Jun 2018 Florida Keys —- check!
Our U.S. perimeter flight continues and, for the last 36 hours, we’ve slowly been making our way around the long, narrow peninsula known as Florida. Boyd and I both agree, our flight has been a complete joy and, even though we’re less than a third of the way ’round, I’m already dreading it ending. We’ve passed through 17 states so far, but the BIG ones still lie ahead – Texas & California. As of today we’ve overflown Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
One awesome lady taildragger pilot invited us for coffee & muffins at Ormond Beach Airport KOMN and we were all over that! Gail Stillings-Burch turned out to be one of the funnest lady taildragger pilots we’ve met – and she lives and breathes flying! Low ceilings kept us on the ground at KCRG till way past morning coffee time but no big deal. We had as blast hanging out with Gail and her friends, and touring hangars with some fabulous taildraggers tucked inside.
Gail Stillings-Burch with her Legend Cub
New friends: Great people having some Friday-morning-fun at Ormond Aircraft, KOMN. With Stephen Searle .
Gail with “Sassy Brat” the gorgeous Luscombe she co-owns with her son.
I found a lady taildragger pilot at Ormond Beach! Lara Isaac loves to fly and owns this immaculate Christen Eagle.
This Bücker Jungmeister is pictured with the owner, Heins, who is prepping to fly it from Ormond Beach, Florida to a Bücker fly-in at Santa Paula, California.
Heins is also the proud owner of this rare 1932 Waco UBF
Continuing our southbound flight from KOMN to X51, Homestead, Florida, it was a treat to arrive just minutes after Lauren Williams. Lauren is a LadiesLoveTaildraggers member and ferried this Champ from near Charlotte to its new owner, the flight school at X51.
It’s fantastic meeting even more lady taildragger pilots! Yogini Modi is the new owner of the Champ Lauren delivered to X51. Yogini is a CFI and co-owner of the Pilot Training Center Homestead, one VERY busy flight school.
If you haven’t yet flown the Florida Keys, you need to! We lucked into a beautiful day to fly, had very light winds, and a spectacular view from 1200′.
How can anybody not want to do this?!
At Marathon, KMTH, a Cub in the pattern “somewhere” in front of me called left downwind for 25, then base for 25. I’m slowing down, slowing down, flaps on, trying not to eat him up – and looking, looking, looking for him. On my mid field downwind, out of the right side, I finally caught sight of him – a yellow dot making a 747 pattern. Funniest thing ever. And thank you Boyd for taking this picture of a very proud me, my first landing in the Florida Keys!
Northbound leaving the Keys, heavy rain showers popped up then faded away along our route. We were able to fly the Gulf shoreline all the way to Venice with little more than a few sprinkles near us.
So we’re here – but can we get out?! Oh what the heck- if we’re going to be fenced in, the sunny south’s a good place to be.
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