Author Archive: tjflyingadventures
The Next State (OK) State #33
The states are now getting further (and harder) …. But that’s OK … Today was a beautiful day to fly… My intended destination was Dallas. But I was compelled to make a slight detour to land in a new state(Oklahoma). The route is shown below:
The weather forecast showed a little bit of IFR along my route … But nothing scary.
When I got to the airport, I found the DirecTV blimp was in town for the Bucs game today. When blimps visit, they park right next to my hanger. Check it out:
Believe it or not, on the other side of where I parked was an F-18!
Last Minute Angel Flight
East Coast Journey (Going Home)
Seven new states, and 5 IMC hours later, it was time to go home. The journey home involved a stop in Frederick, MD (state #32). Here is what the final route flown looked like:
But it was a good excuse to use the the new GPS Z approach to runway 23. I had read about GPS Z approaches, which are the latest/greatest precision WAAS approaches with LPV. But I had not seen one in person.
The plan was a quick fuel stop @ Homerville, GA and a short final leg back to Tampa. Unfortunately, the city of Homerville (and it’s mayor) has truly ignored it’s airport. When I arrived it was an absolute ghost town. There was not a single person or plane there and they didn’t even have fuel!! Apparently, the fuel pumps were out of order. Even the runway was in shabby condition. But being the eternal optimist that I am, I made “lemonade” out of this lemon stop. Even though it was deserted and locked, their wireless worked from my Iphone on their front porch. As a result, I was at least able to catch up on calls/emails in relative comfort. Then I took a quick 20 mile flight to Valdosta, where I was able to satisfy both the plane’s thirst and my hunger. Then finally a quick VFR trip home to Tampa:
Overall, the journey has really put my piloting skills to the test (both in the air and even on the ground). Can’t wait to start planning the next batch of states!!!
== T.J.==
East Coast Journey (Day 3)
Today was the most varied (and most intense) day of flying I have ever had! The day began as a leisurely morning sightseeing flight with Avanni (and her Daddy).
As you can see, Ronak got the hang of aerial photography pretty quickly as we flew over Patriots stadium down to Rhode Island and back:
Upto 31 states now!!
== T.J.==
East Coast Journey (Day 2)
Then it was time for lunch in Wildwood, NJ (Woohoo state # 26!!!) Now the ATC excitement begins, I filed an IFR flight plan with what should have been a “preferred” route. But when I contacted Atlantic City Clearance Delivery, they gave a wild clearance with over 10 fixes and even merging into Victor airways. The only good news was that the routing was over JFK, which led to some great views of Newark and New York City.
After a few good pics (~ 430), I activated an IFR flight plan and headed direct to Norwood. The timing worked out perfectly, I landed @ 5:03 PM at Norwood, right as they opened!!
== T.J.==
East Coast Journey (Day 1)
Day 1 went off “almost” as planned. I was so excited to begin my journey. I arrived a couple of hours early to the airport so that I could do a thorough pre-flight and still have time to “correct” anything that may have needed attention. Luckily everything checked out OK and after a whole bunch of work calls/emails, I was ready to go.
Stay tuned for the next leg of the journey…
East Coast Journey (Day 0)
== T.J.==
Sunrise Flight to Miami
Aside from the view, one of the great things about flying on the east coast of FL is that the air traffic controllers are “world class”. After Vero Beach I was planning to dodge and weave around the military airspace in the middle of the state, when a VERY friendly ATC controller helped me out. Here is the scenario:
Cheers,
== T.J.==