Ingo Noka

Posts Tagged ‘airport’

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My Record-Breaking Mini-Stopover in Singapore

In Flight Log, Knowledge, Navigation on October 14, 2013 at 2:05 pm

Short Final Runway 21 Seletar Airport Singapore

I wonder what the shortest stop-over in Singapore might have been so far.  I mean a stop-over with immigration and customs clearance both ways, not just changing flights at Changi.  I don’t know the answer, but I think I might have come close to breaking the record for the shortest stop over yesterday.  I spend a grand total of 2 minutes in Singapore in between entry and exit clearances.  Thankfully Seletar doesn’t have that many passengers passing through, so I hope the always very helpful officers at the checkpoint didn’t mind too much.

You might ask why I was doing this.  Well, it wasn’t because I want to get into the Guinness Book of World Records, even so the thought briefly crossed my mind.  No, I had to go through immigration because I wanted to show Michael Dent how to fly in and out of Singapore and instead of the planned touch and go, ATC told me that I had to do a full stop and go to the Apron office.  The upside of this was that I could take Michael through a crash course of CIQ procedures as well.

For those who haven missed my post about procedures at Seletar, you might want to click here to have this information handy in case you are planning to fly into Singapore one day.

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Breakfast in Batam – How to fly to Batam, Indonesia

In Flight Log, Navigation, Social Life on September 21, 2013 at 5:25 pm

Rolling on runway 4 – Batam, Hang Hadim Airport

The Indonesian island of Batam is barely 10 nautical miles away from Singapore, but practically nobody ever flies there.  I think there are three reasons for that.  Firstly, the city of Singapore and the busy airspace of Changi Airport create a barrier between Seletar or Senai and Nadim Airport on Batam.  Secondly, it is somewhat inconvenient to get a flight permit from the Indonesian DCA and thirdly, parking, landing and ground handling fees at Nadim Airport are rumored to be excessive.

My mission this weekend was to find out what it is really like to fly to Batam from Seletar Airport. (I had help from KC Lim, who occasionally flies with me while he is waiting for the DCA Malaysia to issue his SPL so that he can start his training.) (Please click here for more pictures)

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Weekend Flying Summary

In Knowledge, Navigation, Social Life, Weather on August 25, 2013 at 9:05 pm

Flying around the clouds at 4000 feet

I had a nice dinner with the Extreme Midlife Aerobatics team at a restaurant call Berliner’s , named after the city in Germany I am coming from.  It was great to catch up with people who are as passionate about flying as I.

Graham told me that despite all problems they may have had, Bernam River Airfield is open for business.  This will be one of my next flying destinations.  Bernam River Airfield lies half way between Subang and Ipoh (it is included in my VFR reporting points list) and should be an excellent starting point for excursions into Pangkor, Penang or even Langkawi.  I believe they  have a few cabins for overnight stay.  Given that Subang has become rather inconvenient for overnight stays, this little airfield is becoming attractive for weekend flyers.

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Weekend Flying

In Aircraft, Navigation, Social Life on August 24, 2013 at 7:05 pm

Subang Airpark is going to be closed for small airplanes

It was good to be back in the air today. For the first time I took the inland route from Singapore to Subang.  That route shaves off about 10 minutes from the flight time.  If everything goes according to plan, it is possible to fly from Singapore to Subang (block on/off) in about one hour and fifty minutes.  In most cases it will be an honest two hours however. You have to watch you altitude however.  There are some hills on the way that reach more than 1,500 feet.  In my flight route some of the hills stand right in my flight path. (Download the flight log and AFTN Flight Plan here.) Read the rest of this entry »

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Thailand Flight – Day 3 and 4 / 30 and 31 July 2013

In Aircraft, Flight Log, Gear, Navigation on August 3, 2013 at 5:11 pm

Back in Singapore after 14 hours of flight, 1,500 nm and three countries in four days.

I spent Monday evening in Ipoh, which is apparently famous for the local food.  I tried one noodle dish, which was indeed delicious.  Normally I am not a big friend of chicken feet in the Chinese cuisine, but this one tasted great. Read the rest of this entry »

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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 – 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

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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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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Two Countries in Ten Minutes

In Flight Bag, Knowledge, Navigation on April 7, 2013 at 9:55 pm

9M-DRJ in its parking spot at Seletar Airport (Compact Parking A2)

5 April 2014: Note that for flights between Seletar and Senai airport the first reporting point in Malaysia after Point X-Ray is not the small hill (East of JB town) anymore.  The new reporting points are now Tebrau City Mall and Felda Ulu Tebrau. I have updated my VFR reporting point files (click here)  and you can also have a preview on Google Maps (click here).

1 May 2013: Updated the process to file general declaration forms for departure.  It is now necessary to bring three GenDex forms to the Apron office.  Apron will keep two forms and hand back the third one with a big stamp on it that proves you have paid the passenger fee or that you do not have passengers.  The GenDex with the stamp need to be handed to the immigration officer.

Since I started to fly 9M-DRJ, which has a parking space in Singapore, Seletar airport, I routinely fly between Singapore and Johor.  The flight is very short (15 to 20 minutes) and I think it is pretty cool that you can hop over to Johor for a quick chat any time you want to.  Of course, flying to any other place in Malaysia is also more convenient.  The immigration and customs control in Seletar is very fast, friendly and efficient.  From leaving home (East Coast) to taking off can be accomplished in less than an hour.

Before I started flying from Seletar I heard stories about inflexible ATC procedures, but I have not experienced this.  Of course, safety is paramount, but within the confines of the procedures Seletar tower is very accommodating and flexible.  If they can make it happen without compromising security they will.  Just asked nicely and with proper radio protocol and you will be fine!

I only know ground operations West of the runway. The assumption in my post is that you will fly between Seletar and Senai airport. For Tioman and other directions over the Malaysian peninsular, just change the reporting points after “East of JB Town”.

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