airport for the city.  The flight time is scheduled to take just under two hours and the weather in Bucharest is typically chilly for this time of year with snow forecast later in the evening.  The weather for our departure from Rijeka was warmer, but with thunderstorms in the area and the wind given as variable at 1 knot, gusting up to 22!  Should make for an interesting take-off.

Climbing out of Rijeka in turbulence.

Sunset over Croatia heading inland towards Zagreb.

Overhead Zagreb.

Established on the ILS at Bucharest Otopeni in very foggy conditions.

Runway lights just becoming visible through the fog.

Very short final 08L.

LDRI - LROP stats

Take off time:    1637

Landing time:     1839

Flight time:        02:02

Fuel used:          836kg / 1839lbs

Marseille to Rijeka

DAY 5, LEG 25 - Marseille to Rijeka

On this penultimate leg of Day 5 we head eastbound towards Croatia.  We'll explore Eastern Europe before heading northbound towards Scandinavia.  Our destination Rijeka is located in north-western Croatia and affords us some stunning views of the mountainous coastline.  Rijeka Airport is located on Krk Island, adjacent to the city itself, and can only be reached by a toll road across the bay!

Turning overhead our departure airport of Marseille.

Climbing through FL200 and witnessing the first glimpse of the French Alps.

Cannes city and airport.

Nice airport.

La Spezia and the eastern coast of Italy.

Meridiana airbus routing north-bound to Milan.

Descending through the cloud base overhead Rijeka city.

Looking at Krk Island and Rijeka Airport.

Long final for runway 14.

Parked at Rijeka.

LFML - LDRI stats

Take off time:    1448

Landing time:     1626

Flight time:        01:38

Fuel used:          684kg / 1505lbs

Alicante to Marseille

DAY 5, LEG 24 - Alicante to Marseille

The original plan for this leg was to island hop around the Balearic Islands of Ibiza, Mallorca, and Menorca before heading to Marseille on the Mediterranean coast of France.  Unfortunately the weather forcast in the islands wasn't great with lots of low cloud which would make touch & go's a dangerous thing to attempt especially at Palma de Mallorca where there is lots of high ground!  Instead, I decided to head northbound along the eastern coast of Spain overhead Barcelona towards Marseille.

BMI Baby landing on runway 10 as I taxi out.

Short wait for departure at Alicante.

Monarch Airlines lined up for departure to London Gatwick.

Scandinavian Airlines 737-700 landing then it's our turn to depart.

Strong crosswind showing on NAV display.  Would have made a quick trip to the Balearics!

Looking west over Spain.

Pyrenees in the distance as we cross into french airspace.

Le Tube Air Base near Marseille.

Final at Marseille.

LEAL - LFML stats

Take off time:   1257

Landing time:    1436

Flight time:       01:39

Fuel used:         700kg / 1540lbs

Porto to Alicante

DAY 5, LEG 23 - Porto to Alicante

Our next destination is back in Spain as we head east to the Spanish "Costa Blanca" tourist resort of Alicante.  The main tourist area of Benidorm is located along the coast to the north-east of Alicante itself.  A healthy tailwind means a very quick flight time of 1 hour 30 minutes scheduled for this coast-to-coast crossing of the Iberian peninsular.  Although this tour is supposed to be taking a westerly course, we are heading east again to explore some of Europe before heading across the Atlantic.

Parked at Porto next to a TAP A330 shortly departing for Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

Taxi out behind the TAP A330.

Cloud breaking over central Spain to reveal the vast expanse of Madrid Airport.

Taxi in at Alicante.

Being marshalled onto the stand at Alicante.

LPPR - LEAL stats

Take off time:     0957

Landing time:     1237 (+1 hour time difference)

Flight time:         01:40

Fuel used:           684kg / 1505lbs

Gibraltar to Porto

DAY 5, LEG 22 - Gibraltar to Porto

From Gibraltar we head to Porto in north-western Portugal.  Porto is the second largest city in Portugal located on the River Douro and perhaps most well-known for producing Port, the fortified wine.

View of the aircraft from the Rock of Gibraltar.

Looking back over the Strait of Gibraltar routing towards Seville.

Passing two easyJet aircraft routing from Faro on the south coast of Portugal back to the UK.

Cloud beginning to clear with Lisbon now in view on the horizon.

Following the River Douro while being vectored for an approach onto Runway 35 at Porto. We are number 2 to another Beech 1900D from Barcelona.

Left it a bit tight in behind the proceeding aircraft so going around from this approach!

The River Douro again on a left base for another approach.

The Beech 1900D we went around for waiting to cross the active runway as we backtrack after landing.

LXGB - LPPR stats

Take off time:    0906

Landing time:     0944 (-1 hour time difference)

Flight time:        01:38

Fuel used:          692kg / 1522 lbs