Bahamas Island Hopping 2018

Radar Contact

Radar Contact

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2,305
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Illinois
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Kevin
I stole the idea from @Katamarino 's cool up north thread where he updated the legs of his journey.

This trip is not nearly of the same magnitude as his but I thought maybe some people might enjoy it if they've been considering flying to the Bahamas themselves. Instead of pictures, I'll update with the videos I made from the different legs of the trip.


Bahamas #1: Cross the Hurricane's Path
In this video we delayed our departure out of Chicago's ARR airport by a day due to Hurricane Michael as it was crossing through our path. We ended up departing VFR and remained above a solid layer with a slightly west course towards Alabama to stay on the back side of the weather. I had a couple options for fuel but ended up settling on Williston, Fl (X60) somewhere over Alabama. I wanted to make sure that I didn't land at an airport that lost power from the storm.



Bahamas #2: Q&A Session
I skipped this video here (to not bore you guys) as it just was us talking enroute answering some common questions that get posted to our channel.


Bahamas #3: Weather Delayed in Florida
In this video we simply go from our fuel stop at X60 over to Ft. Pierce (FPR). App Jet Center at FPR is a great place to stage out of as it is further north for us, very friendly and relatively cheap. We landed and topped the plane off, rented floatation gear and submitted our eAPIS for the journey out into the islands. Unfortunately we were pushed against time as customs on our first island closed at 6pm and there was a bad line of weather that was going to take us really far north to get around so we stayed the night in Ft. Pierce. Orlando Approach was nice enough to give us a Bravo clearance and we stayed VFR below the clouds with typical FL pop up storms in and around our route.



Bahamas #4: North Eleuthra/Spanish Wells
In this video we finally make it to our first island. There was an unusual front that stalled out between FL and the islands that had some convective weather associated with it. That combined with the lack of ADS-B weather/ATC/Wx reporting in the islands, I decided to stay VFR below the clouds. I made most of the trip around 1500 msl. I considered climbing above the clouds but being normally aspirated without O2, I didn't want to get caught without the ability to stay above the clouds to avoid the storms. Additionally, the island we were going to doesn't have instrument approaches and I wasn't sure we'd have a hole to descend through to get beneath. I actually enjoyed the trip down low as it made for a scenic flight.



More to follow as I finish editing the trip...
 
Kevin, didn’t realize you’re the famous, one-and-only, world-renowned “310 Pilot” of YouTube fame! :cool:
Well done - following y’all there.
Enjoy!
 
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Just watched the 4th one today...great job. Wow, not even 1500msl for part of the run!! I kept thinking at some time you'd pop up. And pretty cool you had radar contact that far down and out. Challengers land here at FCM...never seen one back taxi though :)
 
Nice job on all 4 videos. Just curious - why no life jackets on when over open water? Is it because you are flying a twin?
 
Radar Contact said:
In this video we simply go from our fuel stop at X60 over to Ft. Pierce (FPR). App Jet Center at FPR is a great place to stage out of as it is further north for us, very friendly and relatively cheap. We landed and topped the plane off, rented floatation gear and submitted our eAPIS for the journey out into the islands.
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I'm a big fan of App Jet Center and KFPR in general for going to the Bahamas - They have everything you need for that trip, including very reasonable raft rentals. Their customs office there is great when you return too.
 
Jumpmaster said:
Nice job on all 4 videos. Just curious - why no life jackets on when over open water? Is it because you are flying a twin?
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I guess it's just a personal decision. I rented the jackets and raft at FPR and had them readily available. In our twin we can easily maintain altitude of 6000-7000 on one engine and have pretty good climb on one down low. I guess I just think of a dual engine failure as almost not possible/likely with the exception of a fuel issue. We had lots of gas. Glad you enjoyed the videos!
 
Twin_Flyer said:
@Radar Contact, how about a pirep on where you stayed with cost...:yesnod:
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I'll try to post the first night here. The second night on Andros was from our mutual friend over at TTCF who has it listed their for other members. They asked that I not publish it to the world quite yet. I'll send you a PM if you're not sure who I'm talking about. They were both great and we'd go to them again. Congo Town may have been my favorite place I've ever been. :)
 
Bahamas #5: Congo Town, Andros Island!
In this video we head from North Eleuthera over to Congo Town on Andros Island. It was another VFR flight and I learned if you fly in the vicinity of Nassau they want you to be on a VFR flight plan...lesson learned. We started at 4500 but went down to 1800 as I wasn't sure how thick the cloud deck was ahead. Turned out we could have went above and descended later. Was really cool that a guy that watches our videos recognized us on the frequency and had us switch to a different frequency to talk for a bit. Aviation is a small world! The views of Andros Island are amazing and unfortunately the GoPro's can't capture it all. It was like flying in a painting. When we got to the airport it was a short walk to the house and we had the beach to ourselves. As far as we could see, we were the only people. It was the most peaceful and relaxing place I've ever been.

 
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After watching the video Andros will be my top pick. That’s what I think of when I think of a Bahamas trip.
 
Grum.Man said:
After watching the video Andros will be my top pick. That’s what I think of when I think of a Bahamas trip.
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Same here. You won't regret it. After Andros we went up to Treasure Cay and did the more touristy type place and while it was nice, I preferred off the beaten path.
 
Great video and so glad you liked the house! We have made a lot of improvements on it and it is slowly getting there. The wifi is still a problem. We were there last week and the telephone company said that we were a number one priority and would take care of it asap. That is island time for next month! Hope you can come back soon!
 
