Landing at St Barths TFFJ (Pilots View) _ Left Pattern RWY 28 (Part 2)

This is my second landing at St. Barths. Left Traffic for Runway 28. A very interesting approach with a no Go-Around option.
I go over the approach a bit using graphics, but this video is not to be used as a substitute for actual training at St. Barths.
Again, WOW is the word. Enjoy.
Special thanks to Aeroclub St. Martin and Thomas.

[@bobsurgranny]

Enjoyed the approach walkthrough

[@Sebastopolmark]

Came over from Overkill and it's great to see the landing in the real world. Thanks! !! !!!

[@nobodyyouknow222]

Excellent video ! Great look at these approaches, and nice look at what the skipper can do in these circumstances.Much appreciated ! A good antitdote to the overrun videos we have probably all seen.

[@davewood9888]

Nicely controlled approach, right on the numbers.

[@kiskafish7877]

Nice! I like how you look for landmarks.

[@DaBrute]

That's basically how we give directions in the Caribbean. Go past the white house on your left, follow the road, turn left at the green house, when you see the point in the bay make another left and you're there😂

[@FSX404]

Just got done driving thru a Dominican Republic town, no rules, just dont hit a motorcycle 🤣

[@theMusafirs]

Great landing and instruction, really appreciate your effort, Thanks

[@zdp-189]

I had problems VFRin into 28 w Carenados M20R, followed your guidance and map here w actual houses I could see in MSFS lmao… worked like charm! Great job irl!

[@lawrencemartin1113]

Nicely done. What a lovely place to live (and fly planes!).

[@joshmccorquodale9082]

Looks like a lot of challenging fun! Great landing as usual!

[@collinsfamilync]

Love the head-mounted camera perspective.

[@johnfransen9417]

What a great a video. I think I’m going to have to add this airport approach to my bucket list. 🤙

[@Izmael1310]

Great camera view. Great piloting. Thank you :)

[@NathanElcoate]

Excellent.

[@smaze1782]

Really enjoyed this video GVad. Thanks a lot for making it.

[@art.demirjian9721]

Very beautiful scenery and very exciting to be part of the flight!

[@agustinguevara8054]

Awesome view! Thank you for sharing ! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@Goekeli]

Great video, great flying!!

[@ohwell2790]

Have a photorealistic St. Barth's in my FSX flight sim. Now I know how to make this approach. Thanks for this video, this is one of my favourite airports. Thanks

[@athgt6630]

Quality flying mate once again. well done

[@rmjrea]

Awesome thank you keep making your fantastic videos

[@freddiepenrose4235]

Very nice and great perspective. Thanks

[@Sverver70]

best video ive seen in a while! keep it up

[@edal61]

Man, all the time I thought a Culebra (CPX) landing was a very tough one, this one made it look like a walk in the park!

[@sadbucket]

really great flying

[@Mets747]

Beautiful! Right on the touchdown zone!

[@FSX404]

+Mets747 Thanks

[@DoctorDARKSIDE]

Really clean and precise flying - man, you have an engine failure there, you're stuffed! More of these vids!!! :)

[@user-fb7fh6yc6x]

Bellissimo video 🤙🏼

[@jlh9910]

peace of cake uphill runway and no obstacle in front of landing threshold those are super fun.. East Sound in the Puget sound is much like this I love taking my Cirrus in there.

[@FSX404]

Lake Wolford Airport (8CL1) was the toughest one for me, 1300x30 on top of a cliff.

[@PEPcessna]

well done Gvad this landing was perfect, I remember watching you back in years ago when you did this approach in flight sim showing us how to do it. Well done!

[@FSX404]

thank you, I remember doing the tutorial of a chart, it was pretty accurate but missing the actual details like specific points and altitudes. Something you get only when getting actual instructions. Thanks for sticking around.

[@PEPcessna]

And here is to another 4 years :)

[@klausmalzbier]

Great Video 😊. Amazing landing! :)

[@HiddenWindshield]

So, what happens if any of those houses have to get new roofs?

[@paulnicholls8683]

Funny !

