Okeechobee Flight

On Friday night, I was invited to a hangar party hosted by my fellow Commander owners Kiko and Pat. While there, I met several local Melbourne pilots. At some point, the discussion led to flying somewhere - big surprise! Someone suggested Okeechobee for lunch and that's how a plan gets started.

There was some concern about the possibility of fog, but the day dawned bright and clear. I planned the flight and checked the weather and NOTAMs, then we all headed for the airport. As we finished up the pre-flight, we saw an old Cessna owned by one of the pilots we met last night taxi by. While letting the engine warm a bit, we heard Pat request a taxi clearance. We followed along behind her, and were followed by another recently-met pilot in a Cirrus.

After take-off, we climbed to the west, then turned southward towards Okeechobee. There were a few puffy clouds along the route and I eventually had to descend below a row as we approached our destination. We hit some mild turbulence and bounced around the crowded traffic pattern. We landed between Kiko and Pat's Commander and a student in a Cessna, with the Cirrus close behind.


View Okeechobee Flight 12-2011 in a larger map

At The Landings, we saw a few other party goers from last night. Altogether, I know at least five Melbourne planes made the flight down. Not a bad turnout for an impromptu fly-in plan.

After lunch, we decided to take the more scenic route home. We took off to the northeast and continued straight to Vero Beach. From there, we followed the Indian River up to Melbourne.

As Kiko likes to say, "Another Day in Paradise".