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Rosie & Tuppergal?s Caribbean Trip 2013

Day 3: We are in Homestead (FL)

Rosie Here...

I wanted to add some more pics from Day 3 for the flight from Clearwater to Venice to Fort Myers to Key West and ending the day at Homestead (X51)

Here’s Taco and Belle after departing Venice:

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Not sure what we were looking at here but the pattern of the streets & houses looked interesting:

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The only other public-use runway in the Keys: Marathon (MTH) Airport

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This is the first time I’ve come into Key West (EYW) on a left downwind:

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Checking into Key West and paying our landing fee:

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Lunch at the airport restaurant:

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A ramp full of RVs…there were some Canadian-registered RVs there too:

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Jailbird checking out the scenery…

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Left base to runway 10 at Homestead:

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And now on final...

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Day 3: We are in Homestead (FL)

Rosie here....

More pics from Homestead through the briefing for the next day's flight:
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John & Dani’s Beech and Larsen's RV-9A:

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Opie, Scoot & Taco & Sharkbait…

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Wootton, Kleen and McFarland:

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Here are pics from the overwater flight briefing:

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Bun & Steph:

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Scoot, Cookie, Keys, Taco, Sharkbait & Bill Wootton:

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Laura & Deuce:

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Rosie & Tuppergal:

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Here's breakfast and arrival to the airport the next day:

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And the early morning arrival to Homestead (X51):

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Homestead Briefing

A very important part of the whole deal. Everybody assembles and the briefing began at 6:30pm. Lots of good details with pizza and beer, most were dismissed within a couple of hours. Flight leads just finished up at 10pm.
Pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/100499...&authkey=Gv1sRgCPeS-JqCz4HmfQ&feat=directlink

Rosie, Take it away...

Thanks Scoot!

Since we are going to flying for an entire month, I wanted to have the freshed oil I could in the sump. I had previously sent John Roberts (of Roberts Air South FBO) a check to buy me oil so I did an oil change while the others fueled:

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I have no idea what this is all about?!?

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This I know about! My mentor Jim "Jimmyb" Baker called in the middle of the briefing to wish us well! This is my FIRST official trip as 'the leader of the pack'. Thanks for checking in Jimmyb!

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The Turks & Caicos RV Fliers 2013 with John Roberts:

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Did I mention paperwork is involved?

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Time to call flight service and file flight plans...I'll go first!

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Ok, it's midnight and I have to wake up at 0530, good night! Rosie
 
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Been following your track and thinking about the beautiful views you are enjoying. Looks like your all heading down the Bahamas chain, eating nuts and listening to XM. That's certainly living the high life.
 
Is anyone else having trouble seeing Rosie's SPOT tracks? My browser worked fine yesterday AM, but in the afternoon with Google Chrome browser, I was only getting the SPOT header and a totally black screen.
This morning it's the same thing with all three browsers (Chrome, Firefox and MS Explorer) so I'm thinking I'm being firewalled. But when I check other SPOT tracks, I can see them.

The Cards' APRS tracker is working and shows them crossing Bermuda [OOPS, the Bahamas, thanks Vlad!] ...CORRECTION: the Cards' APRS data ended at 08:26 CDT this morning. Wondering if there are very many iGates in the Caribbean. Guess we're about to find out. [Update: looks like several digipeaters or iGates are in Puerto Rico. :)

P.S. Okay, another correction...with my iPhone browser, the SPOT tracks show Rosie crossing Crooked Island. Hmmm, I'm sure I've been firewalled on my desktop. :mad:
 
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Is anyone else having trouble seeing Rosie's SPOT tracks? My browser worked fine yesterday AM, but in the afternoon with Google Chrome browser, I was only getting the SPOT header and a totally black screen.
This morning it's the same thing with all three browsers (Chrome, Firefox and MS Explorer) so I'm thinking I'm being firewalled. But when I check other SPOT tracks, I can see them.

The Cards' APRS tracker is working and shows them crossing Bermuda...CORRECTION: the Cards' APRS data ended at 08:26 CDT this morning. Wondering if their are very many iGates in the Caribbean. Guess we're about to find out.

I just checked and it is working with my Firefox browser.
 
Acklins Island

I am seeing them. They are just crossing over Acklins Island. Making good time it appears.
 
You mean Bahamas Don? Bermuda is way off :)

Yeah, Vlad, I meant Bahamas. Thanks.:eek:

By the way, Vlad, your "Placeholder No. 66 for Rosie" had me rolling in the floor laughing last night. :D You must be a funny guy. I must meet you sometime!
 
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Turks and Caicos

Looks like they are about 30 minutes out from Turks and Caicos now.

That last update was about 20 minutes old.
 
Are you guys getting up to date tracks on the Card's APRS, too? The track seems to have stopped when they reached the Bahamas.

14:00 CDT Update...now it's working again, although the latest return is about 30 minutes ago when they were approaching Grand Turk. What was that do-see-do just after takeoff from Providenciales about? Hmmm...maybe sightseeing? You guys have fun... :)
 
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Having serious data issues on the island. We're just working through impossibly slow stuff. I think Kahuna must have planted a time bomb in this network that I might have to go fix before we leave :).
Everybody arrived safely. Only one failed alternator over the water from Provo to Grand Turk of "Shark Bait"! All other resort guests have already been assimilated into our group.

Pictures might be sparse or very highly compressed in order to place something.
 
Day 4: We be on Island Time in Grand Turk!

Hi to our RV family of friends!

I have to APOLOGIZE for the delayed post to this thread but I am having MAJOR computer malfunctions. I’m thankful Scott “Scoot” Card is here to help, and we’ll hit it hard on Wednesday to figure out what is going on: I can’t get into my website to upload pictures AND the connection here is very, very slow :( UPDATE 4/10/13: My VAF family of friends (Mike Bullock) got me back online, and pictures have been added)

Like and ‘Audio Book’, please try to imagine what I am trying to describe with the written word. I will do my very best to get pictures up via another source (that Scoot helps me with, thank you!

