Jaunted

OK, I'll volunteer to post first. This was actually a really fun day trip. Here's my account of our "Crazy Saba Landing" (cockpit view) on a Win Air DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft. About 16 years ago, I flew from St. Martin/Juliana Airport to Saba Island with my 6 year old son, Alex.I shot some video to document our trip. It was similar to the above video. (By the way, shooting is best when you can see instruments right behind the pilot). We left in the morning and were flying about 1,000 feet above the water on our 40 minute jaunt to Saba. It appeared we increased altitude to land at Yrausquin Airport. On the approach, there are treacherous rock cliffs about 1,000 feet high and our right wing tip was from 800-500 feet from these cliffs. During the landing approach you appear to get closer and closer to these cliffs and the pilot is already positioned well left of the runway until the last minute where he slides to the right and lines up to the final approach and sets down. Note that the 1,300 foot runway (only a quarter mile) is wider at the near end than on the far end. The previous web site declared this commercial airport as having one of the shortest runways in the world. There is a lot of vibration and engine noise during the approach. As a passenger, it feels like the plane (with flaps down) is attempting to slow down and speed up at the same time. At the last minute the pilot expertly slides right and plants the aircraft on the runway and throws the engines in reverse while pumping the brakes. We only used about 2/3 of the runway. Pilots are obviously quite adept at what they do and their aircraft are standard fare. These are designed for short take off and landing (STOL). I feel the landing procedure is more challenging than taking off. There is no room for error. Once you've left the runway, there is a severe drop off where the craft would gain speed and increase lift. I believe the Saba vector is more complex than St. Bart's, a close second and only 30 minutes away. Alex and I climbed Mt. Scenery (2.5 hours round trip) which is about 3,000 ft. You'll walk through lush rain forests with exotic flora and fauna and literally into the clouds. We met Johnny Simmons the "mountain man" on the way down and he presented his lore. He lives/lived in a simple shack and sold us a few cokes. Then we found our ride and went to the airport for the return flight. I asked our driver if there were any accidents or mishaps at the airport. At the time, he told me the only fatality was a goat. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know. My lengthy post is primarily to convince you to set aside some time to experience this gorgeous island. This is a fantastic one day trip if the weather is good. Saba is a jewel. Ken Binder <binderken@gmail.com>