[@SuperDenonciateur]

HiddenWindshield they won't land.

[@beannamated]

I came to ask that! Also, do those people know their roofs are integral to the flight path?

[@shakeit6898]

@@beannamated imagine seeing this and realising thats your house they talk about xD

[@anaa9088]

@@shakeit6898 It will probably appreciate in value.

[@user-pj8yj6yt6o]

Great explanation, thanks for video! Greeting from Russia!

[@SVELFARO]

Best video anywhere on how the approach is flown, and I have seen most I think. gratz on your usual great job.So how many of the 10 most dangerous airports have you flown now?? Hope over the years you can do them all.Thanks again for talking us along.

[@FSX404]

+elfaroproductions Thanks, this is it actually. I can do San Diego at any time, and probably Eagle Vail in a weekend. And maybe Juliana next time I happen to go over there to St Maarten. Couchervel and Toncontin are also possible. Not sure about Gibraltar. But Madeira I have no idea, and Lukla is probably out of the question unless you have $50+K to spend. There are plenty of US small airports that can give you the same sense of accomplishment, Blackinton in California is very much comparable to St. Barths, Wohlford in California is very comparable to SABA. Big Bear is comparable to Eagle Vail. So there is a lot of close airports that are awesome.

[@nobodyyouknow222]

+GVad The Pilot (FSX404) I will look at blackington and wohlford.. tnx.

[@alphahotel0076]

awesome video!

[@pasquale2652]

Reminds me of my landings at Catalina Airport, CA. !!! Good job shooting this runway! Kudos.

[@FSX404]

Catalina always raises the hairs on the back of my neck, its a 3000 foot runway, but just the postion of it is weird, like landing on top of a building. BTW, try Wohlford 8CL1, that is scary

[@53roger]

I tried this on MSFS and it worked much better than the approach I was using (not going around the hill and over the green roof house) coming in East of the hotel for a very tight turn to final. Thanks

[@MrLukedibernard]

Great landing!

[@unclelar53]

Cool. I trained in a Skipper back in the 1980s. Underpowered, but a real sporty, agile little plane. I had a lot of fun with it.

[@mattpope1746]

Good flying and very interesting video. I’ve watched a few different KZbin vids now of landings at Gustaf III airport. I had assumed the wind would always be blowing from the direction of the bay and so all landings would be Runway 1-0 and all takeoffs Runway 2-8. The more you know...

[@Flightsworldwidevideos]

Great video!!

[@amorporchile2958]

Very nice landing

[@421clips7]

I watched a video of someone crashing here this was my next recommended video

[@pip07200]

Wow thanks for the video and explanation. Have to try it out in MSFS2020 ;-D

[@LDSloan]

Awesome!

[@DROHNENDANIEL]

Nice landing.

[@wano]

lending yg sempurna.. salam indonesia..🇮🇩🙏🙏

[@carlvogt6162]

Do they have to change the approach Charts when the owner of the green house decides to build a yellow roof on it? 😂

[@adriankoola]

Really nice pattern and approach mate, must have been satisfying ! Thanks for the upload GVAD :) Enjoyed as always- Where to next?

[@FSX404]

+Adrian Koola I'm off to hell if I don't change my wicked ways, lol. I don't know, Maybe some California airports. I really want to do the approach into Blackinton and landing at Wohlford.

[@xraygolf6000]

Very interesting channel i like it :D

[@skbenergy]

pretty awesome stuff there....ever do any flights into St. Kitts ? maybe i spotted you once :)

[@muneesmunnes2094]

Awesome

[@FsxReal]

It would be funny if people painted there roof with a different colour.

[@embrj1453]

took the words out of my typer lol

[@ze2004]

An adventure! That peninsula can we surf?

[@davem5333]

You came in the easy way. (That's the way I would do it, too!. That other way is nutts!!)

[@FSX404]

Dave M lol, there is no easy way at St Barts. I did actually do all three approaches.

