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Humanitarian relief mission following a hurricane.
frequent destination, which is pretty much the non-stop radius of the plane.” Regardless of where Wood’s adven- tures take him, his point of origin is a residential airpark in the town he was born and raised. “I live in the Florida Keys on a private airfield called TavernAero (FA81) in Islamorada. It’s a 2,000-foot grass field with an elevation of about 10 feet above sea level. My house is on the water and the runway
on an inlet called Tavernier Creek.” With both a dock and runway just steps away, enjoying two of his pas- sions could not be more convenient. “It’s a tremendous spot to live. There’s probably a couple dozen houses or so, everybody is a pilot, and all the kids
grow up flying.”
Although the grass strip is essen-
tially at sea level, its shorter length is a potential concern for some aircraft – but not the Kodiak.
“The runway here is no problem at all. I take off in a thousand feet and land in less than that. I’ve had four big guys in the plane, a refrigerator,
country,” he said. He then provided some tips for those who have never flown to any of the country’s islands.
“Like any flight, just be prepared. I would recommend to anybody f lying there to visit AOPA’s website. They have good tips about the basics, like needing a life raft and the required pa- perwork. YouTube is also a good source for first time trips to The Bahamas. Aside from that, I would say being courteous to immigration officials is really important. Sometimes people
get frustrated if they forgot something or did something incorrectly. The of- ficials are usually agreeable and are interested in having tourism. So, if you are courteous to them, they will be courteous to you.”
Wood’s travels have taken him to other international areas as well. “I’ve been to Mexico a couple of times this year. I also have a trip to Costa Rica, which I have previously f lown to in my Aztec but not the Kodiak. The Dominican Republic is another
28 • TWIN & TURBINE / October 2022