Early Morning Commute

Normally, I work from home… But today was different.  A number of my IBM colleagues were in Miami today.  Since they were “in the neighborhood”, I felt compelled to go work from Miami for the day.
In typical IBM fashion, I have grown accustomed to collaborating with colleagues from around the world, who I rarely ever meet face to face.  So today was truly a rare treat!
I arrived at the Tampa Executive Airport early (even before the line guys were there) and began to do a pre-flight inspection.

Doing a Preflight in the dark is a bit of a challenge.  I walk around with a small flashlight and try to be extra careful.  After a clean checklist, it was time to taxi out
Since the ATIS reported clear skies and tame wind, I took off VFR.  Takeoffs in the dark are a little like takeoffs in IMC, which is not that difficult.  But you have to be “on the instruments”!  Shortly after takeoff I picked up IFR with Tampa approach and they gave me a fairly direct routing to Kendall-Tamiami Airport @ 7000FT.  While enroute, the sun came up just left of the nose.  I tried hard to capture the sunrise on camera:

I landed a few mins before 730… Just in time for my friend Reinaldo to pick me up and get to the office in time for our first meeting!  Luckily the runway was not lined up directly to the sun.
After a packed day filled with meetings, I now have a major dilemma.  Do I fly home right after work or stay for dinner and do a really late night flight home?  Hmmm…What a tough choice…
Any suggestions?
Cheers,
== T.J.==
Posted in Trips and tagged , .