A New Pin in the Map

After departing Iraqi airspace, we turned west over Turkey and settled in for the long flight to Spain. I had been to Spain many times before, yet the base we were flying to was a new destination for me, surprisingly enough since it is a regular stop for AMC aircraft. In all the years of flying I’ve accumulated, I’ve only had one other chance to stop there; as a brand new co-pilot in the C-141 Starlifter many years ago, we were flying from Turkey to Spain and diverted into Sicily after an engine failure. Now the loop looked like it was finally coming closed. I would be putting a new pin in the map.

The base on the coast of Spain had a reputation for sun and fun. Miles of beaches and streets lined with tapas bars and cafes made for a great crew rest location; I could already practically taste the sangria. It wouldn’t be a long crew rest, but we’d be there early in the morning, enough time for a run and perhaps some quality beach time.

The mountains of southern Turkey passed beneath us, their crowns dusted with heavy snow. Winter precipitation is not unusual in Turkey, but it was early May, usually a great time to hit the beaches of the nearby Turkish Riviera. Yet snowfall was visible all across southern and southwestern Turkey, and not just in the higher elevations. As we left Turkey behind and flew the length of the Greek island of Rhodes, I noticed what looked to be snow covered peaks in the distance ahead; even the peaks of Crete were painted white in the wake of a late season storm.

Hours later, we arrived in Spanish airspace and started our descent for our much needed crew rest. But it looked like the weather would not cooperate. Low clouds and heavy rain blanketed Spain’s Atlantic coastline. And since it was a weekend, the most precise instrument approach at the airfield, a controller-guided PAR, was not available. We’d have to fly a full procedure non-precision circling approach down to minimums just to land. We thought about diverting to another Spanish airbase, but the weather was just good enough for one approach.

We finally broke out of the weather as we began the approach but a strong and steady crosswind made for a challenging landing. As we taxied clear of the runway, we saw that the base had been practically flooded. Puddles of water and broken tree limbs marked the passage of a powerful storm that had just passed through. It was still gusty and quite cool, so spending the day at the beach was looking doubtful.

But at least I finally had a new pin on the map.