Webcam live again

Hello All,

The webcam with view to the south of Guatemala City is live again! Every minute a new picture will be uploaded to Guatemala Skies.

The camera has a new location. Special thanks to MJ, who allows the camera to be installed in his appartment! The view is very similar to the previous and we will make minor adjustments over time to provide both views on Palin and East of Pacaya.

Enjoy!

Webcam Description with Horizon Line

Happy watching!

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Runway Hold Short Markings

The hold short line is something all pilots are familiar with. Something we also vaguely remember for the ground school class with all other airport markings. In Guatemala we only get to see a subset of airport markings and the hold short line is definitely part of it. As straight forward as it seems, I have had “doubts” about the hold-short line and I have observed other pilots probably having similar thoughts. I had the opportunity to discuss this with other pilots and have done some lookup to make sure my comments here are as educated as possible. Let’s get started…

The hold short markings are four lines that separate the runway from the taxiway or another runway. These yellow lines consist of two solid lines and two dotted lines, where the solid lines always can be found on the side of the taxiway.

Hold Short Markings

When taxing from the parking position two the holding position for takeoff, all pilots will stop before that line so that no component of the airplane is over the line, making sure the aircraft is clear of the runway. You can only cross this line with authorization from ATC. Let’s have a look at the runway 02 in La Aurora. It’s hard to make out the markings, but you will notice the holding area is big enough for a smaller plane to make run-ups while a commercial aircraft can still taxi to the runway for takeoff.

Holding Area Runway 02

The situation is a little different at other runway crossings. As an example, have a look at the taxiway N off the runway that leads directly to the fuel bombs of the “Aeroclub”.

Holding Area Aeroclub

A plane holding correctly at that hold short marking is essentially in the middle of the runway and blocking the runway for other traffic. Surely this is the reason that pilots would go over the line into the taxiway to clear the taxiway. It sounds very kind, but technically is a runway incursion.

This situation should be fairly straight forward I have only seen this couple of times. Here is another situation that I am seeing all the time. As I had mentioned in the introduction, I had thoughts about the correct action around the hold-short markings also. Imagine the following scenario. You just landed on runway 02 and you roll on the runway towards the “Aeroclub”. La Aurora Tower requests you leaving the runway to your left. A commercial plane is taxing down the runway and you realize that if you clear the runway, you will be blocking that traffic as you will be right in front of that aircraft. What makes this situation a little more complex is that you will be changing radio frequencies from La Aurora Tower to Ground Control. This means that you are not in the same frequency as the closing traffic. I understand the urge to leave the taxiway clear and stay on the little path. Again, if a plane is landing on runway 02, this is technically a runway incursion.

Here is an abstract from the FAA AIM.

[…]
Runway Holding Position Markings on Taxiways. These markings identify the locations on a taxiway where an aircraft is supposed to stop when it does not have clearance to proceed onto the runway.
[…]
When instructed by ATC to, “Hold short of (runway “xx”),” the pilot must stop so that no part of the aircraft extends beyond the runway holding position marking. When approaching the runway, a pilot should not cross the runway holding position marking without ATC clearance at a controlled airport, or without making sure of adequate separation from other aircraft at uncontrolled airports. An aircraft exiting a runway is not clear of the runway until all parts of the aircraft have crossed the applicable holding position marking.
[…]

In summary stay entirely clear of the runway before takeoff and after landing, ensuring that no part of your aircraft crosses the line. This places you in the middle of the taxiway. This not only is your right, but obligation. The only exception to this is, when ATC requests you to stop before continuing to the taxiway.

Please let me know your comments!
Happy Taxiing!

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A new video was added to the Guatemala Skies Video Gallery.

This video was taken in Iztapa and shows a Cessna 172 XP take-off from that private grass strip at close to full weight.

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How safe is it to fly?

USA Today published a very tough article yesterday about how dangerous our hobby actually is…

http://www.usatoday.com/longform/news/nation/2014/06/12/lies-coverups-mask-roots-small-aircraft-carnage-unfit-for-flight-part-1/10405323/

Here is a very interesting response that put things into perspective…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-schweitzer/unfit-for-publication-how_b_5509253.html

What do you think?

Oscar

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High Performance Takeoff from MGGT

In an article on engine failure after takeoff at MGGT, theoretic calculations from the Cessna 172 POH were used. This numbers change with every airplane and pilot, so I decided to actually verify some the performance numbers, starting with how high I could climb above the runway.

This video shows a high performance takeoff from La Aurora MGGT with a Cessna Turbo 210 M. Hopefully soon, I will be able to simulate the turning back to the runway at a safe altitude.

The Cessna T210M made it to 6,000 FT or 1,000 FT AGL at the end of the runway. Not bad… Should I make every takeoff a high-performance takeoff?

