I had originally scheduled my journey to Merritt Island, Florida to watch the last night Space shuttle launch. I can get a pass to watch from the countdown clock/press area. and there were two Coon hounds that need to be flown from Melbourne to the panhandle of Florida. The Tallahassee area was chosen as a meet up point.
I left Ridgeland, SC at about 3:30 Saturday afternoon. The weather was suppose to be partly cloudy, windy and cold. I was five minutes south of Ridgeland and I was hitting rain. I diverted to the east a little bit more to avoid the precip. I was about twenty miles south of Savannah just getting pounded by the wind, up 400 fpm, down 300 fpm, and approach warned me about icing not to far from me. I headed a little farther east but now I was over the ocean and would have to fight a 30-40 knot headwind to make it back to shore. Finally just before the Florida border the skies turned clear.
The remainder of the flight was nice with unlimited views as the sun started to go down. I flew V3 on shore then straight over Daytona watching 20-30 cars taking practice laps at the Speedway. V3 then continues along with unbelievable views of the shuttle and launch facilities as the lowering sun highlighted anything tall. The flight ended with landing into 17 mph gusting to 23 winds.
Waited all night for the launch but it was scrubbed.
After being up for almost 24 hours I was finally able to sleep for a few hours. Then the rat race began. Went over to the plane to get some hone numbers so I could drive to Melbourne Airport. OK I was going to drive from one airport to another. That is shear stupidity! I parked the car and fired the plane up for the short 5 minute flight versus the 25 minute drive. I arrived and Ron was waiting for me at the FBO with his wheel pant for me to borrow. Thanks Ron! Great meeting you. We chatted for a few minutes and I was headed back to Merritt Island. On the way to Melbourne I just zipped around Patrick AFB's airspace but on the way back Melbourne had me contact them. Once in contact I asked if I could do some low approaches. They said you can do pretty much whatever you want just don't touch the ground. Well I set up and performed a low approach down Runway 2. Climbed up over A1A and the dunes and dropped down to 100' and zoomed up the coast for several miles just offshore. After a little playtime I headed back to Merritt Island.
It was time to meet up with Jade and Copper. I was able to meet fellow RV builder Jeff. I was short on time and didn't have any time to look at his project but will next time I'm there. Jade and Copper are coon hounds and are pretty big. It was those two, myself, a friend of mine and his 6 year old daughter. We had everything rearranged so Jade could ride in the baggage area and Copper would ride in the back seat.
I left Ridgeland, SC at about 3:30 Saturday afternoon. The weather was suppose to be partly cloudy, windy and cold. I was five minutes south of Ridgeland and I was hitting rain. I diverted to the east a little bit more to avoid the precip. I was about twenty miles south of Savannah just getting pounded by the wind, up 400 fpm, down 300 fpm, and approach warned me about icing not to far from me. I headed a little farther east but now I was over the ocean and would have to fight a 30-40 knot headwind to make it back to shore. Finally just before the Florida border the skies turned clear.
The remainder of the flight was nice with unlimited views as the sun started to go down. I flew V3 on shore then straight over Daytona watching 20-30 cars taking practice laps at the Speedway. V3 then continues along with unbelievable views of the shuttle and launch facilities as the lowering sun highlighted anything tall. The flight ended with landing into 17 mph gusting to 23 winds.
Waited all night for the launch but it was scrubbed.
After being up for almost 24 hours I was finally able to sleep for a few hours. Then the rat race began. Went over to the plane to get some hone numbers so I could drive to Melbourne Airport. OK I was going to drive from one airport to another. That is shear stupidity! I parked the car and fired the plane up for the short 5 minute flight versus the 25 minute drive. I arrived and Ron was waiting for me at the FBO with his wheel pant for me to borrow. Thanks Ron! Great meeting you. We chatted for a few minutes and I was headed back to Merritt Island. On the way to Melbourne I just zipped around Patrick AFB's airspace but on the way back Melbourne had me contact them. Once in contact I asked if I could do some low approaches. They said you can do pretty much whatever you want just don't touch the ground. Well I set up and performed a low approach down Runway 2. Climbed up over A1A and the dunes and dropped down to 100' and zoomed up the coast for several miles just offshore. After a little playtime I headed back to Merritt Island.
It was time to meet up with Jade and Copper. I was able to meet fellow RV builder Jeff. I was short on time and didn't have any time to look at his project but will next time I'm there. Jade and Copper are coon hounds and are pretty big. It was those two, myself, a friend of mine and his 6 year old daughter. We had everything rearranged so Jade could ride in the baggage area and Copper would ride in the back seat.
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