Friday 9 March 2007

0900 Friday morning sees me parking my RAV4 hire car outside of Jack Brown's and being introduced to Tristram, my instructor, for this hours jolly in a Piper J3 seaplane. Formalities over we walk to our aircraft, N591K, which is bobbing away about 20 yards from reception. Tristram gives me an introduction to the aircraft and then invites me to climb in the back seat and get myself comfortable. As I climb in he is busy pumping out the floats for any water that may have leaked in since it was last flown.


Having stored the pump he is now releasing the retaining line and with a gentle push we drift out into Lake Jessie. A couple of primes, throttle set, ignition on and Tristram, left hand on the wing leading edge for balance, gives the prop a swing from behind. A few seconds later we are drifting across the lake and steering with the water rudders that have been lowered by lifting a cable onto a hook in the rear cockpit. Power checks complete we are now ready for take-off and point ourselves in the direction of the light northeasterly wind gently blowing across the lake.

Now for some extra seaplane checks - the CARS check. Carb heat - check, Area - clear, Rudder - up and S? Sorry - can't remember what S stands for - hope it isn't important. I'll ask next time.

Stick right back, full throttle, keep it straight with your feet, the floats climb onto the first water step then, shortly after, the second step. Check slightly forward with the stick, balance the aircraft on the step, keep straight, accelerate, gentle back pressure on the stick (you can tell when it is ready to get airborne), ease off the water, accelerate in ground effect (or should that be water effect?), establish the climb at 60mph and we are on our way.









































We head out eastwards for a few miles looking for our next lake to land on and over the next hour we don't go above 500'.

We have chosen our lake, decided the direction of the wind across the lake and set ourselves up on a sort of downwind leg at 500' and 2300rpm.

Shortly before we turn base leg we reduce power to 2000rpm and commence a gentle descent. After completing our turn onto base we do a further power reduction to 1700rpm. Once we are established on finals, about 50 yards before the edge of the lake, we close the throttle and the speed starts to bleed back from 70mph towards 60mph.

With power off there is a pronounced nose-down attitude and we must maintain this attitude until the floats are a few feet above the water surface. Keep it straight and at about 10 feet we make a pronounced pitch change to set ourselves up in the landing attitude and hold it. Hold this attitude and as the speed bleeds off continue with an ever-so-gentle backwards application of the stick until we have the stick fully back. Hopefully this point is co-incidental with a touchdown on the surface and we maintain the backforce on the stick until the aircraft settles on the water.

We have landed!

Water rudders lowered and we steer round towards the edge of the lake preparing ourselves for the take-off. I notice a couple of fishermen sitting in a flat-bottomed boat on the north side of the lake. They look bemused as they contemplate how peaceful it was there until we turned up.

A couple of circuits later and we leave the place to the fishermen and move on to the next lake.

As we shuttle across to the next lake (this area is called Lakeland for a reason) I can't help but notice a couple of floatplanes bobbing up and down outside their owners lakeside properties. Thoughts of moving here cross my mind and I start trying to work out how many years I have got till retirement!

The hour passes too quickly and we have done about ten water landings in that time. We are back at base and I pop into the office to pay Michelle behind the desk.

$155 for one hour dual - just over £80. Michelle apologises for the price going up due to increasing fuel charges!



I have only done about fourteen hours flying this week but it seems a lot more.

Some things to think about

• I chose to rent the Cessna 172SP and 182T at Air Orlando. They do have a diversity of types to rent or train on including Cirrus SR20 & SR22, Diamond DA20 and DA40, Cherokee Arrow and Citabria taildragger. Three of their Cessnas and the DA40 are G1000 equipped.

• Air Orlando has reasonable insurance coverage compared to other flight schools but it is still nowhere near as good as we are used to here in the UK. I paid $116 to AOPA(US) to provide me with a years coverage. This improves my coverage in respect of my third-party and passenger liability. I have provided a link to the AOPA(US) website.

• Orlando-Executive is a relatively large airport in busy airspace but is very easy to get in and out of. Delays for departure are minimal and I have never had to wait more than a couple of minutes once ready.

• There are very few charges apart from renting the aircraft. There are no landing fees, no handling fees and no membership charges. The only charge that may be made is if you go somewhere and stay overnight. The FBO (Fixed Base Operator) will probably charge a fee for parking and using his facilities. This would normally be about $10-$20/night.

• Florida State Tax (7%) will be added to your rental bill.

I pass through US airport security in less than 2 minutes (much better than the UK) and Virgin 16 is on time and takes me back to Gatwick and reality.

Thursday 8 March 2007

I have planned a bit of a cross-country today.