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Flying from Guatemala to Nicaragua

Flying from Guatemala to Nicaragua…

I got lucky this week…I had to fly for work to Managua, Nicaragua. So I started planning my route, checking what it would take to fly there, asked around about tips: when to fly (early morning?), route, what weather I may encounter on route, what should be my alternate, handling in Managua, etc. So after checking weather on wunderground and looking at my flightplan on Flitestar, I decided that I would go!

Route: MGGT G 436 CAT A 317 MNMG, Altitude 11,000 feet time in route 2.3 hours estimated (more on that later).

Paperwork: I decided that I would hire a handler. I had worked in the past with VIP Dispatch and used them again. Total cost to get all the permits in place about 600 QZ (+/- US$ 80).
Don’t forget oxygen. You will be flying high and although not required… you don’t want to have a headache when you have to fly an approach.

So I took off at 6 AM, IFR of course. Palen departure and then up to 11k. No mayor issue. I encountered some IFR on the route close to El Salvador but otherwise no problem. But winds of course never help and the 2.3 hour flight turned into 2.8. So plan for fuel!
Arrival in Managua: I was given the ILS 10 by Sandino Approach. Not a problem… However, the Jepp database in my GTN 750 does not list an ILS 10 approach. It lists many others but not the 10…So I had to go into the papercharts (you still print them, don’t you) and make sure that I did everything right. You don’t want to arrive in Managua for the first time and be yelled at.

I landed on a nicely painted smooth runway and was told to taxi to Rampa 1. Luckily there was already somebody waiting for me. I arrived and they welcomed me and…silence. What do you do? I asked the nice gentleman if there was somebody who could help me with the paperwork. They said of course: Pepe will help you! And Pepe (not his real name) showed up 5 minutes later. Not a problem. The only issue was: Capitan do you have a “chaleco de seguridad” (safety jacket) like the ones the motorbikes have to wear in Guatemala. I said no… Oh.., so you have to wait for the bus to drive you 50 meters to the terminal and pay US$ 20. Ok… Now I have a chaleco in my plane that says “Flightcrew” I feel important like a A380 or 787 captain.

Payments: overall I paid around US$ 200 for landing fees and informal handling payments (Use of airspace alone is US$ 100). Pepe takes Master and Visa no AMEX, please.
Then I asked about AVGAS. Pepe said I can do this for you. No problem (I had paid my handling fees already). So he arranged for a 5, yes 5 person crew to escort me to the old aeroclub de Managua where the only certified AVGAS pump was. I had to take the bus (remember the chaleco) to start the plane move the plane to the pump. US$ 12.50 per gallon!!! I pumped 15 gallons.

Flight back next day: No problem with paperwork, Pepe had solved and prepared everything for my 5 AM departure, I just had to wait for the BUS! No chaleco, remember…. And the bus driver just arrived at 5:30 AM.
I took off at 6 AM sharp, and here I was on my way at 12k back home, but weather was not nice… I saw activity on my stormscope and I asked Sandino approach for help. They told me that they no weather radar, but that nobody had complained until now (of course it was only 6 AM…). So I used my stormscope and eyes to fly around some nice buildups. Build-ups that were becoming huge Boomers once I arrived in El Salvador. The controllers in El Salvador were great they helped me deviate around the heavy stuff, although they were very busy with Avianca, Copa and others…

I made a video of the flight for everybody to enjoy…

So my flight turned into a 3 hours marathon. I arrived at 9 AM in La Aurora after my ILS 02 approach. VIP dispatch was waiting for me at the international ramp and after 5 min I was on my way back to the hangar.
May be the most important lesson (after the chaleco): Make sure you have enough fuel to lower your anxiety.

Be careful up there.

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PIREP: AC in a 1970 Mooney….

Flying around this area is great, however sometimes when you fly from La Aurora to the coast or to Rio Dulce or to Peten, the cockpit can become very HOT! ON many occasions I feel after landing that the only place I want to go is to take a nice shower to become a person again… (my wife agrees…).
Of course to install an AC in our birds is not only very expensive, but in most cases totally unviable. So I have been looking around trying to find a solution to this issue. That is how I ran into Phil and his icebox. I was very skeptical…is this really going to work…

http://switchboxcontrol.com/icebox/

So after reading reviews and talking to Phil, I decided to try it out. I ordered the unit with 10 icepacks and I flew on Tuesday from MGGT to MNMG Flight took about 2.6 hours in my M20C, those winds they always blow from the wrong side… I took the opportunity to try out the unit. I will do a full write up of the flight soon.

So, I froze the icepacks and took them yesterday at 5 AM to the airport, loaded the unit and added one gallon of water (could not get cold water!, just ambient). I used the unit one hour after after take off. It worked great. I turned it on and then off, depending on the temperature in the cockpit. I landed in Managua and the temperature was about 100 degrees outside. It has HOT. But the Icebox was working nicely and inside it was nice… interesting note: no fogging… The official who met me after I stopped asked me even if I had AC.

