Leg 020

"Yellow sonnet"

It was a rainy night in Port of Spain, but the horizon looks promising.

It's dawn here on Trinidad.  Similar to the last leg, Wanda and I have paused here on this great little island for five nights while I took care of some online work commitments.  I'm up early today for an early departure to Grenada.  The weather is misty here in Port of Spain, but the weather on arrival just 98 miles away in St. George's is clear for now.  Unfortunately Grenada will experience some heavy rain later in the morning, which is scheduled to last all day; so here I am, walking across the TTPP ramp to wake up Wanda.

Our flight today will be mostly over water with the exception of the first 10 miles and the last 50 feet.  Wanda and I will depart upward into the rainy layer and fly over the town of Saint Augustine, then El Luengo Village, followed by our official Trinidad exit overhead Maracas Bay.  We will likely experience light turbulence and limited visibility until the waters of the Caribbean provide refuge, as they contain the cloud cover over land during this time of day.  Wanda and I do not have any passengers or cargo, nor do we need fuel, so I pay my parking spot fees using the Margaritaville Air app, and we're ready to start up.

The yellows come alive as Wanda and I line up and wait.

Piarco International airport is a ghost town at this hour, so Wanda and I do not see anything moving during our 5 minute taxi to runway 10.  For some company I dig out my playlist and press shuffle.  The genius inside iTunes (I'm still old school that way) decides that David Paich's "Forgotten Toys" album will be a magnificent soundtrack to this morning's sojourn.  I could not agree more.

The engine run-up is normal, and before I even complete the before-takeoff checklist, we are cleared to line up and wait.  I point Wanda's nose into a luscious golden sunrise, smiling to the perfect chords of "All the Tears that Shine."

'N752KE, winds 110 at 08, runway 10 cleared for takeoff' says the drowsy tower.

Wanda and I are airborne in only 700 feet, climbing quickly. The tower clears us for a downwind departure via climb, so I keep the power in. Wanda and I scream up to 4,500 feet at 2,000 feet per minute. We enter a magical, thin yellow layer at 1,600 feet, even before we can get on the downwind.

It's difficult to reproduce magical atmospheres in anything other than aviation.

The air is sick with pallid yellow light
A jaundiced fog swimming throughout the night
Across a lonely road of ashen gray
I am there caught, alone, and swept away

In sudden water, scared, I fight the tides
For fear of learning where the fog resides
No man should live to see that port, behold
The fragments of his dream, too brash, too bold

Of visions painted in strokes of ‘could be’
A dream, in secret, bestowed unto me
By a man who knew what it means to fight
Do not go gently into that good night

-Sonnet, C.W. Bryan

Saying goodbye to Trinidad overhead the lively Maracas Bay resort area.

Wanda and I bump along at 4,500 feet, bathed in a golden robe as "Will I Belong To You" enters my headphones.  The layer thins and I can begin to see the majestic sun-drenched peaks of Trinidad.  Just ahead of us is our exit point - the Maracas Bay resort area.  Just two days ago I visited here and had a splendid meal at Uncle Sam & Sons Bake & Shark.  If you're ever looking for some awesome food in a basket, this is worth the trip alone.

As I prepare for the next 90 miles of open water, I check over our status: fuel quantity & pressure, cylinder head temps, oil temps & pressure.  Everything looks good to go, so I wish the Trinidad controller a pleasant morning and set sail for our next flag pickup point: the Spice Isle, Grenada.

Wow that's a nasty splotch on the radar.  I can see it from 40 miles out.

Within 2 miles of leaving the coast, the clouds give way to a completely clear sky.  I can feel a little bump here and there, but it is mostly still and peaceful.  I ride the calm waves, monitoring the radio (completely silent) and keeping an eye on the gauges.

After 50 miles of enjoying the freedom of unencumbered flight, I begin to prepare for my arrival.  ATIS tells me that, as expected, the skies above Point Salines International are clear for the moment, with winds coming from the northeast.  I open my EFB to double check the NEXRAD, as in the distance, still at least 15 minutes flying time away, is a giant stormy bubble of clouds.  Sure enough I see it on NEXRAD, a large, grump and fat red splotch.  The good news is that it is still 10 miles north of TGPY.  The bad news is that it is being pushed slightly south by the winds aloft.

I don't feel any extra anxiety or concern, but I decide to fly an expedited tight right traffic pattern to land as soon as possible on runway 10.  I would prefer not to get beat-up by an angry red blotch before breakfast.

Wanda and I making a touchdown under blue skies while the red grumpy splotch blows our way.

I keep the 'pedal to the metal' and am established in a tight pattern for Point Salines runway 10.  There are no other aircraft on frequency, so I am cleared to land still more than 15 miles from the runway.  I take that as a sign to fly a tight base leg, which I will clip at 45 degrees to further shave a few more seconds off the flight.

Wanda's big props and droopy cowl doors allow me to dump lots of drag into the slipstream, which allows me to make a steep approach with minimum radius turns.  After only 47 minutes since starting the engines, Wanda and I make a nice touchdown on the centerline of runway 10, with at least 2 miles to spare before the angry blotch arrives to water the local gardens.

The Spice Isle awaits to serve up some truly memorable dishes.

I pull in to the FBO, clean up Wanda's lines, turn off her switches and lock the doors before the storm has a chance to come overhead.  I've been told that Grenada has some seriously spicy dishes to sample, so I plan to spend the next couple of days burning off my tastebuds before heading to our next stop of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  This will also give me enough time to add Wanda's 10th flag to the livery.

There aren't any convenient jobs that are heading north from this location, so my plan is to next fly a short leg to Canouan, where there is plenty of charter work.  I'm not low on funds, but haven't flown a decent payload for a couple of legs, so it will be important to find the north-flowing jobs here in the West Indies.

For now, I'm off to find a spicy breakfast taco.  See you soon.