Our flight briefing on Monday night (April 8th) took nearly an hour with a break in the middle for PIZZA (thank you Indira!). Once complete, flight leads gathered for their brief and then we called to file our flight plans.

Something I wanted to try was to file ONE flight plan for Alpha flight. If you pull up an international flight plan (with instructions), it says you can enter the number in your flight in BOX 9 then enter their data (TYP/RV6 N212JC) in the remarks section. When talking with the briefer, he skipped over this box. I asked about it, and he said that it is NOT EVEN AN OPTION for him on the computer system!?! No worries as he was able to ‘my flight plan’ and I was able to give the Name, RV Type, N number etc for each of my wingmen. Our filed route of flight was X51 direct MBPV with a planned speed of 150 knots, 9500’ MSL with ETE 3:30.

This is my third trip here, and I really hope that some of you can also fly here and enjoy the beautiful water and friendly ‘belongers’ who live here.
Tuesday, April 9th was our departure day from Homestead (X51) to Providenciales (MBPV), Turks & Caicos and it started at 0515. After getting packed up, we met the group in the lobby at 0600 for breakfast, and all were ready to depart the hotel at 0630.

We loaded up the three (3) minivans with 17 people, and I arrived in Minivan #1 to the airport ~0650 with Minivan #2 in-trail....where's Cookie....what happened Cookie!?! Well....it's probabaly a GOOD idea to do a flight 'Check-in' at the hotel PRIOR to departing... Tanya was part of the convoy, however, a phone to call to her Van had her IMMEDIATELY turn around and go back to the hotel to pick up John & Dani Wilson...sorry about that!

Minivan #3 arrived to the airport to find everyone readying their airplanes, canopy covers were draped over tails, bags packed, and thorough preflights.

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Jailbird & Indira

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Sugar Daddy & Trophy Wife

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Here the ‘donning’ of the life vests for the now-customary group picture:

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Alpha Flight:
Rosie, Keys and Bill ‘need a call sign’ Wootton turned-props at ~0740 and were wheels up at ~0753.

The subsequent flights were separated by 10 min, and here’s the line up (leads listed first):

Bravo Flight:
Jailbird, Taco & Belle, Opie (Doug Dodson-Glasair I FT, my skypark neighbor)

Charlie Flight:
Cookie & Scoot, Sharkbait & Steph

Delta Flight:
Sugar Daddy & Trophy Wife, Moody Blue & Bun, Deuce and Laura McFarland

I contacted Homestead (Reserve Base) airport for clearance through the Class Delta airspace which was granted. Once clear of their airspace at 2500’ MSL (RVs climb GREAT at sea level), we switched to our tactical frequency assigned (by me) to Alpha Flight. The time from takeoff from X51 to the coastline is <10 minutes at best and then you are ‘feet wet’.

Minutes after crossing the coastline eastbound, we contacted Miami Radio (122.2) and opened our flight plans individually as ‘briefed’ by the briefer.

There were no BIG clouds to speak of on departing the coastline, and Alpha flight climbed to 9500’ MSL. As we reached Andros Island, the low level clouds ‘starting’ popping up everywhere.

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By the end of the first flight hour, we could see ahead (100nm) that the flights might have to either climb or descend below the clouds (I like to climb to conserve on the fuel). Sure enough, as we got closer, I thought that we were probably going to be climbing to 11,500’.

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I gave Bravo flight a call and let Jailbird know that I was ‘thinking’ about climbing (they were ~40nm behind us). Next thing I hear on the Miami frequency both he and I were using: Jailbird called Miami Center to let him know that his flight was climbing to 11,500’. Peer pressure caused me to cave so I called Miami Radio with “…What he said…” Up we went….and the deck started ‘climbing’ up to us so…Up we went again... to 13,500’ for about 20 minutes. That's Keys high and to the right:

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Once on the backside, we were able to get back down to 11,500’ where we stayed (until my Garmin 496 VNAV function alerted ‘time to descend’)

Something I failed to mention is that during the flight, we ‘gabbed’, lied, told stories (there I was…), took pictures of each other’s planes, remained silent and just soaked in the view…lots of fun! Flight leads also passed on information to other leads…and I can’t tell you how many times I forgot to hit the ‘Monitor’ feature on my SL30 after a ‘flip-flop’. Here’s what I heard more times that I care to admit (but will): “Rosie, Miami center is calling you on 126.1” I had flipped to the tactical frequency for other flights and forgot to press Monitor, YiKeS!

Miami Center handed us over to Providenciales (Provo Approach) at ~60nm, and with an on-course heading of 117 degrees as we continued inbound. Look at my ground track to Provo, and you can see that I flew a slight dogleg to line up, runway heading (110 degrees).

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Here the 'downline' from 11,500' to 1000' MSL:

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And here’s something NEW TO ME (Jimmyb, Seismo, Scotty take note): Provo approach told us, that by 25nm to the airport, our flight needed to be separated by…get this…NO KIDDING…10nm…yea….Riiigghhtt…that’s NOT going to happen.
 
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Day 4: We be on Island Time in Grand Turk!

During the brief the night before, I briefed that the tower folks are used to handling ONE PLANE AT A TIME. Here’s a picture from 2007 that has Bryan & Sherri Wood on final in their RV-9A and…I lie not to you…a Boeing 757 circling in the background (on final) to make spacing for Bryan…planes MUST CLEAR THE RUNWAY prior to allowing any plane to be inside of a…once again, no kidding 10nm final. Look for the 757 in this picture from 2007:

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So, during my brief, I told the fliers here’s how it will play out: Maintain our ‘flight’ all the way to 25nm final (e.g. runway heading at 25nm, and in our case, 100degrees for runway 10). The blue arrow points to the threshold of runway 10: It was pretty cool following the wall-of-clouds on the left of us that paralleled the runway.

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At 25nm, ships 2/3 went to trail (1000’). At the 10nm mark, lead continued on the straight in to runway 10 but Ships 2/3 went into a turn to complete one (360) turn. On exit from the first 360 turn, Ship 2 rolled out on a heading of 110 and followed Ship 1 on final.

