Tour around Africa: Stage 26 - Tobruk - Gamal Abd El Nasser (HLTQ)
to Mersa Matruh (HEMM)
MS Flight Simulator VFR Flight Plan Previous stage -
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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 Trobuk - Gamal Abd El Nasser (HLTQ) [Libya], near Tobruk and land in the
airport of Mersa Matruh
(HEMM) [Egypt]. It is mainly a transit stage to what will be our next country, Egypt.
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
Tobruk - Gamal Abd El Nasser we take to the east in order to fly in parallel to
the coast.
Tobruk International Airport (IATA: TOB, ICAO: HLTQ) is an
airport serving the Mediterranean port city of Tobruk, capital of the Butnan
District of Libya. The airport is 23 kilometres (14 mi) south of Tobruk, at the
town of Al Adm. The airport formerly had an ICAO code of HLGN. The Tobruk
non-directional beacon (Ident: GN) is located 3.2 nautical miles (5.9 km)
southeast of the airport. The Nasser VOR-DME (Ident: TBQ) is located on the
field.
The airport was previously named Gamal Abdel Nasser Airport, after the
president of the former United Arab Republic.
The airport was officially opened as Tobruk International Airport on 29 April
2013. The oldest airport in Libya, it had previously offered only internal
flights. The first international passenger flight was to Alexandria, Egypt,
operated by Libyan Airlines. The airport operates domestic flights to Benghazi
and Tripoli.
A new passenger terminal is currently under construction. The airport will
have a duty-free zone. Plans are currently underway to establish cargo service
to Tobruk's International Airport. (*1)
Did you guess what would be the landscape we would find next?
Yes, the desert! What else would you expect in Libya?
Leaving Libya behind and entering
the Egyptian territory.
Getting closer to the Egyptian
coast, near Sidi Barrani.
Flying near Sidi Barrani.
Sidi Barrani (Arabic: سيدي براني) is a town in Egypt, near the Mediterranean
Sea, about 95 km (59 mi) east of the Egypt–Libya border, and around 240 km (150
mi) from Tobruk, Libya.
Named after Sidi es-Saadi el Barrani, a Senussi sheikh who was a head of its
Zawiya, the village is mainly a Bedouin community. It has food, gasoline outlets
and one small hotel, but virtually no tourist activity or visited historical
curiosities. It is the site of an Egyptian Air Force base.
Located close to the Roman city of Zygra, in the Roman province of Libya
Inferior, Sidi Barrani is often mentioned in historical records to mark the
limit of the initial Italian invasion of Egypt from Libya. The Italian Tenth
Army built a series of forts in the vicinity.
American Field Service volunteers, providing ambulance services and serving
with the British 8th Army were based in the area, in June 1942, 30 miles east of
Sidi Barrani.
Sidi Barrani was a destination during the total solar eclipse on October 3,
2005, as expeditions travelled to the best observation point, Zawiet Mahtallah,
27 km (17 mi) east of Sidi Barrani. (*1)
The rest of the flight passes through an area of scattered houses, without any
important village.
Overflying
The final approach to the airport of Mersa Matruh takes us to overfly the city.
Mersa Matruh (Arabic: مرسى مطروح), also spelled Marsa Matruh, is a port in
Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located 240 km (150 mi) west
of Alexandria and 222 km (138 mi) east of Sallum on the main highway from the
Nile Delta to the Libyan border. The city is also accessible from the south via
another highway running through the Western Desert towards Siwa Oasis and
Bahariya Oasis.
In ancient Egypt and during the reign of Alexander the Great, the city was
known as Amunia. In the Ptolemaic Kingdom and later during the Byzantine Empire,
it was known as Paraitónion (Koinē Greek: Παραιτόνιον). During the Roman Empire,
it was called Paraetonium in Latin, which became Al-Baretoun (Arabic: البارتون)
after the Arab conquest of Egypt. As a British military base during World War
II, several battles were fought around its environs as the German Afrika Korps
attempted to capture the port. It fell to the Germans during the Battle of Mersa
Matruh, but was recaptured following the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Mersa Matruh is served by Mersa Matruh International Airport. The city
features soft white sand beaches and calm transparent waters; the bay is
protected from the high seas by a series of rocks forming a natural breakwater,
with a small opening to allow access for light vessels.
It has a hot desert climate (BWh) according to Köppen climate
classification, but winds blowing from the Mediterranean Sea greatly moderate
the temperature, making its summers moderately hot and humid while its winters
mild and moderately wet. Summers are sunny and dry, while in the colder months,
there is some rain and cloud cover. Sleet and hail are common in Winter.
Mersa Matruh and Port Said have the coolest summer days of all Egyptian
cities and resorts, although not significantly cooler than other northern
coastal places. Additionally Rafah, Alexandria, Abu Qir, Rosetta, Baltim, Kafr
el-Dawwar and Mersa Matruh are the wettest in Egypt. (*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.
Overflying
The final approach to the airport of Mersa Matruh takes us to overfly the city.
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