Puebla to Brownsville October 2014

Weather and Flight Plan

The sky was scattered and the weather was mild. I filed a VFR plan to Brownsville at 11,500' for 3 hours and 10 minutes.

The Flight

Takeoff: 1:18 pm   Landing: 4:48 pm   Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes

We took off and began a slow climb. At 33NM north is a mountain ridge that requires 11,500' to clear. After that we encounted an overcast that was pretty much solid for the remainder of the trip and required us to remain at 11,500'. 50 miles prior to crossing the border I called San Angelo Radio on 122.3 and got a squawk code for crossing the border. When handed off to Brownsville Tower I requested a local IFR clearance and was referred to Valley Approach. They granted the request and vectored me around while I lost altitude. This added 20 minutes to the flight time.

At Brownsville

We taxied to Customs. The process was very quick this time since I already had the airplane sticker, which they did not need to see. They used an electronic sniffer to check the plane. We taxied to Southmost Aviation and refueled. I got a weather briefing and filed IFR for the return to Georgetown.

Next Brownsville to Georgetown.