First stop is going to be Ocala (OCF) for brunch, then depart westwards to route overhead Cedar Key airfield (CDK) and then turn south heading towards Winter Haven (GIF) because I wish to go and speak to a man about a Cub - one with floats.

Aircraft for the day is yet another new one for me - C172SP N775SP.



We depart off runway 7, again, heading for Ocala. The initial route takes us over Altamonte Springs, on the northwest edge of Orlando, and onwards past Leesburg. Ocala appears after about 45 minutes and, despite the size of the place, is another uncontrolled airport.
















Once brunch is over it is back out to the aircraft and taxi out for departure from runway 36. A rather impressive beast is parked on the south apron so I stop for a few seconds on the taxiway and take a picture. Wonder who it belongs to? I didn't see it fly but someone in the terminal told me it goes like greased lightning.


Thirty minutes later I am overhead Cedar Key at 4500' and while looking down at it I am wishing I was down there looking upwards.

The reason I am not landing there is because I am not allowed to. Air Orlando (along with most other rental schools) have an insurance requirement that you restrict yourself to runways that are at least 3000' long. Cedar Key is 2300' long.


Shame!

Onwards to Winter Haven now and one hour later I am touching down on runway 4. A short taxi takes me to the ramp at Jack Brown's Seaplane Base. If you haven't heard of JB's then this is where you can take your seaplane rating on Piper J3-S floatplanes. $995-00 for 5 hours dual and the check ride. Only problem is there are very few places you can rent a floatplane once you have the rating.






























I have had a fly at Jack Brown's on previous visits but this is one place you do not walk away from without having a go. A chat with the lady in reception confirms that they cannot fit me in today but if I can make it in for 9am tomorrow morning then I can have an hour dual. Not a problem - I'll be there.

Back to 775SP and up I-4 back to Orlando-Executive.

Wednesday 7 March 2007

Another glorious , sunny day!

As an aside, if you are thinking of coming to Florida to do some flying I believe this is one of the best times of year to come. The weather is, generally, fairly predictable all day long unlike, for example, July/August when it is glorious in the mornings and chucks it down in the afternoons. The summer also tends to be very humid and also increases the chances of it being quite bumpy when you are flying.

This is the C182S I used on a previous trip in July 2005 having just made it back to Executive just as the heavens opened. I was very close to diverting to Kissimmee.


A fairly short days flying today made even shorter by the fact that I have hired C182T N2144V again.

Similar departure to Monday as we head off to Lakeland for lunch. Thirty minutes flying later and we are taxiing on to the main ramp for the terminal. Target for today is 'Tony's' restaurant. This is located on the first floor of the terminal building. The terminal is the large building with the blue roof on the north side of the airport. If in doubt just ask for taxi instructions.



Lakeland is a large airport and is host to the EAA Sun & Fun in April every year. If you feel inclined and have the time there is a Sun & Fun Museum on the south side of the airport and gift shop nearby.

I decide to return to Orlando via Tampa North airfield(X39). As I climb out of Lakeland heading northwest I notice a blimp (airship) heading eastwards at low level. He appears at Executive later in the evening. Ten or so minutes later I have called 'Tampa North Traffic' and am doing a non-standard right downwind join for runway 14. Unless it says otherwise then a standard join at an uncontrolled airport is left-hand. A glance at the appropriate sectional chart will tell you if it is a right-hand join in the details next to the airfield (ie RP 14 - right pattern runway 14).

From downwind everything looks pretty dead at Tampa North so I decide to turn it into a 'touch & go'. There doesn't seem much point taxiing in and shutting down for no reason - these fuel-injected engines can be a bit of a pain to restart when warm as well.

Once airborne I am back at Orlando within 30 minutes.

I decide to stop at the Harley-Davidson store on the way back to the hotel. It is Daytona Bike Week and a large number of Harleys are filling the parking lot. I have a good look around the shop, check out the bikes, buy a t-shirt and go back to my car. The barmaids certainly caught the eye though.

Tuesday 6 March 2007

Today I have reserved Cessna 182T N2144V.

This aircraft is a 2-year-old, less than 300 hours on the airframe C182 with the NAV2 (not G1000) package. A beautiful machine for £85/hr! This aircraft (if available) would cost, easily, twice as much to hire in the UK.

Our initial destination is Vero Beach, Florida. This is situated on the east coast and is home to the Piper aircraft factory and is also a major training airfield.

A straightforward departure to the east of Orlando Exec (1400' again, initially) then continue under 'flight following' with Orlando Approach. Approach ATC is based at Orlando International (McCoy) Airport and covers most of Central Florida.

A very easy transit follows to Vero Beach, 22" manifold pressure, 2300 rpm, mixture leaned, cowl flaps closed and autopilot engaged.