[@glaubersalatino9446]

Nice video

[@citygirl7025]

There's another guy who lands planes on the island today. When I met him back in 1994 his nickname was Pilote and he was grounded and not allowed to fly because of his love for alcohol

[@Hondaridr58]

Are the air vents on the door windows an stc? I have a skipper and would love to have extra vents.

[@tytusabrahamson6575]

Always nice to have the stall horn chirp at you when you're turning 100 feet above a wooded hill... That always get my attention. Nice approach! BTW, how did you like the Beech?

[@FSX404]

+Tytus Abrahamson When at final approach speed and flying over a gap that creates drafts and turbulence, the stall horn is liable to come on for a second, good thing we have 10-15 kts to spare lol. I love Beech planes that I have flown, Bonanzas and this Skipper. A little touchy since I usually fly planes in 3000-4000 lbs range, but I got used to it really fast and the plane itself was very stable. As Thomas said, Beechcraft fixed all the issues that Piper Tomahawk (Skipper is based on that design) had.

[@nicolasschaede9907]

Great video Again man!

[@FSX404]

+Nicolas Schaede Stay in touch, I might need to get contacts at St Maarten through you.

[@nicolasschaede9907]

+GVad The Pilot (FSX404) Yeah for sure!

[@danielgomezsenosiain507]

video muy interesante

[@bkrichmd]

Oh my gosh, that's an approach alright.

[@conradkappel9426]

Now this is flying! But what happens if the "white house" or the house with the green roof burns down?

[@LMDProductionsOfficial]

In X-Plane I just come on off the water and turn (like a Gibraltar approach). Not sure if it's realistic but as long as you guess the turn right it works lol.

[@uscitizen5656]

I was lucky enough to fly into St Barth's from St. Martin and we used the Left hand landing pattern. I had to re-tune an antenna on the Cell Tower, that is on the right hand side of this video. 2:36 in. I will go back anytime they let me.

[@FSX404]

Cost me $220 to fly all 2 once at St Marten, next time I vacation there I'll do it again, or maybe SABA

[@GeorgiaNFA]

Nicely done man.

[@FlightSim2703]

Hi Gvad, I see you did lots of reviews on flight simulators, please let me know if you have ever done ATC return to airport for full stop or touch and go on x-plane10, For example whenever I take off an airport like LAX to what frequency I need to tune to get clearance to land, not using 3rd party ATC but just the software options. If you done it on different airport please advise me which one. Thanks very much

[@pennyspringdoor]

That's scary! If just ONE house owner paints their roof at any time, there'll be no reliable point to navigate by, and the entire approach pattern will have to be altered.

[@Pilot_Frank]

thanks for this video... yes st barths is a crazy airport... but i love it :-) #pilotskills

[@davidtsw]

Can someone explain to me why not just fly in over the bay if landing in that direction ? Surely it woukd be easier and safer than flying low over terrain like that

[@ryanharris3420]

Excellent video, just a quick question. Regarding the decision point as you turn onto final, it appears that in a worst case scenario you could advance the throttle and climb to a safe altitude past that point. Why is that hotel the decision point?

[@FSX404]

Ryan Harris its the last safe point to definitely get out, no doubt you can make it even past that point (depending on the plane), just not as safely. Thanks for the comment.

[@foxtrotnine2504]

Is it common for the stall beeper to go off during the landing process ? Like do pilots often prefer to get close to stall speed as they touch down?

[@eliseoroman6638]

Very good material for learning on your videos.Was it more ease to land on the sim than in real life? i can see the marking points for landing more clear in real life.Thanks for your awesome videos.

[@FSX404]

+ELISEO ROMAN Interesting question, but you have to compare apples to apples. I have years of experience as a pilot and in the flight sim so can compare this approach in the sim and real life. Its harder in the flight sim to hit the altitudes and points because of the visibility and the "feel" of the plane. In a sim you're sitting in a chair, in real life you feel every vibration and bump. But in real life there are different up/down drafts, winds, engine rotation factors, etc that take a lot more skill to control. Also psychological reasons, in real life if you make a mistake it might be your last one. So, all things considered, real life flying, especially in a place like St. Barths is a lot tougher.

