General Aviation in Costa Rica?

J

JOhnH

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Is there any?

Leslie wants to rent a place for a few months in Costa Rica. We'd love to take the Bonanza but we are not thrilled about flying through Mexico.

Is there such a thing as GA in Costa Rica? My Google foo isn't working. When I search for "general aviation" or "private airplanes" or various other combinations, all I come up with are private charter services.

If GA exists down there, then I would look for a ferry pilot familiar with the region to take the Bo from the US (Texas?) down there and buy him/her a commercial flight back. Actually, we could probably stage the plane anywhere a ferry pilot wanted, as long as we could fly commercial from there. But I can't find much about GA in CR. Are there FBOs there? Repair facilities available?

It would suit me just fine if we couldn't take our plane. I can foresee all sorts of problems. But it would be fun.
 
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GA does (or did) exist there a number of years ago when I was down there. I saw a few GA types and was fascinated by a strip right on the beach (near where I was) where someone based a Grumman Tiger.
 
Pilawt said:
I believe we have a member here from Costa Rica, and who flies a TI- registered 182. Paging @motoadve
Click to expand...

Its the same guy who posts a lot of great youtube videos on backcountry flying. He seems to be going back and forth between US and Costa Rica.
 
I flew the MU-2 to Costa Rica twice, also took the 310 to Belize once so similar trip. As far as flying in and out goes, there is definitely GA. If you've never done international flying, it is an adventure, and I think it's fun the first time. Mexico, if you're going from Florida, really isn't a big deal. Go from Key West to Cozumel (you're never all that far from land), and then from Cozumel down to Costa Rica. There are handlers who can do all the work for you and make it pretty simple and straightforward. Of course even then it's a pain, but like I said, to do once it's an adventure.

Once you're in Costa Rica, the country really isn't very large. I'm not sure what kind of flying you're wanting to do while down there and that may mean the Bonanza just isn't the right fit anyway. I didn't do any local flying so I'm not sure what you'd need there (I just flew in and flew out).

Basically I can't offer advice on the flying in Costa Rica, but the in-out I've done before and I can say that's not bad. In fact, Belize is also a nice fuel stop on the way down to Costa Rica instead of Cozumel if your Bonanza has the range to do so comfortably.
 
I flew to Costa Rica for a friend's wedding. We were in Philly at the time, so we did the Key West -> Grand Cayman -> Costa Rica route. It was a lot of fun and very interesting. There are a fair number of runways there and GA is alive (although IIRC you're better off with no wheel pants and high wings at many airports). We flew in a gyroplane while we were down there, and I don't think there were any restrictions/flight plan requirements, etc. after clearing customs. Of course, this was like 10+ yeas ago so things may have changed. I would check out the AOPA link above to get more info!
 
JOhnH said:
Is there any?

Leslie wants to rent a place for a few months in Costa Rica. We'd love to take the Bonanza but we are not thrilled about flying through Mexico.

Is there such a thing as GA in Costa Rica? My Google foo isn't working. When I search for "general aviation" or "private airplanes" or various other combinations, all I come up with are private charter services.

If GA exists down there, then I would look for a ferry pilot familiar with the region to take the Bo from the US (Texas?) down there and buy him/her a commercial flight back. Actually, we could probably stage the plane anywhere a ferry pilot wanted, as long as we could fly commercial from there. But I can't find much about GA in CR. Are there FBOs there? Repair facilities available?

It would suit me just fine if we couldn't take our plane. I can foresee all sorts of problems. But it would be fun.
Click to expand...

Flying in Costa Rica is really beautiful, although the country is small, you have a lot of variety, 2 coasts, mountains, volcanoes, national parks, beaches, lots to do and visit, country is safe and friendly,totally worth bringing the plane down, I know a ferry pilot that does the trip all the time bringing and taking planes to Costa Rica, send me a PM if you are interested.
I
 
Hi,

I saw your post about knowing a ferry pilot to Costa Rica...I'm trying to plan a trip there this December flying my Turbo twin Aztec...can you reach out to me to discuss the details as I could use a copilot on my first flight there and I'm trying to learn the in's and out's of being able to fly there.

Thanks much,

Joe

PS. My number is 919-349-7028. Same for WhatsApp if you use that too.
 
Hi,

I live in Costa Rica and have decided to get my Pilots license in my home country, the U.K., then to have a plane and fly based in CR.

I wondered if anyone who has had experience in Costa Rica is aware of anywhere in Guanacaste that provides hangarage and ideally rentals? I’m aware there are some GA facilities at Liberia but I get the feeling that’s not going to be suitable for a permanent base, and it’s a little too far north for me to want to use regularly.

Struggling to find much information at the moment outside of GMA
 
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