Welcome to the Paul S. Rooy home page! Here you can order books by Paul S. Rooy, find out more about the author and the Cessna Skymaster twin in The Skymaster and the Piranhas and Flying Mexico for Gringos, and check out future projects.

Wandering Pilot Paul Rooy Publishes The Skymaster and the Piranhas.
Continuing the photojournal travelog style he originated with Gringos, in The Skymaster and the Piranhas Rooy strews 248 full-color high-resolution photos and original maps, many of them half- and full-page spreads, throughout 396 pages of 80-pound gloss paper. More than just a fascinating and entertaining read, the Smythe Sewn final result is a photojournal which radiates the highest quality and durability available within the state-of-the-art of 100% color digital printing.

The Skymaster and the Piranhas.
Discover there are worse creatures than piranhas in the water, the exotic legend of the pink dolphin, how Bolivia lost its beach, and meet The Man Who Carried an Airplane on His Back! Follow Paul & Mary's light twin airplane flight from home base Florida down the Caribbean West Indies to South America's French Guiana, then down-coast to Macapá, Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon & then fly up-river into the heart of the jungle, westwards towards the distant Andes Mountains. For any adventurer who ever dreamed of traveling through the jungle in search of the source of the Amazon, this book's for you! 396 pages, 248 full-color plates. Smythe Sewn.

Flying Mexico for Gringos or The Great Tampico Steak Air Safari
For anyone who has ever dreamed of flying Mexico by private airplane, this book relates our day-to-day, nuts and bolts experiences doing just that! Appendixes list airport and fuel costs, local contacts, Mexican Multi-Entry Permit Request form, Cuban Overflight Permit Request form, granted permits, and more. Join us in our Skymaster for a combination mercy flight/whale watching adventure that evolves into a high-flying quest for the best Tampico Steak in Mexico – The Great Tampico Steak Air Safari! 152 pages, over 80 full color photographs.

Key Flying Mexico for Gringos Objective Fulfilled by Successful Delivery of Incubator to Chiapas Red Cross Clinic.
A neonatal incubator was generously donated by the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, Wyoming for Dr. Jesus' Red Cross Clinic in Chiapas, Mexico. Volunteer Rita Iverson put it in her SUV and drove three days (and part of three nights) to deliver it to Daytona Beach, Florida in time for the August flight to Mexico and Guatemala. The incubator turned out to be approximately five feet tall by three feet wide by two and a half feet deep, and weighed three hundred pounds! It was necessary to disassemble it to fit the pieces through the Skymaster door! The Skymaster was at gross weight, and fortunately a brisk head wind help loft our take-off from Playa del Carmen's short 2,200 foot runway. Amazingly, the incubator worked perfectly after re-assembly, and was commissioned in a ceremony attended by the local press and dignitaries, and installed in a special nursery dedicated to the memory of Rita's beloved grand-daughter Isabella.

Chiapas, Mexico. Paul S. Rooy of RoyalAir Aviation and
Mary Lightfine of Nurse Without Boundaries receive recognition
Paul S. Rooy of RoyalAir Aviation and Mary Lightfine of Nurse Without Boundaries recently received recognition and a plaque from the Chiapas Red Cross Clinic for delivering donated medical supplies and equipment during February, 2004. The equipment included suture, stainless steel scalpels, intubation kits and scope, clamps, scissors, dressings, 1,000 aspirin, sixty disposable hypo syringes, operating room suction pump, condoms, crutches, an elbow-walker for use by patients with double wrist fractures and one or more broken legs, a stainless steel traction splint for field use, and stuffed animals to give away to child patients. The equipment was delivered in RoyalAir Aviation’s Cessna Skymaster, as chronicled in Paul S. Rooy’s recently published book, Flying Mexico for Gringos or The Great Tampico Steak Air Safari.

Mary Lightfine’s Volunteers Without Boundaries
Organization Sponsors First Chiapas Volunteer
As a direct result of the February 2004 scouting trip described in Flying Mexico for Gringos, Mary Lightfine of the non-profit organization Volunteers Without Boundaries accompanied the first volunteer to Chiapas sponsored by Volunteers Without Boundaries to Dr. Jesús Farrera’s Red Cross Clinic. Lightfine and Shannon, a female U.S. pre-med college senior, flew to Chiapas in early July, 2004, and her experiences are chronicled on the Volunteers Without Boundaries web site. Lightfine initially stayed with Shannon to ensure she was well situated in Chiapas. Upon returning to the United States, Shannon was promptly admitted to medical school, based in part on her volunteerism and journal, as well as a glowing letter of recommendation from Mary! Individuals interested in volunteering may learn about opportunities at Volunteers Without Boundaries.

Rooy and Lightfine Fly Mission to Mexico and Guatemala
Rooy and Lightfine flew the Skymaster to Chiapas, Mexico, and then on to Guatemala City during August, 2004. This trip was a combination follow-up trip to Chiapas, and a scouting trip to Guatemala to locate new volunteer possibilities for Volunteers Without Boundaries. A key Flying Mexico for Gringos objective was fulfilled by the successful delivery of a neonatal incubator to the Chiapas, Mexico Red Cross Clinic. Individuals wishing to donate medical equipment, or financially, to Volunteers Without Boundaries may contact Mary Lightfine. Mary Lightfine's Volunteers Without Boundaries, Inc. organization is a section 501 non-profit organization, and contributions are tax deductible under IRS Code section 170.

Rooy Plans Next Book: How To Fly Central America and The Caribbean
Rooy’s next book How To Fly Central America and The Caribbean is scheduled to be published in 2005. It is intended to serve as a guide for pilots desiring to fly these areas through the process of researching the landing and over-flight requirements for countries in a given itinerary, procurement of survival equipment, aircraft insurance, charts and navigational aids, documentation, health issues, weather procurement, and re-entry into the United States.

N462DA 1968 Cessna Skymaster

N462DA, a 1968 Cessna 337C Skymaster
N462DA is powered by two 210 horsepower Continental engines in centerline thrust configuration, has a high wing, and is certified for six seats.

N462DA front office
From left, top row: remote compass slaving console, airspeed indicator, attitude indicator, altimeter, EDM 760 twin engine analyzer. From left, second row: clock, turn coordinator, horizontal situation indicator (“HSI”), rate of climb indicator, course deviation indicator (“CDI”) for number two navigation radio (“NAV 2”). Automatic direction finder (“ADF”) head is immediately below the CDI. Center radio stack from top: Handheld global positioning system (“GPS”), audio selector panel number 1, panel mounted GPS, direction measuring equipment (“DME”), combination navigation and communication radio number 1 (“navcom 1”), navcom 2, transponder, ADF, traffic collision avoidance system (“TCAD”), electric aileron trim. Right panel: engine instruments, emergency locator transmitter control head, audio selector panel number 2, and stereo six-place intercom with music inputs.