Antigua to British Virgin Isles

Departing Antigua for Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport on Beef Island in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a short 176 NM hop toward the northwest end of the Lesser Antilles island chain. Here are some things to do in BVI. This planning view in the Foreflight app has the Color IR Satellite layer selected, which shows cloud cover as seen from space, and colorized based on cloud top temperatures, which can give a pilot some idea of cloud top altitudes.

Here's the view out the front windscreen in daylight. The panel is dark, because I just "got in" the airplane, and everything is shutdown. With a FADEC, it's simple to get things going: Fuel selector to Auto, Battery 1 and 2 On, external Strobe lights On, Engine Start switch to Run, then make sure engine readings stay in their green ranges. Once the engine is running, turn on Generator 1 and 2.

And just like that, we're climbing out from Antigua.

Passing Saint Kitts and Nevis, with Nevis island off the left wing. Both islands are of volcanic origin, with large central peaks covered in tropical rain forest.

Flying over open ocean is mostly a boring experience. When I flew between Hawaiian islands once in a Cessna 152 (with a life raft on board), I found that looking down at the ever-so-deep and dark blue ocean made the experience a little more exciting, and caused me to review my ditching procedure, just in case.

Looking over at Beef Island airport to the right ahead, as I approach the British Virgin Islands. There was no instrument approach available for runway 07, which was favored by the wind, so I decided to make up my own approach path in Foreflight, and follow that to the airport in VFR conditions.

Descending through 5,700 feet, and turning right toward Beef Island.

Heading toward a bare patch of ground up ahead that looks like it could be the airport, just past the last range of high hills.

Hmm. My makeshift approach path has me descending perilously close to these hills. Since I can see them, I'm in no danger of running into them, but it's kinda fun to skim the hilltops as they go by.

Now about a mile from to the airport, and a little left of the runway centerline. I had realized earlier, that my made-up approach was a little off to the left, and I could have approached much more safely, by staying over the water to my right. This approach was may more fun, though!

Turning off the runway at BVI.

One last look around, after shutting down and planning the next flight - to Grand Turk Island!

Martinique to Antigua

Departing Martinique for V. C. Bird International Airport, 5 miles northeast of St John's, on the island of Antigua, in the Lesser Antilles. This short flight of 159 NM will pass directly over the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe. Here are some things to do in Antigua.

I got started late again, so it was well after sunset, before I was ready to taxi out for takeoff.  Pretty purple skyline off to the west.

The taxiway at Antigua doesn't go all the way to the end of the runway 10, so I had to back-taxi on the runway, to get into position for takeoff.

Heading away from the runway, into a nearly-black sky, with a few low dark hills ahead.

Climbing through 4,500 feet, and turning onto the northerly course.

Hard to see through the sea haze at night, but the lights of Dominica are directly ahead.

Also difficult to see in these conditions, are the lights of Guadeloupe.

The simulator didn't support the real-world ATIS frequency for Martinique, so I checked real-world weather, saw the winds were from 100 degrees, and chose the RNAV approach to runway 07. Here I'm descending through 7,700 feet for 2,500, and heading toward the initial approach fix at GADES.

It's a little eerie, flying the final approach course on a dark night, and seeing nothing but a teeny double row of runway lights ahead, 5 miles off in the distance. On closer inspection, there are many indications of the lights of civilization around and beyond the airport, but they're difficult to see, compared with the bright airport lighting.

Just a little more than a mile out. The airport still feels like a little bright spot in a big black hole.

Rolling out on the runway at Antigua airport, with the airport terminal off to the left.

Parked in front of one of the airport buildings, with the control tower behind me. I was able to catch the control tower, as it was illuminated by the green beam of the rotating airport beacon.

Looking forward, after shutting down the engine and refueling, and planning my next flight - to British Virgin Isles!

Port of Spain to Martinique

Departing Piarco airport in Port of Spain, Trinidad for Martinique Aimé Césaire International Airport in Martinique, Fort-de-France, French West Indies. I couldn't resist making this short hop to Martinique. I feel like I've seen references to this beautiful location everywhere I look.  Here are some things to do in Martinique.

Taxiing out to the runway with a B-747 behind me. Having a big monster like that back there, always seems to increase the intensity of the situation. Notwithstanding how big and heavy they are, with the associated certainty of squashing me if they fail to stop, there's also my sense of personal responsibility, not wanting to hold up a scheduled airliner full of people, or even a cargo flight. Fortunately, my pre-takeoff checklist is already done, so I'll be rolling onto the runway 10 for takeoff, without delay.

Heading away from Piarco airport, with my 747 friend still on the ground, just turning onto the runway, after receiving their takeoff clearance. Not much risk of them overtaking me, as they're cleared to fly runway heading of  100 degrees, and I'm already making a significant left turn toward the northwest, to intercept my planned northerly course.

Climbing out over the pretty green hills to the north of Piarco airport.

Continuing the climb, toward the line of Lesser Antilles islands (map) that define the boundary between the southern Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. I'll be passing some very familiar island names - Tobago to the right, then Grenada to the left, directly over St Vincent and the Grenadines, then St Lucia on the right - before flying the RNAV-10 approach into Martinique. At this low altitude, and climbing at full power, the engine is burning 139 gallons (834 pounds) per hour. At this burn rate and groundspeed, the dashed and solid green circles on the moving map display are showing that I would be eating into reserve fuel before I arrived at Martinique. Of course, as I climb, the fuel burn will reduce, and the groundspeed will increase, and the fuel range prediction will become far more favorable, especially considering this very short hop is well within the range of this little jet. 

Leaving the island of Trinidad behind. As I'm climbing toward my planned cruising altitude of 31,000 feet, and rapidly making my way towards Martinique on this short flight, I realize that a lower cruising altitude makes much more sense. So I settle on 21,000 feet, since I'm almost there anyway, which gives me about 15 minutes at altitude, before I need to start heading back down.

