Friday 23rd May. Mediterranean Basin. Leg Five

[ianfisher 101]

We continue our current tour along the coast of Libya. Starting in Misrata and ending at Labraq.

The first place of significance is the City of Sirte, located almost right in the middle between Tripoli and Benghazi. It is famously known for its battles, ethnic groups and loyalty to former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Due to developments in the First Libyan Civil War, it was briefly the capital of Libya as Tripoli's successor after the Fall of Tripoli from 1 September to 20 October 2011. The settlement was established in the early 20th century by the Italians, at the site of a 19th-century fortress built by the Ottomans. It grew into a city after World War II. The city was the final major stronghold of Gaddafi loyalists in the civil war and Gaddafi was killed there by rebel forces on 20 October 2011. During the battle, Sirte was left almost completely in ruins, with many buildings destroyed or damaged. Six months after the civil war, almost 60,000 inhabitants, more than 70 percent of the pre-war population, had returned.

Benghazi is the second-most-populous city in Libya with an estimated population of 859,000, and witnessed a period of extensive development and modernization, particularly in the second half of the 1930s under the Italian Libya colony. The city changed hands several times during World War II and was heavily damaged in the process. After the war Benghazi was rebuilt and became the co-capital of the newly independent Kingdom of Libya. Following the 1969 coup d'état by Muammar Gaddafi, Benghazi lost its capital status and all government offices relocated to Tripoli. On 15 February 2011, an uprising against the government of Gaddafi occurred in the city. By 2014, a second civil war broke out in Libya until a permanent ceasefire led by a unitary government in 2020. Benghazi remains a centre of Libyan commerce, industry, transport and culture, and one of the three largest cities in Libya with Tripoli and Misrata. It continues to hold institutions and organizations normally associated with a capital city, including several national government buildings as well as the National Library of Libya.

https://skyvector.com/?ll=32.5565366357 ... LLB%20HLLQ

Meet at: 1830z for a 1900z departure.

Meet on: Digital Theme Park on JoinFS.

Comms through A2A Discord channel.

Start at: HLMS

Aircraft: A2A Anson

Local Take-off time: 0800.

Weather: Live.