Exploring the Bahamas

I’m off in the DC-3 (actually, the C-47 military cargo variant), with the goal being to land at most of the airports in the Bahama Islands. I tried to plan a loop, so I'd end up roughly where I started. My itinerary includes a long flight to get to the Bahamas from where I last landed in Teterboro NJ, then a series of relatively short hops, to visit the various island airports. This screen snapshot of my planned route is from the "Foreflight" flight planning app on my phone.

3/05 KTEB-MYAT 867 NM
3/06 MYAT-MYAX 15 NM
3/06 MYAX-MYAM 36 NM
3/06 MYAM-MYAO(MYX3) 28 NM
3/07 MYAO-MYAS 21 NM
3/09 MYAS-MYEH 50 NM
3/10 MYEH-MYEM 24 NM
3/10 MYAM-MYER 35 NM
3/12 MYER-MYCA 31 NM
3/14 MYCA-MYCB 22 NM
3/14 MYCB-MYSM 53 NM
3/14 MYSM-MYRP 28 NM
3/15 MYRP-MYMM 128 NM
3/17 MYMM-MYIG 91 NM
3/18 MYIG-MYAP 89 NM
3/19 MYAP-MYCI 22 NM
3/19 MYCI-MYLD 57 NM
3/21 MYLD-MYLS 26 NM
3/22 MYLS-MYEG 29 NM
3/22 MYEG-MYEF 8 NM
3/23 MYEF-MYEB 42 NM
3/24 MYEB-MYES 6 NM
3/24 MYES-MYAK 63 NM
3/26 MYAK-MYAB 9 NM
3/27 MYAB-MYAF 25 NM
3/30 MYAF-MYNN 27 NM
3/31 MYNN-MYAN 32 NM
4/11 MYAN-MYBS 77 NM
4/13 MYBS-MYGF 60 NM

Here's my running commentary for this adventure. I tried to post just one representative photo from each leg of the flight, to keep it from getting overwhelming. 

I found it interesting, that at first glance, there appeared to be very few radio navigational aids (VORs or even NDBs) in the Bahamas, so I found myself using careful flight planning and dead reckoning to find my way from island to island. I did use the "Foreflight" app on my phone to keep track of my location, which in the real world would also have been an available, if not legal, option for more precise navigation. Side note: After visiting several islands, I found this reference to a list of radio navigational aids in the Bahamas, and am excited to try using them!

I also discovered that none of the smaller airports had anything in the way of weather reporting, so I made good use of the "Windy" app on my phone, which gives a good, if general, weather picture for most of the world. That app would not have been useful without Internet, and since most general aviation planes don't have that, I suppose it was a stretch to rely on it.

3/05 Flying from KTEB, Teterboro, NJ, to MYAT, Treasure Cay Airport, Treasure Cay, Abaco Islands, a flight of 867 NM. Climbing away from Teterboro, I had a great view off to my left, of Long Island Sound, Manhattan Island, and JFK International Airport on the West end of Long Island. Thank goodness for the faster-than-real-time option in the X-Plane simulator, as this flight would've given me over 5 hours to enjoy my view of the Atlantic Ocean and a few cloud layers, with the US East Coast off in the distance, as much as 250 NM beyond my right wing.

3/06 Flying from MYAT to MYAX, Spanish Cay Airport, Spanish Cay, Abaco, a flight of 15 NM. I barely got airborne, when I was overflying the airport, preparing to land. Spanish Cay hardly seems big enough to have an airport, but there it was, extending from one shoreline to the other.

3/06 Flying from MYAX to MYAM, Leonard M. Thompson International Airport, Marsh Harbour, Abaco, a flight of 36 NM. Marsh Harbour is the  second busiest airport in the Bahamas, and I found quite a few buildings and other infrastructure modeled at that airport in the simulator. That's Dry Cay visible out my left window, with the airport off in the distance, probably behind the window post, as I fly a wide left base leg toward the final approach.

3/06 Flying from MYAM to MYAO, Mores Island Airport / aka MYX3, Moores Island Airport, Moore's Island, Abaco, a flight of 28 NM. I (perhaps foolishly) decided to take a chance on a night flight to this island, a short distance to the west of Marsh Harbour. It turned out fine, but the pucker factor was potentially much higher, when looking for that small island airport in the middle of the ocean in the dark. I chose a cruising altitude of 4,500 feet, which I expected to give me a view of the airport from farther away. I found it especially challenging trying to spot the airport lights off in the distance, after I entered a cloud layer with bases around 4,000 feet, on my way up to my planned cruising altitude.

3/07 Flying from MYAO to MYAS, Sandy Point Airport, Sandy Point, Abaco, a flight of 21 NM. I popped into a broken cloud layer on my way up to my cruising altitude of 3,500 feet, which was no big deal, other than limiting my scenic view during the flight.

