VFR to Orlando in late April?

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wrighthenry

Pre-takeoff checklist
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wrighthenry
My wife and I have a wedding in the Orlando area at the end of April. Right now airline tickets are almost $500/person from our closest airport and they all go through Atlanta. No direct flights. So we would be looking at at least a 5 hour travel day not including driving to the airport, security, etc. This may be the first time the math legitimately works out in favor of GA! Even in a rental warrior it looks like I could beat the airlines by 2 hours if we don't stop and more or less break even monetarily.

Question is how likely will I be able to make this trip vfr in April? When does the pop up thunderstorm season start in central Florida? To add pressure this will be the first flight my wife takes with me (and maybe my mother in law!) so I really hope the flight goes as planned. I understand remaining flexible however and of course safety will come first.

By the way, planning on using flight following from KLQK to KISM and looking at using the jet center. Oh yeah, I'm low time too;)
 
The Jet Center is good. I've used them a couple of years ago now. storms are generally afternoon events. What time of day were you planning on traveling.
 
Unfortunately the flight down on Friday will have to be afternoon after work unless we take the day off. The return trip will be flexible on when to leave.
 
wrighthenry said:
Unfortunately the flight down on Friday will have to be afternoon after work unless we take the day off. The return trip will be flexible on when to leave.
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Keep an eye on the weather and be ready to sit it out somewhere.
 
Take the day off. If something goes wrong and the rental isn't available (ie last renter kills the battery, down for mx, etc.) you can still make the drive. Otherwise,VFR is a high likelihood and that's a relatively easy flight. Just don't put yourself in the situation where it's all or nothing on making the flight.
 
In 2009, My first cross country with the wife in our plane was, VFR, from KFAY-KSAV-KELA 1100 NM. We had a 2 week old baby, my wife's cousin and a ton of baggage. We didn't even have 3 headsets, so we stopped in Mississippi or Alabama to get Halos directly from the man himself. He did treat use to mccallisters for lunch. On top of that, I only had about 50-60 hrs total. So it is very doable.

My advice, Stay on top of the weather, use FF and don't be afraid to say you need help. Afternoon showers in Florida are easy to fly through or around if you want to. Besides that, it's very possible and could turn your wife on to aviation!

We sold our plane in 2011 and I have not flown since, however, fast forward to today, we went to look at land at an airpark and my wife likes it. So we are looking at putting our custom built house (just over a year old) on the market and seeing if we can build my dream home at the airpark.

So do the flight and have fun, IMO.
 
Is your mission a must-do/must-go? if so, then dont do GA. If you cant scrub altogether, or be flexible a day or so on your departure and return.. then dont go GA.

Honestly you should have no problem whatsoever.... you can dodge pop-ups all day long. If you are homeward bound and a front is coming you can land, let it pass and keep going.. If you are southbound, beat the front on departure or wait til it passes your destination.

almost all of my time is on the gulf coast, and pop-ups were a daily thing.. no biggie.

3-4 hours flight time.. try to take the day off and leave earlier if you aren't experienced/confident with night flight... The mornings are smoother/less turbulent... and you wont be giving two non-flyers their first dusk landings in a small plane after a turbulent afternoon flight...

Dont get me wrong.. night flight is actually some of my favorite stick time.. but most folks are a bit anxious about it.
 
3 people in a Warrior....wish I could do that. I need to lose more weight.
 
Very likely to work out fine. Take the afternoon off and leave earlier, dont get boxed in at dark. The weather moves through west to east. If there are storms, duck into someplace like waycross and wait for them to pass, it wont take long.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll take the day Friday to give us more time/flexibility traveling down. I'll also brief everyone that if we have to we will land and rent a car for the rest of the trip.

How are the moa's in southern Georgia and northern Florida? Should I plan on being vectored around or are the passable most of the time?
 
asgcpa said:
3 people in a Warrior....wish I could do that. I need to lose more weight.
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Luckily I have to try and keep up with my wife fitness wise so we fit fine in a warrior and the mother in law may be 130lbs soaking wet.
 
