Travel from Usa, Mexico, and Central America in an Airplane Piper Colt 108

By Lupercio Rangel

February was always a good month to start new activities and have new projects. One of them was to buy a large sailboat to make a solo trip from Long Beach (California) to the city of Santos in Brazil.

I gave up that idea because I was not sufficiently healthy for that long trip. My next idea was to make the trip in a small aircraft 108 that I owned.

It was an aircraft easy to fly and economical. Piper Colt 108 is a first tricycle aircraft built by Piper, two passages, side by side seat.

This was my plan for the adventure, flying from Las Vegas in Nevada through the Americas, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499076202

Lupercio Rangel

A retired businessman, writer, poet, adventurer, traveler, aircraft pilot, tennis player, & swimmer.

Book preview

TRAVEL FROM USA MEXICO

and CENTRAL AMERICA

In an airplane Piper colt 108

By Lupercio Rangel

February was always a good month to start new activities and have new projects one of them was to buy a large sail boat to make a solo trip from Long Beach (California) to the city of Santos in Brazil.

I gave up that idea because I was not sufficiently healthy for that long trip.

My next idea was to make the trip in a small aircraft 108 that I owned.

It was an aircraft easy to fly and economical. Piper Colt 108 is a first tricycle aircraft built by Piper, two passages side by side seat.

This was my plan for the adventure flying from Las Vegas in Nevada through the America’s; Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama.

My Piper was to have a major Inspection. The person that was going to do it was an aircraft mechanic that would do it in his house. I would have to take the aircraft wing’s out and truck it to his house. The Piper was based in the McCarran Airport parking area for small private aircraft.

Las Vegas in those years was nothing like today. The place where I lived was in the edge of the South West side of the city with streets in place but no asphalt, just dirt roads. There were no homes around my house for many blocks which made an ideal situation for me to do a safe landing next to my house.

Very earlier in the morning I went to the airport, did not make a flight plan and took off, destination my house ; Procyon street!

I came in slow and after a great circle going Southwest at low altitude aligned the aircraft with Procyon street at near stall speed and made a perfect landing in the street and directly immediately to my driveway. I was home in front of my garage where I was going to take the Piper Colt apart to truck it to my friend for the two thousand and five hours inspection.

Some of my neighbors drove by surprised to see an airplane landing in the street! Even some race drivers from a raceway East of my house came over because they saw my plane very low, not knowing I was just making a regular landing not crashing!

I think they were some, at that time, not so famous racers from the earlier days of formula one car’s like Al and Bobby and many others race drivers.

The next day I had a couple of guys that work for me in my business to help me remove the Piper Colt wings. I rented a U-Haul truck and soon the aircraft was in the truck bed, and ready to go.

I waited 3 months for the Inspection and Re-certification of the Piper Colt.

It was like The Cistine Chapel situation I have to call every week to expedite the work.

Finally the Piper Colt was ready. I would have to rent a truck to bring the aircraft this time direct to the private small aircraft parking area of the McCarran Airport because my friend the FAA Inspector was the one that was going to put together the aircraft and make the final Inspection. I would make the first flight.

The Piper Colt was painted, and with new fabric; it was now colored light yellow, by request of my wife (more like a demand!) we have a four clover leaf stamped on the outside of the wheels for luck!

I flew the Piper Colt, made a lots of touch and go (take off and landings.) The Piper Colt was ready and good.

I did not make any big preparation for the trip to Brazil in the aircraft. My idea was to make the trip flying visual, and with no large legs of flying and I am not like the one that make extraordinary plans end preparations. I set my mind to what I am going to do and execute it ; I can exasperate those thinking in the smallest details.

I remember a long time ago when I was in Brazil, I purchase a damaged SEABEE (amphibian aircraft) my friend with whom I work for the Engineer Arnaldo an inventor, nephew of the Brazilian man Albert Santos Dumont, the inventor that Brazilians claim as the first man to fly an aircraft around the Eiffel tower in Paris France. He introduced to me to one of his friends mister Lindle, the owner of an amphibian aircraft that had been the last 6 months on an Island in the State of PARANA in the ILHA DO MEL (HANNY ISLAND) where it had been left by his pilot, a man that did a bad landing in the Island (damaging the SEABEE), and left a great bill at the HOTEL ILHA DO MEL.

Well, mister Lindle suggested that I would not have to pay for the damaged aircraft : I just have to remove it from the ILHA DO MEL at my own cost. Mister Lindle knew I was a pilot myself and interested in Aviation, I agreed and I like to tell about it.

The damaged aircraft was an amphibian SEABEE, prefix PP DLV. I believed that to be a good investment. The aircraft was in the sand beach near the front of a hotel where it had been parked since it came to rest after landing on that beach with engine problems (so was the history) 6 months or more earlier, but the real fact was not by engine problem but, yes, by bad landing or maybe by a drunk pilot!

I did not even see the damage aircraft, but Dr. Arnaldo saw the aircraft and told me that the damage was nothing too bad, other then some instruments being taking by tourists for souvenirs!

Mister Lindle was going to tell his pilot to take me and a companion of mine (mister Salvador) transported in his plane (a large Cessna 175) to Curitiba capital of the state of Parana.

From there we would take a train to the port city of Paranagua from there we would have to find transportation to the Island of mel (Honey Island) where the SEABEE was.

From Curitiba to Paranagua was a fantastic trip by train; a marvelous crossing of mountain of green forest with long bridges constructed high between one mountain and another in a never ending apparent risky crossing. The train, very slowly as if inviting you to view, moved forward in a slow dissenting into the forest bellow, finally reaching a level and long straight the train pick up speed, at the distance we see the ocean and many islands. We arrived in Paranagua, a very old Port City that is the way out of the country for enormous of ships of nationalities being loaded with thousands of various agriculture products coming from the states South of Brazil: Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catharina, Parana and also from countries : Paraguay and Uruguay.

It was about 6 pm when we arrived in Paranagua City, still day light, time enough to look for some way to get to Ilha do Mel (Honey Island). Walking in an area where the fishermen get together, we met 3 Indian owners of a long and narrow canoe; In fact, I knew one of them, as I bought a full canoe of fish away in there in the ocean in about 10 kilometers in open waters. That was my business year before