Marokko - Morocco - Maroc  

Marrakech, June 2000 

The Aéro Club Royale in Marrakech is at the Menara Airport. Before going there, it is better to call 024 – 44 77 64 and make an appointment. Leaving the town in direction of the Menara gardens, the road turns in front of the gardens to the left, a little bit further turn right into a small road with a gate guarded by a soldier. Each person has to show and leave his passport at the gate. If you plan a flight out of town you should NOT leave the passport, because you will need it at some airports or when changing money.

I was in Marrakech in June 2000 to fly from there over the High Atlas to Zagora. I contacted the Aéro Club in advance and found very friendly people. Although I had sent all the required and certified copies to Marrakech, nothing was done. I was told that I should wait until they have enough papers from other pilots, so they could send somebody to the Ministry of Transportation in Rabat.

I didn't want to wait so long, so I organized a friend to go to Rabat. He need 2 days and some cash, but finally got the validation and I was ready for my flight. The instructor Mohamed Nfaoui was not very happy about my idea flying alone over the mountains. The Djebel Toubkal is about 13.000 ft, but the plane with 140 hp was only able to climb to 9.000 ft, so you have to follow the roads over the pass. And don’t forget the heat in June in this city at 1100 ft. We had a long discussion and I asked why he first agreed to get my validation, with him as co-pilot I would not need this expensive paper. At the end he agreed, not without a training flight to show me how to handle the plane in the mountains. But as soon as he agreed I was happy and finally told him, that he could come with me.

Everything was organized, the flight plan filed and the departure scheduled for 7.30 the next morning. I had even organized transportation in Zagora from the airfield to a hotel. Early in the morning I arrived at the gate and was told by the soldier, that my flight was cancelled. - Why? – Bad weather. – It is blue sky and no wind! – Bad weather. After a while of such deep conversation the soldier finally told me that the king was in town, and if he is in town, there might be no private flights allowed. The flight club was closed and I could not get any answer.

This was my flight to Zagora.

Marrakech, May 2001

A new try in the Aero Club. They remember me very well, and also that I could not go on my flight to Zagora. The former instructor is not there, "he is gone" is the only answer I get. But they tell me now the whole story: he was there in the morning of our flight. But he locked himself in the Aero Club, because he was afraid to tell me that we could not fly after all this trouble. Such a coward. If he were there the other time we could try to find another date for our flight.