Well, we did it.
I worked my butt off and was a bit nervous taking my Commander on a 3000 mile journey without much testing. Our trip took us from Jackson Georgia to Fort Lauderdale, Exuma (because I wasn't comfortable flying 4 hours without getting a little gas), to Grand Turks, St Croix, Martinique, Antigua, Tortola, Puerto Rico and then back. We were supposed to go to Haiti but that leg was literally getting there on one day and leaving the morning of the next, so we skipped it and headed home.
I'm pretty sure my Commander was the oldest airplane on the journey but everyone seemed pretty impressed with it. There was a film crew that went along from "The Aviators" show and they got a lot of footage of the plane as well as multiple interviews.
At one point when landing in Martinique one blade of the right prop feathered itself due to the #10 screw that holds the pin in, falling out. So the blade basically separated from the piston. Luckily I have installed the props on both engines and was about 99% sure I knew what the problem was. As a result I was able to repair it in order to fly it home without any problems.
I also figured out what is wrong with the Turbine that I mentioned before was jumping around on the hydraulic pressure gauge. It has a leak in it and is blowing turbine oil out all over the place. I'm going to be working on that tomorrow to see if I can get it fixed as I have to fly to Idaho on Thursday and would like the superchargers. :-)
My wife and son loved traveling in the airplane with plenty of room to move around. I loved the auto pilot and smooth flying. I've gotten used to most of the things that were bothering me but still have something missing in one of the engines and I've got a burnt lead on the left engine that I'll be replacing in the next day or so.
The trip was pretty awesome as far as flying island to island with other pilots and my son loves hotels so much that on the trip home he wanted to stay in Fort Pierce one more night (we didn't) just to swim in the pool.
Our last day home consisted of about 14 hours of travel time and about 10 hours of flying but was never much trouble due to the comfort and auto pilot. We had to stop a couple times before we got home because the airport in Tortola had no fuel but other than adding more time to the day it wasn't much trouble.
The only thing that did suck was all the paperwork and the fact that we didn't stay at any one island for more than 2 days. So you felt like you were constantly working to keep all the paperwork complete and in order. Some of the events they had planned didn't go off all that well but overall they did a pretty good job keeping things moving and making sure everyone got safely to the next airport. I'm not sure if I'll do another one due to all the work but it was definitely worth the money to do it once and to meet all the people.
Being able to do all of this in a 1963 Twin Commander 680FP made the trip even more awesome!
The more I fly the plane the more I love it and I'm looking forward to many more years of flying. I've already put 50 hours on her just in the last few months and after I find these last few bugs I hope to be able to fly it as reliably as my 310.
I'll post some pictures and link them here in the next few days as I'm still trying to get rested from the trip. 2 weeks were a bit much for me but we had a blast doing something we would never have done on our own.
If you have any questions about the trip feel free. Our favorite island was St Croix. Our least favorite was Martinque due mainly to the French. I will say though, the water, fish and snorkling are still better in the Bahamas. St Croix was really cool becuase of the old town and forts you could visit and the food there was much better than anywhere else.
Anyway, COMMANDERS ROCK!!
Glenn
