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Having planned several trips with a group through Latin America, let me make a few suggestions. The first hurdle is make sure that your insurance includes Latin America and Mexico in your territorial limits. My policy covers me in these areas but I know of policies that do not. You will be renewing your policy some time in the next year so make sure you get coverage. It is true that you can buy a Mexico policy but it is just an extra expense ($100.00). Guatemala requires that you have insurance and will want to look at the policy when you arrive. Some of you know that Carnival (Mardi Gras) is a popular holiday in Mexico. I think It starts around March 1st next year. It used to be that Vera Cruz and Mazatlan were the big places to celebrate. In the last decade more cities have gotten into the celebration. I attended Carnival in Vera Cruz one year. I had reserved a room about 6 months in advance and even then had trouble finding one. Some of you will want to travel through Vera Cruz. It is a good place for an overnight if you can find a room. I do not know how much in advance of official start of the festivities the city fills up. Some were wondering about night flying in Mexico. You can fly at night if you are on an instrument flight plan. Not a great idea however as cab drivers seldom hang around smaller airports after dark and overtime charges for airport workers are surprising large. Since you have a lot of time to get prepared you might spend sometime looking at the new ICAO flight plan and learn the proper coding. This is not a real big deal but something you ought to be familiar with. MAPA LOG had a good article on the subject several months ago. Also, if you have not enrolled in EAPIS you need to get a password and setup an account. To get started just "google" EAPIS. Someone asked about routes. To stay over lower ground head for Tapachula, Mx (MMTP) . It is not a bad place for an overnight. Mexico has lots of fees. You normally are charged for landing $7.00US. You may also be charged a wing tax which is added to your fuel bill. The size of the fee is based on wing span. This is levied by some airports not others. On international legs (when you leave the country) you are usually are charged a head tax for each person in the airplane. Cost is $20-25US. Tourist cards are usually $25.00US. The big one is the multi entry authorization which is about $50.00. You would think with a name like that it would be good for use on the way home but you would be wrong. Plan to buy one each direction. Several years ago I watched Jack McCormick (Baja Pilots) argue the point with the Airport Comandante in MMTP. No contest we paid the fee. Plan on about an hour for the clerk at any AOE to get the paperwork completed, sent to Mexico City and their authorization to get back. BTW you will need a copy of your insurance so the multi entry can be completed. If you have not traveled Mexico do not be entirely put off by all of this. Once all the fees are paid there are a lot of places to go and things to do. You might spend some search time on the internet discovering some things you would want to do. Another option is to overfly Mexico. I have done it leaving McAllen, TX and flying the airways to Guatemala City. Following the airways it was 6 hours. I was flying a T210 with tip tanks. My wingman was flying a 231 and added 60+ gals when we got there. On the last leg we were assigned 16K so O2 was necessary. One last comment, it was mentioned that Mexico has an agreement that Guatemala about Technical Stops for Guatemalan pilots. This may be true but I doubt they would extend to US pilots. According to ICAO treaties any pilot should be allowed to stop for fuel, or weather/mechanical problems without incurring charges. I have been flying in Mx. for 30 years and have never seen this happen. I have had other countries allow me to stop overnight using my pilots license to enter the country but not Mexico. My experience has been as soon as you land they close your flight plan and you are then subject to fees. I do not mean to throw a bucket of cold water but better to know in advance what to expect. In spite of the likely hassle in Mexico the trip will be worth the effort. Guatemala has a lot to offer. I have been there 4 or 5 times and am tempted to do it again.

Well, the test results are in... Quick summary; I noticed some altitude differences between my iPad running ForeFlight & Garmin Pilot and my Nexus 7 running Garmin Pilot. On the Nexus, using the internal GPS antennae, I was seeing between 400 to 500 feet difference the altitude it reported versus what the iPad running Garmin Pilot with an external XGPS150 antennae. I also suspected there were some issues with the GPS position reports as I saw on the georeferencing on both devices. To get to somewhat accurate answer to both of these concerns, I set up both units to determine what the differences were for both. For the location tests, I set up the Nexus 7 with the internal GPS using Pilot and recorded the lat/long for the position I was at (stationary, on the ground). I did the same with XGPS150 antennae connected first to the Nexus and then to the iPad. I recorded results for the Nexus using Pilot with internal antennae, external antennae and using a GPS app for the Nexus (reports internal GPS function) and with the iPad running the XGPS150 with ForeFlight & Pilot. End result? The positions were the same. The second round of location tests were done in motion, comparing my actual position to the georeferenced using the same combinations of devices, antennae and apps. Again, all reported the same information (essentially). I did notice a little bit of a difference with the Nexus running the internal antennae. Altitude tests. I did a check on the ground at a known fixed point (airport reference). I did the same comparison using the different combination of devices, antennaes and apps. The result? The Nexus using it's internal antennae reported a ~150' difference (lower) than the other two device combinations -- both of which were within 20 feet of the known elevation (strange but true). The tests were repeated at 2500', 4500' and 6500' feet. What I noticed was a significant difference at altitude. The higher I went with the Nexus using the internal antennae, the more deviation there was between what the other combinations reported. The Nexus with XGPS150 and the iPad with the XGPS150 were essentially the same using either ForeFlight or Pilot. At 6,500, the difference was almost 600'.

Here's the only video that came out from my recent trip from Denver to Cabo: The first leg from Denver to El Paso, TX. Here's the flight track: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N3833T/history/20130314/1300Z/KAPA/KELP

There is no added manufacturing cost for adding WAAS. Most significant benefit is on altitude accuracy and position integrity. It is also a marketing edge vs those non-WAAS products. For the G560 it allow the unit to provide accurate vertical guidance all the way to the final approach. A handy feature when cross checking with your panel mounted TSO unit. José

Hartzell does. STC-SA00081SE Rocket Enineering PHC-C3YF-2UF Hub design FC7382 Blade design The propeller is 75 inches,

Precisely what I was getting at. If you have a motor with 2200 hours lets say that has a good oil analysts and isn't making metal why not just fix the cylinder? My point is, except for the situation where the engine starts eating a cam, I think we're (at the factory and mechanics recommendation) retiring perfectly functioning proven engines to early because of "feeling" or a completly unrelated event. I can't tell you how many times I've heard a mechanic say well your at 2000 hours and the engine will let you know when it "time" and sure enough it pukes a cylinder and then the owner spends 25k -40k for a overhaul, all when all it needed was a cylinder. Mike Busch said when he last overhauled his engines he found that all the gear in the case was at or above service limits. Ed Collins, inventor of cam guard told me on this fourm that he wouldn't overhaul a healthly engine until 3500 hrs.

We pay enough in fuel taxes and plenty more in general fund taxes due on April 15. Time to chop the government in half till the national debt is paid off.

Hi there. I had to let some time pass after the Oscars...to get over my blues that I my videos were not even mentioned outside this forum.... But some of you asked me to include some shots of my panel... so here goes another one...hope you enjoy. Oscar