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Ship 3 performed a second 360 turn then rolled out on final behind Ship 2. I called out distance to the runway along with ground speed every other mile or so to help my two wingmen ‘gauge’ my arrival to the runway.

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I was asked to report 3 miles, which I did, and I added 2-mile, 1-mile and over-the-threshold calls (for my wingmen’s benefit). I’ll bet money that Tower was thinking this guy sure talks a lot!

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Once I touched down, I called it out on the radio “RV 8PV on the ground….RV 8PV clear of runway”. Ah-HAW! Ship 2 was waiting to hear the magic words…RV 8PV clear of the runway!

Ship 2 then called on final at 10nm (yes, a white lie), but you need to know there is no radar in the tower.

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Tower asked for a 3-mile report which Ship 2 reported maybe a minute or so after their (Ship 2) 10nm call….Let’s do the math…..6 miles per minute….right….sure…we’ll give you 10nm spacing…in the words of Al from the TV show “Tool Time, “I don’t think so Tim”.

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This all worked out just fine for Alpha flight and the Tower said nothing of the landings that came quickly in succession. All they cared about was NOT having a plane inside of 10 miles with another plane still on the runway. Disclaimer: Your mileage may vary, void where prohibited!

Make sure you LAND LONG on runway 10 and exit at the Provo Air Center. Debby is the General Manager, and she will do GOOD by you!

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Provo Air Center hadn't see the ramp this full since we were there last time...

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Bravo flight arrived about 10 minutes after Alpha flight, and I’m yet to ask Jailbird how his flight faired with Tower.

Charlie flight took a bit longer (RV-9As) to arrive…maybe 20 minutes with Delta flight coming in another 20 minutes after them.

Now, here’s the BEST part of the day: Each plane that arrived was greeted by a ‘rampee’ who rolled out a red carpet (yes, I have pictures of this….but can’t post them, arghhhh!) Anyway, everyone stepped off the plane onto a red carpet.

My prop hadn’t been stopped for more than 30 seconds before the fuel truck arrived. The ramp manager ‘Bert’ greeted Tuppergal and I then asked us to follow him inside the building. Once inside, he pointed us to the elbow height counter that had our Customs forms PRE-FILLED-OUT with our names, address, birthday, passport numbers (all data we had provided the week before). “Please sign here” and I did…took all of 5 seconds.

“Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Rosales, please enter the office here (all we did was turn around in the narrow hallway). “This is the Customs official who will clear you in”. I think we took a whole five (5) steps to enter the air-conditioned 10’x10’ office to sit on a BIG leather couch: Counter to Customs was about FIVE steps!

The (very polite) Customs agent (lady) asked for our form that we just signed and our passport. She asked why we were visiting the Turks & Caicos (pleasure vacation) and where we were staying on Grand Turk (Osprey Beach Hotel: She knew we were NOT staying on Provo but continuing on to Grand Turk because this was all part of the information we provided the week before via e-mail).

From Customs, we walked may 10 steps to the office next door to speak with another gentleman, and I honestly have no idea what his job was….I don’t even think he asked us anything….and we were out of there in no more than TWO MINUTES TOPS.

Are you adding minutes… I swear to you we were out of the two offices in less than five (5) minutes. Bert then asked us to following him to the FBO desk…this was maybe 40 feet down the hall…”Mr. Rosales, welcome to the Turks & Caicos. I have prepared your bill for Customs and it also includes your fuel. Your plane fueled with 29.8 gallons, and the total is $330.12 (Fuel was ~$230). I handed her my credit card…she swiped it…”Please sign here…Have a wonderful time in the Turks & Caicos”….

TOTAL TIME TO CLEAR CUSTOMS AND PAY YOUR BILL: TEN (10) MINUTES TOPS!!!!!!!!! I tip my hat to Debby, the manager at Provo Air Center… thank you, AGAIN!

So this went on for each ‘airplane crew’, and we waited for everyone (in the very nicely air conditioned FBO lounge) to complete their forms. Once complete, we went up to the second floor to take pictures of the 11 planes on the ramp and a group picture on the ramp in front of the Provo Air Center sign (I will need to get a copy from Debby).

Ok folks, let’s go to Grand Turk…what about filing our flight plan…nope, already done by Provo Air Center (you all ROCK). Did I forget to mention our International Flight Plans were automatically closed by Tower on landing!!! Thank you TOWER!
 
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Day 4: We be on Island Time in Grand Turk!

Rosie just hijacked Seismo's deleted thread so I can keep the sequence of my story....thanks Seismo!
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Here's the group on the ramp (thanks to Debby from Provo Air Center for taking this!)

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Once Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta flights cleared Customs, we departed in sequence to Grand Turk...what a nightmare!!!! There is NO RADAR coverage in the islands so to keep everyone safe, the tower separates you by 'time & distance'. They sent out the first three airplanes, waited 15 minutes...then sent out the next three...waited 15 minutes....!@#$%^&*(!@#$%^&*#@@#$% ARGHH!!!!!!!! At least they let us go in groups of three, one minute apart!

Alpha flight departed single ship and I flew 110 knots direct to Grand Turk, 1500’ MSL…waited for my two wingmen to join me. Here are pictures from Taco & Belle's camera for their flight from Provo to Grand Turk (my camera was 'lost' somewhere in the cockpit):

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Check out the Water Spout.....Seismo!

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…then once again…lie to the tower…all works out fine…we land in succession maybe two minutes apart….

Here's Taco & Belle's approach into Grand Turk, runway 11:

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After landing, Alpha flight was directed to the ramp…the actual International Airport Ramp! On the previous two trips, we parked at the old terminal building across the runway. Though we were still directed to park on the grass in the “North 40”.

Finally, all planes on the ramp, tied-down/secured, ramp pictures taken (thanks to Scoot & Cookie for lending me their camera when my battery died!), load folks into the two Vans, short drive (<10 minute to our hotel)….WE ARE HERE…TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING AND WE ARE HERE!

