Flight Time–Marco Island

This week is shaping up to be gorgeous - clear skies and low humidity for days. Today I wanted to take a long flight with Mom. I started looking along the coast of Georgia, but the winds were too high to be comfortable for Mom. Then I looked at Western Georgia, but clouds were predicted to build in the afternoon. Then I looked at the Keys but decided that I should build up Mom's comfort level before dealing with Miami airspace. I ended up choosing Marco Island.

We went to Valkaria and were in the air at 11:00 AM. The flight was very smooth at 6,500 feet. I started my descent around 20 nm away and entered the pattern for Runway 35. After landing, I taxied to the fuel pump while looking for a place to park. I topped off the tanks, then manually pulled the plane over to an open spot between two Cessna 172s. Luckily, they are high wing planes because they were not that far apart. The Cherokee wingtips were underneath the Cessna wingtips. I wasn't planning to stay long, so I figured this was acceptable for the short term.

We caught a ride to the FBO with a line worker and checked in. We talked about our flight and where we were from, then they offered us the courtesy car. We accepted the offer and headed outside to find our Hyundai. I drove out to the main highway and onto the island. Mom and I enjoyed looking at all of the expensive house and condos for a while, then headed back to the airport.

Marco Island FBO

After eating a sandwich made from ham and cheese from my cooler, I planned the next leg of the flight. I was thinking about going to Crystal River or Inverness, but settled on Brooksville, which is a regional airport north of Tampa.

When I finished planning, Mom asked for a ride back to the plane. When we arrived at the plane, there was a guy refueling a Cessna 206 on amphibious floats. I couldn't resist the urge to talk to him. He flies for a local company that takes people to the Keys. He also flew in Alaska and knows some of the pilots at Jack Brown's Seaplane Base.

After the chat, I pulled the plane out from under the Cessnas and did the preflight. Once the engine was started, I turned on the radios and intercom and found that the intercom was not working. This happened before on a flight in northern Georgia. I turned it off and on a few times, but it was clear that it wasn't going to work. I taxied to and took off from Runway 35. While climbing out, another pilot told me that my transmission was weak. I turned off the intercom and asked him if it sounded better now. He said that it did. At least I now knew that I was being heard over the radio.

After departure, I flew low and slow around Marco Island, then followed the coast to the north. With the failed intercom, I couldn't talk to Mom. This resulted in us trying to communicate with sign language, gestures, and screaming at each other. I soon got frustrated with this and decided to divert back to Valkaria.

On the ground at Valkaria, I topped off the tanks and prepared to put the plane back in the hangar. While pushing the plane, a man pulled up in a golf cart. He knows my partners and said that he almost bought the share that I ended up buying. He seemed very impressed with the plane, so I told him to give me a call at the end of summer. If all goes well, I may be moving out of state and therefore be interested in selling my share.

The flight tracks are shown below.

Valkaria to Marco Island

Marco Island to Valkaria

Flight Time: 4.0 hours
Total Time: 708 hours