I did not take the icepacks out of the cooler… It would have been too complicated to explain to the Sandinistas why I wanted to carry icepacks through customs and back. So I left them in the plane. This morning before I left for Guatemala, I opened the box thinking that I would find melted icepacks, but NO!!! They were still 30% frozen, so i was able to use the unit during take off. However, then turbulence moved some stuff in the baggage compartment and the connector broke… and I lost the privilege of having some nice fresh air coming out of the box…So please Phil, help us by may be building a connector that does not stick out so much…

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Stopping in Mexico, or how much cash do you have….amigo

Last week I attended with some friends Sun and Fun in Florida. I will talk about our visit in another blog. I will talk here about our fuel stop in Cozumel. We flew in a nice Baron, everything looked great, weather was nice, our mood was good, until we landed in Cozumel. After we landed we were greeted by some customs officials who were very cordial and asked us to bring our luggage to the customs area. Everything was put through the scanner and that was it.
Paperwork was a different story. It was extremely bureaucratic. First immigration: we filled out the forms and were asked to pay US$ 30 per person to enter Mexico. But wait a minute! We are in transit… So after a short discussion the US$ 30 were waived. Then we had to go to the operations office and close the flight plan and file a new one for Key West. They gave us 4 forms. With those forms we had to go to immigration, customs, comandacia DGAC and operations DGAC and have each copy stamped, while leaving a copy of your manifest. So have at least 10 copies of your manifesto, pilot’s license, medical, registration and other papers… you may be asked for a copy… on your way in or out. (or not… you never know.)
After getting all these stamps (about one hour) we had to pay for these services, about US$ 100.
We also got a multi-entry permit for our plane (US$ 140) thinking that we may save some money on our way back…given that a single entry permit is also US$ 140. However, three days later upon our return to Guatemala arriving from Key West we were surprised by the fact that according to the Mexican gentleman in charge of the comandancia, we had to pay again US$ 140 because the permit for our plane was only valid for multiple entries coming from Guatemala, not from the US… We argued saying that this had never happened before, etc. but the nice man insisted implying either you pay or you stay… So we paid (still waiting for our recibo (he did not have one at hand…it was Sunday).
Last but not least, fuel is much cheaper in Cozumel than in Guatemala or in the US. So it is worthwhile fueling up in Cozumel, but, and there is always a but, you should bring Mexican pesos with you, otherwise the exchange rate will kill the savings.
This was our experience in Mexico, and I did not even mention the APIS… which will complicate things even further and make flying to Mexico totally unaffordable.

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After you upgrade your plane

We all count down the days to the date the avionics shop or mechanic told us that we will be getting back our bird from a repair (annual, check up etc.) or avionics upgrade. We call them periodically to ask them how things are going, if work progresses, how long it will take and if they are going honor the date they had promised our birds would be ready. The date comes nearer and we get nervous. Will we be able to fly this weekend? We call them and push them and they return the bird on time.

But, and there is always a but, we schedule a flight and the weather is not perfect. It is not full VFR, but it is also not IFR. So we decide to go flying anyway, we know our stuff we are experienced and know our planes.

However, last time I did just that, I had a very unpleasant surprise. I took off and after getting into a very thick haze I turned on the autopilot, and the fuse blew, my stormscope and TCAS were gone! Alert messages on my 750 and 430. Attention overload. Oscar, don’t forget: just fly the airplane, navigate and communicate… I returned to the field in low visibility rather nervous that things may get worse…but everything worked out OK.

What had happened: The avionics shop committed a mistake wiring the fuses…and connected my new TCAS, stormscope and autopilot to the same fuse. On the ground everything checked out OK, but in the air, once the autopilot drew more power, the fuse jumped. Nothing major, but of course annoying.

Lesson learned: check work performed on the ground. Do a test flight in safe conditions in VFR and be ready for a curve ball. It will most likely come!

The avionics shop revised the installation and I flew again yesterday, everything performs great now.

Oscar

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When do we fly?

As you may well understand (some of our significant others don’t…but nevermind) when Friday comes around we start making plans on where we could fly. May be Iztapa for a short breakfast and meet with other pilots, may be some approaches, may be a flight to Flores, Rio Dulce or who knows where… But then you start feeling that a cold is taking over your body… No, not today…! Let’s take something to get over it… I am sure it is nothing. So you decide to buy some over the counter cold medicine and you do feel better… But did you read what it says on the box? Are you still a safe pilot after you take these drugs? The only person to answer that question is: you…

Well, that is exactly what happened to me this weekend. I was so looking forward to flying my Mooney, try out the TCAS, fly some approaches, use my recently calibrated AOA… make another video. Everything was lined up. But a bug decided to take over my body and I finally said: no, I am not a safe pilot today and cancelled my flight. So hopefully, next weekend.

Be careful up there.

Oscar

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