World Tour 2 - Leg 5 - Girona to Ampuriabrava

Once again, I don't find any suitable job at Girona that could fit my plans of heading East. However, I have found an interesting connection of small jobs that will take me along the Alps. The first stop will be Ampuriabrava, the largest European residential marina, located at l'Empordà, consisting of 24 km of navigable waterways surrounded by residencial houses and buildings. A small airfield used mainly for skydiving and as a flight school will be our destination today. There is a package there wayting to be shipped to Perpignan, and I want that job.

Girona is still rainy, much worst weather than on arrival. So, this time, Y-VFR is the way. After checking the satellite I know that once I leave the SID (BAGUR4Z), the storm would be left behind too. Also, losing altitude from there will be safe, since we will be flying over the sea. And LEAP should be clear. So, I embark alone and, under a heavy rain, take off from Girona into the storm.

 

The SID forces me to fly up to FL100. This is where Baron excels, climbing at up to 3,000 ft/min. This is the worst weather I have found up to know.

 

However, once we reach the cruise altitude, the panorama is really stunning.

 

I begin a quick descent over the Gulf of Roses, avoiding the clouds and preparing the approach to Ampuriabrava. I'm better now at keeping the Baron slow, getting the feeling little by little, so I'm less afraid of flying low.

But I'm not handling it perfect yet. On the first approach I'm too high on final, so I decided to go around on a left traffic pattern. The first one too short, so I miss the runway again. On the second pattern, third landing try, I attack from further than before, and manage to do a butter landing. Needless to say that the weather was awesome, flying right on the border of heavy rain showers.

This has been the shorter runway I've landed in, and I managed to stop right at the end comfortably. The Baron 58P landing distance is about 2,500 ft, and the runway is 2,641 ft long. Let's see how taking off goes tomorrow.

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Technical details:

LEGE - LEAP

BAGUR4Z BAGUR VFR DCT

Distance: 40 nm

Average GS: 125 kt

Max. alt.: FL100

METAR:

 

LEGE 251400Z 04009KT 010V080 9000 TSRA FEW015 SCT025 OVC045CB 14/13 Q1018
LEGE 251430Z 30003KT 9000 TSRA FEW025 SCT045 OVC070CB 14/13 Q1018

 

* The large loop at Girona corresponds to the previous leg ILS approach. I forgot to delete the track.