2 days, 3 unexpected destinations

Friends, it has been an interesting day.

Our track was to head over water around the south of Italy and land in Greece. About 1.5 hours into the flight a landing gear warning light illuminated. This told us that either the warning light was playing up or the gear wasn't fully locked into position. Then the gear lights went on suggesting that the gear was down. Ok. Seems like it mightn't be just the warning light.

It's not really a problem to have gear down. It is more of a problem to have gear stuck up. But it does mean you have to travel slower.

So we tried cycling the gear up/gear down switch and this met with moderate success. The gear retracted but then he same thing happened. So, working on the principle that unexpected events in a 6 hour flight are undesirable, we decided to divert to Palermo.

Asked by ATC whether we had an emergency we advised "no" and told them what was going on. The Palermo ATC decided to upgrade to an emergency anyway. We think they just like the practice.

Traffic Control were great and after a low pass near the tower so they could check that the gear was down, we landed without difficulty.

A quick chat to the police and fireys and all was well.

Police departing satisfied

We were then taken by operations to a nice air conditioned room with Internet to work out what to do.

Jan had the Saratoga maintenance manual and reviewed the trouble shooting steps.

Electrical connections could be the issue but more likely is hydraulic fluid. The trouble with Palermo is that they have great jet handling facilities but not too much for light aircraft like VH-SMY. Numerous telephone calls and much Internet searching later, we found an aeroclub and flight school 100 miles away in Catania. Mind you, we could not reach them between 12 and 2. It is lunch hour there.

The flying school thing is great. Think of it this way. We are in Sydney Airport (but more like Brisbane) and we are flying to Warnervale. It will be a little more our style.

Having made the decision to go there and waited to reach them, we now need permission to land there, another hour, a flight plan, more time and so on. Time is being sucked out of us.

But this is ok and all part of the adventure.

Now I can hear all your whispered chattering from here so just pipe down will you. There is no reason for concern. The landing gear definitely comes down and stays down and we can always fly with it down if we need to. SMY could be a Cherokee 6 for a while. Fixed gear. Nothing wrong with that. Cessna has had them for years.

UPDATE: We got the permission needed. We got the flight plan needed. And then we were told we needed ENAC (CASA equivalent) permission. There was a small inquisition, a review of all paperwork and much furrowed brows as the Italian's considered the law. Jan proved his worth by showing them his A&P licence and telling them the plane was safe. They really had to take his word on the trip because he is a specialist. And they were not.

And there you have it, a very scenic flight past a smoking Mount Etna and here we are in Catania. The maintenance shop is open at 730 am and we will be working hard to resolve then issue and get to Crete tomorrow. If we have the time, we may fly direct Egypt.

Approx Track Miles:     395NM  
Hobbs Hours:               3.1
Fuel uplift Fighari:       374
Price per Litre:              AUD$2.49