Single Engine Piston, Caribbean Flying Advice

Stomp16

Stomp16

You mean Shennanigans?!?!
I'm looking for any advice pertaining to flying in the Caribbean. We'll be taking a 206 from KC to San Juan starting on the 4th. I've read over a bunch of information and it seems to be pretty straight forward and doesn't seem to be too difficult. We'll be stopping in Turks and Caicos to overnight then will fly towards the Dominican Republic enroute to San Juan.

For those of you who have done this before, is there anything you'd recommend or any advice you have to make this trip more enjoyable and/or successful?
 
Stomp16 said:
For those of you who have done this before, is there anything you'd recommend or any advice you have to make this trip more enjoyable and/or successful?
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Do it in a twin? Unless you've got floats on that thing, I'm not too happy with singles over that much water. When I flew survey anything like that was done in an aztec.

Other than that, I'd say bring your scuba gear.
 
No possibility of a twin as this a company aircraft and a work flight. I would be more comfortable in a twin as well, but it is what it is. I have purchased a life raft, rations, life vests, PLB's and other things to help if things go wrong.
 
Stomp16 said:
I'm looking for any advice pertaining to flying in the Caribbean. We'll be taking a 206 from KC to San Juan starting on the 4th. I've read over a bunch of information and it seems to be pretty straight forward and doesn't seem to be too difficult. We'll be stopping in Turks and Caicos to overnight then will fly towards the Dominican Republic enroute to San Juan.
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Higher is better. If I could take oxygen, I probably would. There are islands and boats everywhere, try to be over one or the other all of the time. Have a life raft, dye markers, waterproof radio, and water.

You aren't really out of gliding distance from land for very long stretches.
 
I took a 402 down that way once, from FLL to SJU. That was more than enough for me! A555 took me about 50 miles north of the DR, but if you can get an overflight permit, you might be able to head down that way and stay over land.

Brush up on how to give non-radar position reports, by the way. And it's "flight level 9-0," not "0-9-0." :)
 
Stomp16 said:
I'm looking for any advice pertaining to flying in the Caribbean. We'll be taking a 206 from KC to San Juan starting on the 4th. I've read over a bunch of information and it seems to be pretty straight forward and doesn't seem to be too difficult. We'll be stopping in Turks and Caicos to overnight then will fly towards the Dominican Republic enroute to San Juan.

For those of you who have done this before, is there anything you'd recommend or any advice you have to make this trip more enjoyable and/or successful?
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Done that trip many times in various aircraft.... have had various emergencies en route to include losing an engine in a 172 in between Providenciales and Aguadilla.

Provo is a little expensive. It's not a difficult trip at all, just a lot of radio silence on the way. Make sure you get your eAPIS stuff together and correct. FLL is a little pricey as well... I usually made my jump from FPR. Depending on the aircraft, sometimes stopped in North Eleuthra or one of the Bahama islands down south to avoid going to Provo. I'm assuming by "we'll stop" you have someone with you... which is nice for staying awake. It's a bit of a long trip.

Totally up to you as PIC, but I would try to leave as early in the morning as humanly possible (are you going IFR or VFR?) and avoid flying the leg from Provo to Puerto Rico in the evening... even then, make sure your life jackets/raft have strobes. There's a lot of water out there.

Oh and make sure you work out your times around when Customs is open in Puerto Rico... give them a call several times (sometimes they forget) if you're approaching their closing time.
 
ryan1234 said:
Totally up to you as PIC, but I would try to leave as early in the morning as humanly possible (are you going IFR or VFR?) and avoid flying the leg from Provo to Puerto Rico in the evening... even then, make sure your life jackets/raft have strobes. There's a lot of water out there.
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I would not even consider flying at night. Your options to land should you have a problem are almost non-existent.
 
We're going to break it up into two days. First day will be out of FXE to T&C early in the morning. Overnight in T&C then make our way to San Juan the next day. It'll all be done IFR and we're good on all the survival equipment.
 
I don't have much to add, other than a recommendation to bring O2 and fly at FL190. That extra 10 minutes of gliding time versus non-turbocharged aircraft can make a big difference when it comes to troubleshooting problems, calling for help, gliding towards land, and/or securing items in the cockpit when preparing for a ditching.
 
I have 100s of hours flying in a 206 over open water, at times 100 NM from any island (South Pacific). Get the plane checked before you leave and carry the right survival gear. Make sure you brief the last row of pax on how to operate the door when the flaps are down.

Where I flew they have being doing it forever, they never lost one SE in the water, plenty of Multi that run out of fuel all over the place.

Get a Grab bag with water dye,green laser, PLB (you already have it) or an EPIRB, and handheld VHF, mirror, storm whistle, floating rope, something to cover your head, nuts (get Brazil nuts they will kill your hunger), water and salt tablets. Wear the life vest (I used the EAM ones that you clip to your waist) at all times when over water and keep the grab bag within reach, same for the raft (I use to keep that between the two middle seats), I hope your raft has a canopy unless you may just leave that in the plane if you go down as it is useless.
 
swisspilot said:
I have 100s of hours flying in a 206 over open water, at times 100 NM from any island (South Pacific). Get the plane checked before you leave and carry the right survival gear. Make sure you brief the last row of pax on how to operate the door when the flaps are down.

Where I flew they have being doing it forever, they never lost one SE in the water, plenty of Multi that run out of fuel all over the place.

Get a Grab bag with water dye,green laser, PLB (you already have it) or an EPIRB, and handheld VHF, mirror, storm whistle, floating rope, something to cover your head, nuts (get Brazil nuts they will kill your hunger), water and salt tablets. Wear the life vest (I used the EAM ones that you clip to your waist) at all times when over water and keep the grab bag within reach, same for the raft (I use to keep that between the two middle seats), I hope your raft has a canopy unless you may just leave that in the plane if you go down as it is useless.
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No passengers as only the camera system and cargo are in the back of ours. The back four seats are gone. We have the dye, lasers, PLB, VHF radio (have to add mirror and whistle). We purchased the nice Switlik vests with the extra pockets to keep the PLB and rations in. Bought a top of the line raft with all the bells and whistle's, including the canopy. Appreciate the input!
 
You'll enjoy it when you get there safely and can reflecton what you've just done... If it were me id probably be pretty stressed out over the course of the flight.

There are some customs rules if you guys hop over to any of the Virgin Islands, but you probably know about that already.

We will be in St Thomas on the 14th for a few days probably. If you guys have any plans over there let me know!
 
Stomp16 said:
We purchased the nice Switlik vests
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Those are awesome, wasn`t an option for me due to $$$, how often do you have to inspect those? I ended up getting the EAM ones because they would last 5 years, and being on an island it gets expensive shipping dangerous goods..

make sure you put those orion water dye markers in a zip lock bag or something, they leak really easy and will stain everything pretty bad.

I forgot to add, I also use to carry this http://www.painswessex.com/products/day-and-night-mk8.html
 
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