Hi Don,
Thanks for the 2 replies. It would be great to share any information, access to charts and experiences on clearances.
I suppose our initial attraction to the east coast route is driven by a number of considerations. These include the issue of a Cuba overflight, the complexities of taking in so many Central America states (Mexico, Honduras, Panama, etc) and the nature of the terrain around the entry airports in Colombia and Equador. The other is previous experiences in commercial flights in Peru and Chile. Much of the west coast that we have flown over is inhospitable and the airports are few and far between. For the northernmost 1000 miles or so of Chile, the desert and cliffs just tumble into the Pacific. It is beautiful but the cities are etched into the seashore. That said, the Pan-America highway is an almost continuous emergency landing strip.
Our instinct is to island hop down the east side. One reason is the current aeronautical data for the French islands and former French territories is readily available on line. I had been thinking of coasting in to South America just east of Venzuela airspace and landing in Rochambeau, the international airport of Guyane. If the final leg was Grenada to Rochambeau would be 742NM (Google calculation). This route passes virtually overhead both Georgetown and Paramaribo so there are diversion options. This link should take you to the full area and approach chart set (VFR/IFR) for Rochambeau
https://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv..._AD-2.SOCA.pdf and this one is the low level (FL195) airways chart.
https://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv...08_ENR-6.3.pdf It takes you all the way to Belem which is exactly 399NM further south-west.
Our aircraft choice is a lot to do with the local flying we'd like to do in Argentina and Chile. A lot of the strips the are "unimproved" and would not suit the SR20 I've flown for the last 5 years.
Hope we can stay in touch on this!
Dusty