Galin Hernandez of PuertoRicoFlyer.com sent us these photos, taken between May 30-June 2, 2017, when he flew a Zenith 750 STOL (N750JH) from St. Augustine, Florida, to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
“The trip covered over 1,324 miles in 16.8 hours of flying,” he reported, adding he averaged 68 knots during the entire trip. “It took four days and I landed in four different countries.”
“For the most part the trip was uneventful, but it was still a great adventure,” he said. “Here are some photos of the trip. I also posted a video (which you can see below).”
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Good Job Galin.
Nice Job Galin
Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations! It is about time that we see GA grow in PR. I grew up in an aviation home since my father, who had gotten his private pilot license in 1940 and in 1942 purchased at auction a 1937 Rearwin Sportster with a 90hp 5 cylinder radial. Go ahead Google it because if I start writing about Rearwin it would fill several pages. The US Forestry Dept. had two of those airplanes with the original 70hp engine and when one of the planes NC18543 stalled while taking off from a small strip at Lago Guajataca stalled and went into the lake they decided to repower them with the 90hp engine. The new engine had an aluminum block and was 20lbs lighter so the planes turned a little tail heavy since nobody thought about the center of balance for the plane so they decided to sell them. My father got NC18543 and the other plane NC18540 was purchased by Charlie Brugal of the Brugal Rum family who had a big warehouse n the area of what is now Kennedy Ave. All this during WWII and the private planes were not allowed to fly outside of the island nor were they allowed to carry a radio. Perhaps one day we can get together and have a real good chat. ,My father preferred STOL to speed because our eternal “hot and high” conditions demand it. I am an aeronautical engineer retired from Boeing where I worked on wing aerodynamic design and in structural design on the 757 (the best airplane Boeing ever came up with) and the 767, then in the 737NG. Yes, I am apilot however grounded because of a stroke which affected my balance. I am looking to perhaps get me a LSA permit but I am still running it past the live neurons I have left to see if it is feasible. Your trip reminds me when my father and other three pilots, among them Joe Muñiz, went to Florida to pick up three airplanes the USAF had donated to the CAP in 1952. There was a Stinson L-5 and two J-3s. We still have at home a picture of them in Havana. You can imagine how long it took them flying at 75 and with the short range of the J-3s. They had to make four stops in Cuba. No radios. Te felicito y que te bendigan los dioses de la aviación pequeña.
Vernon Vélez-Mussenden
As a side note, it took only 2.5hrs on JetBlue to get back.
Hahaha Saludos Galin! Un placer haberte saludado en MAZ.
Great adventure! Thanks for sharing the pics and map. Some day I’ll buy a plane and I too will make that trip, I hope to have you as a wing man when I do.
Good to read you my friend!