[@thiscorrosion900]

Can you land a business jet here, like an Eclipse or Citation, or is it just too short for such a plane? I mean given the approach esp. on Runway 10, and the short field landing you generally need to do here.

[@cletus2199]

FAA requires that the pilot has balls of steel to land here.

[@pschroeter1]

I've watched several of these even looked up St. Barts on Google Maps. This is the first video I've watched where a plane has landed from the opposite direction.

[@karhukivi]

It's potentially very dangerous. If, as you approach the threshold, you realise you are a bit high or fast, or both, you won't be able to either turn away or climb fast enough to clear the terrain, so a crash would be inevitable. Look at Courcheval (The Alps) airport videos for a similar problem.

[@SKRUBL0RD]

now we understand what pilots mean by 'visual approach'

[@angel97133]

Proud to you to be in st BARTH. How do you like it ? I thought I was there during your training. Just arrived from grand case. Did Thomas D. Showed you the disaxed approach on Rnw 10 when you have heavy crosswind. That's amazing also as you don't see the runway until the hill. So as you can see I live in st Barth. And enjoy dim to do this !

[@FSX404]

+Pierre Larr-Magras (Pierrot From The Air) St. Barths flight was awesome, as was Thomas. I did this on the 22nd of Sept. Thomas did tell me a lot about approaches and winds. Even on a "calm" wind day you'll see in the third video how that wind pushed me when turning on final. I'll have to experience that heavy wind, and hopefully will one day. I'll probably do my checkout there when I come back (hopefully end of April next year 2016). And fly the 172 instead of Beech 77 so that I can take my family there too.

[@angel97133]

+GVad The Pilot (FSX404) sometime it could be easier when you have whereas not... No that's an interesting airport that break the law of aviation. Depends the wind sometime you'll have to land downwind or disaxed landing to avoid turbulences... Check the traffic too. You have to known that' st BARTH is one of the heaviest traffic airport in France (not in quantity of pax of course) but on the numbers of airplanes!

[@GaryNumeroUno]

I did not hear you make any general radio call regarding your intentions re the landing. Did you make it before you departed? Also if you had to do a go around could you not just pitch up, toga power and follow runway 28 heading... or is the terrain just too steep? Cheers.

[@FSX404]

GaryNumeroUno If I remember correctly the airport is towered, so we did get a landing clearence. Either way, the instructor who was flying with me handled tbe radios. That hill is 150+ feet high, so most planes would not make it over. Its a lot higher then it looks in videos. As the instructor put it, better to break the wheels than end up on the side of the hill.

[@garynumber01]

Ahhh... thanks for that. Nice work...

[@FSX404]

@@kimchi2780 I cant remember exactly, but I believe its an "unofficial" tower, kind of like Catalina in California. There is a person there at the airport that gives weather and other updates, but its technically uncontrolled. Its not a person at TNCM

[@DrCash7]

Thought you were LANDING in the intro!

[@saintbarthparadise2100]

I was born there! Hopefully u saw me lol

[@predeem1629]

Are there ever any take offs from RWY28?

[@rasim81]

How do you see the white house and green roof during night landings?

[@FSX404]

rasim81 I dont think you can do a night landing at St Barths.

[@rasim81]

GVad The Pilot Cool video! I can't wait to start my flight lessons. Hopefully next spring.

[@MitchelStokes]

rasim81 did you start your lessons?

[@dirkbow911]

😊😊👍👍

[@Orionman8]

@no Go-Around option. Not true. You can also decide to take-of (lift up) the plane higher. For another attempt.

[@karhukivi]

You're not a pilot, obviously!

[@someone-nk6jv]

Someone from those houses gotta make a spotting video

[@julesviolin]

Why is a go round not possible after passing the hotel?

[@porschiste911]

The climb gradient of the aircraft is inferior to the climb gradient required by the terrain.

[@SkyWayMan90]

It is possible. He is being misleading

[@Ryan-sw4xy]

Great flying. But one thing - he said "no more go around" on short final. You can always go around. As we say in the airlines, a go around is possible until we are parked at the gate with the brakes set.

