To Panama!

Phil waving out of the Beech on take off from Pavas (photo by Jorge Solano)

To Panama!!

 

Photo by aviation photographer Daniel Umana, Costa Rica, Pavas airport

What a day, what a flight!

Phil, Daly and Michael

The Beech with tailwheel off the ground (photo by Jorge Solano)

A bit of a rush in the morning but at least it’s Sunday and the roads are clear. Meeting Michael and Daly and eventually manage to go through immigration, customs, refuel, pay all the various bills and get on the aeroplane.

The Beech G-BKGM ready for take off. photo by Daniel Umana

Mike has done a massive job in getting us permissions for Panama and link us up with his friends there. Now all we need is the weather to stay clear so that we can navigate ourselves along the mountain ridges inland and the coastline to the west.

the coast line of Costa Rica heading for Panama

Whilst sorting everything out at Pavas airport quite a number of guys come up to me saying: ‘are you Allie’? I answer in surprise. Turns out these are our fan club that watched us land yesterday and many have managed to find me through the internet and messenger. They are so keen to meet us and love the aeroplane.

our new friends taking photos of our take off

10.30: take off and heading out to the coast at an average cruise level of 7500ft. We follow the coast to our right hand side and the Pan-American Highway inland to our left. 

coming to the border of Panama

Then it’s Panama! A new country to visit for me and Flippie but not for Phil who has been working there twice 44 years ago.

Phil first came in ‘74 when he was doing some route planning for British Airways and subsequently he came back to work for Shorts. But what a change when you see the skyline of Panama City now in 2018!

quite some activity further inland

Flippie has to navigate us around some tall build up cu clouds whilst keeping on track. Not an easy task with our antiquated cockpit instrumentation.

the skyline of Panama city and our airport in view!

Skyscrapers and top-modern building developments everywhere.

I couldn’t believe my eyes!! If people call Costa Rica the Switzerland of Central America then that’s Monaco or Andorra.

Our approach coming low right over the famous Panama Canal at 2000ft was something else! 

The Panama canal

I just clicked away… big cruise- and container ships in the locks waiting for clearance…then the skyline coming closer and finally touch-down after 2.30hrs flight time.

From left: Allie, Mike, Flippie, Roberto, his wife and daughter (photo by Phil)

We were very kindly greeted by Robert Katz, the Sub-Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority in Panama and his family. Robert has paved the way for us to arrive here in the Beech and with the balloon and we are extremely grateful for his very kind assistance and help.

Flippie saying hello to young pilot Mike

We also meet young Mike, a friend and pilot trainee of Michael Castillo. After a short break at the smart FBO lounge and boosting our energy with a strong cup of coffee we are ready for take-off again. This time with Mike in the right seat and Flippie as the captain in the left hand seat.

Flippie and Mike on track

It must be 40 degrees in the cabin and we are glad to be off the ground. Climbing out we are banking right and flying a short distance back to Chame. 

myself (photo by Phil)

After 16mins we touch down at this little airstrip – a popular base for skydivers. Mike has arranged a vehicle and driver Juan for us.

one of the skydivers and the aeroplane at Chame

The area looks great for ballooning and we offload our goods into the skydiver’s tent. Ready for the morning. A short drive and we check into our hotel for the night. The ‘boys’ go the bar to quench their thirst with a few cold beers whilst I assess the area and find water, food and a nice restaurant for the evening.

one more photo looking back to the entrance of the Panama canal

It was an extraordinary day and we are now at the southern most point of our journey. Part of me feels sad that we can’t head further South from here as originally planned (onto Columbia and Ecuador) but we are running out of time and will have to start our long journey back up to the US after tomorrow.

Our aviation friends from Costa Rice send me lots of wonderful shots of the aeroplane and I spend many hours till late night sorting all my material. Somehow this whole trip still feels like a dream…

Let’s hope the final big dream of flying a balloon in Panama will come true tomorrow early morning!