POA Caribbean Adventure Caravan

When the idea for this trip first came up I didn't think there would be any chance we might be able to make it. But it looks like Leslie and I just might.

Would a Cessna 172 be able to keep up with everyone else? What is the latest count of "probables"?

Curious though, the timetable mentions Friday, 1st. But that occurs this year. It is still for 2013 isn't it.
 
JOhnH said:
When the idea for this trip first came up I didn't think there would be any chance we might be able to make it. But it looks like Leslie and I just might.

Would a Cessna 172 be able to keep up with everyone else? What is the latest count of "probables"?

Curious though, the timetable mentions Friday, 1st. But that occurs this year. It is still for 2013 isn't it.
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Yes, 2013. A C172 can definitely make this trip.

No official 'probables' list... Yet.

I'm not officially out, yet... Just looking more improbable than probable.
 
We're still planning on going. Dates are TBD. Might have a couple of friends going as well: Commanche and/or Cirrus
 
denverpilot said:
I wonder what a rider would cost for one trip?
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Nothing, it's typically free for the asking. The FBOs don't want to deal with the maintenance and repair exposure. There was a guy I found who would le me rent down island on the agreement that any major problems will lead to ditching.
 
denverpilot said:
I wonder what a rider would cost for one trip?
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The FBO owner was "checking", but wasn't optimistic.

Henning said:
Nothing, it's typically free for the asking.
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With the insurance company, perhaps. Little more complicated in a leaseback agreement, if it's written to confine operations to the CONUS.

Atlas Aviation, mentioned in a previous post as a southern Florida outfit that will rent their 182 for Caribbean travel, hasn't responded to my queries (phone and email)...
 
Henning said:
Nothing, it's typically free for the asking. The FBOs don't want to deal with the maintenance and repair exposure. There was a guy I found who would le me rent down island on the agreement that any major problems will lead to ditching.
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:rofl::rofl: That's one way to get out from under an airplane. Go talk to the flight school owner in Lubbock, I bet he has an Archer you could make that arrangement with. I probably could have talked him into letting me steal it to Mexico AND keeping the money I got for it just so he didn't have to deal with it anymore.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Atlas Aviation, mentioned in a previous post as a southern Florida outfit that will rent their 182 for Caribbean travel, hasn't responded to my queries (phone and email)...
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Finally connected with them... apparently I was trying to reach the wrong person. Their coverage extends to the Bahamas, for sure-- they're going to check and see if it covers as far as St. Maarten, or can be obtained.
 
I'm back in! Atlas came through! Thanks for the tip!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
gprellwitz said:
I won't do Grand Exuma (Georgetown) because I wasn't allowed to donate blood for a year after visiting there. :( If that has changed, however...
Fuel there was cash only, IIRC.
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gprellwitz said:
My visit there was in November 2009, and I was denied blood donations for 12 months due to a malaria infestation. As I said, I don't know if that's still current, and I can't swear to the cash only fueling. Regardless, your refueling was more recent. I'd still either call ahead or ensure I had enough cash on my person, just to be sure!
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Current policy, and maps to known malaria areas:

http://www.redcrossblood.org/donati...igibility-criteria-alphabetical-listing#arc11

Looks to me like the Dominican Republic is the place we want to stay away from!

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Bump to the top! Please keep the "how to add a row" instructions. I know there were several others who said they'd be in on this trip. Please include your POA username in the second cell, and PM me your email address / phone number... we'll have some telephone planning sessions as we get closer to get group consensus on trip details.

POA Caribbean Adventure Caravan Participant List
[ROW][CELL] Who [/CELL][CELL] POA Username [/CELL][CELL] How Many? [/CELL][CELL] Any extra seats? (#) [/CELL][CELL] Aircraft type [/CELL][CELL] Confidence (High/Med/Low) [/CELL][/ROW][ROW][CELL]Troy & Teresa W[/CELL][CELL]TangoWhiskey[/CELL][CELL]2[/CELL][CELL]1[/CELL][CELL]182[/CELL][CELL]High[/CELL][/ROW][ROW][CELL]Grant & Leslie P[/CELL][CELL]gprellwitz[/CELL][CELL]2[/CELL][CELL]1-2[/CELL][CELL]Bonanza?[/CELL][CELL]Med/High[/CELL][/ROW][ROW][CELL]Ben & Jen C[/CELL][CELL]EvilEagle[/CELL][CELL]2[/CELL][CELL]2[/CELL][CELL]Bonanza 36[/CELL][CELL]Med/High[/CELL][/ROW][ROW][CELL]Template Row - Your name[/CELL][CELL]POA Username[/CELL][CELL]How Many[/CELL][CELL]Extra Seats?[/CELL][CELL]Aircraft Type[/CELL][CELL]Confidence (Low/Med/High/Done Deal)[/CELL][/ROW]