[@FSX404]

Ryan very true, I've seen a video of a go-around at Lukla. But it isnt a safe go-around. As the checkout instructor said before the flight "slam it on the ground, brake the wheels, your chances are better than a go-around."

[@Ryan-sw4xy]

GVad The Pilot unless you have stalled the airplane, then you are still in a condition to fly. If I'm unstable, I'd always rather go around then attempt to slam it on the ground and hope for the best.

[@HiddenWindshield]

@@Ryan-sw4xy Why? I'd much rather slow down as much as possible on the ground before I overran the runway and hit the hill, as opposed to hitting it at Vx.

[@Ryan-sw4xy]

@@HiddenWindshield A go around would prevent hitting the wall at all.

[@HiddenWindshield]

@@Ryan-sw4xy It's certainly *possible* that you could have enough of a climb rate to avoid the hill, *if* you start early enough, *and* you establish and maintain your best angle-of-climb speed, *and* there's no downdraft or anything. But it's not safe to do so. Actually, that last point deserves a little more scrutiny. You wouldn't be landing on 28 unless the wind favored that runway. That means it's very likely that that the wind will be blowing down the hill. So you're almost always going to be facing a downdraft if you do a late go-around. So, in short, if I ever have the chance to land at St. Barths, I think I'll follow the advice of the CFIs who have actually been trained to land there, as opposed to some random guy I met on KZbin.

[@USNavalAirForces]

Hey GVad, were you in Kansas today? I'm almost positive I heard you!

[@FSX404]

+USNavalAirForces I wish, no Kansas for me today. But I am watching the Kansas State vs TCU game right now

[@garyowen9044]

Why is there no go around past the decision point (abeam the hotel peninsula)? I get why the airport at Kathmandu has no go around, but this is at sea level, what’s not going to have the hp to climb?

[@FSX404]

No safe go-around. That hill on the other side of a 1800 foot runway is 150-170 feet tall, much taller than what it looks like on screen. 1800 foot runway and you have to be at 220+ feet at the end of it. So, yes a plane may make it over (someone had a go-around at Lukla once and made it), but its way below safety margins, so go-around not recommended. Better to brake the wheels or hit the wall at the end going 30kts, than the hill at 80+kts

[@haxxawwaxxah4725]

Why would anyone land from the other side? As seen in another video.

[@lh1678]

so what happens if that 1st white house gets torn down and turned into empty land?

[@FSX404]

Funny question, but there is a real answer to it actually. Everyone needs a yearly checkout to fly into here, so those who do it every day know about the change, and guys who fly occasionally will have to get re-briefed at their new checkout

[@nielsdaemen]

Why not aproach from the northeast over the water? Seems way easier than flying around hills and loocking at houses

[@stevepseudonym445]

It's theoretically possible, but there's not a good option to abort unless you're still about 1/2 mile out, at which point you've still got a 45º turn to final. Coming from the SE it's easy to abort any time before you're on final, at which point your maneuvering is all done.

[@0xf7c8]

Paint roof of house --> Pilot confused --> 100% crash

[@danielgomezsenosiain507]

bonito video

[@dalegreer3095]

People better not be changing their roofing materials! But is it not possible to take off from 28? I mean, do you always take off from 10?

[@FSX404]

you cant take off from rwy 28, that hill at rwy 10 side is a lot higher than it looks in videos (150+ feet), most planes would not out-climb it.

[@HanaBerlin]

👍

[@grahamthebaronhesketh.]

I landed here in a Messerschmitt 109.

[@tommidd8042]

I always felt Gustaf III (TFFJ) was fairly easy landing from either direction. I suppose its more of a psych thing.

[@FSX404]

If you think about 1800 foot runway, it sounds like easy for most prop planes. And should be easy for any pilot woth a lot of hours. I found the runway 10 landing with the hill more taxing, even if it had a go-around

[@canconservative8976]

I heard the stall horn in the pattern….. flying a bit on edge there

[@FSX404]

No, just a wind pressure drop over the pass

[@canconservative8976]

@@FSX404 wind sheer... makes sense.