Pour Islander

cassidain

Senior Insider
Un épisode de l'histoire d'aviation à Saint-Barth

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Merci Cassidain!

We don't see these Trislanders much these days. They're really part of the past now. To my knowledge, there's not a single one left flying in the Caribbean.
 
Another story of Saint-Barth aviation history from Mr Brin:

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It was with this Cessna 402-B (purchased from Air Guadeloupe) that Air Saint Barth launched its shuttle services around 1982 linking SBH to Saint-Martin and Guadeloupe. The SXM-SBH link was a particularly valuable one as there was no reliable maritime shuttle during that era.
It was aboard the F-OGFL that French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing made his official visit to Saint-Barth in 1980.

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The aircraft had two petites mésaventures during its ASB tenure, though neither produced injuries. On one occasion the landing gear clipped the windshield of a pick-up truck (passing le col de la Tourmente, I assume). The other, pictured above, involved a landing that went a bit too long, the aircraft ending up taking a little dip in the limpid turquoise waters of la baie de Saint-Jean.
 
looks like the F-OGFL was in some 80's "erotic" french film" called...Dortoir des Grandes a.k.a College Dormitory AVION_AI_DDG.jpg AVION_AN_DDG.jpg The director also filmed another film in St. Barth called Agathe et Martha i322414.jpg
 
The Cessna 402 is a nice aircraft still found in large numbers in the Caribbean. Cape Air (San Juan) has 75 of them, and many other charter companies use them in the BVI and the Grenadines. It's the ideal island hopper.

The problem is that the 402 is tricky to land in St Barths. The approach speed is higher than for an islander (or trislander), or even a Pilatus PC-12 or Cessna Caravan.

Powered with piston engines, there are no prop reversers (like on the turbo-props), increasing the landing distance required.
 
We are not excited when we see pictures of SBH aircraft in the beach. My wife gets airsick and the bumps for the 10 minutes sometimes gets her on the way from SXM. But she loves the food and shopping. LOL!
 
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