First Destination Flight in Florida

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.