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Hoping this is the right spot for this topic. Since purchasing my Mooney in March of 2021, I've flown it about 600 hours, mostly between Mexico City and my hometown of Victoria, Canada. Recently, after a few days at Oshkosh, I took the long route to Victoria via Yellowknife, NWT. This holiday I'll be doing my first extended flight over water, flying from Mexico City > Cozumel > Kingston, Jamaica > St. Croix > Antigua and then back again a week later. While the water is warm, I have life jackets, and the regs are muddy on whether part 91 operators need a life raft in the USA, I'm into being responsible and am planning on bringing one with me. I'm sure there are a few of you on this forum who have a spare life raft sitting around. Would any of you be willing to rent it to me for a about a month starting December 13th - January 13th? I would need it shipped to me in South Texas and would ship it back to you when done. Also any tips on extended overwater operations would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Thought I'd share an update here after the holidays with some pictures of a recent flight I did to Guatemala City and back from my current base of Atizapan, just north of Mexico City. On the 20th of December, I realized that I would have to leave Mexico before the end of the year in order to keep my plane legal. With some help from Jack at Baja Bush Pilots, I planned a trip to Guatemala (don't go to Belize, he said). We departed MMJC (Atizapan de Zaragoza, about 40 minutes north of Mexico City) at 7:15am with clear skies and flew more or less direct to Tapachula, Chiapas (MMTP), including amazing views of five volcanoes (Popocatepetl, Iztaccihuatl, Nevado de Toluca, Malinche, and Pico de Orizaba) and a 30 some odd mile overwater flight (within gliding distance above 8500ft). Landing at Tapachula, we left the country without incident and picked up some fuel. The night before, I had coordinated with the Aeroclub Guatemala which helped me pre-register the aircraft with the Guatemalan FAA and be prepared for arrival. After having flown most of the past year in Mexico it was a pleasant surprise to speak with Guatemalan ATC. Friendly, courteous, clear, and with excellent English. Dodging clouds into Aurora airport (Guatemala City), the airport came into view and we descended through a 3 mile wide hole in the clouds to make an uneventful landing at the 9800 ft runway (at almost 5000 ft elevation). We taxied to customs where the military checked my pilots license however didn't ask for my passport, and my mother was then escorted inside the terminal building by a representative from the Aeroclub Guatemala. Twenty minutes later we had all of our permissions and were taxiing to the ramp at the Aeroclub. The Aeroclub is unlike anything I've ever encountered in my few years of flying. It's more like a yacht club than what we might know as a flying club. They have a massive amount of real estate at the airport, along with three private airports dotted around the country, complete with lodging facilities for their members. Guatemala has over 100 airstrips to fly to, many of which are accessible to our Mooneys. While we had initially planned to fly to the private strip at Rio Dulce, we ended up leaving the plane in Guatemala City while we spent a few days in Antigua, relaxing and enjoying the UNESCO World Heritage protected architecture. We bought textiles, visited the ruins of the some-odd 30 churches, visited a coffee plantation, and marveled at the Christmas-eve midnight fireworks. On the 26th, we departed Guatemala City after paying about $100 USD in landing, parking and FBO fees to re-enter Mexico at MMTP. There was some confusion with the immigration officer but eventually we were on our way back to Mexico City via the same inbound route, landing at 45 minutes before sunset. I highly, highly recommend flying in Guatemala, as well as the services of the Aeroclub. I will be returning in March to explore the country more.

Made our first of hopefully many trips in 1258X. Had to show my co-owner our new acquisition by flying her to see her mother on Mother’s Day. They both approve! Just snapped a quick shot this time, but much more media coverage to come!

Hey anyone planning on flying to see the eclipse ? I'm really really thinking about it, trying to decide on the best place. So far I've come up with: ST. Joseph Missouri and Charleston, SC Thoughts ?

Any suggestions on a good fuel stop location with an airport restaurant serving good food? Flying from FL to MA this week in my Bravo. Also, any interesting airports and destinations, New England, Canada Maritimes, etc. Thanks in advance!

Hi there, I am planning on teaching a course at Florida University in Tampa this February. Of course I am thinking of flying my Mooney from Guatemala to Key West and then to Tampa (although I could do Guatemala City Tampa non stop with a ferry tank, it would be an 8 hrs flight and I am not that brave...). The question I have is how is the weather in February and what airport should I use? Tampa Executive, Knight? What would you guys suggest I should do?