Does anyone know about flying into Puerto Penasco? Im thinking about flying from Tucson to MMPE Saturday and returning Sunday. I've never been there so wanted to ask if anyone has information about it. Also recommendations on where to stay and things to do. I'm also wondering how secure the airport is and if there are any concerns about leaving the plane there overnight?

blackrock wrote:Does anyone know about flying into Puerto Penasco? Im thinking about flying from Tucson to MMPE Saturday and returning Sunday. I've never been there so wanted to ask if anyone has information about it. Also recommendations on where to stay and things to do. I'm also wondering how secure the airport is and if there are any concerns about leaving the plane there overnight?

Ugh, my Mexico AF/D is in my plane.

Do I remember correctly that you've flown to Mexico before? So you know all the international rules and just want to know about that airport and area?

Either way, Baja Bush Pilots of Carribean Sky Tours will be able to tell you more. The latter publishes the unofficial AF/D.

Thanks rw2. I'll have a look at their info. It will be my first private flight to MX. I do have all the international stuff, so yes just interested in the local airport info and to know how secure it is to leave the plane tied down there. I travel to MX for work at times so understand traveling in MX. Now working on doing it by plane. I'm frequently in Tucson with the the plane and Puerto Penasco looks like a great destination once I figure it out. Maybe ill wind up driving there first.

You can get your plane stolen in Mexico if there is not a Army base there. Better have it insured real good.

Mexico has seen my last dollar. I don't like the way they disrespect my country and the deal with the former Marine who made a wrong turn.

Cheers...Rob

OregonMaule wrote:You can get your plane stolen in Mexico if there is not a Army base there. Better have it insured real good.

I've never actually heard of a plane being stolen. Who knows, maybe it's happened. Insurance is a good idea, of course, regardless of whether your motivation is theft or the far more likely event of a botched landing or other accident.

In any case, the airport in question is an AOE and secure.

Buddy (yeah I know...more "friend of mine" stories) has dealt with aircraft sales and ops near the border and in Mexico extensively over the last 35 years. If it's a 200 series Cessna, preferably with a turbo, theft is a very serious concern and you may want to consider keeping it at home. Everything else, especially tailwheel, not so much.

Never flown down there my own self. Sure do like the people. Sounds like fun, be safe and enjoy!

OregonMaule wrote:You can get your plane stolen in Mexico if there is not a Army base there. Better have it insured real good.

Mexico has seen my last dollar. I don't like the way they disrespect my country and the deal with the former Marine who made a wrong turn.

Cheers...Rob

Yes, having a plane stolen would really suck. As rw2 noted it's an airport of entry so I would hope security is good enough.

Plus, it's close. Only a little over an hour flight from Tucson and on the gulf of CA coast. Looks pretty sweet if it works out.

We used to have a home at Posada Conception, south of Mulege, on Baja, MX. We've made lots of trip into Baja, multiple times a year and once to main land MX to do the Copper Canyon train ride.

Aircraft insurance, when you check into the MX port of entry, they must be able to read, understand and accept your insurance policy. Some policies from the US are good in MX, some are not, but that is not the point. The point is, the MX official checking you in, has to approve it. To me that means written in Spanish and typically with a MX phone number in case there is a problem. The long and short of it is; your American policy may or not work in MX.

Jack, with Baja Bush Pilots, offers a very reasonably priced insurance for MX. The last I heard, less than a couple hundred bucks. All the MX officials are familiar with Jack and the insurance wrote on a MX company. If you ever run into a problem, and a local official tries to get a hold of your insurance in America, cause you just ran over his dog, you may wait it out in jail. Jack's insurance is cheap, easy to get and Baja Bush Pilots does a lot of good for us pilots in MX. He is a good resource. I always chose not to take a chance and bought his insurance.