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Here's the ground track for the short flight from Provo to Grand Turk:

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Thank you all again for being patient and I hope that you can sense the excitement being here on the island of Grand Turk.

Once again…this all came together with people who took the time to build an RV!

Keep poundin’ them rivets because it’s ALL worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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It was interesting to "see" so many RV's passing each other in the Bahamas yesterday. Team Aerodynamix was headed to KFPR from the Dominican Republic and your group was headed to Grand Turk. :)
 
I finally got some of Rosie's pictures placed.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100499...authkey=Gv1sRgCNCSkrf16bOowQE&feat=directlink

We have a bunch of technical people here (there). Help. Rosie is old school and likes his WS FTP client, but his host isn't working for some reason (credentials issue). We might get that sorted out, but just in case, if someone could whip up a quick ftp server that I could get him temporarily uploading some of his images to that is front ended by a simple apache server such that he can reference them via a url, we would very much appreciate it. Just quick and dirty. < EDIT: I think I have what I need. Many thanks to the Zilikmonster and Mike Bullock. 4 kbps baby! >
Data here is too slow to really work through much setup. (it takes about 5min to load one vaf page)
 
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We miss being there!

I wish we were with you guys and not here flying this desk. Keep the stories coming as I can visualize everything you write.
 
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Dive time

There goes Rosie out for his first dive!

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X marks the spot. This is about a mile or so down the beach.

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Those taken from my shaded tree Here :).

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This was a test, only a test, of the Mike Bullock instant solution. Looks like it is going to work great. Thanks Mike. Maybe we'll all have pictures to follow them along the rest of the trip beginning in a couple of days. It is time for me to walk across the street to the dive shop to get setup for our dive in an hour... Goodness abounds!
 
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This was a test, only a test, of the Mike Bullock instant solution. Looks like it is going to work great. Thanks Mike. Maybe we'll all have pictures to follow them along the rest of the trip beginning in a couple of days. It is time for me to walk across the street to the dive shop to get setup for our dive in an hour... Goodness abounds!

Scott-

Glad it worked out for you!
 
Dumb Question...

Why do some planes not have the large N numbers (in your photos), while others do? I thought it was a fairly stringent requirement for all aircraft heading down there?

(I may have asked this question in years past, but for the life of me, I can't recall the answer!)

*Edit: and I just now saw in a previous post within this thread, that the fines for non-large numbers is immense?

From Rosie: Here's what I've learned over the years... You are more than likely NOT going to be intercepted departing the USA, thus, many fliers do not use the 12" numbers outbound, personal choice.

On my very first trip to the Turks & Caicos (2004), I (too) did not have 12" N numbers leaving for the USA. On the very same trip, I had a magneto go bad on Stella Maris (Long Island, Bahamas). Laird "Lucky" Owens flew me back to Ft. Pierce to pickup the new mag, and Gary "Seismo" Zilk (and wife Red) followed us (for fun).

On departure BACK to Stella Maris, our 2-ship crossed the ADIZ...and then Seismo's plane started running rough...and he returned to Fort Pierce. I can't remember if they had to go to the penalty box on landing back at Ft. Pierce. Either way, for this very reason, I now put mine on before I leave just in case I come back. I've said it before and will say it again...more times than not, USA Customs personnel may not the most friendly government people you will meet.
 
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She asked why we were visiting the Turks & Caicos (pleasure vacation) and where we were staying on Grand Turk (Osprey Beach Hotel:

The owners of the Osprey Beach Hotel are Jenny and Loren. They are neighbors of ours in our Colorado home! If you get a chance, say hello to them from John and Amanda Eldridge. What a small, small world! :)

We can smell the salt air from your wonderful posts Rosie - have a great time!
 
Why do some planes not have the large N numbers (in your photos), while others do? I thought it was a fairly stringent requirement for all aircraft heading down there?

(I may have asked this question in years past, but for the life of me, I can't recall the answer!)

*Edit: and I just now saw in a previous post within this thread, that the fines for non-large numbers is immense?

The 12" N number is a US requirement going through the ADIZ. After they left the US, they were NO LONGER in the US so there was no one there for an enforcement action.

IMHO, you are correct in that the 12" N numbers should be on for the outbound trip.
 
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Great stuff Rosie, thanks for taking the time to share...it really helps us that are still PR!
 
I'm...... BACK!!!!!!

Many thanks to Mike Bullock and Scoot (and Seismo and countless others that I'm sure offered help) for getting this computer illiterate, DOS-based, old FTP dude and almost-back-to Gopher Rosie.

It's about 1745 here on Grand Turk. We have scheduled the 'Island' group picture for 1800, and right after that, I have to get ready for our night dive.

I will get back online after the night dive and play 'catch-up'! My body is still on CA time so I can work till 0200 local to get caught up.

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN! Rosie

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I just LOVE this picture by Scoot of my wife and his wife :)

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Days 5 & 6: We be on "Island Time"

Good morning our RV Family of Friends,

Our only two FULL days here on Grand Turk (April 10-11) have been just FANTASTIC (we leave Friday for the BVI), and here's the routine on "Island Time". Wake up to the sounds of waves washing onto the beach...very peaceful and relaxing. As I stir around 0800, Tuppergal has been awake for an hour or two. She starts the hot water for my morning bowl of oatmeal (the packets are EASY to pack/carry in the plane). By 0830, I'm getting ready for the morning 2-tank dive. The Dive Boat arrives....right on the beach in front of the hotel. We head out at 0900, dive, surface, dive, surface and we are returned right back to the beach in front of the hotel. Then we take a very short walk to "The Atrium" where we have lunch...then back to the hotel to sit around the pool and tell... what else....stories..."There I was..."

Here are some more pictures from Taco & Belle's camera:

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Left to Right: Jody Wootton and her son Will, Cookie, Laura & Randy McFarland and Scoot:

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Dinner at the nearby Atrium:

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Taco, Keys and Opie:

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Taco with a very happy Kitty (Keys looks on):

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Here's Belle doing a nice backflip!

