SMAC064 – Island Flying In The Bahamas, Haiti, And Ignored Go Arounds

 

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The SMAC gang is cold! Carl’s braving 30º temps in Florida, Victoria’s taking cover from frost-quakes, Len’s in his Chi-beria bunker, Sean’s absent, loaded up with bronchitis antibiotics, and Rick is holding it down in Boston. Even though they’re frozen right now, Carl and Victoria have each been to the islands recently.

Victoria, her husband Bob, and their dog Turbo flew down to the Bahamas for some relaxation. She’ll tell you all about what it’s like getting in and out of the islands in a GA airplane with a dog. Carl flew a trip down to Haiti recently. He’ll discuss what it’s like getting in and out of the country and how his crew had to adapt to new rest rules.

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Pre-Flight

  • US Sport Aviation Expo Sebring Sport Aviation Expo is almost here! From January 16th to 19th this event focuses on Sport Aircraft and the Sport Pilot Certificate with exhibitors, static aircraft displays, forums, speakers, workshops, and a bunch more. Carl expects to be there volunteering for Expo Radio which will be broadcast live, on the web at LiveATC.net/expo
  • It’s less than two months to Women of Aviation Week! Join Victoria in helping promote aviation to women from March 3rd through March 9th. Whether through hosting your own event, volunteering, or sponsoring, every lit bit makes a difference.
  • Listener, friend, and CFI Ron Klutts’ first student passed his private pilot check ride! Congrats to Varun on this awesome achievement. You can read the full story called A New Pilot and learn about Varuns’ experience during a real life emergency on his check ride! As if the excitement of a check ride isn’t enough.
  • Sign up to become a Stuck Mic AvCast VIP! Get all of our content delivered right to your email inbox including sneak preview access to episodes before they release to the general public.
  • Shout out to our rockin’ sponsors, Aviation Universe for supporting this episode!

Cruise Flight

Show Notes

  • What do you need to fly to the islands?
  • What’s it like flying all the way to the Caribbean with a dog?
  • How much does it cost to fly into the Bahamas?
  • Bahamas Flight Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, With Dogs
  • Flying into Haiti
  • Flying with new airline rest rules
  • FAR Part 117
  • Getting around in Haiti
  • Dealing with customs
  • Benefits of GA flying vs airline flying
  • 737 lands at London-Gatwick despite instructions to go around http://avherald.com/h?article=46e21731&opt=0
  • Discussion on dangers of landing without clearance

After Landing Checklist

~ Picks Of The Week ~

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Bonanza Demo Flight & Gusty Go Arounds

So the story goes something like this… I was on a commercial flight from Boston to Los Angeles and happened to strike up a conversation with my seat mate. Turns out this particular seat mate, Jeff, is an aircraft owner and flies a Beechcraft Bonanza for pleasure. This is when I learned he was planning a journey from New England over the North Atlantic over to Greenland, yes, the country.

He got to asking me if I knew of ways to record video so that he could capture these incredible flying moments for remembrance sake. Enter the GoPro Hero 2 that I was carrying in my backpack! You’ve all heard me talk about the GoPro Hero 2 (affiliate link), the mountable and wearable sports action video camera. So I showed Jeff how the camera worked and even told him about the special propeller case I had created to eliminate propeller artifacting. Then, the coolest thing happened! Jeff says to me, “Next time your in New England, look me up and we’ll go flying.”

Naturally, I did just that. Jeff picked me up in Nashua, NH at Boire Field KASH in his F33A Bonanza for a little scenic flight, some camera testing, and then the obligatory (and delicious) $100 lobster omelets in Sanford, ME KSFM. What you’re seeing is the video we recording from Nashua, NH KASH as we flew north towards Laconia, NH KLCI, then turning easterly over Lake Winnipesaukee for Sanford, ME KSFM.

The video starts out on the ground at KASH from the ramp as we taxi out for runup and departure. Since Jeff and I have never flown together before, nor have I piloted a Bonanza ever in my life, I brief Jeff on our roles as Pilot In Command and Passenger. We depart on our flight plan as stated above. You’ll get to see our departure from KASH, parts of our flight over KLCI and Lake Winnipesaukee, and our approach to landing at KSFM including my gusty wind go-around. The video contains plenty of Air Traffic Control audio and other aircraft radio transmissions.

Being my first time in any Bonanza, combined with the strong gusty winds, I certainly felt a bit out of place and almost disoriented in the aircraft, mostly with the layout and positing of the flight controls. You can hear me talk more about that in Episode #25 of the Stuck Mic AvCast, our aviation podcast about Learning to Fly, Living to Fly, and Loving To Fly.

So enough talking and back to the video!