St. Croix to Cape Cod

[Way2Broke]

We are planning a trip in a C-402 next month from St. Croix in the Virgin Islands to Hyannis. Does anyone have any good sugestions for stops along the way, routing, clearing customs, etc. etc. We hope to take some pictures along the way. This one should be one for the scrap book. I think it is somwhere around 12 hours? Thanks

 

[Diesel]

Doesn't capeair usually start brining the craft north this time of year?

 

[Way2Broke]

They take some of the birds back in early April, and some back in Early May.

 

[Vastly Underemp]

The Eighth Air Force has a museum in Savannah, lots of B-17s and Mustangs.

Customs will depend on where you're getting fuel. Wilmington, NC is the usual stop for us when we return from the caribbean, but we fly a jet. ID is ILM. If you're going to clear in Southern FL then Ft Lauderdale Exec has some nice guys working customs. ID is FXE. Sometimes it's easier for us to clear in the Bahamas, then again in FL, but again we fly a jet.

Of course, customs may not even be an issue if you don't have to stop for fuel before FL, I don't know what you get for performance.

Turks and Caicos have some of the best diving in the Caribbean, and Provo is a fairly easy airport to operate in and out of. There are many many small strips between there and Nassau, but now you're getting into customs issues.

Kissimmee airport (ISM I think), near Orlando is the winter home of Crazy Horse, the last remaining T-51 Mustang, a truely dual place airplane. I'm not sure when he heads north for the summer.

You must, of course, consider a pilgrammage to Kitty Hawk. Just be careful of the MOAs just to the west. I wouldn't buy fuel there, but I think every pilot had to walk the rail at least once in their lives.

Bader field in Atlantic City, NJ is kind of cool, but certainly do your homework there as well. It may be too small for a 402 (2948 ft), but the boardwalk is only 4 or 5 blocks from the airport.

Have fun, good luck, fly safe, and enjoy...not everyone gets that opportunity

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!! Nothing pisses the customs guys off more than trying to tell them, "Gee, I didn't know that." Yes, personal experience. Remember you can't overfly down there, you must go to the first and closest airport to landfall. Most of them are decent guys that're just trying to do their jobs. You do run into the occasional Barney Fife