May, 2003 - St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
A week in tropical paradise. One of the things that pushed me into flying was the idea of flying around beautiful islands with white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. Ever since I read R.L.Stevenson's Treasure Island as a kid, the allure of tropical islands with white sands and lush vegetation has been ingrained in my head. So, when the trip to Virgin Islands became a reality, I was not going to miss an opportunity to fly around. Even before I bought tickets to St. Thomas, I had checked up on FBOs on the islands and found out who rents planes. 'Ace flying club' was the only on in St. Thomas that rented C-172s. It was $100/hr (wet hobbs) with a checkout that cost $120 incl. the flight time. Perfect.
After a couple of spectacular days rollicking in St. thomas and the neighbouring isle of St. John. I went over to Ace's to get checked out. The checkout itself was quite a trip. The C-172 looked like a weather-beaten sailor but who cares if the the seats are a little crummy, right? The CFI gave a quick overview of the bird and told me where the life vests were - in case we stopped in the 'drink'. Soon, we were aloft flying between two hills over downtown st. Thomas and marina. Over the turqoise waters, I showed him some stall recoveries and some turns-around a beach ringed isle. The CFI signed me off and commented that my instructor had done well. Kudos Chris!!
Time to go sightseeing. Ruth and her friend Renee were going to go on the trip with me. Jim (Renee's boyfriend) decided he would like his feet on terra firma so opted out. So, me and the girls headed out to the plane, I did all the pre-checks and we were off into the crystal blue skies. We went over the St. Thomas harbor where all the cruise ships are docked and did some sweeping turns around the island itself. I headed out to St. John, the next closest isle. From St. John, we flew over some of the British Virgin Islands and some other random islands. With Ruth clicking away, we got some pretty cool pictures.
On the sectional map, I had noticed a tiny airstrip on a tiny island to the north west of st. thomas. I had asked the CFI about it but he cautioned me that it was a tricky approach. The island was called 'Isla De Culebra' and it's part of Puerto Rico.
After loitering over the british virgin islands a while, I decided to check out Isla de Culebra. We flew over the open caribbean sea to this little island and circled it. After debating about landing there, I decided to heed the CFI's caution and just overfly the strip. When I called in to say my intentions, the response on the CTAF was in spanish! That was quite interesting. After that little excursion, we decided to head back to St. Thomas. We flew into right pattern for Runway 10 at the Cyril E.King airport in St. Thomas and made a fine touchdown.
That was truly one of the most memorable flights in my life.
A week in tropical paradise. One of the things that pushed me into flying was the idea of flying around beautiful islands with white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. Ever since I read R.L.Stevenson's Treasure Island as a kid, the allure of tropical islands with white sands and lush vegetation has been ingrained in my head. So, when the trip to Virgin Islands became a reality, I was not going to miss an opportunity to fly around. Even before I bought tickets to St. Thomas, I had checked up on FBOs on the islands and found out who rents planes. 'Ace flying club' was the only on in St. Thomas that rented C-172s. It was $100/hr (wet hobbs) with a checkout that cost $120 incl. the flight time. Perfect.
After a couple of spectacular days rollicking in St. thomas and the neighbouring isle of St. John. I went over to Ace's to get checked out. The checkout itself was quite a trip. The C-172 looked like a weather-beaten sailor but who cares if the the seats are a little crummy, right? The CFI gave a quick overview of the bird and told me where the life vests were - in case we stopped in the 'drink'. Soon, we were aloft flying between two hills over downtown st. Thomas and marina. Over the turqoise waters, I showed him some stall recoveries and some turns-around a beach ringed isle. The CFI signed me off and commented that my instructor had done well. Kudos Chris!!
Time to go sightseeing. Ruth and her friend Renee were going to go on the trip with me. Jim (Renee's boyfriend) decided he would like his feet on terra firma so opted out. So, me and the girls headed out to the plane, I did all the pre-checks and we were off into the crystal blue skies. We went over the St. Thomas harbor where all the cruise ships are docked and did some sweeping turns around the island itself. I headed out to St. John, the next closest isle. From St. John, we flew over some of the British Virgin Islands and some other random islands. With Ruth clicking away, we got some pretty cool pictures.
On the sectional map, I had noticed a tiny airstrip on a tiny island to the north west of st. thomas. I had asked the CFI about it but he cautioned me that it was a tricky approach. The island was called 'Isla De Culebra' and it's part of Puerto Rico.
After loitering over the british virgin islands a while, I decided to check out Isla de Culebra. We flew over the open caribbean sea to this little island and circled it. After debating about landing there, I decided to heed the CFI's caution and just overfly the strip. When I called in to say my intentions, the response on the CTAF was in spanish! That was quite interesting. After that little excursion, we decided to head back to St. Thomas. We flew into right pattern for Runway 10 at the Cyril E.King airport in St. Thomas and made a fine touchdown.
That was truly one of the most memorable flights in my life.
posted by Praveen at 11:03 AM
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