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  1. Username Protected
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       #1  

    Flying to Bermuda in a Phenom 300

    Has anyone flown their Phenom 300 to Bermuda that I could contact to discuss?
    Thank you.
  2. Username Protected
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    #2  
    (Username Protected), I'm going through this process now with my 300, HF radio, LOA's etc......feel free to email me , [email protected]
  3. Username Protected
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    Hi (Username Protected)- we're all set on HF, LOAs and SMS. Was really looking to discuss the actual trip.
  4. Username Protected
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    #4  
    My friend Marcus Adolfsson (from Cirrus days) is allowing me to temporarily interlope with this august group for purposes of posting a trip report of a recent trip we took to Bermuda in our PC12. The report as posted on POPA and COPA is below. Don't bust a gut laughing at the trip times!

    We are planning another trip to Bermuda/TXKF for Thanksgiving week, but this time from our home base in Austin/KAUS. With typical winds and decent weather at TXKF, we can do KAUS-TXKF non-stop "coasting out" over (Username Protected)sonville/KJAX. We'll need to make a stop somewhere in the southeast on the way back.

    Glad to respond to questions here or chat offline to anyone about this trip or international flying in general (we have flown our bird to all seven continents and 45 countries).

    Here is the report (writtien in mind-June, 2021)...

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    I have a habit of writing-up detailed trip reports for new or unusual flights I take. I do it mainly for my personal enjoyment (sort of like a pilot’s diary), but thought I’d share this one here in case anyone is thinking to a trip to Bermuda in their PC12. It is absurdly (Username Protected), but the short version is it is an easy trip in a PC12 if you have the right communications equipment, meaning an HF radio plus a backup (Username Protected) range communications system (an Aircell 3100 in our case). All of these requirements are covered by FAA LOA B036 (Oceanic and Remote Continental Navigation using Multiple (Username Protected)-Range Navigation Systems) which would be required for this sort of trip.

    Bermuda trip report

    This is a report of a trip we took to Bermuda (from Maine) in our Pilatus PC-12/45 on June 8, 2021 and returning to Maine on June 15, 2021. Here are the nitty-gritty details…

    COVID protocols (as of June 8, 2021)

    A PCR COVID test is required within four days of arrival in Bermuda with the day of the test counting as day zero. We did a Vault at-home test Friday AM, had results Saturday PM, and arrived in Bermuda Tuesday mid-day. The Vault test was easy and worked well for all four of us.

    Between one and three days of arrival in Bermuda, you must complete a Bermuda travel authorization form at www.gov.bm. But you need your pre-arrival test before completing the form. We had our test results on Saturday afternoon, completed the on-line form Saturday evening, and got the authorization for our Tuesday arrival Sunday afternoon.

    Upon arrival and after clearing customs you do an arrival PCR test at the FBO. You get an arm-band that you must wear until you are cleared to travel freely over all the island. For vaccinated travelers, you are quarantined at your hotel/resort property (not restricted just to your room…you can move around the property) until you get your arrival test results which we got five hours after arrival. Assuming you are vaccinated and the arrival test results are negative, you are then free to remove the wrist band and travel freely around the island just like a local. You still need to take a PCR test on day four of your stay, but that does not impact your freedom of movement unless it comes back positive.

    If you are not vaccinated, the rules are much stricter and you probably would not want to visit Bermuda.

    The US requires a COVID test (not necessarily a PCR test) 72 hours prior to arrival in the US. If you stay in Bermuda no more than seven nights, your Day 4 Bermuda PCR test can also serve as your test for arrival in the US. For example, we arrived in Bermuda on a Tuesday (day zero for testing purposes) and did our Bermuda Day 4 test on Saturday which also qualified as our US entry test for our arrival in the US on the following Tuesday. We arrived for our Day 4 test (also covering our re-entry test for the US) in Hamilton at around 1130 L and the line was (Username Protected). But it was much shorter a little bit later, so might be a good idea to ask the best times to get the test done before showing up.

    In terms of testing prior to arrival in the US, the process is for each passenger to complete a CDC “attestation” form saying they have had a negative COVID test within 72 hours prior to arriving in the US. The “aircraft operator” (the PIC in the context of a privately operated Part 91 GA flight) is responsible for checking the attestation form and evidence of the negative test. However, the aircraft operator (PIC in this case) does not need to keep a copy of the negative test report, just the attestation form (for two years). US CBP has no responsibility to check either the attestation form or test report. When we re-entered the US, CBP did not ask any questions about testing. So the testing for coming back into the US is basically an honor system requirement for typical Part 91 operators.

    Flight Planning to Bermuda

    We flew from Bar Harbor, ME/KBHB to Bermuda/TXKF in our PC12. The planned flight time was 3+14 on our day.
    Because Bermuda is an isolated island about 600-800 NM from the US mainland, the only alternates are back on the US mainland which requires ~1200-1600 NM of range which is a nice fit for the PC12. We filed Dare County/KMQI (North Carolina) as our alternate, but could have used several other mainland airports.

