Ingo Noka

Archive for the ‘Navigation’ Category

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Thailand Flight – Day 3 / 29 July 2013

In Aircraft, Airmanship, Equipment, Flight Log, Navigation on July 31, 2013 at 8:49 pm

9M-DRJ, a bit lonely at Hat Yai Airport, Thailand

On Monday, my short field take off skill was to be tested.  In a case like this, before you do anything else, you have to makes sure the weight and balance of the aircraft is acceptable for the runway you want to take off.  At a soft, grass field of 500 meters, that stuff really matters. Normally I take off from runways that are built for an A380, on which I have ample time to get up to speed or to abort if it is just not going to happen (the take off).

I couldn’t do  much about my own weight (which is embarrassingly high these days), so I made my plane as light as possible.  I had about 32 Gallons (87 Kg) of fuel and 25 Kg of luggage (mostly paper, iPad, laptop, handheld radio – this sort of thing).  Altogether, I and my plane were in good shape for a short field take off. (I did the calculation for takeoff ground roll and over 50 feet obstacle as well, which is a topic for another post.)

W&B for take off from grass field Phuket Airpark

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Thailand Flight – Day 2 / 28 July 2013

In Flight Log, Navigation on July 31, 2013 at 7:30 pm

Ingo at Patong beach – Tourist for one day

Day two was a non-flying day.  DCA Thailand does not allow any flights that are not explicitly mentioned in the flight permit. Otherwise I would have loved to fly around the beautiful islands of Phuket.  Since that wasn’t an option, I did the next best thing and slept long, had a one o’clock breakfast and a few beers watching the people at Patong beach in the afternoon.  None of this was very exiting or unusual, so I leave it at that before you get bored with me. Read the rest of this entry »

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Thailand Flight – Day 1 / 27 July 2013

In Airmanship, Flight Log, Knowledge, Navigation, Uncategorized on July 28, 2013 at 8:26 pm

Pad James and Ingo at Phuket Airpark

Wow!  What a day. The weather in Singapore turned a  leisurely flight from Singapore to Phuket with plenty of breaks and buffer time into a mad race against time.

I arrive at about 7:30 am at the Seletar immigration checkpoint.  The METARs and the rain radar didn’t look great, but there was still room for hope that I could take off between 8 am and 9 am.  Later than planned, but still not too bad.  A front of early morning thunder storms moved from the North West down the coast to Singapore, but hadn’t made landfall yet.  I thought I could skirt the outer edges of the weather by flying inland rather along the cost to Malacca.  By the time I had the aircraft ready the situation was still borderline acceptable, so I asked ATC for clearance.  Surprisingly, they actually got it, but cautioned my that after Point XRAY the visibility would be so bad that I probably wouldn’t be able to proceed in VMC.  If you have half a brain left, you do not ignore a message like that from ATC, so I postponed the flight plan to 10:00 am. Read the rest of this entry »

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Thailand – Live Updates

In Flight Log, Navigation on July 26, 2013 at 11:35 pm

9MDRJ Refuel Stop

I am ready to go.  Flight plans are filed, bag is packed and lots of paper printed out in the hope that I will find the information when I need it.

Live Updates will appear on Facebook and Twitter  and I will attempt to post a summary of my exploits every day, but cannot guarantee I will have enough energy left in the evening.

If the weather is VMC at Seletar tomorrow morning, I will try to take of by 7:30 am, so that I can be in Penang before noon and in Hat Yai by 2 pm.

First fuel stop is Penang, but I am not going to fill up to the top, because I have to buy fuel in Hat Yay in 100L increments.  I am hoping they will keep the fuel I don’t need tomorrow for two days, so that I do not waste too much fuel.

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A new challenge – Thailand, Part III

In Flight Log, Knowledge, Navigation on July 24, 2013 at 1:24 pm

Saturday is getting closer and with this my flight to Thailand. I am so looking forward to an entire week of flying in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Apart from the Thailand flight, which has a fixed route and timing, I will fly wherever the wind takes me. Heaven!

The Thai flight permit came through last Thursday. That was surprisingly fast and without much of a problem. I am cleared for a flight to VTSS and VTSW on Saturday and back on Monday. I am allowed to postpone by up to 24 hours, after which I will have to ask for a new permit.

Phuket Airpark kindly sent me an invitation letter, which helped with the Thai VFR permit. They are a bit concerned with some guy they don’t know flying into their short, soft grass strip and I will certainly try to get my landing and take-off right to be welcome again at some time in the future.

The only uncertainty is now the availability of Avgas in Hat Yai. It would be extremely disappointing if I had to cancel at the last minute, because of that. Maybe I would just fly into Hat Yai and come back, which is short enough to get away without refueling outside of Malaysia.

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A new challenge – Thailand, Part II

In Navigation on July 11, 2013 at 11:01 pm

Penang to Phuket via Hat Yai

I am exited about my plans to fly into Thailand.  Wings over Asia is helping me with the flight permit and I hope I am not too late with my application.  They told me that the Thai ATC will need at least 5 working days to respond.

Initially I thought I would go the coastal route and refuel at Phuket International.  I was advised not to do that, though.  Apparently that airport has a bad reputation among private pilots.

So now I am thinking I should go to Hat Yai for refuel and from their to the Phuket Airpark via Krabi.  On the way I have at least Trang and Krabi as alternative landing sites in case the weather gets bad.

