Okeechobee Flight

When I turned on the computer this morning, I browsed out to the Commander Owner's Group and found a nice surprise. In my inbox, I found a private message from Kiko asking if I'd like to ride along with him down to Okeechobee Airport to meet Pat for lunch. Pat was doing her long, solo cross country for her pilot's license. Of course I said yes!

At 10:55, Kiko called and told me he'd be on his way to Vero Beach shortly. I grabbed my headphones, scanner, and camera and we drove over to the airport. At 11:30 I heard a Commander report in to Vero Beach tower 8 miles to the northeast. It was Kiko's Commander, but it was a female voice. Huh? Something unexpected is happening here.

Kiko landed and taxied up to the terminal. Once stopped, Kiko got out the pilot side and Pat got out the co-pilot side. Now I was really confused. Pat told us that her cross country was canceled due to high cross winds at the various airports on her flight plan. Even though her flight was canceled, they were still going to Okeechobee for lunch because Richard was meeting them there. They invited Susan and Andrew to go along, too, but the plane only has four seats and besides, Andrew had a play date with a friend from school.

I said good-bye to Susan and Andrew and climbed into 77J. Pat sat in the back and ran checklists while Kiko verified items and got us moving. Once in the air, Kiko handed me the controls and I had the great privilege of flying 77J the 30 nautical miles to Okeechobee. We leveled off at 3,000 feet and entered the pattern 10 minutes later. In a nice twist of fate, Richard arrived in the pattern at the same time, so we followed him in. Before landing, I handed the controls back over to Kiko.

On the ground, we met up with Richard and organized a group picture. I grabbed the ladder from the self-serve gas station and took the pictures from the ladder. Then it was into the FBO/restaurant for lunch. I had just eaten left over pot roast, but Pat & Kiko insisted that I eat again, and then went and bought me lunch. Some people will not accept "No" for an answer. :-)

After lunch, Pat climbed into her plane to get out of the cold (60 degrees) while the guys talked shop about Commander upgrades and improvements. Before long, we pushed back to the fuel station, topped off the plane, and flew back to Vero Beach. Kiko again let me do most of the flying. I lost count of how many times Kiko said, "Another day in paradise." I agree.