How to add a row: To add your name to the list of those planning to fly on the POA Caribbean Grand Adventure Caravan, reply to this post, copy the entire template row, insert a copy of it just above the template row, and replace the placeholders with your information before saving your post. Please include your POA user name in the second cell.
 
When was the date of this adventure? (I just jumped to the end... didn't read entire thread)
 
Shorrick Mk2 said:
Sooooo.... landing in Tampa on th 10th, getting my paperwork from the FAA next morning and the adventure is about to start...
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Are you back from your adventure?! Would love to hear how it went, any gotchas or lessons learned we can apply.
 
Atlas' policy covers "the Bahamas and the West Indies" so you're good to go.

Hereby my trip (almost nearing the end): http://flightlogg.in/openiduser1452/maps.html

Only glitch - battery died in Andros (and of course on a barren airstrip) and again in Staniel Cay (did you guess - no FBO or mechanic...)

Other than that smooth sailing.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Are you back from your adventure?! Would love to hear how it went, any gotchas or lessons learned we can apply.
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When are you leaving? A lot of stuff to share but can't type fast on the iPad as i'm in Santo Domingo now :)

If you can wait till June 3rd i'll have a full writeup with dos and donts.
 
So I'd love to do this, BUT...

Well, I have this amazing girlfriend that I want to take on all of my future adventures. She's a middle school teacher (band director). April is kinda, well, difficult. Of course, going to the Caribbean in the 5 weeks she has off in the summer is probably not much fun... Sigh. :dunno:

I guess I should get to planning the Alaska trip in 2014/2015.
 
Shorrick Mk2 said:
Atlas' policy covers "the Bahamas and the West Indies" so you're good to go.

Hereby my trip (almost nearing the end): http://flightlogg.in/openiduser1452/maps.html

Only glitch - battery died in Andros (and of course on a barren airstrip) and again in Staniel Cay (did you guess - no FBO or mechanic...)

Other than that smooth sailing.
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Did you rent from Atlas for this trip? Which plane did you take? Two dead battery incidents?! You turn the master off? :dunno:
 
Shorrick Mk2 said:
When are you leaving? A lot of stuff to share but can't type fast on the iPad as i'm in Santo Domingo now :)

If you can wait till June 3rd i'll have a full writeup with dos and donts.
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Mid-April 2013, so we've got plenty of time. Looking forward to what you have to share!
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Did you rent from Atlas for this trip? Which plane did you take? Two dead battery incidents?! You turn the master off? :dunno:
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Yes I rented the Archer from Atlas. They've been very supportive. The battery was about four years old when I got it, and i noticed how a student that rented after my checkride but before my departure cranked it over and over as it was a hot start and it flooded. I reckon it has a tendency to flood when hot, and very humid tropical weather helps a lot towards draining an already weak battery. There were signs of acid corrosion in the battery cradle so I do think the battery was reaching the end of its life (the FBO A&P who eventually changed it in Puerto Rico seemed to agree, mind...)

Yeah, i did turn the master off - i can't stand the whine of the electric gyro motor with the engine off :).

I guess there was a blessing in disguise - it was the old 12 v system so it was "easy" to get it charged (once you find who on the island has a battery charger...)

PS i think the G35 battery is a bit of a joke. 23 Ah, 250 CCA... my car battery does 72Ah, 680 CCA, weighs only 10 pounds more and costs about 3x less (in Europe, so probably 5x less on the US :) )
 
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denverpilot said:
Sweet! ;)

All this effort at the table stuff doesn't work on Tapatalk. ;)

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It's worth a note to the developer...

However, I think the table functionality here is not a stock piece of vBulletin - I think Jesse (or maybe even Chuck? Was it that long ago?) put it in there after I requested it. Maybe that's why Tapatalk doesn't support it.

