I had big aviation plans for this weekend, but somehow they were lost in the shuffle of other things, like cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, and attending a carnival and a festival. As Sunday afternoon approached, Andrew said, “I want to fly somewhere.” Susan said, “Sorry, we’re not flying anywhere this weekend.” And I said, “Who says we’re not flying this weekend?. I want to fly somewhere, too.”
After the Hispanic Festival, which was organized by my co-worker, we started talking about destinations. We needed someplace nearby because Andrew and Susan had things planned for 6:00; that didn’t leave us much time. It also had to be north of Melbourne; I don’t have charts for the southern half of Florida yet. We decided to fly to Sanford and visit Aunt Cathy and Uncle Dave.
I quickly checked the weather and NOTAMs, then we drove to the airport. N4857W was on the ramp, waiting for us (this still seems so unusual to me). I asked the line guy to fill the tanks to the tabs and borrowed his funnel to add a quart of oil. Andrew helped with the pre-flight, then we were on our way. We were wheels up at 4:15. The tower gave us the Orlando Approach frequency and I gave them a call. We were cleared direct to Sanford Airport. I leveled off at 2,000 feet, due to a scattered layer of clouds around 3,000 feet. In Florida, 2,000 feet is the lowest you should ever fly. There are television and radio towers that stand nearly that tall. We passed by one group with on tower that topped out at 1,749 feet.
When we were about 15 miles out, the controller steered us on a new heading and told us to expect runway 09R. That would put us as far as possible from our destination on the airport, so I asked if we could get 09L. He offered runway 36, and I accepted. The cross wind component of the wind was only slightly more than what we’d have on 09R, and well within my comfort zone.
We landed at 4:45. Not too bad, considering I was flying at only 52% engine power, at an indicated speed of 125 knots (143 mph). Cathy and Dave were there to greet us on the ramp. I bought an Orlando Terminal Area Chart and Andrew bought some Skittles, while Susan talked to Cathy and Dave.
Time was ticking, so we said good-bye and jumped back in the plane. We were off the ground by 5:15 and back on the ground in Melbourne at 5:45. Susan finally got to sit in the front seat, and I put her to work changing frequencies on the radio, keeping up with the map, and putting the gear down.
This was just the first of what will surely be many more Florida flights. I’m looking forward to putting more pins on my airport map soon.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Flying Across America – The Photos
Here is a collection of all of the photos from the flight across America.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Flying Across America - Home Run
Today, we started the final leg of our trip; Bowling Green, Kentucky to Melbourne, Florida. The direct route is a little over 500 nautical miles. At a speed of 140 knots, that should take over 3 1/2 hours of flight time. Since this leg was relatively short and the weather forecast looked pretty good, we decided to take it a little slower and sleep in a little later this morning, so I set my alarm for 6:30 am.
After breakfast at the hotel, we called Co-Mar to come take us back to the airport. The driver arrived quickly and we loaded the van. When we arrived at the airport, Todd worked on the flight plan while I pre-flighted the plane. As we were about to start the engine, a DC-9 arrived and needed our spot to park. We quickly taxied the plane to another spot to make room and to allow the oil to heat up - it was 46 degrees outside.
Once in the air, we found ourselves surrounded by tiny, puffy clouds at 4,000 feet. I maneuvered the plane through a large gap and continued climbing to 9,500 feet. Once leveled it, we continued to the southeast over what looked like cotton balls planted in neat rows from north to south.
We soon left Kentucky behind and entered Tennessee. The winds aloft were pushing us along at 180 knots over the ground. I saw Lookout Mountain standing above Chattanooga before leaving Tennessee behind.
In Georgia, the cloud layer below vanished and the sky was clear, except for haze. Visibility was probably 15 miles or less. Welcome to the south. :-) Also, I noticed the for the first time on the trip, I was starting to get pretty warm in the plane. The other legs were on an easterly heading, leaving me on the shady side. Today was more southerly, bathing me in sunlight the entire trip.
