Trip report: Island Adventures, Shoreham EGKA – Grenoble LFLJ – Elba Marina di Campo LIRJ – Alghero LIEA – Calvi LFKC – Orleans St Denis LFOZ

VFR Mediterranean Island Adventures

Shoreham EGKA – Grenoble LFLJ – Elba Marina di Campo LIRJ – Alghero LIEA – Calvi LFKC – Orleans St Denis LFOZ – Shoreham EGKA

I love islands…

Or to be honest, my other-half loves islands and it’s not every GA pilot whose spouse supports their hobby. Since the hard-to-reach Mediterranean islands were high on both our bucket lists and a perfect match for the range of our nearly-new Robin DR401, having made it VFR to Ibiza last Summer, this year we decided to drop in on a former neighbour now living in Elba then visit the nearby islands of Corsica and Sardinia.

It was an amazing trip, with some excitements along the way…

The first day dawned clear so as Shoreham EGKA activated our flight plan and bid us bon-voyage we climbed out steeply over the new wind farm in the Channel on a direct South Westerly course. The plan was to get as far South as possible in one leg, skirting the Paris TMA on an almost straight-line to Grenoble LFLJ at the foot of the Alps. An overnight there would give us the best chance of clear early-morning weather over the mountains, and direct to Marina di Campo LIRJ on the Italian island of Elba.

Climbing to the DR401’s most efficient altitude around 6700’ put us in the smooth air above most of the really complicated French airspace and below the airways. Saying goodbye to London we picked up Paris Info and settled in at 75% power for 130ktTAS for three-and-a-half hour direct flight.

Despite a headwind, our luck was in. We were cleared straight through all airspace and military areas and flew hands-off in cloudless skies for over 350miles, the autopilot doing the work, while we had a cockpit-picnic. Lyon Info diverted us slightly around their TMA then handed us to the Grenoble controller for a straight-in approach to their smooth 3000m runway 09.

The return trip would not be as easy.

A quick taxi to the GA Apron, where, as the only aircraft, we parked by the door and were met by a refueller who proudly topped us up with the 95 litres of JetA1 –“Good French plane, non? Onleee Cent litre from Angleterre”. We love landing in France in the DR401 – you feel like a minor celebrity as the Robin is held in great affection, and the pride in an Englishman choosing to fly their latest version is palpable.

Plus who COULD fail to be impressed on reaching Southern France for well under £100 of fuel? (We’ve found we consume 22l/24l per hour for speeds of 129/135kts respectively – I just plan for 25l/hr, which gives us a still-air range over 600nm with two hours spare in the reserve tank).

Customs were waiting and five minutes later the charming owner of the hotel by the airfield La Ferme De Thoudiere popped by to pick us up for a sunny soak in her pool. I heartily recommend Grenoble as a midway stop to the Med – quiet, efficient and cheap (€16 including overnight parking). The rooms in La Ferme are basic but the breakfast of home made preserves, French breads, pastries and cold cuts was superb and really let us know we’d arrived on the continent.

Next came the leg to Elba Island –the hardest-to-plan 150minutes of my 500 hrs to date…

Crossing the Alps offers the VFR pilot a choice between a direct route with an MSA of 13000ft or skirting West along the Rhone Valley – some of the most baffling airspace on any chart in Europe. Not being oxygen equipped, and having felt the rough edge of an unsympathetic controller’s tongue in an earlier attempt at the low, wiggly valley route, we’d planned for the low route just in case but opted to request transit through the Provence TMA and Restricted Areas, at 8500ft over the Western shoulder of the Alps.

This meant a full-on 1100ft/min climb for the first 8 minutes, within the Lyon TMA, cresting the jagged but scenic jaws of the lower Alps at Puy de le Gagere to find scattered cloud hanging along the route below us.

