Post: #1

So, lets imagine that we could have a Small airplane (6 seat twin engine). Take off from ATL, and stop in MIA and fly down through the Caribbean stopping at every island of interest... Chasing tail. Im talking Bahama, DR, PR, Trinidad, Carasao, to Aruba. Then working our way in either direction down the coast of S.A. stopping at places like Caracus, Cartagena, Cali, Quito, down to B.A. , ect. Then we could take a cut back across to work the different places in Brazil all at our pace for a month. We would then return up through north Brazil and back up the Caribbean or Central America.(Either is possible)
Out of curiosity I have been looking into the possibility(regulations and Airspace nav systems ect.) and doing a mock flight plan for such.
I have been met people who have done thing like this, but in times where this was of no interest to me.
To have that freedom to check out anywhere, you wanted, at the pace you chose for a month or so...
#1 Would that opportunity be worth it to you for $6000?
#2 Where would you go Remember that you can stop anywhere u so choose in L.A and the Caribbean.
#3 How long would you stay in each place.

I may have an opportunity to so this... So I want the forums inputs, since we know why we are traveling.

Post: #2

Im getting that the price tag is $6000 per person?

Post: #3

Okay heres your problem, 1) pilot costs. 2) fuel costs... is it 6000 each only to rent the plane? Beyond that, what about landing fees and remember its not actually 6000 when you have to buy food, drinks, hotel rooms. Your talking about a 10k+ trip for 1 month. It's pretty uneconomical to be honest when you could get a round the world ticket for that price or even less.

So my answers are

#1 = no
#2 = LA, Scottsdale, Miami, New York City, Las Vegas, Grenada, Turtola, St Maarten (Surprised no one on the forum has posted about this place), DR( Santiago or Santo Domingo), Cuba (Havana), Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, Bahamas.
#3 = 2 days in American cities, 3 days in Caribbean cities

Post: #4

$6000 per person give or take $1000.

Post: #5

Are there 6 ppl going? The only way I'd see that working is with 6 ppl going, one of whom own the plane and knows how to fly. Is he fronting the plane/expereince and the others financing it? Do you fly?

Basically you're probably looking at $200-$250/hr, to travel at 167 mph. (http://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N8060M). I can't picture that price including a pilot, so what's the pilot's qualifications? Or is it just your buddy? Does he have his commericail Mulit-IFR? Flying across the jungles of Brazil isn't exactly the same as getting up for a Sunday afternoon. What the Maintenance history of the plane? It has all its checks and shots? Flying is serious business too, you don't want to be rolling out of bed after a bender having to fly. Surely that would put a damper on your partying?

Have you flown in small planes before? Commercial airlines travelling at 700mph between huge airports have given people the impression that distances are a lot smaller than they are. I met a guy who flew across Canada in a Cessna 170 (cruise 100kts, range maybe 500nm) and it took him a week vs 8 hours on a 737. Basically you're range, weather, airports that you'll be allowed to land at, and fuel availability will all dictate where and when you fly.

I got my VFR Private pilot's lisence when I was 17('01), got up a couple times after with friends, then didn't do it for 5 years, went up once in '06 to keep my license current, then let it lapse. It's great to get up for an afternoon, it's fun, the view is great, but beyond the novelty factoy, there isn't much of a practical factor. It's expensive ($150/hr to rent a 170), relitively spekaing it's slow, then you also need to worry about transport to/from the airport. A lot of these tiny airports wont have in-terminal Hertzs I'm sure.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, I'm not saying its impractical, I'm just saying there is probably a lot more to this that you have thought about. If you could do any city you wanted between south US and Brazil, for only 6k, all expenses in, then yes that isn't a horrible deal, espeically with the freedom and pussy pullying factor your own plane would afford you. But I don't know if that is a relaistic price.

Post: #6

(12-16-2012 12:45 AM)lavidaloca Wrote:  Okay heres your problem, 1) pilot costs. 2) fuel costs... is it 6000 each only to rent the plane? Beyond that, what about landing fees and remember its not actually 6000 when you have to buy food, drinks, hotel rooms. Your talking about a 10k+ trip for 1 month. It's pretty uneconomical to be honest when you could get a round the world ticket for that price or even less.

So my answers are

#1 = no
#2 = LA, Scottsdale, Miami, New York City, Las Vegas, Grenada, Turtola, St Maarten (Surprised no one on the forum has posted about this place), DR( Santiago or Santo Domingo), Cuba (Havana), Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, Bahamas.
#3 = 2 days in American cities, 3 days in Caribbean cities

Not to hijack this thread but have you been to St. Maarten? If so, please drop a data sheet or pm me. I'm looking to hit a Carib island before March.

