Tour around Africa: Stage 25 - Benina -
Benghazi (HLLB) to Tobruk - Gamal Abd El Nasser (HLTQ)
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At the bottom of this page you will find the download link of
this Flight Plan (.PLN file)
In this VFR - GPS Flight Plan we take off from
the airport of Benina
- Benghazi
(HLLB) and land in the airport of Gamal Abd El Nasser (HLTQ), near Tobruk, flying to
the east by the mountainous region of Jebel Akhdar and the ruins of the historical city of
Cyrene.
Find below a short extract and screenshots of the main points of the route. In
this journey around Africa I have used the Cessna 172S (Skyhawk)
After taking off from the airport of
Benina we take towards the city of Benghazi. Once again it is very windy (up to
35 knots) and flying the Cessna is quite cumbersome.
Benina International Airport (IATA: BEN, ICAO: HLLB) (Arabic: مطار بنينة
الدولي) serves Benghazi, Libya. It is located in the borough of Benina, 19
kilometres (12 mi) east of Benghazi, from which it takes its name. The airport
is operated by the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau of Libya and is the
second largest in the country after Tripoli International Airport. Benina
International is also the secondary hub of both Buraq Air and flag carrier,
Libyan Airlines. As of 17 July 2014 all flights to the airport were suspended
due to fighting in the area.
The runway length does not include a 300 metres (980 ft) overrun on the end
of each runway.
The Benina VOR-DME (Ident: BNA) is located 1.9 nautical miles (3.5 km)
northwest of the airport. The Benina non-directional beacon (Ident: BNA) is
located on the field. (*1)
Flying direction Benghazi.
Overflying the city of Benghazi.
Benghazi (lit. Son of [the] Ghazi) is a city in Libya. Located on the Gulf of
Sidra in the Mediterranean, Benghazi is a major seaport and the second-most
populous city in the country, as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an
estimated population of 632,937 in 2019.
A Greek colony named Euesperides had existed in the area from around 525 BC.
In the 3rd century BC, it was relocated and refounded as the Ptolemaic city of
Berenice. Berenice prospered under the Romans, and after the 3rd century AD it
superseded Cyrene and Barca as the centre of Cyrenaica. The city went into
decline during the Byzantine period and had already been reduced to a small town
before its conquest by the Arabs. In 1911, Italy captured Benghazi and the rest
of Tripolitania from the Ottomans. Under Italian rule, Benghazi witnessed a
period of extensive development and modernization, particularly in the second
half of the 1930s. The city changed hands several times during World War II and
was heavily damaged in the process. After the war Benghazi was rebuilt and
became the co-capital of the newly independent Kingdom of Libya. Following the
1969 coup d'état by Muammar Gaddafi, Benghazi lost its capital status and all
government offices relocated to Tripoli.
On 15 February 2011, an uprising against the government of Muammar Gaddafi
occurred in the city. The revolts spread by 17 February to Bayda, Tobruk,
Ajdabya, Al Marj in the East and Zintan, Zawiya in the West, calling for the end
of the Gaddafi Regime. Benghazi was taken by Gaddafi opponents on 21 February,
who founded the National Transitional Council. On 19 March 2011, the city was
the site of the turning point of the Libyan Civil War, when the Libyan Army
attempted to score a decisive victory against the NTC by attacking Benghazi, but
was forced back by local resistance and intervention from the French Air Force
authorized by UNSC Resolution 1973 to protect civilians, allowing the rebellion
to continue.
Benghazi remains a centre of Libyan commerce, industry, transport and
culture. It continues to hold institutions and organizations normally associated
with a capital city, including several national government buildings as well as
the National Library of Libya. (*1)
The Atiq Mosque in Maydan al-Baladiya
is the oldest mosque in Benghazi.
Photo by AJ L -
CC BY-SA 3.0
Al-Buduzeera is one of the
largest and
most popular parks in Benghazi.
Photo by
Dennixo -
CC BY-SA 3.0
Leaving Benghazi and flying to the
east.
Terrain raises and we can already
see something like a forest for the first time in many days.
Flying near the village of Mantikan en Naka
The terrain continues to rise and the landscape becomes friendlier.
Overflying the town of Marawah.
Marawa (Arabic: مراوة) (or Marawah) is a town in the District of Jabal al
Akhdar in north-eastern Libya, about 65 km south of Bayda. It is located on the
cross-roads between the Marj-Lamluda inner road, and the Qasr Libya-Taban road. (*1)
The Jebel Akhdar (Arabic: الجبل الأخضر al-Jabal al-Akhḍar, English: The Green
Mountain) is a heavily forested, fertile upland area in northeastern Libya. It
is located in the modern shabiyahs or districts of Derna, Jabal al Akhdar, and
Marj.