As a veteran of a previous engine failure in an elderly AVGAS aircraft, I’m ever vigilant for an escape route in the mountains – and here’s one time I really appreciated the Virtual Terrain feature of the Garmin G500 avionics – its very reassuring to see the terrain ahead all colour coded, with some clear green avenues to turn towards in an emergency.

Once cleared en-route the radio was all-but-silent until we had the coast in sight; we were asked to track South a while until we heard the welcome call from Marseille “Gulf Oscar Yankeee – resume own navigation direct St Tropez”.

Remaining high for the one-hour sea-crossing to the Northern tip of Corsica, then turning South East for the island of Elba, we had amazing views of the Cote D’Azur buzzing with sails, yachts and jetskis.

We’d taken a gamble that we’d be able to cross the massive slab of Italian Danger Area between Corsica and Elba, but the French Bastia Approach couldn’t confirm its status and wouldn’t let us leave frequency within their TMA. With Elba looming into view on the horizon we couldn’t raise the Italians on Box Two and found ourselves doing a 180° turn at the border and descending rapidly to squeak below the 500ft airspace floor. There’s no risk of shock-cooling the engine so you can just cut power to descend. After a minute floating downwards, the welcome voice of Rome Information cleared us through at 4000ft and passed us to Elba for our arrival.

But the Elba tower is behind a mountain from this arrival angle – so though they tried repeatedly to answer us, it wasn’t until the very edge of their Zone that we heard a broken call asking us to report “runway in sight”.

Marina di Campo LIRJ – the only runway on Elba Island is at the foot of a mountain – and if a northerly approach is required the only way in is to configure for landing about 4 miles out over the bay, squeeze between the cleft of two “camel hump” hills then make a 750ft/min descent at an angle to the threshold – avoiding the pylons and the terrain induced turbulence.

Naturally there was a solitary cloud sitting exactly where my Garmin track would have taken me, so time to abandon the automation and hand-fly a lovely sweeping curve round the bay, “Runway in sight,” I called, though what I could really see was a V of tarmac that was likely to resolve into runway. Then skimming between the humps to glide diagonally down the other side, power at idle, we landed with a delighted sigh just beyond the numbers.

Thank you Elba Airport for the YouTube videos telling us what to expect, and making it all look easy! And for the efficient arrivals service and friendly welcome. And for the little red soft-top hire-car, waiting 20 yards from the terminal. Having woken up yesterday in England we couldn’t quite believe how seamlessly we’d been transported to this charming sunny Italian island.

Portoferria, Elba

Elba is a curious little island shaped like a fish, surprisingly wild and reached mainly by car ferry from the Italian mainland. It’s set up for family-tourism (largely Italian and Swiss), taxis are scarce and car rental is cheap. Every little town has its sandy beach and narrow picturesque lanes, with a range of eateries, tending more towards the cheap-and-cheerful, which in contrast to the UK is still delicious!

Elba to Sardinia

The planned hop to Alghero LIEA was complicated only by the same Danger Area as before.

It was inactive as we departed but we heard another aircraft being warned off shortly after entering so once again receiving no reply from Roma we climbed quickly to above 5000 ft and only descended back in French airspace, for a stunningly scenic transit down the East coast of Corsica, crossing back into Italian airspace again at Bonafacio where we were given an unplanned waypoint of Bacino Di Cuga for the entry to Alghero – its worth noting that all VFR traffic seems to be routed in and out this way, but on the chart it is labeled EAE1, which is far from obvious.

Alghero is a huge 3km runway in flat surroundings. It’s used by regional jets so the main challenge is to avoid wake turbulence if you’re close behind one, and mug-up on your marshalling signals. Handling is mandatory and a FollowMe car led us to a lonely stand on the concrete from where a minibus drove us to the terminal. €61 with three nights’ parking.

Alghero, while still distinctively Italian and achingly picturesque is a major town, offering more upscale resorts, large carparks and a long sea-wall-walk with endless opportunities for sunset drinks and meals. On a bicycle ride through pine-smelling woodland to the spectacular caves of “Neptune’s Grotto” we stumbled upon a magical tiny beach with crystal water to cool us down.