Radar Contact said:
Same here. You won't regret it. After Andros we went up to Treasure Cay and did the more touristy type place and while it was nice, I preferred off the beaten path.
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When you're flying that far to get there, it's worth it to have both experiences (touristy and relaxing alone). We swam with the dolphins in Freeport and then soaked up the sun on Long Island. Andros definitely looks like a good spot...
 
jeff Allen said:
Great video and so glad you liked the house! We have made a lot of improvements on it and it is slowly getting there. The wifi is still a problem. We were there last week and the telephone company said that we were a number one priority and would take care of it asap. That is island time for next month! Hope you can come back soon!
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Jeff, I didn't know you were over here as well or I would have thanked you here. Thanks again for the opportunity to stay in your house. It is honestly the most peaceful and relaxing place I have ever been. I can't wait to get back out there. Hopefully we can meet you guys out there next time. In reading about it leading up to our visit on TTCF I was curious but after seeing it, I completely understand why you guys bought it! While wifi is nice, I didn't mind at all. It was nice to escape from the rest of the world for a bit. Loved that when we turned the tv on Jaws was playing:)
 
Kevin, Great videos be they from Illinois or Bahamas! Question...seems like you are always hand-flying. Do you not use the autopilot? I particularly enjoyed (!) the video when you managed to break the glass on your HSI thus leading to the G5! Thanks for the great videos...and hopefully next year you can find a camping spot at KOSH :)
 
It would be nice if you can pass along the helpful tips you got from the guy that called on the radio.
 
CC268 said:
Livin the dream
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If you ever make it to the airlines, do yourself a favor. Never say that s---t in mixed company. Friends don't let friends go full retard.
:D:D:D
 
teejayevans said:
It would be nice if you can pass along the helpful tips you got from the guy that called on the radio.
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Lucky for you I wrote it all down. "Kevin your best bet is to come into *crackle hiss* and then I would head over to *scratchy hiss*. Whatever you do, don't miss coming by to *hiss hiss crackle*. It has the best *crackle hiss crackle scratchy hiss*."
 
hindsight2020 said:
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If you ever make it to the airlines, do yourself a favor. Never say that s---t in mixed company. Friends don't let friends go full retard.
:D:D:D
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Airlines? Ewwww! What do you think I'm some sort of a subhuman monster? Tell ya what, when your ready to get back into engineering, I'll put in a good word for ya. Might even be able to get you a nice three monitor setup. Those views though. :D

I live the dream every day.

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Bahamas #6: Treasure Cay

In this video we woke up and Jaime cooked breakfast which we enjoyed on Jeff's beautiful porch. We really hated to leave Congo Town but all good things come to an end. I filed the VFR flight plane with Nassau Flight Service over the phone (lesson learned) and we departed VFR for a flight above few clouds at 5500. It was smooth as glass and we got flight following from Nassau approach. Lucky for us we weren't landing Nassau as they closed the airport due to the tower not having A/C. Stuff like this is why you need extra gas in the tanks down in the Bahamas. We got a good shot of Disney's private island and landed at Treasure Cay to grab a taxi to our resort. This place is for people that are looking for a beautiful place that has a slightly more touristy feel but no where near the mega-resorts that the airliners fly direct to. I think to get the full experience of Treasure it would be nice to have a boat. Thinking we will rent one next time we go back.

 
Arrow76R said:
Kevin, Great videos be they from Illinois or Bahamas! Question...seems like you are always hand-flying. Do you not use the autopilot? I particularly enjoyed (!) the video when you managed to break the glass on your HSI thus leading to the G5! Thanks for the great videos...and hopefully next year you can find a camping spot at KOSH :)
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Glad you're enjoying them! My autopilot is the original one installed and while it worked great when I first bought the plane, it has developed a pitch problem that isn't very fun. I decided after much discussion on the Twin Cessna board that I wasn't going to sink a dime in this old thing. So yes, I've been exclusively hand flying as I not so patiently wait on my upgrade. I was just waiting to see what Dynon would ever do (considering they have a 310 on their SkyView brochure) and Garmin (as I'm already set up for the GFC500 with the G5's but they are leaning towards the GFC600 for twins). Genesys has just recently approved the STEC 3100 for 310's and am currently leaning in that direction. While I enjoy hand flying, I can't wait to get a fully functioning/capable new autopilot!!

At the time, I wasn't super excited about breaking my HSI but in hindsight, I'm glad I did. I love the dual G5 setup. :)
 
Thanks for the reply! Yes, I look forward to all of your videos. I follow your recent flights on my (bucket list) Bahama's Pilot's Guide and map, the same as you show in your video. Hopefully your trip back to Illinois was uneventful (you are back, right?). Understand about the autopilot. I am 99.9 % solo all the time so an autopilot in my Arrow was one of the first upgrades I did. Cheers!
 
Great video. Flying in the Bahamas is pretty easy once you figure out all of the smaller things that have to be considered like when customs is open and where to get fuel.

You mentioned Treasure being touristy and you are correct. Next time grab a boat and head over to one of the outer islands. There are just enough things to do over there and it is by no means touristy.

I purposely bought my plane to fly to/from the Bahamas without the need to refuel. I've got 7 trips planned for 2019 so far...

TRV, BERTH, MYAT is the usual route.
 
Holy cow, your Bahama trip ruined my life! I've sold my soul! I can't sleep at night :) I totally just stumbled on your YouTube video's 2 weeks ago and never even conceived of a vacation like that! We love the Bahama's and were just so used to Airlines and Cruise ships. Before this I was just a paraglider pilot. Now I've researched airports around me, pilot programs, talked to acquaintances who are pilots, joined forums "LOL", researched planes, and started a business on the side to supplement or replace my current income so that I can do this. My family and friends are almost as excited as me. So anyway, Thanks for taking the time to make and post such a neat video series!
 
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I have to believe there is not a lot if A&Ps in the Bahamas, I assume you have to fly a stateside A&P to the island to make repairs if necessary?
 
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