Virginia to Mexico in a T206H

[jrh]

Pictures from my trip last weekend. It was a ferry flight / insurance checkout with some new T206H owners. Our complete route, over the course of 4 days:

JYO-JKL-BWG-RVS-ALM-SRR-ALM-MMNG-MSQA-MHMO-ELP-ALM-ELP

Day 1:
Leesburg, Virginia
Jackson, Kentucky (hands down the most white trash airport I've ever been to)
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Alamogordo, New Mexico

Day 2:
Alamogordo
Ruidoso, New Mexico (8700 foot density altitude...off the ground in 1500 foot takeoff roll)
Alamogordo (pick up passengers)
Nogales, Mexico (clear Customs)
San Pedro de la Cueva, Sonora, Mexico

Day 3:
Chillin' in Mexico

Day 4:
Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
El Paso, Texas (clear Customs)
Alamogordo (drop off pax)
El Paso (drop me off to head home via airlines)

 

[jrh]

More pics...

Got the prop lock on to keep the drug runners away.

Cows are common wandering the streets.

I played Uno with the locals.

The guys in the white pickup clear donkeys off the runway before takeoff.

In Hermosillo I had a "cabeza" taco. I think that means cow brains. It tasted strong but good.

 

[Jfk-Pilot]

very cool pics. looks like you had a great time.

 

[contactground.9]

haha.. sweet pics.. did you win UNO? or are them Mexican locals just too good?

 

[jrh]

haha.. sweet pics.. did you win UNO? or are them Mexican locals just too good?

I didn't win or lose. Since 5 people were playing, the game took forever. Eventually we all gave up and left to go eat dinner.

 

[cloudman]

Sounds like a great trip!

 

[meritflyer]

How was the 206?

Fuel burn, speed, comfort, climb, etc.?

Looks like a great airplane.

 

[imatworkallday]

So is Alamogordo still a craphole of a town? I was stationed there for four long years.

 

[ONCALL]

that is awesome man! can't believe u did it in 4 days. nice pics!!

 

[Jpax]

Nice pics! Lovely T206. Glad the places I fly don't need a prop-lock!

 

[BajtheJino]

Jackson, Kentucky (hands down the most white trash airport I've ever been to)

???

 

[jrh]

???

We stopped there for fuel because it had the service tick marks around it on the sectional.

After landing, we taxied up to the fuel pumps and climbed out. A woman walked out of the nearby pilot lounge. Her hair was messed up, she was wearing rumpled clothes, smoking a cigarette, and best of all...barefoot.

The exchange went something like this:

"Hi there! We're just stopping through to get some fuel."

"We ain't got none of that."

"Wha...? Oh...no gas? When did that happen?"

"We ain't had none for 'bout a yer or so."

"Oh...ok. Did you know it's marked on the sectional as having gas here?"

"Don't know nothin' 'bout that."

"Do you have any bathrooms we could use then?"

"Yeah, right in herrrr..."

We went in to the "pilot lounge." It was obvious the woman had been living there. Clothes on the old, dirty couch, cigarettes in the ashtray, hair curlers on the table. The bathroom made truck stop bathrooms look like a surgical operating room.

Needless to say, we were happy to blast off for better destinations.

 

[jrh]

How was the 206?

Fuel burn, speed, comfort, climb, etc.?

Looks like a great airplane.

It's a fantastic plane.

Trues out at 155-160 knots as long as you take it above 8k or 10k where the turbocharger actually matters. Everybody I've talked to is surprised by the speed. It isn't your grandpa's 1965 C-182.

We burned ~18 gph running 30" and 2400 rpm most of the trip.

We had 4 adults, a 12 year old girl, a couple bags, and full fuel in the plane on the way to Mexico and were right at gross weight.

Cabin space is comfortable. Nothing amazing, but we never felt "cramped" like you might in other high performance singles (SR-22s, Cessna 400s, etc.)

Climb rate is about 500 fpm all the way up as high as you want to go (into the low flight levels).

Personally, I think the T206H is the best all around value in a single engine plane. Decent payload, decent speed, decent capabilities. This one was priced at $250k, which I think is a steal considering all the missions it can accomplish.

 

[jrh]

So is Alamogordo still a craphole of a town? I was stationed there for four long years.

I thought it was a decent place, but I didn't spend much time there. And when we were there, we pretty much stayed at the owners' home which is a nice ranch outside of town.