Back to the airport.

Going through security needed some diplomacy and smiling because, on the filed flight plan, we were asked to show the names of the two pilots… which we could not do. As we protested according to AESA ruling (well, @Airborne_Again would have probably quoted the proper reference, which we were not knowledgeable enough to do), they insisted that in Spain, crew and passengers names have to be written in the remark case, and passports shown accordingly. However, having seen us arrived the previous day, they finally let us go without demanding a new flight plan. Alternatively, they seeked for bomb material traces on my shoes 🙂

The weather was beautiful. We took off heading to Logroño, where 100LL was available (Exolum). To be sure, we phoned the fuel operator before departure, who kindly answered outside his working hours and acknowledged. We had a nice flight with magnificent views of the Pyrénées. Two hours later, after landing in Logroño (nice ILS again), we parked, notified the tower we had arranged refueling, and saw the truck arrive within 5 minutes. The man was not only kind, he was doing his work with a lot of care and attention to details, making of him a true fuel man artist. Not kidding. 
Fuel was around 2,10€ per liter excluding VAT. Landing fee was 17€. Turn around under 30 minutes, with a slot assigned for departure. That was a good choice for a tech stop.

Now heading for Vilar de Luz, that, in our exhilarated mood, we were seeing like the second-to-last stop before America. Nothing less ! 
Flight between FL110 and FL120 was uneventful. We overflew « embalse de Ricobayo » before entering Portugal airspace. ATC, either in Spain or Portugal, was top notch. IFR was canceled shortly before approaching Vilar de Luz, while listening to the tasty Cesaria Evora « Petit Pays » . No ATC there, however Air To Air worked well in English, and we all started to sing in heart on the Unicom, “Petit Pays je t’aime beaucoup…” . 
After landing, locals guided us to the West parking, near the Nortavia flight school fleet. The least we can say is that they like Cessna (we were told they crashed their only Piper (!)). Almost 20 aging Cessnas were parked there !

At this very moment, we reached the acme of our journey: the moment to fill the logbook. As we were struggling with departure and arrival local times, we just realized the time zone had changed ! One hour less. 
A quick glance at my fellow pilot showed he shared the same trouble: with our faith and lumpish Cessna (and an old fashion Jeppesen low enroute chart), we had just managed to go back in time. Nothing less.

Now in Porto. We had not really prepared our visit, so we just strolled around. The city is thrilling. Lots of people, colors, life. We went to the caves neighborhood, and visited the Wine Museum. Excellent visit. Later, crossed the bridge, sitting at a Fado concert (with Porto tasting and Amalia Rodriguez portrait in the entry – they know how to talk to foreigners) which was a great moment. The atmosphere in Porto was really cheerful.

For the next day, after various options were considered, we elected to visit Sebastian’s friend in Barcelona. 
During the breakfast, we grasped our courage, and looked at the Greek weather. We were on Sunday morning, when our flight from Santorini to Brindisi was initially planned. All airports along the route were in VFR conditions at 0600Z. Antonio was probably right, low level crossing may have been an option.

The morning of departure, fog was everywhere in the Douro valley. In the taxi heading to the airport, we wondered if a take off would be possible. Fortunately, the taxi popped out of the fog just when we arrived in front of the terminal (Vilar de Luz is at 773ft) ! Beautiful organization.

METAR LPPR 260630Z 21002KT 0200 R17/0350N FG VV001 13/12 Q1022=

Leaving with full tanks, we flew from Vilar de Luz to Sabadell in 3h50, landing with around 40 USG on board. 
During that flight we received a surprising call from the ATC. « Can you confirm you are stabilized at FL110 ? ». We had been for an hour. Then I noticed that I had not moved the G1000 altitude bug, still dialed in FL100 (it is not linked to the autopilot altitude preselect). That’s how we discovered ATC was able to see the altitude dialed in the G1000, thanks to the ADSB data stream. I wonder how ATC is able to actually use it in order to improve safety. 
As we were on a tight schedule for the paella, we mailed (with the Golze interface) then phoned (via Starlink) Exolum in Sabadell to provide them with our ETA. I agree, that’s a bit overkilled for a paella. Though it makes things very operational: you decide at the last minute, and organize your stopover while in flight.

Sabadell has a very clumsy VAC, we took the time to decipher before our arrival. However, when transposed to real life, it was much less cerebral… at some point, as I wanted to confirm the procedure, the ATC answered « don’t worry ND » so I guess I was doing well !
The truck arrived immediately after our landing. I suppose with our calls, they probably thought we were a notorious crew. The fuel man was kind but he was unable to do « full tanks ». On the 182, tanks are wide, so if you don’t top them off, you miss a lot. I think we were short of 15USG (at least).

The paella, which our host advised, along the seashore, was a must.
Farewell to the friend, followed by a quick consultation with my teammate, concluding that an earlier return would be good for work. Also, we were just fresh enough for one more leg that day. Being a two pilots crew certainly makes workload and stress related to flight different. I can only recommend it !

Sabadell – Aix Les Milles. ATC wording was a bit surprising during that departure. A bit of weather was developing above the Pyrénées, west of our route. We got IFR clearance on request and crossed the sea again. With calm water.

A bit embarrassed we felt, when we were catched up by an ULM with a closing speed of 80kt. 
Bah, doesn’t even hurt. We are time travelers, so we don’t need to hurry, do we ?