Already descending through 15,000 feet, on my way toward the initial approach fix, for the RNAV-10 approach to Martinique. I see there's a broken cloud layer beneath me, so I'm watching the air temperature, to be prepared for the possibility of icing, when passing through the clouds. But the temperature has been rising as I descend, and it's already up to -5C, so I'm not expecting any issues there. With the dry adiabatic lapse rate at 2C per thousand feet, and the moist lapse rate varying around 1.5C, I'd expect the air to warm up somewhere around 15-20C, by the time I get down to 5,000 feet.

Taking a quick look to the right at the lush green island of St Lucia, as I continue my descent.

Descending through 4,800 feet, and into the clouds. As expected, the temperature is up to a balmy +19C, so icing isn't an issue. The RNAV approach on the moving map display looks a little bit complicated, but that's only because the missed approach brings me in a circle, back to a holding pattern through a waypoint I'm about to cross on my way inbound. No big deal.

Descending through 2,000, while breaking out of the clouds, and turning toward the the runway 10 final approach course.

Established on the final approach course, with the runway 10 PAPI lights barely visible ahead and slightly left of my heading, as I'm crabbing to the right into an 11 KT crosswind. The map terrain hazard display is showing me that I've got hills on both sides of my flight path on final approach, and also on both sides, if I need to fly the missed approach. Y'all be careful out there! Funny to say, but as long as I fly the published path, it will guide me between the hills, and back over the ocean on the other side of the island.

On the ground at Martinique. Not much to see out the windscreen. Sorry I forgot to capture an aerial view of my parking spot on the ramp. At this point, I'm ready to shutdown and take on fuel, after planning my next flight - to Antigua.

Cayenne to Port of Spain

Departing Cayenne for Piarco International Airport in Port Of Spain, Tunapuna/Piarco, Trinidad and Tobago, a flight of 636 NM. The name of this area is so familiar to me, since I'm aware that the Socata aircraft company makes two planes named the Trinidad and the Tobago! Here are some things to do in Port of Spain and Piarco.

I "got in" the airplane, and realized it's a few hours ahead of Denver, so it's already night there. Oh well, so much for a scenic flight, but I love airport and ground lights at night!

Climbing out of Cayenne airport.

Level at 31,000 feet, with a temperature of -44C, and the wind from the left and slightly ahead at 35 knots. I've already got the ILS-10 approach setup in the panel, based on the forecast winds at Port Of Spain.

Descending through 5,700 feet, just breaking out of a thin cloud layer that has some rain in it. The teardrop course reversal onto the final approach course is depicted on the moving map display, about 8 miles ahead. I turned off the strobe lights when they were reflecting back, and blinding me, when I was inside the clouds. I should've turned them back on, after I descended out of the clouds.

Looking back with the spot plane view, and seeing some lights of the populated coastal areas behind me in the distance.

Two mile final to runway 10. The sparkly airport lights are a welcome sight.

Crossing the runway threshold. Nice perspective view of the runway lights converging on a point in the distance.

On the ramp at Piarco airport. It's quite a bit trickier at night, finding a place to park, where I won't get run over by a taxiing B-747.

Preparing to shutdown. All electrical is off except bus 1 and strobes. The avionics are all setup for my next flight - to Martinique! Next step is to power down the engine, turn off electrical, and save the situation, so I can load it next time, and be right where I left off.

Belem to Cayenne

Departing Belem for Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport in Cayenne, French Guiana's main international airport. Cayenne is just a few miles south of Guiana Space Centre, the space launch site used by the European Space Agency (ESA). Here's a virtual tour of their space museum. Here are some things to do in Cayenne.

After a nominal takeoff and climb-out, I'm level at my usual 31,000 foot cruising altitude. Temperature outside is -44C, with a 26 KT left crosswind. On this short flight, I've barely gotten to altitude, and I'm already just a few minutes from the top-of-descent point.

Descending through 5,900 feet, still in the cloud layer, with the ILS approach to runway 08 setup in the panel. I'm heading directly to CYR VOR, which is the initial approach fix.

Just popped out of the bottom of the clouds, bases probably at 5,800 feet, with the airport about 15 nautical miles ahead. The moving map display shows the entire ILS-08 approach all laid out for me, complete with the outbound leg and procedure turn. 

An interesting thing happened, after I captured the last snapshot - the entire ILS approach path disappeared from the moving map on the multi-function display, and the course guidance was no longer being provided on the primary display. So I switched to Plan B: manually tune the ILS and VOR frequencies, fly to the VOR at the airport, turn west and fly the ILS reverse course outbound for 8 miles, while descending to 2,100 feet AGL, then make a procedure turn to reverse course, switch the CDI to LOC1 mode, intercept the ILS, and follow it down to the airport. So now I'm descending through 900 feet, after intercepting the ILS localizer and glideslope. In the real world, with visibility this good, I probably would've simply entered the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and landed, after arriving over the airport.

Rolling out on the runway at Cayenne. After all the excitement of the disappearing ILS approach just moments ago, this somewhat commonplace event felt very satisfying.

On the ramp at Cayenne. I love being able to zoom away from the plane, pan around and see the airport, and other airplanes coming and going, from different perspectives. You can barely see a part of the King Air that landed just after me, now that it's pulled up to the far Jetway by the terminal.

Looking back after the fact, at the snapshot I capture before landing, I realize that the flight plan changed to BGBW-CYFB, which is the route I flew last year, to get from Greenland to Canada. Somehow the simulator replaced my flight plan with that old one. I'm going to have to research this a bit further, to figure out what happened, and if it was because of something I did, to make sure it doesn't happen again.