As far as I can see there are two obvious entry points into Thai airspace, which are defined by the intersection of the national border and two airways:

  • DUBAX for airway R325 (Alor Star to Phuket) – basically Kuala Perlis
  • TAMOS for airway A457 (Alor Star to Hat Yai)

I am planning to use TAMOS and entry and exit point, because that point is crossing the border on a direct line from Alor Star to Hat Yai.

The Thai AIP is very similar to the Malaysian one.  The VFR rules, for example, are basically the same.  Surprisingly, for Hat Yai and Phuket there are even VFR reporting points defined in the AIP.

I have updated the Google map with some Thai VFR reporting points here.

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A new challenge – Thailand

In Flight Log, Navigation on July 8, 2013 at 9:56 pm

Phuket Airpark, short 500m grass runway

Unfortunately the flight to Bali, originally planned for the last week of July, has been postponed to August and I have already arranged all my holiday and travels and cannot change again.  So what to do?  I decided I will fly into Thailand.  Maybe it is too late to apply for the permission to fly into Thai airspace, but I will try anyway.  The plan is to fly from Singapore to Penang and from Penang to Phuket.  On Phuket I am asking the Phuket Airpark to help me with the logistics.  I hope there is Avgas available at Phuket airport and the Airpark owners let me park my plane for a night or two.  Depending on weather, I may stop over on Langkawi and in Ipoh on my way back.  ETD Singapore is Saturday, 27 July and return on 31 July or 1 August.  Maybe other pilots who also took a couple of days off for the Bali flight want to join?  Please let me know.

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Aviator’s Gathering

In Flight Log, Navigation, Social Life on June 30, 2013 at 8:25 pm

I had a whale of a time flying with WoA to the Annual Aviator’s Gathering 2013 on Langkawi

Flight Summary
Dates 8 March – 10 March 2013
Engine Time 11h 17m
Landings 6 – WMSA, WMKP, WMKL, WSSL
Fuel total approx. 100 Gallons
Fuel per hour approx. 8.5 Gallons
Pictures Click here

The Annual Aviators gathering of Wings over Asia was a magic weekend of flying and meeting like-minded people.  The crew of WoA did a great job in the friendly and efficient manner that we have all come to expect from them. They put together a great program, which started with a flight from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and a dinner in a new aircraft hangar at Subang airport.

Dinner at a new aircraft hangar at the GA area Subang Airport

I usually keep the aircraft at the Skypark and had no idea that there is a whole GA area further down with parking stands, hangars etc. There is a lot more going on in GA flying in Malaysia than meets the eye.  It was pretty cool to sit between helicopters and airplanes while eating, drinking (no alcohol) and listening to talks about general aviation in Asia.

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Pulau Redang Revisited

In Knowledge, Navigation on June 25, 2013 at 12:15 pm

Berjaya Air – Approach to Pulau Redang (Copyright Tino Dietsche)

Pulau Redang is a small island off the East Coast of Malaysia. It has a small runway and is a favorite flying destination for many pilots from Singapore or Malaysia. As with many of these small airports, the problem is Avgas supply and immigration facilities.

One of the WoA pilots stopped over at Pulau Redang on our way back from the APFT Air Carnival and he was kind enough to send me some new information about the procedures at Pulau Redang. (I had written earlier about Redang in this post.)

Avgas is obviously not available on the island. In fact, Petronas does not offer Avgas anywhere along the East coast. However, APFT, based at Kota Bahru and Terengganu assured us that they would be happy to sell Avgas at both locations as long as we tell them in advance. I have the contact details, but do not want publish them here. Feel free to contact me, if you want to get in touch with them.

One option to complete the immigration and customs formalities would be to stop at Senai Airport (for the Singapore crowd) or to do it at Kota Bahru. I am not so sure about Terengganu, but I have done it at Kota Bahru. However, you need to check whether they are open, because immigration is only around when international flights depart or arrive.

The much better option is to do the immigration and customs on Pulau Redang. The immigration officer is around whenever a Berjaya Air flight is arriving and departing. At all other times you will have to inform them of your ETA. You should use this form and fax it directly to the airport manager Mr. Fendi. In any case, you will have to arrive between 8 am and 5 pm local time.

Your aircraft can be parked over night at the airport. With the aircraft tail hanging over the edge, there should be space for a maximum of three small planes. Parking is free for the first three hours, How much it is thereafter I don’t know. I know however that the landing charge is Ringgit 15.50.

Well, there it is. I hope this helps a bit. Please let me know if you have information about any of the other flying destinations in South East Asia.

(BTW: The title picture was taken by Tino Dietsche who graciously let me use it on my blog. He has written a nice article on his flight to Redang here.)

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Using Mogas in Malaysia

In Knowledge, Navigation, Ownership on June 23, 2013 at 6:24 pm

Petronas Fuel Truck at Senai Airport

After my post on aircraft choices, which touched on the subject of fuel availability in South East Asia, I got a few questions whether it is possible to convert an Avgas CofA aircraft to Mogas.

Common wisdom in the Malaysian GA community is that the DCA of Malaysia does not permit Mogas for CoA aircraft. There is an Airworthiness Notice No 42 dated 1 April 1987, which does not seem to close the door to the use of Mogas altogether, but sends the message that any attempt to get this approved for an aircraft on the Malaysian register will cost more than what you can ever hope to save by switching to the cheaper fuel.

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