Florida aircraft rental to Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico

[finallyflying]

Hey guys

Have just about given up searching

Does anyone know of a school/FBO etc. that will rent a C172 or similar, to fly from Florida, to the Bahamas, and on to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and maybe St Maarten in the Caribbean?

I have found a few that are happy with the Bahamas, but not further afield due to their insurance.

Can anyone help ??!! Would be greatly appreciated of course

Many thanks

[A330 Dreamer]

naples air centre seems to be located for typical trips like this.

if you google their website, hours building programmes they offer are typical things like 50 hrs return to L.A or 20 hours return up the eastern sea-board to NYC.

they offer C172

[finallyflying]

Thanks but it seems they dont.

More a question of insurance for most places I think, a lot will allow the Bahamas but not further afield.

So does anyone know of a school that definitely does allow trips to Dominican Republic etc. ??

[tbury1]

this is a long time coming but i have successfully hired an aircraft from Plus One Flyers at Montgomery Field, San Diego, California USA to fly to Antigua etc. their insurance covers the west indies and as long as you want a fair few hours they will cover any additional insurance costs. all the aircraft are individually owned so as long as you convince the owner that you are safe they will generally let their aircraft go anywhere.

[B2N2]

Very unlikely I'm afraid.
Insurance is the magic word, no insurance provided outside of the 48 states and the Bahama's.
You could try offering to pay the additional insurance but the insurance company might have additional pilot requirements such as CPL and IR.
Not outrageous since a "newish" Cessna 172R will have a replacement value of $150K-$200K.
If you have a long standing relation ship with an FBO or school they might be more willing to accommodate. It's a little hard to give somebody that you do not know (and trust) the keys to a $150K asset and say "see you in 4 weeks".
Over the last couple of years there have been several threads on Pprune by private owners offering their aircraft for rent in Florida.
Might be worth trying to dig those up.

Did you try Dean International (http://www.flymiami.com/index.html)

[SarahLovesSeaplanes]

I'm not sure if Seaplane Adventures is down in the Caribbean this time of year but if they are you can rent their 182 amphib.

www.SeaplaneAdventures.ca (http://www.seaplaneadventures.ca/)

[FREQUENTFLYER1234]

A friend of mine did that exact trip and rented a C172 from a school in Miami, I think it was at KTMB if I remember correctly. No problems with insurance etc and they only had about 100 hours each.

[winguru]

Im interested to make this flight

Anyone that meets the rental requirements wants to share with me...

regards

[CS-CCO]

I did that trip on a twin Turboprop 4 years ago and it seems like a hell of a stretch of water to do on a Single Engine...

Windguru, pls check your location spelling you got an extra "u" in there :ok:

[winguru]

Anyone with this idea ?

[BoeingMEL]

Things may be more relaxed these days (but I doubt it)... When you land back in Florida from Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Dom Republic etc... make sure that ALL your documentation is in order and prepare for immigration/security officials discharging their duties in an extremely vigilant manner! Good luck anyway. bm.

[overandout]

Suggest you Google Air Journey and speak to Thierry Pouille.
He has several recommendations as they do escorted journeys all over the world including lots to Bahamas and down to Central America

[newFE]

Anyone doing time building (or will go soon) at Dean intl or ADF airways or any other flight school please?

I need partner to do share time, also looking for a room.

thanks.

[Tinstaafl]

Why do you want a partner to share time? Except for a few exceptions, only the pilot flying can count the time towards meeting experience requirements. Two blokes tooling along in a C172 or whatever doesn't doesn't equate to an entry in each log book for the total airborne time.

Of course there's nothing wrong with two blokes taking turns flying, each logging their bit (but not the other's), and using the combined flight time to give an extended range for the journey. Can see a lot more of the country that way.

[baldypete]

hi ALL
yes this trip is possible and İ have done it three times. You can even get a permit to overfly Cuba to the Caymen İslands. Jamaica, Dominican,Peuto Rico, turks and Caıcos İnagua, Virgin İsles (Tortola is the best) San Maarten, and if you are up to it go do the rating in St. Barths. but not if your flying is not up to it. From there you can explore the Carrıbean and have a wondarful trip. Liferaft hire Bahamas cruise permit etc from Fort Pıerce Aırport on the way. Buy the Bahamas flight gude as a good resource. This is a fatastic trip and after doing this your flying will be 10 times better. Oh yes, Remember lots of carbon paper for filling out the Gen Decs and pay the money and appoınt an FBO at all your landing destinations, this will save you lots of time and hassle at the airports you land at. You will need a USA license and pass the US air law of course. You can do the US license as a type of add on to the British license. İts called a temporary Airmans certificate. Try Clearwater Airpark for the aircraft Hire. İt worked for me!!
Baldypete