As we approached Atlanta, we asked for a clearance through the Class Bravo airspace. If the controller said no, we would have to fly many more miles to get around the large airspace. But instead, he cleared us through the heart of the airspace on a heading of 170 degrees and an altitude of 5,500 feet. On the descent, our ground speed exceeded 200 knots. That's crazy fast! We crossed directly over Atlanta airport. The funny thing was that even though it is the busiest airport in America, I only saw three jets in the air. Where was everybody?
After passing the airport, we flew past the Atlanta Speedway. I took a picture for my brother and uncle, who are both big NASCAR fans.
Once clear of the Class Bravo airspace, I climbed back up to 7,500 feet for cooler and smoother air. Although we heard reports of turbulence below 6,000 feet, we didn't encounter any today.
Finally, the Atlantic coast emerged from the haze. I decided to detour from the route and flew directly to Jacksonville, Florida, then turned south and flew along the coastline. Last Saturday, I was flying over the Pacific coast; one week later, the Atlantic coast. Pretty cool, and amazing.
Next up was Daytona Beach. We passed right by the Daytona speedway, where cars were putzing along the track at something less than 200 mph; can you imagine going that slow? :-)
The remaining towns clicked off one by one as we headed south. Before long, we were calling Melbourne Tower. I was told to fly south along I-95, then follow a Piper in to runway 09L. I did as told, landed, and taxied up to Atlantic Jet Center ramp; the new home of N4857W.
The flight of a lifetime has come to an end. I am completely at ease and comfortable in my own house again. What will I ever do to top this??
 |
| Co-Mar Aviation, Bowling Green, Kentucky |
After breakfast at the hotel, we called Co-Mar to come take us back to the airport. The driver arrived quickly and we loaded the van. When we arrived at the airport, Todd worked on the flight plan while I pre-flighted the plane. As we were about to start the engine, a DC-9 arrived and needed our spot to park. We quickly taxied the plane to another spot to make room and to allow the oil to heat up - it was 46 degrees outside.
Once in the air, we found ourselves surrounded by tiny, puffy clouds at 4,000 feet. I maneuvered the plane through a large gap and continued climbing to 9,500 feet. Once leveled it, we continued to the southeast over what looked like cotton balls planted in neat rows from north to south.
We soon left Kentucky behind and entered Tennessee. The winds aloft were pushing us along at 180 knots over the ground. I saw Lookout Mountain standing above Chattanooga before leaving Tennessee behind.
In Georgia, the cloud layer below vanished and the sky was clear, except for haze. Visibility was probably 15 miles or less. Welcome to the south. :-) Also, I noticed the for the first time on the trip, I was starting to get pretty warm in the plane. The other legs were on an easterly heading, leaving me on the shady side. Today was more southerly, bathing me in sunlight the entire trip.
As we approached Atlanta, we asked for a clearance through the Class Bravo airspace. If the controller said no, we would have to fly many more miles to get around the large airspace. But instead, he cleared us through the heart of the airspace on a heading of 170 degrees and an altitude of 5,500 feet. On the descent, our ground speed exceeded 200 knots. That's crazy fast! We crossed directly over Atlanta airport. The funny thing was that even though it is the busiest airport in America, I only saw three jets in the air. Where was everybody?
After passing the airport, we flew past the Atlanta Speedway. I took a picture for my brother and uncle, who are both big NASCAR fans.
 |
| Altanta Speedway |
Once clear of the Class Bravo airspace, I climbed back up to 7,500 feet for cooler and smoother air. Although we heard reports of turbulence below 6,000 feet, we didn't encounter any today.
Finally, the Atlantic coast emerged from the haze. I decided to detour from the route and flew directly to Jacksonville, Florida, then turned south and flew along the coastline. Last Saturday, I was flying over the Pacific coast; one week later, the Atlantic coast. Pretty cool, and amazing.
 |
| Jacksonville, Florida |
 |
| Daytona Speedway |
 |
| Parked in Melbourne, Florida |
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| Flightaware track from Bowling Green to Melbourne |
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