Brownsville to Puebla October 2014

Weather and Flight Plan

The sky was broken and the weather was mild. I had already filed a composite flight plan from Brownsville to Puebla, Mexico.

The Flight

Takeoff: 12:18 am   Landing: 3:23 pm   Duration: 3 hours 5 minutes

A tailwind helped shorten what would have otherwise been a 3:25 flight. We flew at 9000' and we found ourselves above an overcast as we progressed south. Mexican Air Traffic Control didn't get the message that this was a composite plan and were concerned that 9000' was not an appropriate altitude to finish the flight. I explained my intentions to transition to VFR over Tampico and that satisfied them. Along the way I spoke to Matamoros Tower, Tampico Tower, and Poza Rica Tower. I began climbing at Tampico and leveled off at 12,500' which was required to clear clouds most of the way to Puebla. The Puebla airport had only scattered clouds.

At Puebla

At the airport I requested fuel and found myself going through the exercise I had experienced at Tampico of driving around the airport trying different credit card terminals. I have resolved from this point forward to pay cash for fuel. The only problem with that is that they don't usually have change so any excess is forfeited. The credit card charge was completed successfully this time though. The airport has about 25 marked parking spots but some of them don't have tie down points.

We took care of closing the flight plan, getting our visas, which were very expensive this time, filled out the customs form, and got the paperwork for permission to bring the plane into Mexico.

We took a taxi into town, which was only $25 even though it is a long distance. We had planned to stay at the Hotel Santiago in the Centro but it was full. We walked to another hotel that was also full. But this hotel was in a hotel group and found a room for us in a 4-star hotel a few blocks away, the San Angel. The San Angel was fine but I wouldn't want to stay in a hotel with fewer stars. $40

We walked to El Mural de los Poblanos Restaurant at 16 de Septiembre & Av. 7 Oriente. This is an upscale restaurant that was quite good but cost more than our room. On the way back to the room we stopped to enjoy a light show at the cathedral.

Leaving Brownsville

Gulf coast of Mexico

Mountains south of Tampico

Next Puebla to Puerto Escondido.