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Today, I finished up all the courses required for the Advanced Open Water diving sessions: Deep, Navigation, Night, Peak Bouyancy, Underwater Naturalist. I have good news and bad news....The good news is that I passed! The bad news is that I cannot swim backwards in an upright position, ah....I can...but if posted on Youtube would go viral due to how silly I look trying to move my arms and feet at the same time!

Here I am with my Divemaster Lamar Griffiths:

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Days 5 & 6: We be on "Island Time"

The owner of Blue Water Divers, Mitch Rolling, first certified me back in 2004 along with Bryan Wood. As done the previous two trips, he and his significant-other Audrey invited the 'group' over to their home for drinks and conversation (and more drinks!). The pictures tell all!

Rosie & Mitch

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Jailbird and new friends Joe Lambert and his wife Lori:

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It's customary for everyone to buy an 'islands' poster that we all sign (with personal notes). Here's the signing of numerous posters:

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You gotta' love this shirt!

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Janet & Gene Larsen who are right behind me in flights to the 'Islands'. We love you both!

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And that's a wrap for tonight all....

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It's now 0100 on Friday morning, and there is a 5-ship departure for the British Virgin Islands after clearing Customs. My skypark neighbor Doug Dodson will fly with us in his Glasair and 'fall of the perch' when overflying Puerto Rico. Keys, Jailbird & Indira, Sharkbait & Steph will follow Rosie & Tuppergal over Puerto Rico into Beef Island (EIS).

Check our ground track starting ~1000 EST to see the flight continue on our month long flying vacation in the Carribean!

Keep poundin' them rivets because it's ALL worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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I could smell the seabreeze a few minutes ago:)

Thanks, Rosie,

Enjoy,

From Rosie: Thanks for checking in Pierre! Life is good :) Here's one more picture on how we got back to the hotel from Mitch's house:

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And the FAMOUS group picture we ALWAYS take!

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Rosie,
Can you please adopt me?

From Rosie: Tom, you know I've been trying to get you and Katie to join us for many years now!?! Think "Caymans 2015" :)
 
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Me too.... I will be the best step son you could ever ask for. :D

From Rosie: Daryl, see previous post...join us in 2015!
 
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Day 7: We are in the British Virgin Islands

A very good evening to our RV Family of Friends!

Our Friday (April 12) started with Tuppergal and I rolling out of bed around 0600 to finish up some last minute packing. We then made the short walk to "The Atrium" to have breakfast. My young friend Denzel was there to join us, and we had a great visit. I'll sure miss his smiling face that has NOT changed! Denzel WILL be a Minister. Denzel is now 17 and I PROMISED him that we will travel to his graduation when he is ordained!!!

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We said our goodbyes to the group ~0745 and caught "Cliff's Taxi Service" to the Grand Turk Tower to pay our landing fees ($10). We were able to 'work' with the Tower to get them to allow us all onto the runway and takeoff five seconds apart. We also filed our flight plans with the tower. Deuce came with us to the tower so he could get the 'skinny' on what will be required for the rest of the RVers when they depart next Tuesday morning.

Here's how we looked in the 'North 40', runway 11 threshold behind us at the coastline:

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With landing fee receipts in hand, it was a short walk to the Terminal Building to clear Immigration (no fees). There was a Cirrus on the ramp, and sometime during
the week, we had a chance to visit the owner of the Cirrus. The plane had Canadian registration because he said it was easier to get around the islands with
Canadian Registration.

Clearing Immigration went much quicker than 6 years ago, and we were all cleared out of the country in about 20 minutes.

Paperwork complete, we walked out to the planes parked in the 'north 40' with bags in hand. We got the planes off the weedy-grass and onto the pavement, packed the planes and completed thorough preflights.

Engine startup was at ~1005, and we backtaxied on runway 11: Rosie & Tuppergal, Keys, Jailbird, Opie and Sharkbait & Steph. We turned out north and followed the shoreline all the way around Grand Turk (maybe 5 minutes to get back to the threshold of runway 11). Here's Opie ready to go:

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We completed a flyby of the Osprey Beach Hotel, and then we found the Blue Water Dive Boat (gave them a wing-wag). We climbed to 2000' and then flew the 9nm to Salt Island.

There I flew around the island until all five ships gathered. From there, up to 9500', direct to Puerto Plata (MDPP) then towards Punta Cana (MDPC). We stayed north of the island to stay out of the clouds (that like to form over land). Punta Cana was a planned fuel stop.

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Opie split off from the group around halfway to MDPC as he was landing Puerto Rico to see friends (and meet his wife there who flew commercially).

Here's the downline on the north side of the Dominican Republic (we turned right to the airport at the end of the island):

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We'd already flown 315nm from Provo to be here (and the Provo-Grand Turk leg was <1500' MSL) and wanted to be sure we didn't run out of gas...over water! Flight time from Grand Turk to Punta Cana was ~2.2 hours, and the Punta Cana Tower didn't bat-an-eye when we called in as a 4-ship (we landing 1/2/1 with Keys/I landing in formation behind Jailbird with Sharbait/Steph behind us).

We had to fill out...count 'em...five General Declarations (GenDecs) for arrival and five GenDecs for departure. Keys' hand was hurting after that writing marathon since he kind of forgot to pre-fill/pre-print forms with his name on them.

And here's something that I did NOT expect...Not a SINGLE word of English was spoken by our Handlers (rampees, Customs, Immigration)...not a word. I was able to keep-us-honest, and by the time we finished, the young Immigration lady was eyeing Keys :) Then we had to pay her $30/plane.

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We obtained a VFR clearance from Clearance Delivery then taxied (and I remember): General Aviation ramp via Fox, Echo, cross runway 9 and hold short of runway 8. Once cleared onto the runway (all 4-ships) we were cleared for takeoff. We climbed to 9500' and then air filed our International Flight plans with San Juan Radio (126.7).

Jailbird picked up flight following abeam Puerto Rico, and we passed just to the north of both Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. Here's the northern coastline of Puerto Rico:

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I've flown commercial into St. Thomas (TIST) several times and spent time diving the area so it was really cool to see the blue water from the air! I wanted to just keep looking down at the beautiful water but had to stay focused on flying!