When I was a student going for my PP I was told something by a seasoned pilot that stuck...

If you have time then fly..
If not then drive..

So I always make sure to have a buffer before and after to alleviate get there itis.
Seems counter intuitive since I justify taking the plane to get there faster but it's the reality.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
If you get flight following, getting thru the MOAs is a non-event. Only once was I sent around a corner of an active MOA, and it was no biggie, either. FF knows which ones are in play, and depending on your altitude, as well, you may fly over or under any areas that are enroute.

Have fun with your flight... all the advice you're received here is good.

Allison

wrighthenry said:
Thanks for the replies. I'll take the day Friday to give us more time/flexibility traveling down. I'll also brief everyone that if we have to we will land and rent a car for the rest of the trip.

How are the moa's in southern Georgia and northern Florida? Should I plan on being vectored around or are the passable most of the time?
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Some of my earliest long cross country flights were from Atlanta to Winter Haven FL, great trips! You've gotten great advice so far, I'll add IF you end up flying low for some reason be VERY AWARE on antennas! There are a few airplane grabbers that are well charted, but seem to appear out of nowhere, don't ask. ;)
Weather could be clear and 100 or solid rain like today, watch it leading up to Friday, if it looks bad, make the decision early, jump in the car and drive. ;)
Don't box yourself into having to fly, remember it is a wedding, you're not carrying a heart to save a dying baby.;)
 
I wouldn't expect the thunderstorm season to start in April. Maybe May. Definitely June.

But like all have said you might have some fog issues, or possibly some sort of weather so if you have to get there you might consider flying commercial.

If I don't fly with full fuel or take some of my skinny friends and relatives I can fly 4 total people in my Warrior II with the 2442 gross weight STC.
 
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wrighthenry said:
Thanks for the replies. I'll take the day Friday to give us more time/flexibility traveling down. I'll also brief everyone that if we have to we will land and rent a car for the rest of the trip.

How are the moa's in southern Georgia and northern Florida? Should I plan on being vectored around or are the passable most of the time?
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Agree on flight following. All of the SUAs between the two airports are intermittent by notam, so get a good briefing.

Hopefully your westher will be better than today:
 

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Leave early,get flight following. Be ready to land and wait for a few hours,storms usually build quickly rain out and go back to VFR in April. If a front is forecast be carefull,and be ready to drive.
 
Yeah the weather today has been miserable. Spent 5 miserable hours in the heart of the rain driving between the South Carolina coast and Clemson.

Thanks for all the great advise. I'm really looking forward to this trip now. I will watch the weather closely and keep plenty of outs.
 
I mentioned waycross because coming from the north, it seems like a natural place to assess whether or not you can make it the way the weather often moves through that area.

Here's one of our trips where we made a quick stop there but then decided things were moving slowly enough to make it to kissimmee.
 

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Wow! I priced tickets on Orbitz from Jacksonville, NC to Orlando (via Charlotte) for the 2nd week of April for me, wife and 4 year old son (round trip) and it was only $800. That's about $600 less than it would cost me to fly the rental Archer.
 
The closest airport to is is Greenville Spartanburg which is about a 45 min drive. We could drive to Atlanta (2hours) or Charlotte (2hours) and the tickets would be cheaper and nonstop. But let's face it, what's the fun in that?! Tickets out of GSP are currently about $950 for my wife and I. Figure 8 hours of flight time and it works out close enough. Plus hopefully this trip will convince my wife of the utility and fun of GA.
 
wrighthenry said:
The closest airport to is is Greenville Spartanburg which is about a 45 min drive. We could drive to Atlanta (2hours) or Charlotte (2hours) and the tickets would be cheaper and nonstop. But let's face it, what's the fun in that?! Tickets out of GSP are currently about $950 for my wife and I. Figure 8 hours of flight time and it works out close enough. Plus hopefully this trip will convince my wife of the utility and fun of GA.
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the best reason to have your own plane there is to have a flexible return trip. Work calls and you have to get back, no need to call the airlines and try to reschedule. Family decides to take an extra day and go home later, no problem just wait till they are ready to leave. Family trips just don't always go according th jet blue's schedule.
 
