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There's
a lot of excitement on Rum Cay these days, and for good
reason.
The former small, private airstrip is now being converted
into the main road for the Rum Cay Club (see RumCayClub.com).
Montana Holding Limited, the company from England has begun
the long awaited Five Star Hotel - Resort - Casino and Polo
Complex is under construction. The old runway has served
the island well but it sure is nice to land on the new runway.
The 5,500 foot runway (4,500 paved) is open and with many
flights daily. Cat Island Air operates three days per week
between Rum Cay and Nassau. This writer has been told to
look for a new airline to be flying a scheduled route from
South Florida to Rum Cay very soon; soon thereafter, it
will be nonstop between Ft Lauderdale and Rum Cay, with
Customs and Immigrations on Rum Cay.
Some have said that this is truly the most important event
for Rum Cay in decades.
For a brief, streaming video panorama of the construction
site, click here. (The video requires Microsoft Windows
Media Player.)
On February 26, 2003, Rick Emshoff of Clearwater Florida
was honored with the privilege of executing the first takeoff
and landing from the new runway. When asked about the experience,
passenger and Real Estate Developer Billy Davis said, "The
runway is still under construction, so we were actually
taking off and landing on a dirt strip. But even so, both
the takeoff and landing were as smooth as silk. It really
says a lot for the quality of the development here when
the pilot and passengers barely even notice the lack of
asphalt on the runway."
Emshoff was piloting Mr. Davis' newly acquired Cessna 414,
and was met at the airport by several locals, guests, construction
workers of Knowles Construction, Rum Cay Policeman, Officer
Mark Turnquest.
View streaming videos of the takeoff and landing. |
