We got a late start this morning due to problems filing our flight plan to Corfu Greece. Just five days prior the European Union had changed their online filing system and as you can guess it was going smooth as silk. I won’t bore you with the details but we left about 3 hours later than we were intending to. Right after takeoff we ran into the most icing we’d encountered so far one the trip as we climbed up to 18,000 feet to cross the Alps. Stuart turned on the TKS system which did a fairly good job of clearing the wings and struts of the ice that had built up there. (In case you’re not familiar with the TKS system it consists of a 20 gallon tank full of de-icing fluid that is pumped into the wings, struts, and prop and through thousands of microscopic holes in the leading edges) After clearing the alps, which were disappointingly hidden by clouds, we flew down the Italian coast then across to the beautiful Greek island of Corfu. I stopped at Corfu last year on my way to Bangkok and immediately fell in love. It has the warm air and picturesque harbor you would expect from one of the Greek islands. After fueling I headed up to the tower to file the flight plan to Crete only to find out that due to it being high season they were full. That’s right, the huge international airport in Crete was full and had no parking spaces left for us. The guys in the tower helped me look for another airport to land for the night but had no luck. Every island within range was full. Oh well I tried, I guess we will have to spend the night in Corfu and head out early to make up for lost time. A quick dash to the hotel was made followed by the traditional after flight libation in paradise. Unfortunately we only had time for a quick dinner by the bay before it was back to the hotel for another long 4 hours of sleep before getting up at 5:30. Sometimes being a ferry pilot is just a tease.
Not a good for viewing the Alps.
Getting icy.
Stuart doing good on O2 even with the crappy fitting mask.
Nice way to end the day.