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Let me add my 2-cents worth, from someone who flies the Caribbean often and has gone out West for a bit of mountain flying, all in a Skymaster.
My first comment is that I support a second trip to The Bahamas, as Bob has suggested, and TC (although some of us have been there) is a good location, in part because of Bob's contacts. Having said that, I think the Cayman Islands is WAY, WAY too ambitious. Pull out the map and you'll see why; aside from overflying Cuba (read: bureacratic hassles and some concerns if we're in the midst of war with Iraq) it's quite far away. Trust me, I was the one who dealt with many worried pilots about making the Palm Beach to TC hop, despite the fact that you were over Grand Bahama Island most of the time and the actual time over water was insignificant. Some of these guys were close to petrified.
I like the idea of going out to Eleuthera and further down to Turks and Caicos, and think we can put together a super trip where there are lots of friendly islands under our flight path and the actual over-water hops are small. And, Bob, I'm willing to help out.
Skyking's concerns about the time it might take and if I add a further factor, which is that the Bahamas is far for those who are not in the Southeast, suggests to me that an interesting alternative is to do some mountain flying in the Kentucky-Tennessee area. I spent 3 months or so learning about mountain flying before I went West (I flew along 12,000 ft peaks) and it was among the most exhilarating things I've done. Flying in the Appalachian mountains won't be that challenging, but the principles are the same. And for many people it would be a lot closer than the Bahamas. Food for thought.
Ernie
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