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The planes were put into trail for what I thought would be a straight-in to runway 7 and we had nice descent into Beef Island (TUPJ). We kept good spacing that would allow an RV off the runway with on a 2-mile right base. An uneventful landing followed for all, and we taxied to the east side of the airport. The flight was ~270nm flown in 1.9 hours and we landed at 1600 local time.

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A few words with the rampee got us some parking not far from where we parked in a field of island grass.

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BVI Customs & Immigration took about 45 minutes (5 GenDecs) and the fees were $10 landing fee and $6.18 for I-have-no-idea...no complaints.

A lady in a uniform asked where we were going, and she found us a van-ride to the very-nearby ferry dock at Trellis Bay. We were able to catch the 1800 ferry boat ($22 each, one way) to Spanish Town on Virgin Gorda, about a 20 minute ride. Our rental car agent was there to greet us as well as Irma Levenson from Southern Gables. We arrived to the house at ~0800 and then finished off the evening with a 2100 (light) dinner.

At dinner, Jailbird told me 'locals' were already talking about the little planes that landed! We took a very short ride to Trellis Bay to catch the 1830Ferry to Virgin Gorda. Jailbird and Sharkbait walked over to get ferry tickets. The guy behind the counter said, "You the guys that flew here in the little airplanes, ya' mon" We truly are 'little' airplanes compared to all the others!

It's pretty cool to think that we are here in planes we built at home, the airport, the _________ (fill in the blank).

We are looking forward to a day of flying (16 April) when we clear into the USA (at St. Thomas) and fly/land at the airports on St. Croix, Vieques, Culebra...and.....we are flying to the western side of Puerto Rico to visit with Axel (AX-O) who is there visiting relatives.

Keep poundin' them rivets because it's all worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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Rosie, I arrived TUPJ last Saturday and am departing tomorrow morning. I will tell my group about the little planes parked at the airport upon my departure. The weather here has been great for the last week and looks good for your visit. I'm sure You'll have a great time.
Take care,
Mark

From Rosie: Now that would have been fun to meet up Mark! Maybe next time :)
**********************************************************************

Many Thanks to Daryl Tolliver for getting me this SPOT track as the page won't load here):

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Here's the groundtrack of our travels from Days 1-7:

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Here's proof positive that 'we are here'...3,614nm from home :)

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rosie, what a great view from southern gables. wish we were there enjoying it with you. my throttle cable has been replaced, send more pics. check on our place while you are there. you are quite the aviator and flight leader! thanks for hanging out at homestead last week. :)

From Rosie: Turbo!!!! Buddy!!!! These pictures are for you!!!! Tonight's sunset, our rental house and your house RIGHT NEXT DOOR (use the Palm tree that is common to both pics for reference:

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Call the FBO in aguadilla (BQN). 787-890-2323. They will do customs there. Email them with dates and intentions at [email protected]. The FBO is on the North side of the airport.

I need the number of people coming to my house and the time. So i can plan for transportation.

From Rosie: AC, final count is Keys/Rosie/Tuppergal. Check my spot track for updates but am guessing 1030-1100 arrival at Mayaguez. We will clear Customs at St. Thomas. See you soon :)
 
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Day 7: We are in the British Virgin Islands (more pics)

Each post can only hold 10 pictures (and emoticons count). So here are 10 more pics from the (2.2 hour) Grand Turk - Punta Cana flight.
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To show you where we parked, the main ramp is left of Deuce, and our planes are 'hiding' behind the (center) Tower Controller's head:

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Climbing on top towards Puerto Plata just off Salt Island (this deck was at ~6000'):

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Jailbird & Indira cruising along....

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What you don't see on my left is the ocean. We had reached the eastern coastline so Jailbird turned to a heading of about 170 degrees.

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That heading put the flight on a nice Left Base to Final for Runway 8. Take note of the taxiways that exit to the right and go into 'The Forest'.

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When clearing runway 8, you taxi through what I will call 'The Forest' for awhile. NO Terminal Building can be seen...just vegetation....but then you come out of the 'forest' and here's what you get to see:

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Who are these people on the ramp at Punta Cana?!?

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Keys on the right wing after a formation takeoff from Punta Cana. That's runway 09 under Keys.

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...and crossing the coastline eastbound moments later:

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Rosie trailing lead (with Keys my right wing and Sharkbait/Steph on the left wing). Lead deviated left of course for obvious reasons!

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Day 7: We are in the British Virgin Islands (more pics)

Here are 10 more pics from the (1.9 hour) Punta Cana - Beef Island flight.
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San Juan, Puerto Rico:

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The GPS screen shot of Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport/Isla Grande Airport (TIJG) at San Juan:

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Still 'chasing' Jailbird & Indira to Beef Island:

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One of my favorite things to do when flying outside of the USA is to select 'Nearest Airports':

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The north side of Tortola, British Virgin Islands

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More of Tortola and other islands:

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Swinging around the south side of the airport for a WIDE right base to final, runway 7 (Beef Island, like Grand Turk, did NOT want two airplanes on final: Jailbird was on short, final at this time). Trellis Bay can be seen at the end of the runway:

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Two years in the planning and Tuppergal captured the 'money' shot for us:

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Taxiing into the ramp at Beef Island:

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Day 7: We are in the British Virgin Islands (more pics)

Line 'em up boys...we gotta' look good!

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Yes Dear...we are here...you can get out of the plane now!

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Good job leading Jailbird!

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L-R: Chris (Jailbird) & Indira Kleen, Andrew "Sharkbait" Brandt, Steph Hoke, Victoria (Tuppergal) Rosales, Me and Mike "Keys" Brewton

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Tuppergal filling out 'GenDecs':

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Smile Sharkbait!

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The Airport sign as we walked to Immigration and Customs, Foreign Arrivals door:

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After clearing into the country, it was a very short van-ride to Trellis Bay to catch the Ferry. Here's the sunset as we pulled away from the dock:

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A plane departs as we depart...

