For many pilots in my area, flying to Corsica is kind of a permanent dream, if not a fantasy. I flew recently from Cannes (LFMD) to Bastia (LFKB), IFR in a DA40 TDI equipped with G1000. The only bad thing on this flight is that I had no camera.

There are many factors making Corsica attractive, starting with the (obvious) fact that it is an island. For continental pilots, this sounds adventurous. Behind that, I must add that it is a wonderful island, with quite high mountains, with its top at 8′800 ft, so not exactly a flat island. This mix is what makes it so special, and it applies particularly to Bastia.

The airport itself is at seal level (26 ft, to be accurate), but the minimum obstacle clearance altitude leading to its VOR from the south are as high as FL110, and 5′200 ft from the north. Flying there with a GPS is a must. The IFR route from the coast are direct from STP (Saint-Tropez) VOR to ELB (Elba) VOR, via BTA (Bastia) VOR. When approaching from the nortwest, it is just impossible to receive BTA as it is behind the mountain.

Because of this, the procedures starts at 5′200 ft over the VOR and the airport, for an outbound leg to the south-south-east, over the sea, just after descending from the mountain ! Then comes a right turn, towards the mountain, and then the ILS. The change in landscapes are really fascinating.

I was lucky enough to fly the whole approach VMC, and this is definetly one of the places where IFR must be flown accurately. Flying that IMC would be a bit scary, given the high ground west of the ILS axis. This particular configuration makes weather and wind evaluation a quite full exercise.

We experienced some very light rotors from wind descending from the crest, and later on some thermal sea breeze. It is not so frequent to need both moutnain and seaside skills on the same approach. On the same flight may be, but on the same approach…

I can’t say a lot about the ground infrastructure there as I only flew two approaches with go-arrounds, and then had to go back to Cannes. Shame on me