Two Barons to Baja

Page Two

 

     Our group consisted of seven West Coast pilots, most with little or no experience flying to Mexico, so the purpose of our weeklong trip was twofold.  We wanted to familiarize everyone with some of the more popular Baja fly-in destinations, and take some in-flight photos of the two Barons.  These two Barons, both 1967 C-55 models, are within 300 serial numbers of each other and are owned by four members of our group in two separate partnerships.  Both are based in the San Francisco bay area. 

     The central California weather in January delayed us the first day, requiring us to file and fly IFR part of the way to the border.  This further necessitated an overnight stay in Calexico, on the California side of the border.  The next morning we made the five- minute flight across the border to Mexicali, which is one of the many Mexican Airports of Entry (AOE).  We completed the border crossing formalities in less than an hour.  For anyone doing this for the first time, there are several ways to go about it, but all require your first stop at an officially designated AOE.  The formalities are not as bad and you may have heard, and there are many sources of good, helpful information available, including AOPA and Baja Bush Pilots.  There has recently been yet another change in the fee schedule for entering and flying in Mexico, but divided seven way the fees were bearable for us.  Many U. S. pilots however, have been pushed to their limits with increased fees, and there were noticeably fewer light airplanes in Baja on this trip than on previous trips.  The draw of Baja was strong for us, however, and we pressed Southward!