3/09 Flying from MYAS to MYEH, North Eleuthera Airport, North Eleuthera, Eleuthera, a flight of 50 NM. That's Spanish Wells off to the left, with the Eleuthera airport beyond it, as I head for another left base approach to the airport.

3/10 Flying from MYEH to MYEM, Governor's Harbour Airport, Governor's Harbour, Eleuthera, a flight of 24 NM. In this snapshot, I'm passing over James Point, inbound to the airport, which is straight ahead.

3/10 Flying from MYAM to MYER, Rock Sound International Airport, Rock Sound, Eleuthera, a flight of 35 NM. In this snapshot, I'm over Tarpum Bay, and the airport is straight ahead, at the left edge of the large bay that's called Rock Sound.

3/12 Flying from MYER to MYCA, Arthur's Town Airport, Arthur's Town, Cat Island, a flight of 31 NM. In this snapshot, I'm approaching Cat Island, with the airport in that lighter patch that's straight ahead and toward the top of the image.

 

 

3/14 Flying from MYCA to MYCB, New Bight Airport, New Bight, Cat Island, a flight of 22 NM.

3/14 Flying from MYCB to MYSM, San Salvador / Cockburn Town Airport, San Salvador, a flight of 53 NM.

3/14 Flying from MYSM to MYRP, Port Nelson Airport, Port Nelson, Rum Cay, a flight of 28 NM.

3/15 Flying from MYRP to MYMM, Mayaguana Airport, Mayaguana, a flight of 128 NM.

3/17 Flying from MYMM to MYIG, Inagua Airport / Matthew Town Airport, Matthew Town, Inagua, a flight of 91 NM.

3/18 Flying from MYIG to MYAP, Spring Point Airport, Spring Point, Acklins, a flight of 89 NM.

3/19 Flying from MYAP to MYCI, Colonel Hill Airport / Crooked Island Airport, Colonel Hill, Crooked Island, a flight of 22 NM.

3/19 Flying from MYCI to MYLD, Deadman's Cay Airport, Deadman's Cay, Long Island, a flight of 57 NM. As I was dragging it in on final approach, trying to make the best use of this fairly short runway, I was careful to avoid the tall trees just off the end of the runway!

3/21 Flying from MYLD to MYLS, Stella Maris Airport, Stella Maris, Long Island, a flight of 26 NM.

 

3/22 Flying from MYLS to MYEG, George Town Airport, George Town, Exuma (defunct), a flight of 29 NM. I found a Pan Am paint scheme for the DC-3!

3/22 Flying from MYEG to MYEF, Exuma International Airport, Moss Town, Exuma, a flight of 8 NM.

3/23 Flying from MYEF to MYEB, Black Point Airport, Black Point, Exuma, a flight of 42 NM.

3/24 Flying from MYEB to MYES, Staniel Cay Airport, Staniel Cay, Exuma, a flight of 6 NM. Snapshot taken on the downwind leg at Staniel Cay airport, with the runway below and left.

3/24 Flying from MYES to MYAK, South Andros Airport / Congo Town Airport, Congo Town, Andros, a flight of 63 NM. Snapshot taken while approaching Congo Town airport, while still over a broken cloud layer.

3/26 Flying from MYAK to MYAB, Clarence A. Bain Airport,  Mangrove Cay, Andros, a flight of 9 NM. Snapshot taken shortly after takeoff, with the sunrise off to the east.

3/27 Flying from MYAB to MYAF, Andros Town International Airport / Fresh Creek Airport, Andros Town, Andros, a flight of 25 NM. Snapshot taken after landing at Andros Town Airport and shutting down in front of the typically small passenger terminal.

3/30 Flying from MYAF to MYNN, Lynden Pindling International Airport / formerly Nassau International Airport, Nassau, New Providence, a flight of 27 NM. Snapshot taken on final approach to the Pindling Airport from the northwest, with strong winds out of the southeast favoring runway 14.

3/31 Flying from MYNN to MYAN, San Andros Airport, Nicholls Town, Andros, a flight of 32 NM. Snapshot taken while on left downwind to San Andros Airport.

4/11 Flying from MYAN to MYBS, South Bimini Airport, South Bimini, Bimini, a flight of 77 NM. Snapshot taken while making the turn to a wide left base leg for runway 10 at South Bimini Airport.

4/13 Flying from MYBS to MYGF, Grand Bahama International Airport / Freeport International Airport, Freeport, Grand Bahama, a flight of 60 NM. Snapshot taken while on a left base leg for runway 06 at Freeport International Airport. Woo hoo! That's the last airport in my fairly long Bahamian adventure!