Flight to Guatemala

[canamex]

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.

[carusoam]

Great pirep Canamex!

Thanks for sharing the details…

Best regards,

-a-

[Marc_B]

13 hours ago, canamex said:

(don't go to Belize, he said).

Out of curiosity why was this?  Was contemplating a flight sometime to San Pedro/Ambergris Kaye…and looks like you had an amazing trip!

[Guest]

It looks like you might have flown too close to one of the volcanoes, there’s a layer of dust on your left wing!  Nice pictures of your trip!

Clarence

 

[canamex]

28 minutes ago, Marc_B said:

Out of curiosity why was this?  Was contemplating a flight sometime to San Pedro/Ambergris Kaye…and looks like you had an amazing trip!

@Marc_B I think he was just more of a fan of Guatemala vs. being against Belize. I wasn't scared off of Belize though and am planning a trip there later in the year!

@M20Doc Caught me Thankfully some rain coming into Guatemala City helped me out

[Oscar Avalle]

Guatemala and the local flying club are really amazing. The scenery of the country is beautiful and people are very nice. I lived there for 4 years and I would go back immediately.

Here is one of the videos I made while I was there...

 

Oscar 

[steingar]

Thanks for this @canamex.  A trip I hope to do in my own Mooney, but from the frozen North of the US.  I have family in the Lake Attitlan Area and have visited couple times.  Gorgeous, and lots of fun.

[thinwing]

i seem to recll beaucracy and airport taxes and fees are excessive in berlize

 

[Oscar Avalle]

Belice is expensive, but more than anything cumbersome.


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[rbp]

5 hours ago, Marc_B said:

Out of curiosity why was this?  Was contemplating a flight sometime to San Pedro/Ambergris Kaye…and looks like you had an amazing trip!

are you scuba divers?

[Marc_B]

8 minutes ago, rbp said:

are you scuba divers?

My buddy is and my dad had a place down there years ago.  Been a while since I've been back and would be a fun way to travel down.

[A64Pilot]

I’ve done a lot of flying through Central and some S America exporting aircraft, if the budget allows arrange for “Ground handling” meaning a person will meet you and walk you through whatever the bureaucratic process is, especially if you don’t speak the language. They meet you at the airplane, load luggage and take you to where your staying etc. Usually didn’t have to get out of the van, they would take your Passport in and get it stamped immediately.

It also helps of you get a “Crew Card” which designated you as a flight crew member, I wouldn’t wear the silly shirt, but Aircrew are treated completely differently than passengers.

Trying to remember the name of the company we used that arranged for fuel and ground handling, with a thirsty turbine with the break on fuel they got it was often cheaper to go through them with ground handling etc than not.

[canamex]

4 hours ago, steingar said:

Thanks for this @canamex.  A trip I hope to do in my own Mooney, but from the frozen North of the US.  I have family in the Lake Attitlan Area and have visited couple times.  Gorgeous, and lots of fun.

If it helps with motivation @steingar, I've flown from Mexico City to and from my hometown of Victoria BC (CYYJ) three times in the past year. Snacks are important

Edited January 3, 2022 by canamex
clarity

[kortopates]

great picts!
You didn’t mention the pricey fumigation service. I hope it was uneventful for you. I cringed when the DGAC guy sprayed the insecticide in the rear of my beautiful expensive upholstery - even if it was a short burst! I think he felt silly too. And i appreciated him being brief as he could.

If you do that again, highly recommend Tikal next time now that you’ve visited La Aurora.

What model do you fly?


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[canamex]

@kortopates I think they forgot to do the fumigation when I entered! Pedro my handler told me they'd fumigated upon arrival and maybe they did while I was looking at that Lear45 next to me...

The plan was originally to fly out of Tikal but as we ended up going to Antigua that'll have to wait until next time.

I'm in a 1967 M20F, SN #670188