Will,
Sounds like you have had a very =9Cinteresting=9D journey so
far. Almost all airports are =9CFriendly=9D to GA aircraft.
Did you not receive the flight plan I sent back on Dec 1? You didn
=99t reply, so perhaps you didn=99t.
Here=99s what I put together trying to avoid as much troublesome
airspace as possible and refuel at the least expensive fuel stops:
KMFE (entry); KBEG (low cost gas); KBEA (waypoint); 00R (waypoint or
fuel); 5R8 (waypoint or fuel); 0R1 (waypoint or fuel); 79J (waypoint or
fuel); 40J (waypoint or fuel); X35 (land/fuel); KCHN or X06 (waypoint or
fuel); F45 (waypoint); 04FA (land)
If you insist on KBRO as a point of entry then KBRO; KPIL; KBEA
This track keeps you inland and close to airports along the way in case
one is needed. It avoids the worst airspace issues but you will still
have to contend with MOAs, they are everywhere. Flight following will
help with them. Distance 1308 NM, enroute time would be 12:45+stops and
would burn about 53 gal of fuel.
Please don=99t hesitate to ask about alternates if the legs are
too long. I based this on the performance of my Europa and is pretty
conservative with fuel.
Heat will be less of a problem as you get further north.
Wishing you the best of luck with your electronics. I=99ve had my
iPad blank out from heat. Always at the worst possible time.
Keep me posted on your progress.
Blue skies & tailwinds,
Bob Borger
Europa XS Tri, Rotax 914, Airmaster C/S Prop (130 hrs).
Little Toot Sport Biplane, Lycoming Thunderbolt AEIO-320 EXP, Hercules
Prop.
3705 Lynchburg Dr.
Corinth, TX 76208-5331
Cel: 817-992-1117
rlborger@mac.com
On Jan 12, 2019, at 8:34 AM, William Daniell
<wdaniell.longport@gmail.com> wrote:
Sunday 6 Jan Bogota Medellin 1:15 flight time 150nm 120kt
Monday 7 Jan Medellin Bureaucracy
Tuesday 8 Jan Medellin Gelabert Panama 404nm 3:46 128kt av speed landed
with 1/4 tank 4 gals - we started with 6 gals in the aux tank and 15.
Panama Controllers helpful and professional - albeit their radios were
not working well and we had issues to Tocumen Approach - one of the
other pilots in the air mentioned that they had been having issues.
Wednesday 9 Jan we planned to go to Limon Costa Rica we took off from
Gelbert and then had to return due to weather 1.5 hours.
Thursday 10 Jan Gelabert to San Jose Costa Rica. Shortly before David
northern Panama the Dynon started flashing Green Red Blue white and
black in succession so we decided to land in David. Gelabert to David is
206 nm 2:53 97kt. The unplanned stop in David caused a lot of confusion
with the authorities and we had to get gas which they don't have on the
field. Everyone was very helpful, for example Operations got a taxi
driver to take the aux tank to fill up at a local gas station. But
having landed at 0900 we took off again at 1330. The Dynon came back up
within 15 minutes of landing so we assumed that the fault was due to
heat. iLevil and analog engine instruments backup worked exactly as
planned to provide air and basic engine data. So we decided to
continue with a jury rigged shade for the Dynon.
David - Liberia Costa Rica. We had originally planned to fly to San
Jose GA Airport MRPV but on on seeing towering cumulus we asked to
continue to Liberia which was authorized. 227nm, 2 hours, I dont have
any other data because my ipad shut down due to heat....it was easily
100 degrees in the cockpit. Costa Rican Controllers were super helpful,
even pointing out the sights to us as they tracked us on radar. We
landed in 18ktG25 without the slightest problem.
The Dynon repeated its fault so we decided on reaching Liberia and
talking to Dynon to return to Miami for the weekend to pick up a new
unit which should be arriving today. Kudos to Don Jones of Dynon tech
support but not so happy as this is the second unit in 100 hours and the
second transponder. The interesting thing is that the unit continued
to function despite the screen failing. The AP worked and we got wifi
attitude (when the ipad cooled down) and voice alerts. I have powerful
cold air tube to the back of the unit but its hard to cool down the
front.
We plan to return to Liberia on Monday install the new Dynon unit and
continue. We plan to go to Salvador Ilopango. Then we are at a fork in
the road which depends on weather.
One fork goes Cozumel Key West. This is 385 nm. We have 24 gals on
board. Today according to Foreflight we have a 2kt headwind and will
consume 19.1 gals (2 gals taxi 7 gph climb 5.5gph cruise). this leaves
a reserve of 4.9 gals which if you had options would be fine however the
only option to KEYW is cuba! Also this doesn't include deviations which
are common in the Caribbean due to build ups. So unless we can
guarantee a good tail wind and clear skies I feel that this is risky.
The other fork goes Tapachula Mexico Brownsville and round the gulf to
04FA Miami which is over 1000nm and we would have to contend with the
weather in Southern USA which can be variable. However I feel that if
the weather is kind we can push on - 3x2 hour legs in a day is perfectly
possible.
Lessons learned -
Heat is tough on the body and takes a toll on electronics. We need more
sun shade and ventilation.
The back systems worked BUT we hadn't thought about how to actually use
them....It would have been very useful to have a means by which the
Android iLevil PFD back up could have been placed in front of the pilot.
The way we solved this was for the Co Pilot sing out the speeds on
approach (which incidentally resulted in very stable approaches) but it
might have been different if I had been on my own. I would have had to
have the PFD on my lap or something like that which certainly wouldnt
have been optimum and might have been a serious issue in marginal
conditions.
So far we have spent more time on bureaucracy than actually flying.
A request: I know I have asked this before but can you all help me with
suggestions for routes between KBRO and KTMB. Particularly Id like to
know of friendly airports and contacts in case we have further technical
issues.
Yours
Will
William Daniell
LONGPORT
+57 310 295 0744
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