Monterrey (MTY) to Leon - Guanajuato (BJX)

climbing over the mountains south of Monterrey   More Photos

Weather and Flight Plan

Although IFR flight was possible for this next leg, the weather was clear and I filed a VFR plan through our highly paid FBO.

The Flight

Takeoff: 1:12 pm   Landing: 3:49 pm   Duration: 2 hours 37 minutes

After more than 2-1/2 hours on the ground in Monterrey, we finally were able to depart. I had only budgeted an hour and 45 minutes for this stop so now we were behind schedule. We were vector well out to the southeast and kept at only 2500', so when we were finally released from Monterrey approach we were well off course and way too low to cross the mountain range south of Monterrey, further adding to the delay.

Monterrey never terminated radio contact and there was no one else to speak with until reaching San Luis Potosi. After maintaining contact with San Luis Potosi for awhile, we were handed off to Leon. The Leon airport is located in a high valley just behind a mountainous area so we were not able to contact Leon until just a few miles from the airport.

Here is a youtube video of the takeoff from Monterrey.

Here are 30 enroute photos.

The Leon - Guanajuato Airport

The Leon airport has the design which is typical of Mexico's smaller international airports. There is one long runway connected to the ramp with two 45° taxiways. There are no parallel taxiways.

We were met on the ramp by a federale. Since the federales are not English-speaking, this time I was prepared with a slip of paper on which I had printed out the details of the pilot, aircraft, and flight--the things he needed to fill out his log. That made it much easier and he seemed relieved as well.

We proceeded to the office of the Comandante and closed the flight plan, paid the airport fee and ordered fuel.