JHW said:
Very likely to work out fine. Take the afternoon off and leave earlier, dont get boxed in at dark. The weather moves through west to east. If there are storms, duck into someplace like waycross and wait for them to pass, it wont take long.
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^ This

Most likely the weather will be good and the plane will run well
 
JHW said:
Very likely to work out fine. Take the afternoon off and leave earlier, dont get boxed in at dark. The weather moves through west to east. If there are storms, duck into someplace like waycross and wait for them to pass, it wont take long.
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Not always in Florida in the summer. Often the storms will form on the seabreeze front and then drift, generally in the direction of the prevailing winds.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
Not always in Florida in the summer. Often the storms will form on the seabreeze front and then drift, generally in the direction of the prevailing winds.
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those are usually small and easy to circumnavigate. The lines otoh take up a lot of space tend to move through quickly. Yes there will be days he can't go but the odds are very much in his favor, especially in april
 
Just a quick update: we made the flight and had a blast! We chose to leave Thurs afternoon and fly to Tallahassee to avoid the forecast thunderstorms in the upstate for Friday morning. We were treated great by Million Air and they arranged a discounted hotel room and shuttle. We had to wait out low ceilings Fri morning along the coast. I was really wishing I would have started my IFR training last year instead of last month. It would have been an easy flight IFR. As it was we had to deviate inland some to avoid some lingering MVFR but by the time we made it to the Orlando area it was nice and clear.

Signature at KISM was great as well. Pulled our car up to the plane and had the bags loaded and ready to go by the time I finished the paper work. I could get used to travelling like that.

The flight home Sunday was easy if not a bit bumpy for my wife and mother in law. Really just some light chop but it wasn't making them very happy. Made a stop in Waycross (KAYS-friendliest airport manager I've ever met) and then things smoothed out some coming through Georgia.

My wife was amazing for her first trip with me. She helped call out traffic, program the GPS, and switch frequencies for me. Her main complaints were that the plane was too small, too slow, and that I was too busy the whole time flying. So basically, I need a bigger faster plane with autopilot before our next trip! (and a much bigger wallet unfortunately!)

Anyway, thanks for all the advice from everyone here. I learned a ton in the 9.1 hours I put on the hobbs and would recommend a trip like this to any other lowtime pilots that may be hesitant to make a long trip.
 
wrighthenry said:
Just a quick update: we made the flight and had a blast! We chose to leave Thurs afternoon and fly to Tallahassee to avoid the forecast thunderstorms in the upstate for Friday morning. We were treated great by Million Air and they arranged a discounted hotel room and shuttle. We had to wait out low ceilings Fri morning along the coast. I was really wishing I would have started my IFR training last year instead of last month. It would have been an easy flight IFR. As it was we had to deviate inland some to avoid some lingering MVFR but by the time we made it to the Orlando area it was nice and clear.

Signature at KISM was great as well. Pulled our car up to the plane and had the bags loaded and ready to go by the time I finished the paper work. I could get used to travelling like that.

The flight home Sunday was easy if not a bit bumpy for my wife and mother in law. Really just some light chop but it wasn't making them very happy. Made a stop in Waycross (KAYS-friendliest airport manager I've ever met) and then things smoothed out some coming through Georgia.

My wife was amazing for her first trip with me. She helped call out traffic, program the GPS, and switch frequencies for me. Her main complaints were that the plane was too small, too slow, and that I was too busy the whole time flying. So basically, I need a bigger faster plane with autopilot before our next trip! (and a much bigger wallet unfortunately!)

Anyway, thanks for all the advice from everyone here. I learned a ton in the 9.1 hours I put on the hobbs and would recommend a trip like this to any other lowtime pilots that may be hesitant to make a long trip.
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www.youneedacessna182.com

Sounds like a great trip. Get that instrument rating too!
 
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