Caribbean Air challenge 2010
Constanza, Dominican Republic, April 2010.
The Dominican Republic continues to increase aviation tourism of private planes with pilots from the United States, Canada and as far away as Australia.
TheAir Rally adventure flight with 19 aircraft took off from Florida and landed in the Isabela International Airport in the Dominican Republic, after visiting Exuma and Grand Turks.
View the Air Rally official Blog and read more here
THE ARRIVAL IN SANTO DOMINGO.
The Air Rally where welcomed at La Isabela Airport by a specialized staff of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation and Airports Department. Juan Belliard, coordinated the operations of arrival and departure of aircraft.
[singlepic id=191 w=320 h=240 float=none]After exhausting his tour in Santo Domingo, including a tour of the old Colonial City and Columbus house. The group stayed the the night in Santo Domingo, where they prepared for the adventure flight to Constanza the next day.FLIGHT TO CONSTANZA
Santo Domingo 6:30 AM
Below a hazy 1,500 feet ceiling the Airports Department, the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute, the Secretary of State for Tourism and the flight information page www.flydominicanrepublic.com and the crew from the Air Rally where present at the airport to coordinate the flight to Constanza.
[/caption]Local maps where distributed and a Pilot’s briefing where given to all the pilots before taking off. Weather in Constanza was reported as “Blue Skies”, with a 2,000 feet window of clear weather above the mountains.
Franklin Polanco from www.flydominicanrepublic.com and Jim Parker from caribbeanflyingadventures.com took off first to check the weather conditions and wait for the 19 planes in Constanza airport.
Climb to 7,000 feet then spiral down to Constanza was the flight plan instructed by the Dominican pilots to the Air Rally.
APROACH TO CONSTANZA
“It was one of the more beautiful approaches that I have made in my life” stated on of the Air Rally pilots”
A staff of local authorities conformed by Mr. Aristides Fernandez Zucco, Secretary of State and Director of the Airport Department, General Pilot, Mauel Jiménez García, Director of the Aeronautical Institute of the Dominican Air Force, and a band of youths from the region, which played while arriving aircraft.
Also Rafael Collado, President of Pro Development Board of Constaza and Mr. Fernandez Zucco, after receiving the Fly In, declared to the leader of Air Rally, Catherine Tobenas, that the City of Constanza is eager and prepared to receive General Aviation tourism.
The Airport Director, pointed out that all this is being achieved with the participation of all government agencies related to aviation and the promotion that is being carried out by the Dominican authorities in various conventions overseas carriers such as Lakeland in Florida, where the Dominican Republic has just had a successful participation, promoting the Dominican Republic and also participate in the convention air Oshkosh, Wisconsin in July, where planes fly about 10,000 and is visited by nearly one million people.
CONSTANZA “The Shangri-La of the Caribbean”
On the other hand U.S. and pilot Jim Parker, one of the leading advocates for private aviation in the Caribbean region, who is promoting the country’s airports through its Caribbean Flying Adventures organization, who also welcomed the visitors.
I declare that Constanza Airport, is destined to become one of the most exotic airports in the Caribbean region, for its special qualities of temperature, altitude, with a runway of 7,000 feet surrounded by mountains and friendly people to receive Constance foreign pilots, saying it is like the Shangri-la of the Caribbean, private aviation, which increased interest and consumption, the more you know the thousands of pilots of American and Canadian markets and complements the other eight international airports and airfields excellent attractions and Portillo, Montecristi, the Caves of Wonders and Cabo Rojo, who are developing and to know the international market.
Four planes flew a group of 14 top schools children , who had never flown in an airplane, or had seen the valley from the air.
INTERNATIONAL PRESS IN THE FLY IN
Journalists from international aviation bodies, also arrived in the Fly In aircraft, including Anthony Main, Minneapolis, Robert Serve Swiss photographer and cameraman for the Canadian aviation magazine Flying.
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