A bumpy ride to Corsica

For the hour-long scenic flight from Alghero to Calvi LFKC there’s an established VFR route just offshore up the West of Corsica – on this day a fierce gusty wind from the east was blowing over Corsica’s jagged terrain up to 9000 ft, so we were properly bumped around for 30 minutes, with no real hope of outclimbing the turbulence we just held on to our stomachs and enjoyed the spectacular view.

Things calmed down as we entered Calvi CTR though we were given an altitude which had us looking in the lighthouse windows at Cavallo.

Rounding the point at Punta Ricci, imagine our delight to be asked to hold low over the very ancient-citadel we’d come to see– a couple of orbits allowed them to despatch the first of two B25s then we joined tight left downwind to land on runway 36, right wing skimming close to the hills above and beside us, with the Garmin complaining in the background CAUTION TERRAIN, TERRAIN. She had a point.

We landed short and expedited to allow the second B25 out. “Best. Flight. Ever.” proclaimed my husband excitedly. And he’s joined me to over 60 airports to date.

No one met us on the Apron so we shut down and manually pushed back to a tie-down in the loose, gravelly grass where I heard the expensive clatter of stones chipping at the prop and cowling of a less cautious Mooney taxying past.

Despite being a large international airport, this is quite the worst GA Apron I have seen and in contrast to everywhere else in France, the batty but lovely staff took WAY longer than our flight had taken to get us fuelled, processed and into a taxi to the picturesque but well-touristed town of Calvi. €119 for landing and two nights’ parking.

We immediately noticed the difference compared to Sardinia and Elba– the Pasta-Pizza-Gelato diet gave way to robust Corsican cuisine, with French wines and tourist prices – if you’re planning for economy, plan to spend more of your nights in Sardinia.

Next morning a spectacular lightning storm, sitting exactly over Calvi (seemingly the only cloud in the Med) cleaned the dust from our wings and kept us in tourism mode an extra day – it soon cleared up so we rented a small catamaran to spin around the megayachts and the citadel in the brisk warm breeze.

Corsica to Shoreham in a day. Not all went to plan!

A last chance to stock up on French wine and produce before an early start to try and make the whole 660nmiles home in one day. We typically get 135kt TAS flying at altitude at 80% so that’d be under five hours in the air; possible without refueling. But there ALWAYS seems to be a headwind and I like to cross the channel with at least a couple of hours in the tank.

Our chosen refueling stop was Orleans Saint Denis LFOZ, leaving us a largely flat, straight sector for the final 200nm home. The timing was critical as Orleans were notammed closed for lunch, then again for a military flypast. We had to arrive on time then land, refuel, clear customs and take off again in under an hour.

Departing in good time we reversed our earlier tight turn along the hills.

For our departure it was touch-and-go whether to accept a tailwind and take off toward the sea, or prepare for the tight climbing turn and the inevitable bumps as the wind came between the peaks.

In the end, I struggled to calculate the runway required for the tailwind, but I knew for sure the DR401 with only two on board, even with full tanks, could easily outclimb the foothills, and there was always the option of turning back out over the runway once airborne – nevertheless, there was a moment, just at the start of the turn, where we were facing a precipitous cliff and I had my heart in my mouth – it was all I could resist not to tighten the turn to a dangerous angle of bank. But as always, G-ITOY performed as per the POH and we both gave a little whoop as we sailed out over the sea into the smooth air.

The careful observer will note a 36kt crosswind was blowing between the peaks.

After a smooth sea-crossing the 155CDi engine in the Robin purred away quietly even as we coasted into France and ascended 7000ft, clearing the mountains of Provence with spectacular views of lavender in bloom and the Rhone and Loire Valleys.

