(loosely termed "Drug running in Africa")

23 aircraft were actually delivering medicine to small villages! As well, they were monitoring health and education centers to which they had  contributed.  Each team, taking part, had to promise 50,000 FF to these projects.  Ours, provided by sponsors to whom we were grateful, was to go to Burkina-Faso in Central West Africa.  But this mission wasn't "written in the stars".  Instead, the 33 hour flight was a mixture of politics, roses and a Mayday call.  This is what happened.

The rendez-vous for the 23 single engine planes was in Ajaccio, Corsica off the Italian coast.  The leaders came from Air Solidarité, a Non-Government Organization in Paris.  All volunteers, they were dedicated to improving health and education facilities in Africa.

The pilots were a mixed group: two airline captains from Luxembourg, a captain from Air France, several Air Traffic Controllers, three French doctors, a few students and others from Switzerland, England and Italy.  Some of these had visited the projects 7 or 8 times.  Adele Fogle and Daphne Schiff were the only Canadians taking part - our Canadian licenses transformed into French private pilot ones.

All aircraft were single engine such as Cessna, Piper Aeros, Robins or Bonanzas.  Some were privately owned, others rented from aeroclubs.  The type of aircraft was dictated by the high price of flying in Europe; aviation gas being twice that of Canadian fuel; and some short landing fields en route.

Heavily loaded, each aircraft carried 3 to 4 people.  In ours, as well as 15 lbs of medicine, 300 toothbrushes and baggage, there were mandatory life rafts, life vests, flares, survival food, several dozen litres of water and, of course, "a few" maps, approach plates and g.p.s. units.

The route planned for us was south from Ajaccio across the Mediterranean to Tunisia, then east through Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.  Much of the flight was over water, so flying at low level, we all experienced "automatic rough" with which pilots are familiar.  Communication with ATC in all of these countries was usually in French.  It was to be similar to flying low level in Quebec. 

Despite our load, we arrived in Corsica with our French partner Jacqueline Higueret, an ATC Controller from Bordeaux, in a Cessna Cardinal RG.  There, from our leader, Ted Marsaleix, we learned the first hint of difficulties to come.  Five pilots had no permission to land in Libya.  For Adele and I, this was in spite of a 2 day wrangling with the Libyan Embassy in Paris.  Undaunted, our leader decided to carry on, sending faxes to the authorities en route.  When time came to leave Tunisia for Libya, the 5 visas were still missing.  Division to Malta was to be our only out if no permission came through.  At the last moment, we received our visas by radio and landed happily in Tripoli.  There, although President Ghadaffi did not come to meet us, the people unlike their officials, greeted us with open arms and roses.

From then on, the flight became more complicated.  Alexandria, in Egypt, was where we were to see our first project.  President Clinton's arrival meant the airport was unexpectedly closed to us.  Again, the Peace Talks effectively closed Sharm el Sheikh.  The Soudanese visas for everyone were unobtainable.  Kartoum in Soudan would be shut down for 5 critical days as the runways were going to be resurfaced.  Several other smaller airports had no aviation fuel.  The "world" had started saying "no"!

Ted Marsaleix might have been able to resolve all these difficulties.  However, when flying in Libya, from Tripoli to Benahazi, we heard that call which sends a chill through any pilot:  Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!  Two of our aircraft had collided over the Mediterranean.  Tailless, one aircraft spiraled directly into the sea.  The other, with a severe gas on the left side of the fuselage, was able to limp on.  Circling the crash site produced only a scattering of a 1/2 open life raft and some papers.  Ted, his chief assistant, the chief mechanic and a Libyan official, along for the ride, were lost

Stunned, the remaining pilots gathered in Benghazi.  This time, the roses presented were not enough.  Many meetings later, the group decided reluctantly to return home and perhaps visit the projects next year.  Besides, we were no longer welcome by Libyan officials.

Returning to France, our route lay across a longer stretch of the Mediterranean to the islands of Crete.  Thence a landing at Corfu, where we parted company and went our separate ways.  Back in Bordeaux, via Ajaccio again, we collected our gear and removed the sponsors decals from the aircraft.  The medicine was still with us and not delivered to Ethiopia as planned.  Instead we presented it to Air Solidarité headquarters in Paris.  A doctor volunteer is to take it to the project in Burkina-Faso.  We sincerely hope Air Solidarité will find itself a new leader.  One date we would like to return with them on a mission to see the progress being made in Burkina-Faso.