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The Ferry heads from Trellis Bay (where Beef Island airport is located) for Spanish Town at Virgin Gorda with the Tower in the background. Keys...I love you Man!

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We arrived to Virgin Gorda ~1900, had dinner ~2000, and called it a nice, long day at 2100.

Keep poundin' them rivets because it's ALL worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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Rosie, i guess mayaguez it is. It takes me a little longer to get there but no problem maaan! I dont know how many people that is. Is that 3 or 6? We can drive to my house and have something to eat. Check out the place and then I will get you guys back.
 
Xm weather

Does the XM weather not work down there? I notice no flags showing up on you GPS picture.

From Rosie: XM Weather does NOT work down here. We keep seeing "No XM Signal" but I was prepared for that and brought a nanopod :)
 
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Had a wonderful day today. I picked up Rosie, Victoria and keys at the FBO in Aguadilla. I sat outside the approach end of the runway and took a few pics of Rosie and keys landing. After a few minutes for customs, we drove to our home. On the way Rosie was hungry and wanted to eat so we stopped on the side of the road at my cousin's food stand. They had a traditional dish and we drove to our house. They met my family and I gave them a tour of our place. They left happy after trying some more traditional dishes. I dropped them off at the airport and they did an over fly above the coast line by our house.

It was awesome to have a bud met my family and hang out. RVs are AWESOME!

Rosie just called me and asked me to post. He made it to Tortola but missed the ferry by 3 minutes so he won't be home until after 10:30 (the next ferry). Sorry all, no pics. I have limited capabilities right now.

Hope everyone is having a great day.

From Rosie: Yes, a very long day...here's the summary of the today's (16 April) flight.

Many thanks to Daryl Tolliver (again) for this screenshot that shows all the WX detours we made. Ignore dots 1-6 as they are from the April 12th arrival :)


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Here's a 'cleaned' up version that shows today's routing: Beef Island (green dot - top right) to Anegada to Aguadilla to Vieques to Culebra to St. Croix back to Beef Island. The track above shows the detour we took to flyby Axel's grandparent's house (south of Aguadilla :)

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The pictures from this day of flying come up a bit later down this page...
 
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Days 8/9/10: Our three (full) days on Virgin Gorda

Hi to our RV Family of Friends!

I’m a bit late on these pictures as they come from before our day of flying around the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico but am FINALLY catching up!

For me, Key’s and Sharkbait, Days 7, 8 and 9 all started out the same with Jailbird dropping us off at Dive BVI at ~0845 to catch the 0900 dive boat. We had three days of EXCELLENT diving. Here are photos from Sharkbait's camera:

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Keys with his GoPro in hand:

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Here’s a picture taken by diver ‘Joe’ of me and Keys:

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Days 8/9/10: Our three (full) days on Virgin Gorda

To continue our days on Virgin Gorda:

Jailbird was back to the dive shop ~1300 to pick us up (in the Suburban we rented) and then we were off to lunch with the group. After lunch, we?d take a drive and check out the island.

Here?s Steph & Keys enjoying a beer!

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And check this out?..what are these symbols????!!?? Men?s room and Ladies room!

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Another day of diving?another beer for Keys!

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Savannah & Pond Bays

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Enjoying good times at Leverick Bay: Starting with me (clockwise), Keys, Sharkbait, Steph, Tuppergal, Indira and Jailbird:

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Yes Keys?that?s where we are?.Leverick Bay on Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands!

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And here?s Steph, playing ?Vanna White?

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So here?s a GREAT STORY for you?.Key?s sees this HUGE yacht moored on the end of the pier, and he tells me,
?I?m going walk over to that yacht, and I want you to take a picture of me on top!?

I say, "?..Yeah, right?.that?s NOT going to happen Keys"

And Jailbird says, ?I?ll take the picture!?

? Yeah, right?.that?s NOT going to happen Keys.

Here?s Key?s briefing Jailbird on how to use the camera?.he hasn?t even approached the yacht yet to ask!

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And, by golly....Keys walks up to the yacht....talks to one guy then another....I lose sight of him, then he appears...and then he yells down, "Take the picture!" That was COOL Keys!

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It really was a BIG yacht!

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Days 8/9/10: Our three (full) days on Virgin Gorda

In the picture above, note the sailboat that is directly opposite the yacht...the one with the tallest mast:

After taking the picture of Keys on the yacht, Jailbird, Keys & Indira made friends with the people on the sailboat and got a personal tour.....They were on the boat awhile so here's a picture of Chris & Indira (from a distance):

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And Keys (and have a beer while your there :)

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OK group, where to next?

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Let's get a sunset picture!

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Let's have dinner and a toast to being on "Island Time"! That's Steph at the end of the table, and to her left is the ONLY picture we have of Opie's wife, E-Stitch (Gail Dodson):


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A new day...how about a short walk (<5 min) to "The Baths" from Southern Gables.

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And another day comes to an end...(raw photo, not retouched)


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So that's how our days on Virgin Gorda went...diving...eating...driving...swimming...visiting...relaxing...and watching beautiful sunsets!

Keep poundin' them rivets because it's ALL worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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Day 11: An entire day of Island flying (read: Pins in the Map!)

Hi to our RV Family of Friends!

We’ve been having such a GREAT TIME here on Virgin Gorda that it’s REALLY easy to get behind!

It’s nearly midnight but wanted to get you caught up for Today’s flying (April 16th) which was a LOT OF FUN!

After three (3) full days of two-tank dives, I had always planned a day-off from diving timed to be the day before we leave the island (April 16th). Jailbird was a trooper and got up at 0415 to get Keys, Tuppergal and I to the ferry dock to catch the 0500 (o’dark hundred) “Speedy’s” Ferry to Trellis Bay. We arrived before 0530, and it’s maybe a five minute walk from the Trellis Ferry Dock to the Beef Island airport Terminal.

Once there, Keys/I pulled out our pilot’s license and passport then went to the ‘Departure’ gate where Security folks were yet accepting people to pass through (the commercial flight was not there yet).

