Koliber Zero Alpha Delta, you are leaving US airspace

What an amazing flying day! When we finally took off from Harlinger the wind had settled considerably and we had a seamless and floaty takeoff. The cloud cover above us was enough to shield us from yesterday’s brutal sun. We didn’t even have to ride with the “windows down” (that is, with the cockpit cracked open).

Such sweet words from the tower in Harlinger, “Koliber Zero Alpha Delta, you are leaving US airspace.” We danced a little cockpit jig as we sailed across the border into Mexico. Ricardo memorialized it on video. Although I know it is possible, I’m not sophisticated enough to figure out how to load video onto the blog.

We flew a peaceful and easy three hours over rich marshland to the coast and then South along the coast to Tampico. It was a beautiful and deserted coastline for the most part. The coast is clear gained new meaning for me today. Gorgeous, gorgeous day.

Arriving in Tampico, the tower was somewhat lax in their traffic control. Ricardo executed the most beautiful landing ever. We were cleared to taxi, but traffic control failed to mention the jet coming in for a landing when we were taxiing. It worked out, though. Whew! Then we had to taxi right up to the front door and get greeted by the machine-gun toting military guys and get searched and so forth. Pay some “fees,” fill out some forms, surrender our fruit, and then get on our way.