The Jebel Akhdar consists of a mountainous plateau rising to an altitude of
900 metres (3,000 ft), cut by several valleys. It forms the
north-western part of the peninsula that sticks north into the Mediterranean
Sea, with the Gulf of Sidra on the west, and the Levantine Basin on the east. It
runs from Bengazi eastward to just east of Derna, fronting the coast for about
330 kilometres (210 mi). Due to erosion and deposition the plateau is sometimes
as much as 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from the shore, but it forms cliffs on the
headlands. The final uplift and arching of the plateau was completed in the
Miocene.
The region is one of the very few forested areas of Libya, which taken as a
whole is one of the least forested countries on Earth. It is the wettest part of
Libya, receiving some 600 millimetres (24 in) of precipitation annually. The
high rainfall contributes to the area's large forests containing Chammari, and
enables rich fruit, potato, and cereal agriculture, something of a rarity in an
arid country like Libya. Camels, goats and sheep are herded in and around the
Jebel Akhdar and the herders tend to be nomadic. (*1)
Qandula is a town in the District of Jabal al Akhdar in north-eastern Libya. It
is located 25 km south of Bayda. (*1)
Flying over Al Bayda.
Bayda, or Elbeida (Arabic: البيضاء al-Bayḍāʾ) (also spelt az-Zāwiyat
al-Bayḍāʾ, Zāwiyat al-Bayḑā’, Beida and El Beida; known as Beda Littoria under
Italian colonial rule), is a commercial and industrial city in eastern Libya. It
is located in northern Cyrenaica. With a population of 250,000 people, Bayda is
the 4th-largest city in Libya (after Tripoli, Benghazi and Misrata). It is the
capital city of the Jabal al Akhdar district. (*1)
A nice view of the sea when getting closer to Cyrene
Flying over the ruins of Cyrene. Notice that FS2020 wrongly represents some
buildings there!
Cyrene (Ancient Greek: Κυρήνη; Standard Arabic: شحات, romanized: shahat) was
an ancient Greek and later Roman city near present-day Shahhat, Libya. It was
the oldest and most important of the five Greek cities in the region. It gave
eastern Libya the classical name Cyrenaica that it has retained to modern times.
Located nearby is the ancient Necropolis of Cyrene.
Cyrene lies in a lush valley in the Jebel Akhdar uplands. The city was named
after a spring, Kyre, which the Greeks consecrated to Apollo. It was also the
seat of the Cyrenaics, a famous school of philosophy in the fourth century BC,
founded by Aristippus, a disciple of Socrates. (*1)
The Temple of Apollo, Cyrene
By
Giovanni Boccardi -
CC BY-SA 3.0 igo
The town of Shahhat, near the ruins of Cyrene.
Shahhat (Arabic: شحات) is a town in the District of Jabal al Akhdar in
north-eastern Libya.Cyrene was located in the same area in ancient times. It is
located 24 kilometres (15 mi) east of Bayda.
Shahhat is linked with Derna by two roads, the inner one running through Al
Qubah is part of the Libyan Coastal Highway and the coastal one running through
Susa and Ras al Helal.
During the Libyan Civil War, the city was one of the first to fall under
rebel control. (*1)
Continuing to our destination the landscape becomes desert again.
The path takes us to cross the sea near Al Tamimi and Bombah
After almost 3 hours of flight we reach our destination, the city of Tobruk.
Tobruk or Tobruck (Ancient Greek: Ἀντίπυργος, Antipyrgos; Latin: Antipyrgus;
Arabic: طبرق, romanized: Tubruq Ṭubruq; also transliterated as Tobruch and
Tubruk) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border
with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District)
and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.).
Tobruk was the site of an ancient Greek colony and, later, of a Roman
fortress guarding the frontier of Cyrenaica. Over the centuries, Tobruk also
served as a waystation along the coastal caravan route. By 1911, Tobruk had
become an Italian military post, but during World War II, Allied forces, mainly
the Australian 6th Division, took Tobruk on 22 January 1941. The Australian 9th
Division ("The Rats of Tobruk") pulled back to Tobruk to avoid encirclement
after actions at Er Regima and Mechili and reached Tobruk on 9 April 1941 where
prolonged fighting against German and Italian forces followed.
Although the siege was lifted by Operation Crusader in November 1941, a
renewed offensive by Axis forces under Erwin Rommel the following year resulted
in Tobruk being captured in June 1942 and held by the Axis forces until November
1942, when it was recaptured by the Allies. Rebuilt after World War II, Tobruk
was later expanded during the 1960s to include a port terminal linked by an oil
pipeline to the Sarir oil field.
King Idris of Libya had his palace at Bab Zaytun. Tobruk was traditionally a
stronghold of the Senussi royal dynasty and one of the first to rebel against
Colonel Gaddafi in the Arab Spring. (*1)
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(*1) Credits: The descriptive texts are mainly an excerpt of those provided by
Wikipedia. Visit
Wikipedia to read the
full descriptions.
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