Ferry flights
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Ferry flights
I may be doing a ferry flight from Florida to Brazil soon and was wondering if anyone can give me some insight.
I've done a bit of a search and found a few bits of good info but I was wanting some more detailed stuff from someone who may have actually done it.
There will be a Portuguese speaking co-pilot so language shouldn't be a problem.
Anything would help.
Cheers in advance,
P.S. Good luck Heliport. Nice job
I've done a bit of a search and found a few bits of good info but I was wanting some more detailed stuff from someone who may have actually done it.
There will be a Portuguese speaking co-pilot so language shouldn't be a problem.
Anything would help.
Cheers in advance,
P.S. Good luck Heliport. Nice job
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You don't really need a Portuguese copilot, as Brazil is the last stop, most people at airports speak English . . . .
but before that you are going thru at least 6 Spanish speaking countries, for starters I suggest you get a Latin America Jeppessen manual and look at the entry and flyover requirements of each country, I know the Jeppessen manual is for IFR but the requirements are the same for VFR flights.
For frequencies on all the mentioned countries, get a Jeppessen IFR chart, it will come really handy, for VFR navigation, there are no sectional charts, at least none less than 10 years old available, the best ones are the ONC navigational charts, although they are huge, get a Garmin GPS and up date the database, it will help.
(Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and finally Brazil)
but before that you are going thru at least 6 Spanish speaking countries, for starters I suggest you get a Latin America Jeppessen manual and look at the entry and flyover requirements of each country, I know the Jeppessen manual is for IFR but the requirements are the same for VFR flights.
For frequencies on all the mentioned countries, get a Jeppessen IFR chart, it will come really handy, for VFR navigation, there are no sectional charts, at least none less than 10 years old available, the best ones are the ONC navigational charts, although they are huge, get a Garmin GPS and up date the database, it will help.
(Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and finally Brazil)
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Blenderpilot is right. I've done the South America to Canada thing several times in the past. Jeppesen has all the info you need. Contact them and purchase a Trip Kit. That will include all the information that you could ever want or need.
P.S. Take extra cash for those "extra" fees.
P.S. Take extra cash for those "extra" fees.
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I can't enlighten you on what happens when you get to South America as I've never gone past Venezuela but if you're taking the Caribbean route, the 'Bahamas and Caribbean Pilot's Guide' is a great resource.
(see: http://http://www.sportys.com/acb/sh...Product_ID=876)
Having two things on me at each stop really helped me along on the few ferry flight's I've done through there:
1. Lots of US dollars in small denominations to pay various fees for various 'services' rendered. Almost everybody south of the Bahamas will want cash and nobody will have the correct change. By the way, these are not bribes -the invariably friendly locals will happily write you out a receipt for every dollar spent.
2. Lots of General Declaration forms -everybody will want one and nobody will have a blank form handy.
(see: http://http://www.sportys.com/acb/sh...Product_ID=876)
Having two things on me at each stop really helped me along on the few ferry flight's I've done through there:
1. Lots of US dollars in small denominations to pay various fees for various 'services' rendered. Almost everybody south of the Bahamas will want cash and nobody will have the correct change. By the way, these are not bribes -the invariably friendly locals will happily write you out a receipt for every dollar spent.
2. Lots of General Declaration forms -everybody will want one and nobody will have a blank form handy.
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Just got back from a Halifax to Azerbaijan so can't comment on the Carribean but the Jepp Trip Kit was what we used. The ONC charts are useful but don't include any frequencies. The only thing that would have been nice to have would be the VFR info for the airports as our trip kit only included airports with IFR approaches. Make sure you bring a little more cash than you expect to use. If you're using a fuel card, call ahead to see where it's accepted as this seemed to change randomly throughout our trip. The biggest help was what we got from the local authorities. A visit to the control towers quickly helped solved any issues we had due to local differences. Again this was mostly through Europe so I can't comment on the Carribean - South America experience.
Have Fun!
Have Fun!
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If you are using contract fuel at your fuel stops, ALWAYS have a copy of the fuel release to give to the fueler. They never seem to have been told of it, when you get there. Makes things go much smoother. Also for a trip like that a hand held GPS as a backup is nice to have.
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Almost forgot. I strongly suggest that both pilots wear uniform shirts with gold stripes. And both pilots have Captain stripes. South of the US Border, that will make things happen much quicker. I know it sounds like an airplane thing, but is based on personal experience.
Having a co-pilot that speaks Portuguese will help. While English is spoken at most airports, you will find at the smaller airports it may be hard to find someone who can. Also Portuguese and Spanish are quite close to the same and he should be able to make himself understood.
Having a co-pilot that speaks Portuguese will help. While English is spoken at most airports, you will find at the smaller airports it may be hard to find someone who can. Also Portuguese and Spanish are quite close to the same and he should be able to make himself understood.
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I strongly suggest that both pilots wear uniform shirts with gold stripes. And both pilots have Captain stripes.
I'm sorry, I coudn't help but laugh! The only way I see that this could help is going thru the security checkpoints, but please don't take it wrong. I just imagined them both being "epaulet decorated" for such a long trip, I think the burden would outweigh the benefits, plus unless they are flying a large ship I can only imagine two decorated guys flying an R44 in uniforms.
One important thing is have a binder with copies of all the documents such as permits, insurance, pilot's documents handy so you can give them away when needed.
Contact 3top, I think he just flew an R44 down to Panama.
Last edited by BlenderPilot; 9th Oct 2007 at 19:02.
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Blender, I have operated aircraft (both FW and RW) in that part of the world for many years. When even the guys who clean the toilets have uniforms with shoulder bars, that should tell you how it is. The guy in a uniform will be taken care of first. I have seen this way too many times. It doesn't matter what he is flying. Plus he will generally have less problems with officialdom. This remark is based on personal experience over many years. Yes, you can do the flight in cutoffs and a t-shirt, but it will take more ground time and you have more 'problems' come up.
The long short-cut?
Blender.
Out of curiosity, why that route? Why not the Bahamas, Dom. Rep., 2weeks fuel-stop
in Puerto Rico, then down the islands, 4day-carnival-fuelstop in Trinidad, Guyana, and/or Surinam, and/or Fr. Guyana, before Brazil???
I met some gentlemen a few years back, ferrying a few S-76C's down from the factory to Belo Horisonte, and they all did that route....
Bristows in T&T, delivered a 212 some time back to Mexico, and they did not go though latin-Am. but up the island, over Cuba, to Cancun.
It may have something to do with that the Taco-bell route is just about 1500NM longer, and far longer between the fuel-stops from Cordilleras Oriental in Col. through the Amazon in Brazil...
But hey.. I might be wrong and miss out on the REAL scenic route through Colombia
Just my 2 cents
Out of curiosity, why that route? Why not the Bahamas, Dom. Rep., 2weeks fuel-stop
in Puerto Rico, then down the islands, 4day-carnival-fuelstop in Trinidad, Guyana, and/or Surinam, and/or Fr. Guyana, before Brazil??? I met some gentlemen a few years back, ferrying a few S-76C's down from the factory to Belo Horisonte, and they all did that route....
Bristows in T&T, delivered a 212 some time back to Mexico, and they did not go though latin-Am. but up the island, over Cuba, to Cancun.
It may have something to do with that the Taco-bell route is just about 1500NM longer, and far longer between the fuel-stops from Cordilleras Oriental in Col. through the Amazon in Brazil...
But hey.. I might be wrong and miss out on the REAL scenic route through Colombia
Just my 2 cents
Last edited by Nubian; 9th Oct 2007 at 21:35.
