JGPH1A From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 1, posted (5 years 7 months 3 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2691 times:
There are F27's, BAC1-11, Let 410's, manky old DC-9's still floating around in that part of the world. Also Shorts of various descriptions (360's for sure, possibly 330's too). Have a hunt around on Amadeus.net
JGPH1A From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (5 years 7 months 3 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 2691 times:
Try looking for routes between secondary cities like Roatan, San Pedro Sula, Antigua, Tikal and secondary cities in Nicaragua, and Belize. More likely to find older, wierder aircraft on less busy routes.
RAFVC10 From Spain, joined Sep 2005, 1980 posts, RR: 7 Reply 6, posted (5 years 7 months 3 weeks 11 hours ago) and read 2691 times:
Quoting Pe@rson (Reply 4): Atlantic Airlines apparently has F27s and L-410s as well as 732s. Flown on lots of 732s but never either prop. Any idea what sectors the props op?
And Fairchild Hiller FH-227!!!
Quoting Bok269 (Reply 5): Anything worth going out of the way for in Costa Rica?
Well, there are a pair of Britten Norman BN2 Islanders, a pair of Gippsland and many Cessna Grand Caravan.
In Guatemala you can fly in the last airline operating for passenger the Nord 262 (RACSA - Rutas Aereas Centro Americanas). Interesting, no?
Gerard
El dia que los gilipollas vuelen, no podremos ver la luz del sol!
Any DC-3 still flying pax ?
Last I heard, the C-46's Commandoo's were restricted to haul cargo, but might be an option to ask for a ride. $$$ make many things possible in that part of the world.
Plus: Try to get into contact with PRGDLGUY. IIRC he had been doing some unusual flying in that part of the world not too long ago.
-HT
Carpe diem ! Life is too short to waste your time ! Keep in mind, that today is the first day of the rest of your life !
MEA-707 From Netherlands, joined Nov 1999, 4117 posts, RR: 37 Reply 8, posted (5 years 7 months 3 weeks 5 hours ago) and read 2691 times:
Last month was in Guatemala and Honduras prop hunting. My conclusions were not too bright
* TACA Regional flies Shorts 360s in Honduras, I think Panama and Nicaragua too. I flew the Shorts 360 of Islena between Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba
* Unfortunately NO FH-227s are flying anymore. In Honduras, Air Atlantic and Aerolineas Sosa each officially have one Fairchild F-27 in their fleets but unfortunately they don't fly much. Most domestic flights are done with the Let-410s. They both told me they'd fly the F-27 in December and next high season (june?). Air Atlantic flies a 737-200 though, on for instance La Ceiba-Georgetown Cayman Islands
* Air Panama has F-27s.
* Tikal of Guatemala has ceased operations. Their BAC 1-11s were gone in 2003 already
* RACSA (and Aerolineas Sosa) also quited the Nord 262
* No commercial DC-3s and C-46s in central America. The Guatemalan Air Force has some, and IAI Arava's and other rare museum pieces.
* Venezuela still has some commercial pax DC-3s, DC-9s, 737s, 727s etc, Ecuador has 727s, F-28s and 737s, maybe even C-130 Herculeses used for pax flights, Peru: F-27, An-24, Bolivia: 727, Convair 580, so that might be the better places to go.
nobody has ever died from hard work, but why take the risk?
LTU932 From Germany, joined Jan 2006, 13864 posts, RR: 51 Reply 9, posted (5 years 7 months 2 weeks 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 2668 times:
Quoting Pe@rson (Thread starter): Are there any cool, old aircraft that I could fly aboard - cheaply - from any Central American capital as a day trip?
You could fly Air Panama on an SJO-PTY flight. They operate a fleet of a handful F-27s, although they've been introducing the Dash-8Q300 recently. They also operate Twotters and Islanders, but those probably fly domestic flights in Panama, as I've never seen them at SJO.
Another alternative would be Nature Air out of SYQ (you could stop by my place, I live very close to SYQ ) to domestic destinations in Costa Rica. Their fleet is mostly of Twotters with Vistaliner conversion (hence bigger windows), plus some of the airfields they serve tend to have spectacular approaches.
Or, if you're very desperate, you could try to jumpseat on one of ER's 727s that fly in and out of SJO and PTY if possible. ER operates them through Aeroexpreso from Panama.
Bok269 From United States of America, joined May 2007, 2105 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (5 years 7 months 1 week 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 2613 times:
Interesting to hear DC-3 in commercial pax. There are not many still flying. I think there are few in Congo.
How many BAC-111 still flying pax? MEA-707 mentioned that Tikal retired them in 2003. Is there any other airline still flying BAC-111 in Central America or anywhere in the world?
NWOrientDC10 From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 1389 posts, RR: 4 Reply 12, posted (5 years 7 months 1 week 1 day 9 hours ago) and read 2551 times:
I used to fly Shorts a/c ; LNS (Lancaster, PA) - PHL during the 1980's, probably a -330. The flights were quite turbulent (compared to jet flights) - I loved it!
Anyway, if you have a chance to fly on a Shorts 360, do so. These "flying boxes" (as they were called) are few and far between .
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) to domestic destinations in Costa Rica. Their fleet is mostly of Twotters with Vistaliner conversion (hence bigger windows), plus some of the airfields they serve tend to have spectacular approaches.
ER operates them through Aeroexpreso from Panama.
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