Greece - Mountains, Islands and the Sea

[MM 426]

Greece - Mountains, Islands and the Sea
For Saturday, June 3, 2023
Michael MacKuen

We revisit some of our favorite spots in Greece. We fly from Corfu over the mountains and central plains to lovely Skiathos, then down over the sights of classic Athens, and the Aegean for stylish Mikonos, and finally the famously challenging visual approach to Samos. From the West to the East of Greece.


Departing Skiathos

We depart from beautiful Corfu (Kerkyra) [LGKR]. The rugged island is historically important as the military bastion that stopped the Ottoman challenge to Europe. (Under the Venetians, its several fortresses were able to withstand three separate invasions from the 14^th-16^th centuries. At the time, this was the thing of legends.) Once a vacation spot for European elites, today it has become a terrific destination for middle class families, especially from the UK.

We fly to Ioannina [LGIO], typically called “Yannena” in Greece. This is the administrative and commercial center of northwest Greece. It became a prosperous cosmopolitan center when it became the home of refugees from the thirteenth century Crusaders’ sacking of Constantinople – then the largest and most sophisticated city in Christendom. The new city flourished through the centuries of Ottoman rule and into the twentieth century though, of course, it has been eclipsed by Athens. We leave and climb over the Pindus mountain range (the “spine of Greece”) to reach Larissa, the capital of the Thessaly region. We land at the former civilian airport and now exclusively an Hellenic Air Force Base Larissa [LGLR]. By agreement, we are careful to ignore military operations and quickly take off for the delightful island of Skiathos in the Aegean Sea. We land at Skiathos Airport [LGSK] which is blessed with a beautiful approach into the lowland isthmus location. The town, mountain paths, and beaches make for a rewarding holiday destination.

South to Athens Tatoi [LGTT], a combination Air Force Base and a busy General Aviation airport. Then low and slow over the massive city, noting first the modern Olympic Sports Complex and Olympic Stadium [OLYMP] and then the Acropolis [ACROP] and the nearby Panathenaic Stadium, Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Acropolis Museum.

Crossing into the Aegean Sea, we land at Syros [LGSO], where the city Ermoupoli is the administrative capital of the South Aegean and important port as well as a ship-building center. Then we hop over to Mykonos [LGMK] which is now a world-famous vacation destination. In the 20^th century, the island became popular with the “jet set” and in the 1970s it attracted attention for its nude beaches. Its Cycladic whitewashed houses and chapels, windmills, luxury accommodations, and internationally-acclaimed restaurants and clubs make the island special. Mykonos is particularly well-known for its vibrant dusk-to-dawn nightlife. It has become one of Greece’s most expensive islands. Yachts will fill the harbor. And it will be difficult to find open space on the airport tarmac. (The authorities have cleared away a couple of Gulfstreams to make room for us. ... ) Mykonos is nicknamed “the island of winds” so plan accordingly.

Taking off to the east, we pass along the shore of Ikaria island, named after Icarus whose flying skills remain an inspiration to our group... This modestly-populated mountainous island has villages scattered along the coasts leaving the high ground in the center largely uninhabited. Ikaria is one of the world’s “Blue Zones” where people live long lives: a Greek medical study indicate that a “Mediterranean” diet, exercise, emotional stability and social engagement seem most helpful. We land on the eastern end at Ikaria [LGIK], a small sweetly-sited airfield.

Finally, we fly to Samos. In ancient times, Samos was an especially rich and powerful city state known for its vineyards. Among its sons are Pythagoras, the philosopher and mathematician, and Aristarchus, the astronomer who first proposed that the Earth revolves around the Sun. The large island is dominated by two large mountains, Ampelos (3,59’) and Kerkis (4,705’) in the west and the east. The island population is about 33,000 and largely depends on an agricultural economy. The modest tourism industry seems to have peaked in the 1990s. The more recent influx of refugees has caused tensions with migrants being kept in camps: the local Vathy camp holds about 6,800. There are plans to replace the temporary open camps with a closed reception center.

We land at Samos [LGSM]. We shall take the commonly used Circling Visual Approach to Runway 09, a “Kai Tak” style landing. This approach is necessitated by local high terrain and restrictions imposed by the close proximity of Turkish airspace (which is “no-fly” for Greeks). The prevailing winds and the pattern of turbulence indicate a Runway 09 landing under almost all circumstances. The approach requires a specially-certified captain for commercial operations. Among European ATP pilots, this is a real favorite because it allows for the exercise of real piloting skills. For an overview, here is a quick two-minute “time-accelerated” video: Samos Approach runway 09. Here is a Eurowings Airbus 319 crew flying the approach along with their thoroughly informative commentary: Samos Island (SMI) Nice visual approach runway 09. [View introduction and then the landing 10:00-15:00.]  And finally, here is a detailed instructional video by B737NG Driver on how to fly a B737 into Samos: Landing at Samos, tight circling approach runway 09. A map of the visual approach is included along with this week’s flightplan. This landing will be easy for us as we are in light aircraft and thus the requirement for precision in speed and timing is less demanding. However, it is fun to experience this approach even as amateurs.

Documentation
The flightplan is available here.

Aircraft
Today’s flight is 415nm and includes 8 landings. We want a General Aviation aircraft with a fast cruise of 190-200 kts. I’ll fly the Flysimware Cessna 414AW in Ron Attwood’s fairly recent livery for N414MP available here. As ever, please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
All airports are in the default simulator. I recommend the following freeware sceneries. Thanks to these fine authors.

Corfu [LGKR]. flyto
Ioannina [LGIO]. Greek Airports 3. jackzyg
Larisa [LGLR]. Nikas Thansis (toymas)
Skianthos [LGSK]. JasonGR
Tatoi [LGTT]. Greek Airports 4. Jackzyg
Mikonos [LGMK]. JasonGR
Ikaria [LGIK]. stefstaf
Samos [LGSM]. AlexAB

You can get a full package here. [592MB]

There are fine payware renditions available for Corfu, Skiathos, Mykonos, Ikaria, and Samos. If you have any of these, be sure to remove the corresponding “freeware” from the package so as to avoid conflicts.

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 3:00 pm local for June 3, 2023. We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and Time: Saturday, June 3, 2023. 1800 UTC
AVSIM Discord Server: https://discord.gg/K5Vy6UxWNm  - AVSIM GROUP EVENTS-SAT. COM3
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!