Post: #7

Is the last stop in the Bermuda Triangle?

Post: #8

Hencredible, I've been but we are talking 8 or 9 years ago when I was a teenager. I wasn't going out or anything of that sort at that time. I just recall the beauty of the island and the nice architecture of the homes. It was also very wealthy on the one side of the island. (Theres a dutch and french side if I recall correctly).

Post: #9

I was thinking about going there and for thanksgiving. I could do a full Dash Global style data sheet on St/ Martin down to the best scooter rental places if you like but never been there.

Post: #10

(12-16-2012 08:52 AM)Seadog Wrote:  Are there 6 ppl going? The only way I'd see that working is with 6 ppl going, one of whom own the plane and knows how to fly. Is he fronting the plane/experience and the others financing it? Do you fly?

Basically you're probably looking at $200-$250/hr, to travel at 167 mph. (http://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N8060M). I can't picture that price including a pilot, so what's the pilot's qualifications? Or is it just your buddy? Does he have his commercial Mulit-IFR? Flying across the jungles of Brazil isn't exactly the same as getting up for a Sunday afternoon. What the Maintenance history of the plane? It has all its checks and shots? Flying is serious business too, you don't want to be rolling out of bed after a bender having to fly. Surely that would put a damper on your partying?

Have you flown in small planes before? Commercial airlines traveling at 700mph between huge airports have given people the impression that distances are a lot smaller than they are. I met a guy who flew across Canada in a Cessna 170 (cruise 100kts, range maybe 500nm) and it took him a week vs 8 hours on a 737. Basically you're range, weather, airports that you'll be allowed to land at, and fuel availability will all dictate where and when you fly.

I got my VFR Private pilot's lisence when I was 17('01), got up a couple times after with friends, then didn't do it for 5 years, went up once in '06 to keep my license current, then let it lapse. It's great to get up for an afternoon, it's fun, the view is great, but beyond the novelty factoy, there isn't much of a practical factor. It's expensive ($150/hr to rent a 170), relitively spekaing it's slow, then you also need to worry about transport to/from the airport. A lot of these tiny airports wont have in-terminal Hertzs I'm sure.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea, I'm not saying its impractical, I'm just saying there is probably a lot more to this that you have thought about. If you could do any city you wanted between south US and Brazil, for only 6k, all expenses in, then yes that isn't a horrible deal, espeically with the freedom and pussy pullying factor your own plane would afford you. But I don't know if that is a relaistic price.

Hey,

Actually 3 of us are CFI's/Commercial pilots and two with military experience. One of the guys(the owners we are only paying for fuel and a his next 100hr inspection, much cheaper than a rental) and has twice down a trip down Around South America. We aren't planing on flying through the Amazon, because of lack of 100LL and serviceable airports. That's why its flown down the coastal area in the direction I described. It impractical depending on what you value in you trip. If you have 3 months and you can go to places really off the beaten path, and hit 20-30 cities for $4000 to $6000. For example, if we took a trip just from DR to PR, it would cost between $200-$300 per person and we plan on stopping maybe at 6-10 places in the caribe only. I cant see it NOT being practical. I simply cant think of a more practical way besides car, which wont work in the caribe and many places in SA, being that the Highway systems aren't connected in many places. This renders many of these places undrivable, in a car. But don't worry we are all very proficient in Flight planning, just because I didn't write it doesn't mean we didn't consider it.. We are pilots not just random guys off the street.
(I got my Ppl at 17 also BTW... I have a CFI now )

Putting in $6000, we can Literally stop at every location mentioned on this forum in C.A., S.A, and The Caribe. I'm talking 30 or more places. We are not interested in any place in the states unless its on the way.

I broke out a WAS(World Aero Chart) and used a planning software and none of our legs are more than 1-2 hours a leg at 200KTs.(Though he has fuel mods on his plane Our trip wont be limited to a month, its just a random time frame for you guys to think about when giving your opinion. There are plenty of GA pilots flying around the Caribe and S.A. so there are facilities, you just have to plan your trip around them and call in advance. Thanks for you guys input.

Post: #11

(12-16-2012 12:45 AM)lavidaloca Wrote:  Okay heres your problem, 1) pilot costs. 2) fuel costs... is it 6000 each only to rent the plane? Beyond that, what about landing fees and remember its not actually 6000 when you have to buy food, drinks, hotel rooms. Your talking about a 10k+ trip for 1 month. It's pretty uneconomical to be honest when you could get a round the world ticket for that price or even less.

