Pole to Pole! pt. 4

[Staiduk]

Part 3 is here.

Day 21

Let me tell you; if there is one thing you don't want to do in the Dominican; it's this: leave.

This is heaven on Earth - a true paradise. Relaxing on the beach; sipping margueritas; listening to the wind in the coconut trees - then warm evenings filled with drink, dancing and partying.
Compare it to - say - perching on an uncomfortable cracked leather seat, in an unconditioned oven of a cockpit, squinting around the blinding sun while fighting chop amid the deafening roar and vibration... Hell; a few more bucks; I'd throw the whole challenge right here.

BUT - I've got a mission to fulfill. I've got to stop here on my way back; maybe I'll stay once I return. Who knows? An independant charter service with a Dakota might be lucrative around here - AQV's certainly bright enough for the locale.

I put off leaving until the very last minute. Tanning until noon; then packing and taking my things out to the airport and loading up the DC-3. I checked the bird over; did engine and fluid tests and signed her off by 3pm; just in time to head back to the beach resorts for an early meal; a long, refreshing cigar and cool drinks in the shade of a coconut grove. I built up considerable inertia there - I did not want to move.
Finally; I simply had to go; so a last round of goodbyes; the cab ride back to the airport; then walkaround and startup by 10:15 pm. Weather was good; and my destination - San Juan, Puerto Rico - has a VOR; so I felt comfortable flying at night over unfamiliar territory.
I went wheels up at 10:25 into the cool, clear air; heading straight for a brilliant moon.

...and smack into a faceful of chop heavy enough to overload the autopilot.

Sheesh - I never shoulda left that hammock.  ::)

An hour and a half and a bloody sore wrist later; I came within sight of San Juan. The city's a lot bigger than you'd expect - its lights are visible from over a hundred miles out. Not wanting to deal with the hassle of landing at San Juan International; I landed at the smaller and much prettier municipal field; 'Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci' - the name's bigger than the airport!

Landing at San Juan


Bedtime - San Juan's supposed to be pretty nice; I should get some shopping in before leaving tomorrow - but if I want to hit the mainland by Friday (my goal); I'd better get a move on.

Cheers!

[ozzy72]

Which water effect are you using? 'Cos it looks stupendous

[jrpilot]

Great shoot

[jordonj]

Great writing too!

[lemoncat]

lovely stuff keep em rolling

[Staiduk]

Thanx all - Ozzy; the water I'm using is Bill Lyons' stuff - I picked it up after Washington when I saw everyone else's great water shots.
Just heading out to the airport - Talk to ya in a couple of hours!

[jordonj]

I have a question for you Staiduk...here.

[ludo62]

Great storyline and pics , keep em commin'

[Staiduk]

I have a question for you Staiduk...here.

Oh; that's easy to answer - I'll put it up on your thread.

[Staiduk]

Day 22

Halfway through the Carribean; more or less; and the last of the big islands. From here; everything is the smaller Windward Isles along which pirates marauded 200 years ago.

I took off from San Juan into a glorious, clear day. C-GAQV has enough range to fly the rest of the Carribean; but with tiny islands surrounded by endless stretches of water; taking chances is not a good idea.



While there are many airfields in the islands; few actually have refuelling facilities. Only the international airports - and not all of them - have pumps.
So the trick is to fly cautious; stopping to get fuel much sooner than you ordinarily might. I also decided to fly much higher than usual - 12,000ft. Should anything happen; this gives me a much better glide range as well.
I flew at about 115deg. to St. Maartens; then turned 150 for Nevis Island. My fuel stop was to be V.C. Bird Intl., a bit more east; but I preferred to keep land under me as much as possible; using St. Kitts and Nevis as references to turn for Antigua.


Passing over St. Maartens.


Approaching V.C. Bird Intl.


After quickly refuelling both the plane and my stomach; it was back into the air again; steering 170 for the end of the island chain, Grenada.

Crossing the vast, sapphire expanse.


A long, comfortable cruise later; Grenada was just coming into sight. I established the descent and was down quite a bit when I noticed something odd and went manual - yep; the old girl is showing her age again.

Hmmm - what's wrong with this picture?


Oy - there goes the pitot static system. No real worry; landing this thing isn't much more than "Throttle off/steer"; but it's annoying nonetheless - instead of relaxing with a nice meal and cigar; I'm going to have to crawl around finding the blockage. Hopefully; the static port's just plugged, so I won't be too long - that's the most common cause of a P/S failure I know of; and easily fixed. Hopefully; I can still make the mainland by morning.


Part 5 is here.