Flight Time–Wauchula

It has been a few days since my last flight. Now that building time is my full time 'job', and it is Monday, that means it was time to get busy planning something. I should have gone up this past weekend, but my brother was in town, so we hung out with him on Friday. Then the weather was iffy on Saturday. Yesterday was very nice, but there were two presidential flight restrictions nearby - One over West Palm Beach and the other over the speedway in Daytona Beach.

When I looked at Foreflight this morning, an airport that I haven't been to jumped out at me. It had cheap gas and was about an hour away. So, I planned a flight to Wauchula.

I took off from Valkaria at 11:00 AM and headed west. I shot the gap between the Orlando Class B airspace and the restricted airspace just south of it at 4,500 feet. I turned southeast just this side of Winter Haven, then turned further to the south past Bartow. About halfway to Wauchula, I turned a little to the right to avoid the smoke plumes of several controlled burns that were along my path. I landed at Wauchula at noon and taxied to the fuel pump. There was a Cessna getting gas, so I stopped in the shade near a huge oak tree and waited. Once they finished, I pulled forward and topped the tanks.

After I finished, I grabbed my receipt from the pump and was shocked to see that it said 42 gallons. I know that I only dispensed 10 gallons. The guys in the other plane hadn't started up yet, so I asked them if that was their receipt, and it was. I don't know if my receipt ever printed. Then I pushed the Cherokee back under the shade tree and had a snack.

The FBO at Wauchula

Cherokee in the shade on a gorgeous winter day

At 12:50, I departed Wauchula. For the route home, I closed the loop around the R-2901 restricted airspace (which was not active today, but I need the hours). I climbed to 5,500 feet and flew southeast to Okeechobee, then turned northeast to Valkaria.

The flight tracks are below. Note that I turned on the aeronautic layer so that you can visualize the airspace that I keep referring to in words.

Valkaria to Wauchula

Wauchula to Valkaria

Flight Time: 2.5 hours
Total Time: 682 hours