So my answers are

#1 = no
#2 = LA, Scottsdale, Miami, New York City, Las Vegas, Grenada, Turtola, St Maarten (Surprised no one on the forum has posted about this place), DR( Santiago or Santo Domingo), Cuba (Havana), Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, Bahamas.
#3 = 2 days in American cities, 3 days in Caribbean cities

The one month thing is just for people to get there wheels spinning... I would take alot longer.

Also, You gonna be eating and staying somewhere if your traveling or not, so I dont use that, to make my decisions unless its a ridiculously expensive city. Otherwise we would all just stay home.

For landing permits and things you use handlers and need to have this all squared away before takeoff.

AS for the round the world ticket, those are two completely different experiences. That like me comparing my experience on a Carnival Cruise, to my experience with 4 of my cousins jetting around Vieques and PR in a speed boat. But, my question is would a WAC ticket allow you to go into like 30 cities, including of the beaten path type stuff. Specifically L.A. and the caribe.

I'm talking more Caribe, Central, South America. I lived in the States 3/4 of my life so we are going straight down to Miami and out.

Post: #12

OK, Quite honestly if I was in your situation and had that cash lying around I'd probably go for it. Reminds me of that joke "How do you end up as a rich pilot? Start off as a very rich student"

I also feel like I owe you a bit of an apology, because I honestly didn't expect you guys to have your shit together to that extent. I was picturing more a starving pilot who had a plane and was trying to get non-flying freinds to finance his trip/hours under an overly-optimal pricing scenario.

I wanted to do something similar via sailboat(or plane ), have done recreational sailing, and thought it would always be cool to cruise the islands, but again a world of difference between going out for a Sunday afternoon and blue water sailing for a week straight. The more and more I looked into it, the more and more I got overwhelmed with the details and extra unexpected costs.

Really though if you can spare the money and the time, now is when to do it. Trip of a life time, with the means of travel of a life time. You have people to travel with, who are also pilots, who are down for a good time, and have essentailly a free twin at your fingertips.... haha. If I had the time and i'd be begging for a seat.

Post: #13

To answer your other questions, Costa Rica for sure. If you like outdoorsy stuff it is probably the best country in the Americas for it. Picture like the US compressed. It has all the eco systems of a continent squeezed into a few hundred km. Tamarindo, spent 6 days there. Great place, has a small airport, popular with expats and surfers so has sort of the best of both worlds. Arenal has a cool volcano, lots of nature stuff, hot springs, zip lines, canopy bridges. Recommended.

Most cities along either coast of Mexico. I'd avoid Cancun, Playa del Carmen is great but I haven't been there in 4 years and I hear its getting worse, Tulum is supposed to be great, up and coming, a couple mexican friends just bought property there. they have an airport there and a new int'l one opening soon. Great if you like diving. Cenotes which are underground holes. Almost like cave diving.

Roatan in Hondoras. Also amazing diving there. The San Blas Islands as a whole are worth a visit. Haven't been there personally but heard good things first hand. If it's not too out of your way to fly into Cusco, Peru I'd suggest it. Spend a week there, a couple days getting aclimatized(11k ASL), do a 2-4 trekking trip which ends with Machu Picchu. One of the best trips of my life, and the women there are super slutty. Only time in my life I went 3/3 nights in a row.

Galapagos Islands for sure too, and Easter Island if it's within the range of the plane. I'd say Galapagos over Easter for interest, but it would be cool to say you took your own plane on a whim to one of the most remote places in the world to see some head statues...

All of a sudden I'm excited about this trip for you. Keep us updated....

Post: #14

I think most of you don't realize how tiring it is to travel high speed meaning staying for a short time everywhere. You mentally crash and burn soon. I traveled around the world in high speed for nearly 3 years as a backpacker but every once in a while i took a break and stayed a bit longer in a city where I liked it.

Doing like 15 cities in a month sounds like crazy to me especially if you want to go out every night and that means sleeping on a noisy 6 seater airplane for most of the time while having a hangover. Even if the pilot takes care of everything concerning flightplan/fees/rights you still have to bother with you're own logistics to and from the airports/hotels/clubs and passport and check in formalities at every airport.

And there's still all this:

- All your lays have to be SNL's since you don't have much time to date.
- Think about 6 guys with a hangover in a small plane for 30 days, arguments will start within a few days already and never be solved because aggravation will only grow the longer the trip takes. Especially with all the alpha top dog behavior we like to display.
- think about going out with the same guys for a month.
- being sick and/or food poisoning.

