Flight Time–Albany

Last fall, I searched Google for Fall Festivals in Georgia. We rarely see fall colors here in Florida, so I like to go to Georgia every fall in search of some brilliantly colored leaves. One of the towns that popped up in the search was Albany. I looked at it closer and thought it might make a good flight destination. It has an old downtown, a river with several parks nearby, and an aquarium. Sounds like my kind of place to explore.

We ended up not driving to Albany, but I kept it in mind and even planned flights there a few times. This weekend, I decided it was time to make the flight.

The weather in northern Florida and southern Georgia was crazy the week leading up to today, including eight inches of snow in some places. The weather today showed clear skies and cool temperatures, in the 50’s.

The planned route took us west across Florida, then once past Orlando’s airspace, northwest to Albany. The flight started like most, but that quickly changed. When I attempted to request flight following from Orlando Approach, I was mortified to find that none of the buttons on the #1 radio worked. I was unable to swap the Approach frequency into the active position. I still had the #2 radio, but I didn’t want to fly six plus hours with just one working radio. I turned the radio on and off a couple times, but the buttons still wouldn’t work. After a few minutes, I turned the plane around and headed back to Valkaria. Surprising as it sounds, that was enough to make the #1 radio start working. The classic, “Don’t make me turn this <insert vehicle> around!” threat appears to work on planes, too.

I contacted Approach, was given a squawk code, and climbed to 4,500 feet. I was planning to climb to 6,500 feet, but it was plenty cold where we were. I tried closing the vents before the flight but couldn’t close them all the way. Obviously, this is not a problem normally, but the plane has no heater, and 50-degree air is pretty darn cold when it is blowing right on your flying hand. Approach told me to turn to a heading of 300, presumably to avoid the restricted airspace. This heading sent us on an intersecting path with the Orlando Class B airspace, just like it did on our previous flight. Just like the last flight, I was handed off to the next controller, but this time, I told him that I was staying outside the airspace, so there was no confusion about my heading change.

As we flew over northern Florida, we could see a change down below. We started to see traces of snow along the northern edges of tree lines. This continued into Georgia. After nearly three hours, we landed in Albany. Tower directed us to the FBO, where we were marshalled into a parking spot and I shut down the plane. The ground crew asked me if I needed anything, and I asked them to top off the tanks.

Inside, we took a moment to warm up, then asked about places to eat. It was just after noon, and we needed to leave by 2:30 to make it home before dark. I asked if we could walk to town and was told that it was over three miles. I was dumbfounded because, when I looked at the map months ago, I thought it was just over a mile! I asked about a courtesy car, and they had one. The ground crew brought it around. It was a very old and abused Chevrolet Astro van. The crewman said it needed gas, so he left to fill it up. We talked to the lady at the desk for a while, then started wondering where our van went. Finally, it showed up again about fifteen minutes later.

Albany's Eagles of America FBO, and the Astro van

We drove into the commercial part of town and had lunch at Blackbeard’s Seafood and BBQ. The prices were high, so we shared a plate of pulled pork and two sides. Turns out the prices are high because the servings are huge. Even with sharing a meal, we couldn’t finish it all.

On the way back to the airport, I wanted to see the old part of the town. We attempted to follow the river, but the road was one way to the north and we were going south. We found a huge cemetery, but we never did see Riverside Park.

We arrived back at the airport around 2:15, so we were still on schedule to make it home before dark. I made a slight change to the flight plan, then we headed out to the plane. After the run up, Susan tuned Ground on the #1 radio and put Tower in the standby position. Ground directed me to Runway 23. I switched to Tower and Susan put the Approach frequency in the standby position. I was cleared for take-off and off we went. Tower asked if I wanted to contact approach for flight following and I said yes. He handed me off as I continued to climb enroute. I switched the approach frequency into the active position and contacted Approach. Silence. A minute later, I tried again. Silence. Then I entered the approach frequency into the #2 radio and tried for the third time. I immediately got a response and a squawk code. It seemed to me that the controller was a little bit agitated, so I asked if he heard my previous requests. He said he did and answered me three times. I apologized and said I didn't hear his earlier responses. I turned off the #1 radio, then back on and checked to see if I could hear anything on it. It was once again working fine. But how did it work fine at the airport and not once in the air? One of life's 'old plane' mysteries.

Although the #2 radio is more reliable, it is not without its issues. Somewhere northwest of Tallahassee, we were handed off to Jacksonville Approach. I made contact but wasn't sure if the controller responded to me because the frequency was busy, and the radio signal was very weak. I let it ride for a few minutes until passing east of Tallahassee, then asked if I was on the right frequency. She said I was, then offered me another frequency. I switched and now heard her loud and clear.

The flight continued and I turned left to avoid the Sanford and Orlando airspace. The controller asked my destination, and I said, "X59 Valkaria". She asked where that was and I said, "Near Melbourne". She then asked my route, and I said, "I'm heading toward the beach, then I will turn south". This brought up a question that I'd already been asking myself. Should I ask for permission to transition the Class B airspace, or should I just fly around it, unless given permission to fly through it? So far, I have avoided it. Next time, I'll ask if I can transition through.

We landed at Valkaria about 15 minutes before sunset. We topped off the tanks and put the plane back in the hangar. Another successful flight.

Below are the tracks from the flight.

Valkaria to Albany

Albany to Valkaria

Flight Time: 6.3 hours
Total Time: 663 hours