A second Cessna 208 Caravan joined the Florida Air Cargo fleet at Miami’s Opa-locka Airport slightly ahead of a Florida sunset yesterday, and exactly six days after leaving Nairobi, Kenya, on the other side of the planet.
The turbo-powered aircraft was ferried to Miami by Matthew and Bruce Rademan, two brothers from South Africa. Matthew lives in Johannesburg, while Bruce resides in Durban. They joined up to make this special delivery and averaged roughly 1,500 miles-a-day through 12 airports before reaching south Florida.
For readers curious of their path, here is the routing: Nairobi, Kenya; Eldoret Airstrip, Kenya; Khartoum, Sudan; Mers Matruh, Egypt; Heraklion, Greece; Luqua, Malta; Avignon, France; Birmingham, England; Wick, Scotland; Keflavik, Iceland; Bildudalur, Iceland; Goosebay, Canada; Bangor, Maine; Ahoski, North Carolina, and finally Miami.
Bruce Rademan said the route was free of inclement weather. He noted that between Iceland and Canada the plane encountered ice at 12,000 feet. The crew leveled the aircraft at 6,000 and the ice disappeared, he said. The aircraft is not equipped with auto pilot. Hence, the two manually drove the plane on each leg of their journey.
Over the next few weeks the aircraft will be refitted for cargo ops, receiving reinforced flooring, and cargo-tough interior paneling. Its registration will change from 5HFLT to N702SE.
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