- Joined
- May 18, 2007
- Messages
- 7,154
- Display Name
- jsstevens
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- KSFB
I just took my first family trip piloting an airplane, and it turned out great!
My daughter's 5th grade all went to Sea Camp on Big Pine Key last week. They were done around noon Friday, and she was supposed to be back for a dance recital in Orlando, FL by 5PM (a 6 hour minimum drive). Enter the pilot and airplane!
My wife (2nd flight with me) and I left Orlando Exec (KORL) at 7:30AM Thursday morning. There was supposed to be cloud cover and thick haze (MVFR at best) down the east coast, so my planned route of flight was SW until clear of the class bravo and headed for Avon Park (KAVN) at 4500 feet. My wife pointed out the window at 3 hot air ballons in the distance. Cool! It was hazy but not too bad and the air was smooth as silk. After Avon Park, I turned toward the LBV VOR and climbed to 5500. At this point my wife fell asleep. Wow, that's a vote of confidence!
After LBV I set course for Dade-Collier Training and Transisiton (KTNT), followed by Homestead (X51). At this point there were scattered clouds below us, but plenty of openings.
I steered toward the overseas highway and Key Largo. After turning to follow the overseas highway out to Marathon I descended to 4500 again. It was beautiful and smooth and my wife took a few pictures.
About 15 miles for Marathon (KMTH) I started my descent to get below the clouds. I would up pulling the throttle to idle and pushing over into a greater than 2000 ft/min descent for a 1/2 minute or so to get through a hole. In hindsight, I probably should have found a bigger hole, but I stayed legal and my wife later said (after I appologized for the abrupt descent) that she hadn't been bothered at all.
Once under the clouds (at about 1500 feet) whew! the humidity was huge!
I lined up for the downwind pretty close in (my usual practice) and noted a slight crosswind from the south. Turned out to be 4 knts at 90 degrees to the runway. I slowed down and got 1 notch of flaps in, turned base and added the second. Unfortunately I turned final too soon and too high. I added all the flaps and slipped down, but had some trouble getting lined up. I got it, and the landing was nice and smooth, but the approach gave my wife pause due to the steep slip. Lesson learned - be patient on base.
At any rate, we were down and Marathon GA took good care of us - getting the plane tied down, and getting our luggage and us to the rental car.
More to follow on the trip back.
John
My daughter's 5th grade all went to Sea Camp on Big Pine Key last week. They were done around noon Friday, and she was supposed to be back for a dance recital in Orlando, FL by 5PM (a 6 hour minimum drive). Enter the pilot and airplane!
My wife (2nd flight with me) and I left Orlando Exec (KORL) at 7:30AM Thursday morning. There was supposed to be cloud cover and thick haze (MVFR at best) down the east coast, so my planned route of flight was SW until clear of the class bravo and headed for Avon Park (KAVN) at 4500 feet. My wife pointed out the window at 3 hot air ballons in the distance. Cool! It was hazy but not too bad and the air was smooth as silk. After Avon Park, I turned toward the LBV VOR and climbed to 5500. At this point my wife fell asleep. Wow, that's a vote of confidence!
After LBV I set course for Dade-Collier Training and Transisiton (KTNT), followed by Homestead (X51). At this point there were scattered clouds below us, but plenty of openings.
I steered toward the overseas highway and Key Largo. After turning to follow the overseas highway out to Marathon I descended to 4500 again. It was beautiful and smooth and my wife took a few pictures.
About 15 miles for Marathon (KMTH) I started my descent to get below the clouds. I would up pulling the throttle to idle and pushing over into a greater than 2000 ft/min descent for a 1/2 minute or so to get through a hole. In hindsight, I probably should have found a bigger hole, but I stayed legal and my wife later said (after I appologized for the abrupt descent) that she hadn't been bothered at all.
Once under the clouds (at about 1500 feet) whew! the humidity was huge!
I lined up for the downwind pretty close in (my usual practice) and noted a slight crosswind from the south. Turned out to be 4 knts at 90 degrees to the runway. I slowed down and got 1 notch of flaps in, turned base and added the second. Unfortunately I turned final too soon and too high. I added all the flaps and slipped down, but had some trouble getting lined up. I got it, and the landing was nice and smooth, but the approach gave my wife pause due to the steep slip. Lesson learned - be patient on base.
At any rate, we were down and Marathon GA took good care of us - getting the plane tied down, and getting our luggage and us to the rental car.
More to follow on the trip back.
John
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