Ready to go

Almost! I looked closer at my route from Malbec to Morand and I found a much better alternative airfield to land at to top up 24ZN’s tanks than Bellac. Just to the west there’s a private airfield LF8753 Gajoubert and the reason it’s a better bet is because it has a long, hard runway.

I’ll be sure when I eventually take off that the grass runways at Malbec and Morand are safe for take off and landing but I wouldn’t know for sure until I landed whether a grass runway on an unknown airfield was suitable and safe until it was too late. This risk will be obviated if I land on a hard runway rather than a grass one and that’s why Gajoubert is ideal.

Gajoubert is a private aerodrome that requires prior permission to land and I fired off an email this afternoon. I’ve already received a very courteous reply with a form attached just as we do at Malbec so from now on in it should be just a formality, and I’ve been told I’ll get the approval on or after this coming week-end.

So that wraps up the basic planning for my flight in 24ZN from Malbec to Morand. All I’ll now have to do is ensure that the aircraft is totally ready to go, which it is, and crunch my fight plan numbers based on the weather. Hopefully the weather gods will be kind this time around and I’ll be able to go on 5th March as intended, although to be honest it’s now looking as though 6th March will be better. Watch this space for further news 😀