I Landed My Cessna 150 at St. Barts (#3 Hardest Airport)

I've wanted to land at St. Barts (TFFJ) since I was 9 years old. I've tried it hundreds of times on flight sim. Now it's time for the real thing.

In partnership with Garmin Aviation and AOPA!

Check out the Garmin InReach Mini 2 we brought on our trip:

And the amazing AOPA Guides we used to prepare for this adventure:

[StonebabySounds]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people land a plane at once - that would have drove me crazy. Incredible patience and flying

[Windtee]

Your instructor was way too hands on.

A confident, competent, experienced instructor would've let you... the pilot fly, only to nudge you with occasional verbal assistance.
Anyway, it was important you flew during those turbulent conditions. Now you know how to safely manage relatively extreme real-world conditions as an experienced pilot. Any novice could fly all day in no-wind scenarios.

You did a fantastic job! Looking forward to your next update!

[CaptainSultan]

I lived there for a year and learned to fly in Grand Case. I landed St Barth and it is indeed super hard. Your Flight Instructor is a wise man…
The key lesson I learned in St Barth is that you come in for a go around and only land when all things are perfect… good luck on your challenge

[theflightpractitioner]

Great video and something on my bucket list. This video gave some rare insight into the required training. I was rather troubled by the CFI's demeanor and the extensive amount of time he spent on the controls. I was left questioning who was actually flying the approaches and conducting the landings. I certainly appreciate the challenging conditions, but if the decision was made to conduct the flight, it should have been made with the expectation you would be flying the airplane with guidance on the specific procedures from the CFI. If the conditions were outside your personal minimums or abilities, the CFI should have suggested the training be conducted on another day. Keep up the great work!

[robeckel]

I've never tried to land with an instructor fighting me on the yoke with both hands. Kudos for pulling that off.

[antonyh]

Amazing and intense! It's also amazing that you made that long a trip in a Cessna 150. Truly makes you enjoy and appreciate aviation more.

[treezyx]

Incredible patience you have. I couldn’t take that instructor telling me how to do basic stuff as if I’m not a licensed pilot😂

[DanTheCaptain]

People are saying the instructor is too hands on but I think they’re forgetting this is by far one of the most notoriously difficult approaches one can do. Only a handful of pilots get the endorsement, really only ones that fly into the airfield regularly. I think that’s enough justification to be shadowing on the landing.

[ackack]

After watching who knows how many vids about scalping the hilltop then plunging down to the runway, now I understand why this is the first video of actually training to earn the endorsement....this is EVEN TOUGHER than most of us might have imagined, particularly in a C-150 with strong wind conditions! Makes the commercial Twin Otter look and I'm sure feel much more stable. A big thumbs up and look forward to the continuing adventure. Well done!

[CapDiVerdi]

The stress you control on landing is so sensational! St. Barts is such an incredible airport. Thank you for the video ✈️

[mmwerner]

Loved this video and how real it is. You didn’t doctor it up at all and embraced the reality of the challenge. I know you’ll get that endorsement one day. Proud of you, man.

[IrishDave]

I'm a pilot and everything about that first approach cause me mad anxiety. One person flies the plane, no matter what and the instructor would have driven me absolutely nuts touching the controls so much.

[rmaimon]

best video i've seen yet about the training required to land on st barth's. looking forward to seeing more

[LewDixAviation]

Interesting instructional technique. Not one that I've ever adopted. Great video in some tough conditions!

[nathanieljackson]

Bro you killed that, 90% of pilots including airline guys probably couldn’t pull that off. The fact that you even attempt it speaks volumes!

[doubled]

The editing on this is really really good. Great job.

[bnegus]

Hugely entertaining man - actually gave me goosebumps... thank you! Defo on my to-do list... looking forward to round II!

[blueyonder]

I’m just now picking up my jaw as it was dropped the whole video. Tough conditions, great decisions, beautiful views. Thanks for sharing.

[nfs]

There was a man in WV that had his own hilltop airfield. He bought the mountain, leveled it, built his house there, and flew his planes from his backyard.
I had the honor of being introduced to him by my father, who talked up a real good game about me having spent thousands of hours on MSFS from 1989 to present day.
The guy sat me in his 1947 Luscombe, and he hand propped it and got in too. Then he sat back and said, "It's all yours for the next 2 hours."

The landing at his airfield was extremely much like the St. Martin landing, because he bought the smaller of 2 hills. Our left main came so close to touching treetop about 400yards from the threshold, I thought I'd have to scrub pine sap off the strut.
That was not the first flight experience I had, but it's certainly one that I'll never forget.

[dullgeek]

This was great! Also I was frightened for you. Seems like suspending was the right call. Hope to see more videos of your trip.