We told the security people we needed to get to the General aviation ramp, showed our pilot licenses and passports, passed through the metal detector and then walked to our planes. I’ll bet money that people waiting around the terminal were wondering why we were so special. We arrived to the ramp to see Opie & e-Stitch’s plane parked with us to make five little planes! Opie had picked up his wife Gail (e-Stitch) in Puerto Rico who joined him on the trip. They stayed a couple of days visiting with friends then joined us.

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We started with a flight around the island of Virgin Gorda. Here are the boats moored at

We got the planes untied, ropes put away (left the ground stakes since we were coming back to Beef Island at the end of the day) and pulled the planes onto the paved ramp. We got to see a very nice sunrise.

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Yes Keys, you have time to clean your windscreen!

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The tower did not open until 0700, so a few minutes before, I called them and arranged a ‘tour of the BVI’ prior to departing to Anegada. “No problem!” they said and off we were.

Here’s the terminal building:

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And sailboats moored in Trellis Bay:

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We started with a flight around the island of Virgin Gorda. Here are the boats moored at “The Baths”:

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Here's the Virgin Gorda airport that runs right along the coastline...and it's open ONLY to twin-engine aircraft:

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Here's Saba Rock Resort, a rock's throw from the famous "Bitter End Yacht Club":

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...and Leverick Bay:

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Of course, a flyby of this Cruise Ship was warranted:

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Day 11: An entire day of Island flying (read: Pins in the Map!)

We continued on clockwise flying around the islands at <1000' as instructed by the tower...no problem here!

Can't think of the island but "HMS Rhone" was sunk right off this island:

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The 'Indians":

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Here's the 'West End' of Tortola:

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From here, we headed direct (21nm) to Anegada (TUPA) 'just because we could". Here I am chasing down Keys.

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Here we are on final and on the ramp at Anegada:

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Stewart and Damon were there and helped with our 'GenDecs' and landing fee. I later found out the Jailbird and Sharkbait gave them RV rides later in the day when they arrived to have lunch on Anegada:

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From Anegada, we were direct to St. Thomas (TIST) for fuel (and a pin in the map). Check out our 'loopy' ground track around the BVI that shows both my initial crosswind-to-downwind arrival to Beef Island and also the 360 degree turn I made around the 'Indians':

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Here's Cruz Bay on St. John. The St. Thomas Tower wanted us on the south side of the airport for a right downwind to the runway.

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Here's Charlotte Amalie Bay at St. Thomas:

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Day 11: An entire day of Island flying (read: Pins in the Map!)

Right downwind and base to final for Runway 10 Cyril E. King Airport, St. Thomas (TIST):

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After landing, we were directed to Gate 10 behind the terminal building to Customs. While in Customs, our planes were fueled.

No pictures while on the Customs ramp (obviously) there but here we are crossing the runway to the north side to taxi to the St. Thomas Jet Center to pay the fuel bill:

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Yes, we were there :)

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It was time to 'punch out' for Aguadilla to go visit we Axel so we were cleared back across the runway and taxi via Alpha to Runway 10:

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Charlotte Amalie (Bay) came into view moments after takeoff. Check out the Cruise Ships in-port:

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These views made possible by a climbing right turn to the downwind, generous donations from the 'Rosales sweat-equity account' with special consideration from Van's Aircraft:

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Time to head for Aguadilla (TJBQ) to see Axel and his family:

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Day 11: An entire day of Island flying (read: Pins in the Map!)

In this picture, you can see Culebra (TJCP) airport under Keys (we were to land here later today...):

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The flight to Aguadilla was less than an hour. The cloud build-ups were all over the island so we stayed on the north side for most all of the flight.

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It's always good to see your wingman out there.

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Inbound to Aguadilla, I asked Keys to take the lead so he could get some practice 'making decisions'. He's guiding me to the left downwind, and you are looking at the most northwest corner of Puerto Rico:

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This is left base to final turn, and convenient picture for the Tuppergal to take:

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I actually saw Axel waving at us on the approach end :) The tower allowed a formation landing, and we taxied to the Copeca FBO:

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Even though we cleared Customs at St. Thomas, Aguadilla Customs wanted to see us. I had called them prior to takeoff from St. Thomas just-in-case. Once inside Customs, they decided they did not need to see us. Ok, picture time while we are here:

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Here we are on the way home after stopping for a soda and the place we had a bite to eat (owned by a relative of Axel):

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Day 11: An entire day of Island flying (read: Pins in the Map!)

Here is the longtime family home of Axel's Grandparents. All I can say is....WOW!

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Axel and his Grandpa (who built everything you see...even the homes next door):

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Day 11: An entire day of Island flying (read: Pins in the Map!)

We were able to visit for about two hours then it was time to leave. We were trying to be back by 1700 to Beef Island to clear Customs back into the BVI and catch the 1800 Ferry from Trellis Bay to Virgin Gorda. Axel loaded us up, and on the way to the airport, stopped a bakery for some fresh (water) bread and turnillos.

After saying our goodbyes, we bought fuel then departed heading back to Axel's Grandparent's place. We got some great pics...of the wrong house! Oh Well, off to Vieques we went, and once again, could buildups

Here's our course northbound to the coast:

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...and then eastbound. You can see three tracks here: 1) From Punta Cana to Beef Island 2) From St. Thomas to Aguadilla and our last track flying to Vieques. The course to Vieques is actually about 30deg right turn but we could not go that way (dark clouds):

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We finally saw a more direct route to Vieques so we took it:

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Here are the pictures of the three remaining islands we landed on:

Vieques:

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Culebra:

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On final to St. Croix;

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Waiting for the fuel truck...

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...and back to Beef Island :)

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...and we still missed the Ferry...We landed behind a plane that had a 'jillion' people on it so there was no-way we'd get through the line and make the ferry. We waited about two hours and caught the next one...but we waited in Trellis Bay with food and drink!

Keep poundin' them rivets because it's ALL worth it! Rosie & Tuppergal
 
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