Cessna/Piper Rental Barbados

[Straighten Up]

Hello, interested in any recent information on anyone offering 152/172/pa28 for rental in Barbados. I'll be there at the end of the month and would love to get some time in the air. Old (c.2011) posts referred to Coconut Airways but I've not received a response from emails sent to them. Many thanks in advance.

SU

[Straighten Up]

Destination has changed to St Kitts now, if that helps......I'm guessing smaller airport/island so probably not but any suggestions appreciated.

[dont overfil]

Hello, interested in any recent information on anyone offering 152/172/pa28 for rental in Barbados. I'll be there at the end of the month and would love to get some time in the air. Old (c.2011) posts referred to Coconut Airways but I've not received a response from emails sent to them. Many thanks in advance.

SU
I'm also curious about availability in Barbados. Maybe posting this in general aviation will bring a response. I reckon 20 minutes in the air should cover most of the island.

[LimaFoxTango]

No aircraft rental in St. Kitts. For Barbados, try to contact the Barbados Light Aeroplane Club (BLAC)

[M-ONGO]

There's a guy on pprune called Ebbie that posts in private flying. He owns and rents a PA28-161 out of BGI.

[dont overfil]

Thttp://mytrip.goingbarbados.com/en/barbados/attractions/adventure/barbados-light-aeroplane-club/113145
Thanks.
I've found details of the aero club.

[Ebbie 2003]

Hello one and all - I am the Ebbie guy - my airplane has been in the US since summer 2014 - I am planning to fly it back down to Barbados in a month's time when the weather clears a little.

It has been a saga and now battered old N75276 is the most expensive PS28-181 having had US$100,000+ spent on it - looks shiny now but the lesson learned never get more than a new miles away from your airplane when it's being worked on, trust no one and never, ever hire a US lawyer!

Plan to fly down - weather permitting around the 19th December if anyone fancies some scary single engine VFR.

[Ebbie 2003]

Update on Barbados - there are a few single engine airplanes here now - a 152 (Barbados Reg), a 172 SP (Barbados reg), a PA32 (Cherokee Six - US reg) and soon my PA28-181 (US reg) will be back.

To fly Barbados registered airplanes solo one can do so in Barbados airspace on any ICAO licence (so UK, US, EASA etc), but to fly solo to other islands one needs a Barbados license (on the 2 of 3 rule); US registered airplanes one needs to have a US license (although with a Barbados license one can fly in Barbados airspace - the 2 out of 3 rule again) - with a UK, EASA etc one can get a piggy-back FAA licence that is good while your original licence is valid (there are threads about getting one on here).

The cost tends to be US$200-300 per tacho hour (reflecting the cost of 100LL and the low usage on the airplanes), an hour gets one to Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, St. Lucia so a couple of hours for a trip. There are no landing fees in Barbados - so one can have fun flying circuits with the big Airbuses and Boeings (real wake avoidance!) landing fees and other levies are payable at other airports in the region. Most flights require a check out - a good thing for the local procedures and the comfort of having an instructor along while one attunes to the accent on the RT - a instructor will run about US$35-45 per hour and a check out normally takes maybe 30-45 minutes.

[TRPGpilot]

I have contacted BLAC their FB page but am waiting for a response. How is the experience of dealing with/ flying with them?

[dont overfil]

I phoned when I arrived and booked a couple of days in advance.
Met the instructor/examiner who I believe was part time and flew round the island in a very nice Cessna 172SP.
The club appeared to be quite active with a nice clubhouse and a choice of aircraft.
It was a good experience!

[TRPGpilot]

What rates were you quoted for a C172 with an instructor? I cant seem to find any prices published anywhere online which is a big red flag for me. BBD$700.00 (£281.00, USD$350.00) per Hobbs hour was what I was told, but that cant be right! Maybe that's the "tourist" price? :-)

[dont overfil]

That sounds about right.
I don't have the paperwork to hand but I think around 220usd for 40 minutes.
Balanced out by the price of rum.;)

[TRPGpilot]

In the end, It was a waste of time. "the Credit card machine was locked away as the admin girl does not work on Saturdays" was the reply I got when I wanted to fly on Saturday morning. I surely was not going out of my way to find an ATM to withdraw cash. Who walks around with a wad of cash in their pockets in 2017 unless they are some drug dealer? No published prices anywhere online either. I gave it a pass.