Yet climbing to 8000 ft, over the last high-ground en-route we got an unwelcome surprise

The “Coolant Level” warning light came on; bright and unmissable despite the sunny day. All kinds of horrors went through my mind and I quickly planned a glide to an easily reachable airfield, but the Temperatures and Pressures were green and the moment I stopped the climb, the light went out again. The checklist called for “Increase airspeed, Reduce power… if light goes out continue, if it remains on and temps begin to rise, expect Engine Failure.” With the light already out I photographed the Ts&Ps and resolved to divert if the temperatures increased even one bar.

We weren’t far from Orleans and had picked up a tailwind so were in danger of arriving during lunch anyway. I cut power to 60%, despite which we beat the controller back from lunch so had to make calls in French to join the other Robins in the circuit. She came back on Freq with a cheery, “Bonjour tout le monde, Hello Everybody,” just in time to clear us to land.

You need an AirBP card to self-fuel at Orleans so I had to track down a fueller, meanwhile talking to our engineers back home – they guessed we had a small coolant bleed from the radiator, which was born out by a smear of blue liquid on the upper seam, a known failure point on the Robin, but never known to fail catastrophically – we topped up 100litres of JETA1 and under a litre of coolant and decided to press on.*

*The radiator replacement was a two-hour swap out, done under warranty at the next Annual. Robin say they are testing a new design with the fins oriented differently to resolve the expansion/contraction issue. They promise to replace ours if it should go again.

As I held the JETA1 pump to the main tank, two French fastjets roared deafeningly overhead at Tower Height – it rattled my teeth and I nearly dropped the pump amid my startled swearing. I’d taken too long and was now in an active Military Zone, centered on the Tower.

But the fastjets had passed and the cheery controller cleared me to take off so we took to the skies, changing to Seine Info where a trainee controller, clearly out of her depth failed to read back anything we said correctly until an angry older voice came on frequency “G-ITOY you are in an active military zone change IMMEDIATELY to xxx.xx I say again IMMEDIATELY”

Scrabbling to change frequency I garbled out my location and altitude, half expecting those jets to wipe us out at any second – the Military Controller obviously knew all about us and replied laconically “Yes, Oscar Yankee, Transit Approved”. My pulse began to slow and I requested a climb to clear some cloud, before changing back to Orleans, where the same angry controller asked me if I was carrying a chart? So rattled was I by the jets and the military and the delay and the coolant leak that I was off my planned altitude and climbing gently towards the Paris TMA…

Another heart-racing moment, while the unhelpful controller remained unhelpful and SkyDemon came to my rescue showing I was fine for ten miles and even then fine up to 6500’. Feeling humble pie was better than conflict on the airwaves I thanked the controller for his help and astonishingly received an apology for being “horrible”. It was only double-checking the notams back on the ground it occurred to me he was having a tough time with a hopeless trainee, and since they hadn’t correctly copied my initial call, they hadn’t realised, far from busting the military zone, I’d originated there. Still, if I had my time over, I’d have called the phone number in the Notam before takeoff.

Now the cloud was going from scattered to layered but thanks to Golze ADL onboard satellite weather I could tell it was CAVOK at Shoreham so I climbed above it and spent the next 40 mins vigilantly looking and listening to almost nothing but cloud and clear sky.

The clouds ran out over Dieppe and we finished the trip as we started in blue clear skies, sunlight glinting on the windfarm. Our return was uneventful and by 4pm local we were home with a cup of tea, hardly able to believe the privilege and joy of flying our almost-magic-carpet to and from the Med up above the clouds.

1790nm in 15:45 hrs flying, there’s nowhere we landed we wouldn’t like go back to, and it IS true what they say about aviation – you never stop learning!

Total fuel used: 343l (22l/hr)
* JET A1 prices:
* € 1.01 Shoreham EGKA (£0.88)
* € 1.57 Grenoble LFLJ
* € 2.01 Elba Marina di Campo LIRJ
* € 1.60 Calvi LFKC
* € 1.58 Orleans St Denis LFO