    One flight planning consideration is that most of the east coast of the US is surrounded by various warning, alert and other special use airspace with narrow gaps for airways. Flying direct means any special use airspace a(Username Protected) the direct route needs to be cold. Also, while direct routing is generally available (assuming special use airspace allows) in Boston, New York, etc. ARTCC (Center) airspace, once entering oceanic airspace you typically need to file for airways. So flight planning means checking special use airspace and filing to fix on a boundary of oceanic airspace (New York Oceanic) and then on airways the rest of the way to Bermuda.

    For our route, this meant W102H and W104C needed to be cold in order for us to file directly from KBHB to KAYTT which is on the border of New York Oceanic and a fix on airway L462. Fortunately, those two warning areas are rarely hot and the evening before our departure there were no ARTCC NOTAMs showing them as becoming active for our flight the next day. Thus, we were able to file directly to KAYTT (we actually fit one fix in a(Username Protected) the direct route just for good measure) and L462 to BDA. That saved almost 25 minutes versus a route that avoided all special used airspace.

    We filed our flight plan using ForeFlight both ways (going and coming) and it worked fine. ForeFlight is rapidly expanding their service area in terms of flight plan filing which is a nice feature. They are rapidly catching up with the traditional leaders in international flight planning services (ARINC, Jeppesen, Universal, etc.).

    The route for the day had almost perfect weather…

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    Communications

    Flying to Bermuda requires an operable HF and appropriate backup communications (second HF, approved SatPhone, CPDLC, etc.). Bermuda and New York Oceanic take this requirement very seriously as noted in a briefing package I got from Universal Aviation (who was the international flight planner for our flight):

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    Approaching New York Oceanic airspace (KAYYT fix), we were told by New Your ARTCC to contact ARINC (pronounced “Air-Ink”) on 129.9. Evidently ARINC has a better VHF system than New York ARTCC.

    Note that ARINC (proper call sign is just “New York” but some people say “ARINC New York”) is not ATC. ARINC are radio operators that transfer messages between pilots and ATC but have no authority to issue ATC instructions themselves. So, if you make an ATC request (different altitude, weather diversion, etc.) via ARINC, expect a delay as the ARINC radio operator coordinates with ATC. This is a similar setup with many oceanic FIRs (flight information regions) such as Gander Radio and Iceland Radio. For some reason the ARINC callsign does not use the “radio” suffix though.

    We were only with ARINC on VHF for about 20 minutes before they told us to call them on HF (8846 primary, 6577 secondary) which we did. They asked for our SELCAL code (not sure why they did not have it as it was on the flight plan) and we did a successful SELCAL check after which we could turn the volume down on the HF and be spared listening to the constant HF static. I describe SELCAL in this blog post 2 (about three paragraphs down), but suffice it to say SELCAL is a great option for HF (also can work on VHF). HF communications were reasonably clear and they did use SELCAL to contact us once or twice.

    At the boundary of Bermuda’s airspace (about 180 NM from the island) we were told (via HF) to contact New York Center on 128.5. Bermuda has a special relationship with New York Center (not New York Oceanic) where New York Center provides approach control services to TXKF (the only airport in Bermuda) using a remote radar site on the island. About 50 NM from Bermuda, you enter Bermuda’s Class E airspace and New York Center hands you off to Bermuda tower on 118.1.

    About 100 NM out, we asked New York Center to relay a request to Bermuda tower for permission to circle the island before landing. They did so and as soon as we contacted Bermuda tower they said “Understand you want an island tour?” We had not used the “island tour” terminology but said “yes” and that we wanted to circle the island counterclockwise. The tower said “Island tour to the south approved, maintain 1,500 FT or greater and remain at least 3 NM from the coast.”

    Cool.

    We did as instructed and got some great views of the island including the resort (Cambridge Beaches) where we would be in a couple of hours.

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    Once abeam the airport to the east, we called tower and they said enter crosswind for a left downwind to runway 12. Once east of the field on crosswind, tower called us in sight and cleared us to land from a left downwind.

    Crosswind looking down runway 30 (from which we would depart a week later)…

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    Downwind runway 12…

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    A view of the west end from our “island tour”…

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    We landed, exited taxiway Charlie, and parked next to the Cedar Aviation FBO which includes a full customs and immigration facility.

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    We cleared customs quickly with no hassles and then had our arrival COVID PCR test (nasal swab) in a conference room at the FBO. All was pretty easy and painless. We got our COVID test results about five hours later via email at which point we were free to move around the island like a local.

    One tip is that, if at all possible, plan your arrival in the morning. The commercial flights start arriving around noon local time and I suspect the customs and arrival PCR testing folks that are readily available at the FBO in the morning get very busy shuttling between the commercial terminal (opposite side of the airport) and the FBO in the afternoon.

    Return Trip

    After a glorious week relaxing on the west end of Bermuda at the same “cottage colony” where my better-half and I honeymooned 36 years ago (and have returned eleven times since), it was time to leave.

    The departure was very smooth. We arrived at Cedars Aviation (the FBO) at 0955 L and were wheels-up an hour later after refueling and customs. The fuel trucks at Bermuda do have FSII (aka, Prist) for those planes that need fuel anti-icing additive (as does our bird).
    There was no traffic in the Bermuda area and we were cleared for immediate departure. The communications was essentially the reverse of the inbound comms…Bermuda tower, New York Center on VHF, ARINC New York on HF (in New York Oceanic airspace), and then New York Center again on VHF.

