Interesting journey and commercial flight

[Paul_Havelka]

So I work offshore in the oilfield and am currently assigned to a rig working in Trinidad.  Trinidad's borders are closed to all international traffic unless you have an exemption from the government.  Due to being critical for the infrastructure I am allowed in the country but the caveat is that I have to be under quarantine for 14 days before arriving in Trinidad.  For this trip that location was Billund Denmark.  I live in NE Oklahoma so that trip was XNA-ORD-Frankfurt_Billund.  There I was chained to a hotel and able to only sparingly leave the room.  Here is where it starts getting pretty interesting.  The company that my company is working for then chartered an A320 that went from Billund-Keflavik Iceland-Hallifax-Trinidad for 35 people!  Well on this Friday, the 30th, I am leaving the rig where the company has chartered a plane from Trinidad to Curacao.  I'll stay overnight in Curacao and then fly back to XNA on Halloween.  That flight will be Curacao-Aruba-ATL-XNA and all commercial.  I was looking at my itinerary and it shows that the plane for my flight from Curacao to Aruba will be a DHC-3 Otter.  I'll grab some pics and post them up here as I can.

[Hank]

Woo hooo! Looks like you qualify for several awards:

• Most connections for a short Caribbean flight
• Most miles flown for a short Caribbean flight
• Longest duration for a two-week (?) visit
• Emptiest airliner flown in as a paying passenger 
• And probably some that I'm missing!

[carusoam]

Paul,

Since you have been gone...

There have been several new Covid tests developed, and approved.... and you can get really fast and accurate results...

Wear a mask....

Stay socially distant...

Don’t hang out with a lot of people in a room with low air exchanges... (no airflow in and out of the room...)

Don’t face people at the same table...  
 

Sober people are challenged following the guidelines, even while trying hard to follow the guidelines... 

Send a pic from the helicopter pad on the rig...   

See if you can figure out who built the rig... was it Trans-Ocean... ticker symbol RIG?

There probably isn’t a safer rig than a Trans-Ocean one, operated by BP.... now.
 

Be safe...   

Best regards,

-a-

[Paul_Havelka]

The rig was built by keppel fels in Singapore for Maersk. It is the Maersk Discoverer and we are working for BP

[Parker_Woodruff]

Paul,

Is the Otter on floats or wheels? If you run into the owner, be sure to tell him Airspeed insures probably the nicest DHC-2 Amphib in the world and we’d like to add the DHC-3 to the list. 
 

RyanSeaplanes.com for those of you who want an amazing SES rating experience. 

[chrisk]

Hi Paul,

I'm curious if the flight from Curacao to Aruba is on Divi Divi Air.    I'm under the impression they operate Otters and Islanders.   Years ago I flew InselAir between the islands on a very small turbo prop, I think an EMB 110 Bandit.  Very fun to see smallish airliners

[Paul_Havelka]

@chrisk it is Hahn Air

[Parker_Woodruff]

59 minutes ago, Paul_Havelka said:

@chrisk it is Hahn Air

They're brokering this deal out.  Divi Divi is one of their partners https://www.hahnair.com/en/partner-carriers

[Paul_Havelka]

@Parker_Woodruff I’m not sure if it’s flits or wheels but I’m guessing wheels. On another note the hotel in Curaçao is amazing. We will be quarantining at the Marriott Beach Resort in Willemstad Curaçao. Not bad for a 2 week stretch where they give us like 3 hours a day on the beach

[chrisk]

17 hours ago, Paul_Havelka said:

@Parker_Woodruff I’m not sure if it’s flits or wheels but I’m guessing wheels. On another note the hotel in Curaçao is amazing. We will be quarantining at the Marriott Beach Resort in Willemstad Curaçao. Not bad for a 2 week stretch where they give us like 3 hours a day on the beach

I can not imagine the Otter being on floats.   Curacao and Aruba both have airports that accommodate very large jets.  

As far as Quaranting in Curacao.  The water is always warm and the visibility is usually outstanding (100+ feet).  Don't miss the opportunity to snorkel or dive.   If you have not gone snorkeling it before, ask someone where to go.  A sandy beach is usually not the best for snorkeling. 

[Paul_Havelka]

@chrisk don't think I'll have time for the beach today but when I come back and have to "quarantine" there I will definitely spend time in the water.  Hopefully the restrictions on our stay will be lifted enough that I may be able to get my scuba cert

[Paul_Havelka]

On the ramp at Piarco in Trinidad 

[Paul_Havelka]

And I’ll be riding this Fokker for at least an hour.  Fokker 70

Edited October 30, 2020 by Paul_Havelka

[Paul_Havelka]

So it was a Twin Otter. Pretty basic panel. We were cruising along at 4,500 doing 150ish indicated. Shows the redline at 170kts

[carusoam]

Here’s a new one...

the twin otter appears sideways as usual...

Using the iPad... touch the pic. It is self righting, in the following view... 

IOS 14.1 (new update)

So it looks like the pic rotation scandal continues, but it is now different...

Best regards,

-a-