We get handed off to Vero Beach Tower and then the fun starts. Vero Beach is protected by Class D (controlled airspace) so permission is required to enter it. We are told to remain clear until called and this does not come as a surprise as we have been listening in for the last 10 minutes. The circuit (pattern) is busy. It is a busy training airfield and Flight Safety International have a training base here involving dozens of PA28s, Cherokee Arrows and Piper Seminoles.

Clearance, however, comes within about ten minutes and we join left downwind for runway 4. A very orderly flow of aircraft leads us in and a few minutes later we are taxiing for the main apron in front of the Terminal building.














Through the access gate and into an immaculately manicured garden area/viewing area, through the terminal entrance and on your left is the entrance to CJ Cannon's restaurant - destination for lunch.
















In the garden area there is a short history of the Vero Beach airfield on a plaque.

As lunch is taken a couple of Vans RVs arrive together, an RV8 and an RV9. The RV9, in particular, catches the eye as it painted in full Northwest Airlines red/grey colourscheme. And very nice it looks too. The registration is N320NW. I wonder what he does for a day job?

















Lunch over and it is time to fly on to Merritt Island.


The flight to Merritt Island is a short one - 20 minutes - but there is a lot to think about.
Contact with Orlando Approach is made fairly soon after departure from Vero Beach. I am immediately given traffic information on a Twin Otter aircraft climbing out of Sebastian on a parachutist drop flight. As soon as he is out of the way I am informed about a MD80 airliner shortly getting airborne from Melbourne Airport heading east and once he is out of the way I need to keep a good lookout for a C130 Hercules getting airborne from Patrick AFB. It is a gin clear day so I see all the traffic with ease and all this while speaking to Merritt Island on box 2 to announce my arrival. Still had time to take a picture of Melbourne on the left hand side though.















I switch from Orlando Approach with about five miles to run to Merritt Island.

Merritt Island is peace and tranquility. It is another uncontrolled airport and is a do-it-yourself job. I position myself left downwind for runway 11, turn in over the cruise ship terminal and plop it down on the spotless 3600' runway. A right turn takes me to the FBO and an employee is there to marshall me on to the parking stand and stick some chocks under the wheels. Still no charges - no landing fees, no handling fees - nothing. All I spent while I was there was 99c for a 7UP from the soda machine!
















Merritt Island is also the home to these machines - Compair 7s I believe they are called. Not the prettiest thing in the world but they can be bought as a homebuild. Note the Walter turboprop engine on the front.

One hour on the ground then it is a 30 minute flight back to Orlando Executive.

Monday 5 March 2007

Where shall we go flying today, then?

Sunday has been a day off from flying so I have had plenty of time to decide where to go to today.

Venice-Municipal!

Venice sits on the west coast of Florida to the south of Tampa and Sarasota.

Aircraft for today is C172SP N440FA.


Weather is much more Florida-like. Blue skies and light winds for the rest of the week.

As I call for taxi I request 'flight-following' to Venice VFR at 4500'. Flight following, basically, makes life much easier on cross-country flights. If possible, the respective ATC units will hand you off to the next unit and make the radio work much simpler. More importantly, particularly in busy airspace around Orlando and Tampa, it is much safer as they will try their best to keep you clear of the Gulfstream V going into Kissimmee, the guy doing aeros over Lake Apopka etc.

Checks complete and I call ready on Executive Ground (Orlando Exec is unusual in that ATC operates the same as in the UK - you call ready on Ground then get transferred to Tower. Normally in the US you transfer automatically to Tower when you are ready for departure). An individual squawk is issued for the transponder and I am cleared to depart via downtown Orlando (keeps you clear of the runway 7 approach) and I am on my way.

The next 15 minutes or so are fairly busy as I initially climb to 1400' (standard Executive departure altitude) and pick up Interstate 4 westbound. This takes me southwest toward Tampa and is a good feature to keep clear of Kissimmee Airport and, even more importantly, Disney. Disney Resort has a 3-mile radius prohibited area around it and must not be overflown. I am not sure what happens if you infringe it - ripping up of licence I guess with possibly a short time in the local jailhouse.

After passing abeam Kissimmee I am cleared by Orlando Approach direct to Venice and climb to 4500'. Within a few minutes I am passing overhead Winter Haven Airport. You may just be able to pick out Jack Brown's Seaplane base bottom right.


Passing abeam Lakeland I am transferred to Tampa Approach and I stay with them until I get Venice in sight.