One year, we forgot, spaced out, no MX insurance. We had to turn around at San Felipe, go back to Calexico, to wait for Monday to get insurance. I believe you can now get in on the web, anytime!! We lost 2 days of vacation, cause I forgot the insurance. I felt pretty dumb.

We always had a good time in Baja. When you land, expect to be greeted with kids/soldiers with M-16's. The kids normally have a 3 ring notebook, they want to see your pilots license, they write it down in their book along with your tail number. All the times we landed and were greeted by them at different airports, they never looked in our plane. They always asked, DRUGS, DRUGS, we would say NO DRUGS. We usually pull out our snacks, share cookies or beef jerky with them. It is all good, they are doing their job, Lora Lee and I never felt threaten by them. I hope they catch the drug runners. I still remember different kids poking the fabric on the Maule, not aluminum, they were surprised. You will have a great time down there, enjoy!!

It is a good experience, fun times. We still have friends in the Mulege area and also up at Alfonsina's, Alfonsina's (good fish tacos) is a good side trip, watch the tides on the runway.

Every time I see the title of this thread, I think of the old Hoyt Axton song "Evangelina"--- "....just a poor man's daughter from Puerto Penasco...."

Little John wrote:Aircraft insurance, when you check into the MX port of entry, they must be able to read, understand and accept your insurance policy. Some policies from the US are good in MX, some are not, but that is not the point. The point is, the MX official checking you in, has to approve it. To me that means written in Spanish and typically with a MX phone number in case there is a problem. The long and short of it is; your American policy may or not work in MX.

You do not have to provide a policy in spanish. You do not need to be able to provide a mexican contact number. Any policy is fine that meets clearly defined criteria. From memory those are very modest; coverage in Mexico and $300K in liability coverage. Caribbean Sky Tours is the AOPA organization that manages Mexican flight information and can tell you the very latest.

There is no requirement for hull insurance, but as others have pointed out for theft concerns and I have mentioned for accident concerns, I can't imagine not having my bird insured.

One tip I would have on this is to highlight the part that mentions Mexico in the coverage area. It's frequently buried and it's a pain to have to read the whole policy document standing in the Comandante's office trying to find it.

Another tip would be to print out the DGAC letter stating that foreign insurance is acceptable. Years ago you had to have coverage from a Mexican carrier. This hasn't been true for a long time and I haven't heard of anyone in Mexico being confused on this subject for years either, but for the cost of printing out one note, it seems like a low amount of effort to ensure a smooth ride.

Final tip is that it took me a few trips before I realized that a simple three ring binder with plastic sleeves full of the different documents makes things really easy. I just grab that out of my flight bag before I start walking to the various offices and everything I need is in one place. My binder has a ton of stuff, but most importantly it has my checklists for dealing with airport bureaucracy on both sides of the border (supplied by Caribbean Sky Tours and an organization I help with called Amigos de la Aviacion), multientry permit and insurance information in the first few sleeves for easy access.

March, 2004 my T-210 was stolen from the El Rincon dirt strip on the East Cape of southern Baja. I had a prop lock, a "hockey puck" type window/door lock, and a throttle lock. Plane left without me at daybreak. The following January another attempt to steal my new to me Skywagon was thwarted. Lessons learned, #1 Insure the plane for REPLACEMENT value. #2 Locks do NOT work. #3 Disable the plane, especially if you are not at a towered airport. #4 Mexico is a great place to visit by private plane! BUT, you should have an open mind, common sense, a touch of adventure in your blood, and most of all, and a recognition that things are not exactly like the USA.

A 210 was taken from muluge in 06-07 by blocking the plane at the run up area, pointing a gun and then the car was set on fire. Insure the chit out of it and have a great time.
I have been to Baja many times in friends planes and never had a problem

OregonMaule wrote:You can get your plane stolen in Mexico if there is not a Army base there. Better have it insured real good.

Mexico has seen my last dollar. I don't like the way they disrespect my country and the deal with the former Marine who made a wrong turn.

Cheers...Rob

ditto