Flight to New Smyrna Beach

Today, Susan was busy with Vacation Bible School preparations, so Andrew and I had some time on our hands. I offered a few suggestions, like mowing the grass, washing the car, riding bikes, but it was my last suggestion that grabbed his attention. I suggested that we go for a flight.

Back at home, we sat down with a Florida sectional chart and started picking destinations. We wanted someplace new, but not something too far away. Our time budget was about 4 hours; then we had to be back to pick up Susan. I suggested New Smyrna Beach, since we were there in March for the Balloon & Sky Fest. Andrew suggested somewhere near Lake Okeechobee. That sounded fine to me, so I started planning a circuitous route around the lake. But then, Andrew changed his mind, and we were back to New Smyrna Beach.

After some brief route planning and a check of the weather and NOTAMs, we were on our way to the airport. I asked for 7 gallons per tank and started the pre-flight. I was quickly disturbed to find that my checklist was not in my flight bag. I asked Andrew about it, but he didn't know where it was. I had a pretty good idea that he had been using it to fly the Commander 114 on Flight Simulator. Later, I found it buried in a pile on the computer desk. Luckily, I had a spare in the plane.

We got our VFR clearance for runway 9L and proceeded to roll. After takeoff, I didn't do exactly what the tower had told me, so I got a brief lecture. I was told to make my turn north prior to reaching the VOR. The VOR is only about 6,000 feet from where I started my takeoff roll. I figure I was no more than 300 feet off the ground when I passed the VOR. I need to talk to some members of the Melbourne Area Pilots Association to see how they feel about this instruction. To me, it seems unsafe due to the low altitude involved. If I hear that instruction again, I will tell the controller that I am unable to comply for safety reasons.

After takeoff, I picked up flight following with Orlando Approach. I climbed to 4,500 feet, which was cause for a small celebration. All of my previous flights this year were limited to less than 3,500 feet by a low cloud cover, so getting up high into the smooth air was a treat. Actually, the air was smooth all the way up, so just getting above 3,500 feet was a joy. Quickly, we passed Titusville and started descending towards New Smyrna Beach. The airport is right inside the Daytona Beach Class C airspace, and the ATIS said to contact Daytona Beach prior to landing, so I did, even though it isn't necessary to actually enter the Class C airspace to land. Daytona Beach gave me a new squawk code and handed me off to the Tower. We were cleared for the base approach to runway 7. This seemed odd, since my freshly printed airport diagram did not have a runway 7!


On the ground, we taxied over to Epic Aviation and parked in one of the hundreds (so it seemed) of available spaces. We didn't have a lot of time, so we went inside, bought a Powerade and some Oreos, visited the restroom, relaxed for a few minutes, then returned to the plane.

The flight back was pretty much the same as the flight down, but in reverse. After takeoff, we had a nice, close-up view of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse, which we also visited in March. We climbed to 3,500 feet, then picked up flight following back to Melbourne. We had a 10 knot tail wind now, so the flight time was compressed a little. Andrew flew for a few minutes, but I corrected his left turning tendency and I think he got a little frustrated.

Back on the ground in Melbourne, the line guy walked up to the plane after we landed. He said we were missing a placard. I asked which one. He handed me the passenger side Rockwell logo. Apparently it fell off when we removed the cover. Now I need to figure out how to reapply it in a more permanent fashion.