Venice is an uncontrolled airport which means that you follow standard VFR joining procedures and radio calls. You normally call when you are 10 miles to run and transmit your intentions. It is then up to you to integrate yourself safely into the circuit pattern. Life is made slightly more difficult by the fact that Tampa won't release me from their frequency as they have their own traffic to affect me. This means making my 10 mile call to 'Venice Traffic' on the other radio - Box 2. I am eventually released by Tampa with about 5 miles to run to Venice. The circuit is busy! Several trainers in the circuit, a 125 exec jet joining downwind ahead of me and several others calling up as they join the circuit. Just as well I have decent eyesight!


A minute or two later I find myself left downwind for runway 4. I have everything worked out and can see the traffic I am following.

Then the joker arrives. A Beech Baron has joined tight downwind behind me but is overtaking me fairly quickly. I make a radio call to him to go in ahead of me but he doesn't pick it up. He, finally, sees me and throws in a big right turn to pass behind and outside me. I keep a tight circuit myself but am aware of him following me in. He is Number 2 to me so that is his problem. I land but miss the turn off that goes direct to the Apron - doesn't show on the chart and I didn't see it till I was passing it. I keep the momentum up to clear the runway at the end but as I do I can hear the Baron going-around above my head. He then proceeds to complain about my airmanship as he flys over the runway! I have flown a Baron before and know what sort of distances you need and speeds to fly. Not my fault he can't judge his speed in the circuit and gets too close to the one in front. I decide not to tell him this to his face though and make sure I have locked the aircraft up and departed the scene before he parks up 5 minutes later!

Lunch is already planned - 'Sharky's' restaurant on the beach. Turn left out of the airport, walk about a half mile to the junction, turn left and walk about 400m and it is on the right hand side. 15 minute walk at the most. Try and get there before midday though as it fills up fast. I got there about 1215 and was lucky to get the last outside table. After lunch a walk out on the pier to take in the golden sands and various other pleasant views!


Back to the airport, check that angry man in Beech Baron hasn't let my tires down (or worse) then a fairly uneventful flight back to Orlando. Pick up I-4 at Polk City and follow it past Sea World towards downtown. I get a good view of the tourist helicopters below me doing their low level flights around the attractions. A descent is made to 1200' for the standard join at Exec, call at 10 miles and I am cleared straight-in for runway 7.

2h30mins for the return flight and all done at £70/hr in a pristine aircraft less than 4 years old. Bargain!

Saturday 3 March 2007

I have returned to Air Orlando at Orlando Executive Airport (KORL) to renew my Biennial Flight Review(BFR).

I hold a UK pilot's licence but a US (FAA) licence can be issued on the basis of the UK licence subject to some form filling to the US FAA and UK CAA. Needless to say but the only cost involved in all this is a fee (currently£38 - June 2007) to the UK CAA. All they do for this money is reply to an e-mail confirming your basic details. Good work if you can get it! Once the paperwork is complete then you take the paperwork, your UK licence, your logbook(s) and your current UK medical to the local FAA FSDO(Flight Standards District Office). They will issue you with a Temporary Airman's Certificate and all you need to do now is to complete the BFR. The BFR is then current for two years and all you have to do is to keep your UK licence and medical current. Two months later a credit card type FAA pilot's licence gets delivered to your home address.

The minimum requirements for the BFR are 1 hr groundschool and 1 hr flying. If you have not flown in the US before and/or this is your first BFR you can expect to do a little bit more than this - perhaps 2 hrs groundschool and 2 hours flying as a minimum. Don't be in a rush as you will find it all quite useful as some aspects of flying in the US are quite different to flying in the UK.

My current BFR expires in 3 months so I have booked an Air Orlando instructor and C172SP N826SP for my renewal.

The day dawns wet & overcast - not very Florida like!

A couple of hours later I am turning up nice & early for my reservation. The rain has stopped but it is still all a bit grey.

I am introduced to Antony and he decides that we will do the flying first as the afternoon forecast is for more rain coming in from the West.

Air Orlando is situated on the west side of Orlando/Executive Airport and is a short taxi to the holding point for runway 7.

Departure checks complete and we depart to the north-west heading for the local flying area at Lake Apopka. The next twenty minutes or so is taken up with steep turns, stalls in the clean & approach configuration and a practice forced landing amongst other things. Airwork complete Antony suggests we go to Leesburg and fly a few circuits. No landing fees to worry about - this is the land of the free (literally).

Several circuits later we are on our way back to Orlando/Executive. 1h 10 minutes and that is the flying done. Time for a Diet Coke and Antony then helps me brush up on my knowledge of US air law/airspace/maintenance/weight & balance etc. All very useful.

BFR is complete and we both decide to go for lunch and head for the local bagel bar. Lunch is on me!

Friday 2 March 2007

Travel day to Florida courtesy of Virgin Atlantic.

Virgin 27 to Orlando departs 2 hours late which is just as well bearing in mind the 1hr 45min it takes to get through Gatwick Airport South Terminal security!