So, just use your iPad and use a browser. ;) IMO, Tapatalk is unnecessary on the bigger screen.
 
bigred177 said:
:rofl::rofl: That's one way to get out from under an airplane. Go talk to the flight school owner in Lubbock, I bet he has an Archer you could make that arrangement with. I probably could have talked him into letting me steal it to Mexico AND keeping the money I got for it just so he didn't have to deal with it anymore.
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Those opportunities occasionally make themselves known evry now and then across a career.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
It's worth a note to the developer...

However, I think the table functionality here is not a stock piece of vBulletin - I think Jesse (or maybe even Chuck? Was it that long ago?) put it in there after I requested it. Maybe that's why Tapatalk doesn't support it.

So, just use your iPad and use a browser. ;) IMO, Tapatalk is unnecessary on the bigger screen.
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I just hit "Open in Safari" at the top right.

Works a treat, as the Aussies say.
 
Back in Tampa after 20 days, 40 hours and 4'000 miles!
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Whoo hoo!

Just curious... did Atlas charge you for actual hours flown, or minimum hours per day? I'm in talks with Kristy there about reserving the plane (the 182).
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The policy is either min per day or actual hours flown, whichever is higher. I can attest to Atlas being true to their word and charging me exactly per the agreement we had, no hidden charges or surprise fees. I actually had about an hour less than the minimum (39 something instead of 40), but they have allowed me to get away with it as the difference was minimal :).

See if you can get dry rates - makes a lot more sense if you're going on a long trip.

Again I can only recommend them - Deric, the owner, is a great guy too and very supportive of this type trip.
 
Shorrick Mk2 said:
The policy is either min per day or actual hours flown, whichever is higher. I can attest to Atlas being true to their word and charging me exactly per the agreement we had, no hidden charges or surprise fees. I actually had about an hour less than the minimum (39 something instead of 40), but they have allowed me to get away with it as the difference was minimal :).

See if you can get dry rates - makes a lot more sense if you're going on a long trip.

Again I can only recommend them - Deric, the owner, is a great guy too and very supportive of this type trip.
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Excellent! Thanks for the PIREP. Are you saying the dry rate makes more sense because you don't have to keep and manage receipts for fuel purchase reimbursements, or for some other reason?
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Excellent! Thanks for the PIREP. Are you saying the dry rate makes more sense because you don't have to keep and manage receipts for fuel purchase reimbursements, or for some other reason?
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Exactly - far easier in terms of paperwork, and to figure out who owns how much to whom. There's a lot of paperwork going on (i never filled this many gendecs - not even when i was moonlighting as a flight dispatcher to pay for my studies...) and you can be sure some of them will go missing (actually i think i managed to lose my pilot license - still rummaging through the piles of paper). So if you do dry rate then you know exactly how much you owe to Atlas, and up to you to manage your burn en route...
 
These planned dates in April (13th-27th) may not work for me. My bride reminded me that my corporate annual meeting / fiscal year kickoff typically happens the week that includes April 16th... I only remember that because that's also my middle daughter's birthday, and I've missed the last two due to work. 2013 is also my daughter's 21st birthday.... So bring gone on this adventure THAT week has two strikes against it (what would I do without a wife who remembers my family and work details better than I can?!).

So, we picked those weeks simply because it abuts Sun n Fun... We may have to pick different weeks. Would the two weeks BEFORE Sun n Fun work, or would weather be nicer (warmer!) in May or June? Could also just push this one week further into April.

For those who are planning to go, what's your thoughts and date preferences, based on your schedules and such, if I need to end up adjusting it for work and a pivotal birthday?
 
Ok, field recommendation numero uno - I'd totally avoid June. Hurricane season. Even May can be spotty as this year showed. I barely managed to squeeze through and come back from Nassau the other day.

Plus if it rains in May, the mosquitos will eat you alive. Seriously. Not even 25% DEET impressed them.
 
I just landed in Eleuthera today coming from Dallas. Great trip. Dodging all the afternoon buildups made me feel at home. My first personal flying trip to the Bahamas, much less formal kind of flying. ASOS... Negative. Center weather... Negative... Tower... Negative....just work your way underneath on a visual, because approaches... Negative. Ask someone coming off what the winds down low are doing... Windsock... Negative. That said, flying low over the water and islands is just awesome.

Crossing the gulf from New Orleans to Tampa had me further from land. The overwater part is no biggie from FL.

Customs is a breeze, the people are sooo easy to deal with. it really is a must do trip if you haven't been.


This thread started a long time ago, get off the bench people.
 
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