I can probably come up with more if I take more time to think about it.
I'm not saying it can't work but I would advice to think it over for a long time and keep the distances short. For example an Caribbean tour or central america tour/ parts of South America. You have no idea how big the distances literally are in the America's.

Post: #15

(12-16-2012 07:53 PM)Seadog Wrote:  To answer your other questions, Costa Rica for sure. If you like outdoorsy stuff it is probably the best country in the Americas for it. Picture like the US compressed. It has all the eco systems of a continent squeezed into a few hundred km. Tamarindo, spent 6 days there. Great place, has a small airport, popular with expats and surfers so has sort of the best of both worlds. Arenal has a cool volcano, lots of nature stuff, hot springs, zip lines, canopy bridges. Recommended.

Most cities along either coast of Mexico. I'd avoid Cancun, Playa del Carmen is great but I haven't been there in 4 years and I hear its getting worse, Tulum is supposed to be great, up and coming, a couple mexican friends just bought property there. they have an airport there and a new int'l one opening soon. Great if you like diving. Cenotes which are underground holes. Almost like cave diving.

Roatan in Hondoras. Also amazing diving there. The San Blas Islands as a whole are worth a visit. Haven't been there personally but heard good things first hand. If it's not too out of your way to fly into Cusco, Peru I'd suggest it. Spend a week there, a couple days getting aclimatized(11k ASL), do a 2-4 trekking trip which ends with Machu Picchu. One of the best trips of my life, and the women there are super slutty. Only time in my life I went 3/3 nights in a row.

Galapagos Islands for sure too, and Easter Island if it's within the range of the plane. I'd say Galapagos over Easter for interest, but it would be cool to say you took your own plane on a whim to one of the most remote places in the world to see some head statues...

All of a sudden I'm excited about this trip for you. Keep us updated....

Yeah I keep meeting guys who sailed down the Caribe. I would imagine that would be way harder than flying. Mostly because I dont know enough about it...lol

THis is something that we would do mid to late 2013... because work commitments. Probably only take 4 guys for comfort room. But all the G.A. guys I know just fly around the caribe, beside this one old cat. Before talking to him, I never even considered it. im gonna start seeking out more guys who actually went into SA after going down thru the Caribe. The more intel the better. I cant imagine how fun this would be. I did a similar thing when I was building time for my commercial. Took like 3 weeks and just went up and down the east coast(N.Y. down to the keys) and around the gulf coast. In a 172SP. I stopped everywhere and stayed with buddies, family ect. Its really cool.

But the best part was, it was AT MY PACE. I loved it.

Post: #16

(12-16-2012 07:53 PM)Seadog Wrote:  To answer your other questions, Costa Rica for sure. If you like outdoorsy stuff it is probably the best country in the Americas for it. Picture like the US compressed. It has all the eco systems of a continent squeezed into a few hundred km. Tamarindo, spent 6 days there. Great place, has a small airport, popular with expats and surfers so has sort of the best of both worlds. Arenal has a cool volcano, lots of nature stuff, hot springs, zip lines, canopy bridges. Recommended.

Most cities along either coast of Mexico. I'd avoid Cancun, Playa del Carmen is great but I haven't been there in 4 years and I hear its getting worse, Tulum is supposed to be great, up and coming, a couple mexican friends just bought property there. they have an airport there and a new int'l one opening soon. Great if you like diving. Cenotes which are underground holes. Almost like cave diving.

Roatan in Hondoras. Also amazing diving there. The San Blas Islands as a whole are worth a visit. Haven't been there personally but heard good things first hand. If it's not too out of your way to fly into Cusco, Peru I'd suggest it. Spend a week there, a couple days getting aclimatized(11k ASL), do a 2-4 trekking trip which ends with Machu Picchu. One of the best trips of my life, and the women there are super slutty. Only time in my life I went 3/3 nights in a row.

Galapagos Islands for sure too, and Easter Island if it's within the range of the plane. I'd say Galapagos over Easter for interest, but it would be cool to say you took your own plane on a whim to one of the most remote places in the world to see some head statues...

All of a sudden I'm excited about this trip for you. Keep us updated....

EASTER ISLAND??? what kind of plane you got? i am in if you can go there with your plane.

Post: #17

LOL... I wasnt exactly offering rides... I was asking for advice on destinations and input, on would it be worth it to guys on the forum.
But, I will keep u guys up dated on the situation.