A fuel stop on the Laccadive Sea

Little Bird departing VCBI

Our day started out in a Piper Cub @ VCCW headed west towards VCBI in the wind and rain. Our flight to Wirawila Airport (VCCW) was a fun filled adventure full of headwinds and sideways rain. The wind and rain must have enjoyed themselves for they rejoined us for our trip back to Little Bird parked at Bandaranaike International Airport (VCBI).

Our goal for the day will put us airborne for 7.5 hours flying two different types of aircraft. We are traveling from Wirawila Sri Lanka across the Arabian Sea to Ivato International Airport (FMMI) on the island of Madagascar. Fuel wasn’t an issue for our flight in the little Cub but Little Bird is a different story.

Our flight path is 5298 miles along a high alt ILS route across a wide swatch of Blue Ocean. Little Bird will suck down 840 gal of Jet A to make the trip. She only carries 892 gallons. CRF 91.167-Fuel requirements for flights in IFR conditions say …nope, we don’t have enough to fly for 45 minutes once we arrive at FMMI. We are going to have to make a fuel stop in the Maldives.

I have never felt so naïve as a citizen of the world as I did on our final approach into Male (VRMM) on the Laccadive Sea. We landed on 18.

 

Right before crossing the gate a small island directly to the west of us appeared. It has every square inch of it industrialized and populated. It was uncomfortable. We decided to grab fuel and run for the skies. We did look into staying at Conrad's Hilton Resort but …$2000 a night buys us around 500 gals of Jet A …that’s about an hour of flight @ FL44 going 0.74M. We’d be more comfortable flying.

The adventure continues.