Ingo Noka

Posts Tagged ‘fuel’

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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 – 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
Picture Gallery Click Here

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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 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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How much is it?

In Aircraft, Knowledge, Ownership on July 20, 2013 at 8:39 pm

Busy Senai Airport and Beautiful Flying Weather

Today we had beautiful flying weather and Senai airport was teeming with GA activity.  A heart warming sight after many weeks of being grounded because of haze and recently because of aircraft maintenance.

On a day like this it is bad form to talk about money, but anyway, today I picked up 9MDRJ  after the Annual Maintenance and paid a couple of bills, which prompted me to provide some pointers to the operating cost of small Malaysian registered GA aircraft.

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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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