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Thailand Flight – July 2013, Summary

In Flight Log, Navigation on August 12, 2013 at 1:02 am
Flight Summary
Dates 27 July 2013 – 31 July 2013
Engine Time 13h 10m
Landings 7
Airports WSSL, WMKP, VTSS, VTSW, WMKI, WMSA
Countries Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand
Distance approx. 1400 nm
Fuel total 115 Gallons
Fuel per hour approx. 8.8 Gallons
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Flight Details
Origin Destination Date Departure Arrival Pilot Time Flight Log FPL
WSSL WMKP 130727 10:57 AM 2:33 PM 3:36 Flight Log FPL
WMKP VTSS 130727 3:09 PM 4:15 PM 1:06 Flight Log FPL
VTSS VTSW 130727 4:55 PM 6:45 PM 1:50 Flight Log FPL
VTSW VTSS 130729 10:15 AM 11:38 AM 1:23 Flight Log FPL
VTSS WMKI 130729 1:54 PM 3:53 PM 1:59 Flight Log FPL
WMKI WMSA 130730 10:44 AM 11:53 AM 1:09 Flight Log FPL
WMSA WSSL 130731 11:31 AM 1:38 PM 2:07 Flight Log FPL
Useful Information
Thai VFR permit Organized by Wings Over Asia Singapore/Thailand

It takes about 5 days for the permit to come through.  It is better to request the permit at least two weeks before the first day of the flight.  The permit lists all airports with ETA and ETD.  You are not allowed to deviate from this flight schedule, but you can delay by 24 hours before you have to ask for a new permit.  I don’t think the delay is accumulative, i.e. the 24 hours window is always calculated from the originally scheduled ETD in your permit.  After only one short flight in Thailand, I cannot be absolutely sure how much flexibility you really have.  The best would be to ensure that you enter and exit Thailand within the 24 hours window from the scheduled flight times.
Refuel at Hat Yai Contact: PTT Public Company Ltd, Khun Itsarawut (mobile number on request), was organized by WoA

As far as I could see, PTT sells 100LL Avgas in  50L, 100L and 200L drums. Ideally you should ask for 50L drums, but expect that they may only have 100L.  Since you always have to pay the entire drum, regardless how much you use, fuel planning is important.  You can also ask them to keep the left over fuel for your return flight. One liter of fuel was 69.25 Baht (SGD 2.79), i.e. about SGD 150 for a 50L drum, which is marginally more expensive than Malaysia and slightly cheaper than Singapore.
Phuket Airpark Contact: Pat James (e-mail) Website Phuket Airpark 

For the flight permit you will need an invitation.  I got mine from the Phuket Airpark. The airfield of Phuket Airpark is a well maintained 500m long grass strip with a 100m overrun on the 13 threshold side. The ideal approach for landing is over the sea on runway 31 and takeoff from runway 13.  The runway may be hard to find.  I suggest you study the satellite image of google maps.  There a quite a few clues (islands, shape of the coast line) that make it possible to locate the landing strip. With my lightly loaded Archer III, I had no issues with the length of the airfield, but at MTOW, I would be concerned about the take off ground roll.The procedure at Phuket Airpark:

  1. Flight plan minimum 1 hour before flight
  2. Call tower 5 minutes before take off (076- 327 269)
  3. Announce your intentions on the local traffic pattern frequency 122.3
  4. Once airborne over 800′ contact Phuket tower 118.1
  5. Extend your flight plan if not airborne within 1 hour of ETD (076-327 205)
  6. After landing at Phuket Airpark close the flight plan (076- 327 269 or 085-1236 253)
  7. Ensure that you sign the flight log at the office, since the Thai DCA audits the books avery now and then
Hat Yai / Phuket The minimum safe altitude seems to be 5,500 feet.  I think 6,500 to 8,000 feet puts you comfortably above the mountain range between Hat Yai and Trang.  Both Hat Yai and Trang are almost at sea level.  The wind was blowing at 20 to 30 knots from the Northwest, which I was told is the prevailing wind direction at this time of the year.  The turbulence over the mountains can be severe. Night VFR is strictly prohibited in Thailand.  You should plan to arrive at least 1 hour before sunset.  Emergency landing should be available at Trang and Krabi.  Trang Approach asked me for position report three times: at initial contact, abeam the Trang VOR and then 25 nm from the Trang VOR. The idea is obviously that they know where and at what altitude you are entering their TMA and when you are exiting it. Trang hands you over to Krabi approach and a short while later you switch over to Phuket approach.  The magical altitude at Phuket is 1,500 feet.  If you are above, Phuket will want to know where you are. After you have passed the islands between Krabi and Phuket, you can then ask to descend below 1,500 for adirect approach into Phuket Airpark.  After that you can switch to the pattern frequency and concentrate on your short field landing technique.After take-off from Phuket Airpark, I would suggest a 90 to 100 degree course to intercept the 115 radial from Phuket VOR (PUT) over or shortly after Koh Yao Yai.  Following the 115 radial will take you directly to Trang VOR.  Do not climb above 1,500 feet unless you have permission from Phuket Tower.  You should file a decent altitude (5,500 to 8,000) in your flight plan, because that is what they will initially give you.To avoid the restricted area VTR-51, I crossed the mountains between Trang and Hat Yai at a 100 to 110 radial from Trang VOR and then tracked on a 320 to 330 radial from Hat Yai VOR.
Penang / Hat Yai There is nothing special about the flight from Penang to the Thai border.  You start as if you were flying to Langkawi and at Kedah Peak you set course directly to Alor Star.  At Alor Start, I suggest you ask to go as high as you can, so that you have a chance to get a decent radio connection to Hat Yai approach.  There are a few hills along the way, but minimum 2,000 feet should be a safe altitude if I remember correctly.  Hat Yai has published VFR reporting points.  It is good practice to have them set up in your GPS, but ATC does not seem to use them.
Fuel Management Assuming you refuel in Penang and Hat Yai, I would recommend the following refuel strategy for a Piper Archer III (similar to Warrior and C172)

  1. Top up at Penang to about 44 Gallons
  2. Use about 8 to 9 Gallons for the flight to Hat Yai
  3. Top up with one 50L drum in Hat Yai (should give you a full tank)
  4. No refuel at Phuket to make your plane as light as possible for a short-field take off
  5. Top up at Hat Yai with one 100L or two 50L drums (should give you full tank again)
  6. A full tank should get you to Penang, Ipoh or Subang without further refuel.

You might be able to negotiate refuel at Phuket Airpark or even hop over to Phuket International, but I have no experience with either.
Cost in SGD (total approx. SGD 1500)
Jul 27, 2013 Jul 28, 2013 Jul 29, 2013 Jul 30, 2013
Immigration at Hat Yai $8 $8
Customs at Hat Yai $38 $8
Landing fee Hat Yai $51 $51
Parking Fee at Phuket Airpark $42 $42
Fuel at Hat Yai $144 $289
Hotel at Phuket $33 $33
Fuel Penang/Subang $368 $286

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