Flight Level Flying

After sending me to school to learn to fly the Pilatus PC-12NG back in October, I finally had the opportunity to fly it down to Morelia, Mexico a few days ago.  New plane, international flying, and fun!

Firstly, to all of those who are wondering what a Pilatus is, here it is in Mexico with the airstairs down and the cargo door up in the back.

The PC-12 is a Swiss-made single-engine turboprop (jet engine turns a propeller). It seats 6-7 passengers, is a BEAUTIFUL plane, and extremely capable. The Pilatus simply cannot be beat for operating cost, maintenance and cabin size. It's only slight downfall is that it's a touch slow- only cruises at about 300 MPH.  It was a little tough to think back to the training after not seeing the plane in months, but after watching the other pilot, John, fly the first leg, things came back to me.

It was also challenging to understand the Mexican controllers with their thick accents. John and I both looked at each other quizzically after most of the transmissions from their ATC. We muddled through, however, and had quite the greeting party after landing in Morelia: 2 Customs agents, 2 soldiers with M-16s slung over their shoulders, 1 drug-sniffing dog, an airport manager, and 2 ramp agents.  We were technically not supposed to take pictures, but no one got shot, so it must not have been too taboo. Here's John with one of the soldiers.

It was fun to watch the dog work, and everyone was friendly. I'm happy to say, however, that our ATC system in the States has 200% less paperwork, stamps, processing and general hassle than ATC in Mexico. We were walked through 5 or 6 different people, gathering stamps, filling out paperwork and paying lots and lots of fees. Grrrrr.We were finally on our way, however, and I spent the next couple of days enjoying Mexico.

Morelia is about 180 miles east of Mexico City, so we were not in resort Mexico by any stretch. Hardly anyone took credit cards, US currency, or spoke English. It was fun to dust off the old Spanish and it came back to me surprisingly quickly.  I've still forgotten a lot, though.  I ventured into the historic district after enjoying a crazy $2 taxi ride. The city is beautiful with local pink stone being used in most of their colonial architecture. Their centerpiece is an amazing Cathedral that took close to 80 years to complete. It's beautiful both inside and out.

Here's my best result after asking no less than 3 locals to take my picture...

Here's the public university library interior. The pics are a little blurry because the light was low and flash photography was prohibited. So much history!

The EVP of North America, his wife, and the CIO invited me out to dinner at a great hotel restaurant right next to the Cathedral the night before we left. The view was amazing and we got a bit adventurous, trying a local dish as an appetizer. Can you see what it is in the 2nd pic?

 

It's tons of tiny, dried, cooked fish. We put them in corn tortillas with a thick cheese and ate them. Not very good, actually. They tasted like fishy charcoal. Oh well, when in Rome, er, Mexico...

The flight home was very smooth and the setting sun over the deserts of northern Mexico was gorgeous. The sun set on our left side, while the moon came up on our right. Anyone have a guess as to the pod on the wingtip and the probe just inboard?

 

Here's John and I about to leave. I didn't know he always wears a monkey suit to fly. I caught on and had mine when we went to Las Vegas last week. What an amateur I am! :)

Good times and a great adventure!