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"What a month! I had been working hard to get my student ready for a checkride and my friend Wini was finishing a project. Looking for better circumstances..."
Read the rest of Carol's story here.
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Viva la Mexico, Or What I Did On My Vacation from Work!
What a month! I had been working hard to get my student ready for a checkride and my friend Wini was finishing a project. Looking for better circumstances, Wini suggested flying my Mooney 201 to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
"What? Are you nuts? It will take two days to get there! I've never flown the plane into Mexico. I'm not sure how to use my new navigation equipment." I said.
"I just thought it would be fun," she replied.
So the idea was planted.
That evening, I dialed up DUATS to look at a flight plan from Spicewood, TX (88R) to Puerto Vallarta (MMPR) thinking, "Yea, probably an eight hour flight." I was amazed when 4.5 hours popped up. Well, this just might be doable!
Over the next afternoon, I identified a course of preparatory tasks: Buy a customs sticker, obtain a radio license, find charts, arrange for insurance, learn about Mexican airspace, practice some approaches with the new Garmin 430, put a survival kit together, pack, get the oxygen bottle filled and calculate its endurance for two people, gather forms and documents, and check my passport expiration date. Whew! There was a lot to do in a week and a half. The Internet brought quick answers and a load of packages to the door. Soon I was looking at charts, planning the route and getting excited about the trip. I realized that the MEA on the return leg would be at 15,000' msl and I had never taken the airplane beyond 12,500' msl. Later that week, after practicing approaches with the new Garmin, I became a test pilot of sorts and climbed the Mooney up to 16,000'. It took thirty minutes, but the airplane climbed a respectable 300 fpm at 90 knots.
"I just thought it would be fun," she replied.
Saturday morning arrived clear and hazy as we lifted off from 88R on an IFR flight plan. Two women in an airplane. Mexico would never be the same, or at least, I would never be the same! Next stop: MMNL, Nuevo Laredo - only 1.2 hours away. As we got closer to the border Houston Center handed us off to Nuevo Laredo approach. A deep voice in English with a heavy Mexican accent cleared me for the MMNL approach. On arrival, officials in Nuevo Laredo could not have been more accommodating, completing a Mexican flight plan for the arrival portion from the States and then filling out another one for our leg to Puerto Vallarta. The airplane documents, my pilot credentials and the Mexican insurance policy were reviewed by the airport commandant. As we waited, we struck up a conversation with a helicopter crew on their way to Mexico City. Their most recent assignment was on a luxury yacht sailing to the Mediterranean. Not bad duty, I'd say. As we were comparing aircraft specifications, we were escorted to the terminal to fill out immigration forms, then back to the commandant's office to pay about $50 in customs, immigration and aircraft entry fees, and order fuel.
Fuel came in a truck clearly marked 100 octane and was pumped out in liters. Doing a quick liters-to-gallons conversion, I figured I paid $2.60 per gallon. Finally, all original documents were handed back, other papers stamped, our flight plan filed, and we taxied out for the takeoff to Puerta Vallarta.
The long climb out of MMNL to 14,000' msl took 33 minutes and at 10,000' msl we donned our oxygen canulas. The green of the Rio Grande valley gave way to tan deserts, brick-colored mountain peaks and a lot desolation. "N377VK, report 50 DME south Torreon VOR", the controller's voice said. I repeated "Say again?" several times throughout the flight, until I eventually got the hang of the unfamiliar accent radioing in familiar aviation speak. We zipped 3.3 hours along airways V20 and V37. At about an hour to go, the skies turned smoky from crop burning below, but we were able to spy the spectacular Copper Canyon, Mexico's Grand Canyon. Over Tepic VOR, I heard "N377VK, radio contact, cleared for the Puerto Vallarta VOR DME 3 Rwy 22 approach". In order to get from 14,000' to sea level on this step down approach, I calculated the descent rate to be at least 1000fpm. Down we go! It's going to be a slam-dunk, I thought as I managed throttle and mixture, turned off the oxygen and watched the needles wind down rapidly. It was still hazy from the smoke, but the mountaintops were visible as they gave way to the flatter terrain of the Mexican pacific coast. Finally looking up from the gauges, I remarked with glee, "Look! There's the runway and the Pacific Ocean!", which got Wini laughing and asking, "What did you expect? A truck stop?"
"What did you expect? A truck stop?"
Taxiing to Aerotron FBO's ramp, I shut down the aircraft, then "cleaned up" the cockpit, preparing it to be tucked away for our four day vacation. Dubbed the "little plane" by the line crew, it would be resting under the watchful wings of much bigger jets. Hector - with his perfect English - welcomed us, arranged to call the car rental company, collected our arrival report and was most accommodating regarding my airplane needs. Wini and I were off to enjoy some needed rest.
Later that evening with the Pacific breezes rustling the palm fronds, Wini remarked, "They are never going to forget us."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
She explained that after I had shut down the engine she overheard the line crew speculating on the identity of the man and woman who flew in the "little airplane". Then she said, "I wish I had a camera to take a picture of their faces when they saw two blonde ladies climb out of the Mooney. They aren't going to stop talking about us for a month!" We laughed and I thought about the adventure and accomplishment achieved that day. I am thinking, "Baby steps towards commanding an international jet flight?" Maybe so.
About the Author
Carol Foy keeps her Mooney 201 at Spicewood Airport, just west of Austin, TX. She is an active flight instructor and occasional King Air 200 copilot. In addition, she is the secretary of WCA, the newsletter editor, and is always looking for an adventure and a story!
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