    We filed our flight plan using Foreflight and Bermuda tower had it without problems. The route was essentially the reverse of our inbound route except we departed Bar Harbor/KBHB and arrived back at Portland/KPWM. There was a bit of weather on the return (including a tropical storm), but using the combination of onboard radar, Stormscope, and satellite download lightning (XM worked most of the way but only providing lightning data until about 200 NM from the US coast) we had a smooth flight although about one hour of IMC at FL300. The total trip time was 3+17.

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    US customs was efficient at Portland/KPWM without any hassles. The customs ramp is on the east side of the airport next to the FedEx facility. After clearing customs, we fire-up and taxi to the FBO and the trip was done.

    A fabulous trip and a great use of GA.
  5. Username Protected
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    #5  
    Thought I would update this thread with a PIREP on another trip we completed to Bermuda yesterday, this time from the west. This is the first leg of a trip that will take us to Madrid, Spain and back via the Azores. While this was not in a Phenom aircraft (it was in our beloved PC-12), I suspect many of the issues would be the same in a Phenom other than the speeds and flight time.


    We flew Austin/KAUS to Bermuda/TXKF non-stop on November 20, 2021 on our PC-12. It was 1,725 NM as planned which normally would be too far for a max cruise power non-stop especially to an isolated island where I wanted to carry fat fuel reserves. But with the wintertime tailwind, we were able to do the trip non-stop at max cruise power with 2.8 hours of reserves at TOD (top of descent) and about 1.7 hours of holding fuel down low (3,000 FT) assuming no icing conditions. With a VFR TAF for the whole day, I was comfortable with those reserves without an alternate. If the forecast for TXKF had had MVFR or IFR conditions, we would have stopped before “coasting out” and refueled thus giving us an alternate back on the mainland, but I did not feel the extra stop was warranted on this day. I calculated the PSR (point of safe return) just in case.

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    Routing to Bermuda from the west is either over Charleston, SC or (Username Protected)sonville, FL unless you are certain the warning areas a(Username Protected) the east coast are cold. For our day, the routing over (Username Protected)sonville was slightly better. Our routing at FL290 was:


    KAUS ILEXY3.JAYJO TNV SJI J2 DEFUN KOOKK FEMON JAWSS SNABS JAINS M326 JIMAC TXKF


    It was a (Username Protected) flight (6+04), but smooth air and VMC except for the approach to Bermuda and even that was not bad. The tailwind average about 45 KTS over the entire trip, but hit a maximum of about 75 KT.


    The Boss was happy in the back and it was comfortable for me too. I roll the rudder pedals all the way forward and keep my legs stretched out for (Username Protected) flights and do deep vein thrombosis (DVT) exercises occasionally. I had plenty of food, coffee, water, and my cockpit normal potty kit (TravelJohns, etc.). Since I did not have a second pilot for this trip, using the “real” potty was not an option. All in all, a nice and comfortable trip for both of us.


    As mentioned in the previous PIREP, approaching the boundary with New York Oceanic West, ARTCC ((Username Protected)sonville in this case) hands you off to ARINC New York on VHF. After contacting ARINC on VHF, they quickly switched me to HF. A quick SELCAL check and I could turn off the audio on the HF and avoid the constant HF static. I made standard voice position reports to ARINC (they are the intermediary with ATC) on HF as we proceeded without any difficultly. They called me once using SELCAL to confirm my squawk.


    As mentioned in the earlier PIREP, approaching Bermuda’s airspace about 200NM from the airport, you are switched to New York Center on VHF which has a radar outlet at Bermuda. At that point everything is pretty much back to standard domestic procedures. I executed the RNAV 12 and landed on RWY 12 in gusty conditions which made the landing a bit of work, but all went well.

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    For some reason the RNAV 12 is charted as having LNAV/VNAV, but only LNAV shows-up on my GNS box this trip and last trip. Not sure why, but the MDA is the same so myabe Garmin/Jepp just did not bother to put the advisory VNAV data in the database. I later learned this might have something to do with the error checking in the GNS and may not apply to later versions of Garmin GPS engines, but I have not confirmed that supposition. In any event, I did an old school CDFA from about 10,000 FT to the MAP which is sort of fun.


    If the wind gods cooperate we will depart Saturday for the Azores/LPLA which is 1,868 NM as we have it planned. For that flight we will need at least a 25 KT tailwind component and need to use (Username Protected) range cruise power to maintain adequate reserves. Unlike Bermuda, the Azores does have several ILS equipped alternate options and one airport where we could land short of LPLA if fuel became an issue. But if the winds do not cooperate we will need to go to St John’s/CYYT or St. Pierre/LFVP, overnight there, and then go on to the Azores adding an extra overnight on our way to Madrid, Spain.


    These flights a tremendously rewarding for me to plan and execute. I welcome any questions as I enjoy sharing what I have learned over the last eight years about international flying in GA aircraft.

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