Day 19: Lakeland, FL

Day 19: June 18th, Lakeland, FL. The weather in Camden, SC was fine by IFR standards. There was a low 300 foot overcast ceiling, but this is not a problem as long as there is no moderate precipitation or thunderstorms. In order to depart IFR, you need a clearance from air traffic control (ATC). At a small airport like Camden where there is no tower, you obtain this clearance by calling a special telephone number on your cell phone. For some reason, it took about 10 minutes to get through and another 5 to receive the clearance to depart. They need to know when you will be ready to depart and which runway you are departing so that ATC can work you into the traffic flow above. I quickly chose runway 14, but I should have chosen the longer runway 24. Since we were at maximum gross weight, it made for a more difficult takeoff on the shorter 3000 foot runway, but we soon climbed the 300 feet and into the clouds we went. At this point, all attention is focused on the instruments to keep the airplane level and on course. The initial clearance was to 2000 feet. I leveled off here and was still in the clouds. Finally, we received the clearance to 6000 feet and I soon broke through the clouds at 2500 feet with sunny clear skies above! Not long after this, the overcast layer below us began to break up and it was clear above and below.

Since we got off about an hour later than planned, we knew that we ran the risk of encountering early afternoon thunderstorms in FL, as they had been forecast to begin between 1pm and 2pm. The plan was to fly to Herlong field, just to the west of Jacksonville, FL, fuel up, and continue on to Bartow, FL where we would meet up with our good friend and instructor at Flight Safety International, George O'Connor. Again, with no weather radar on board, we really had to rely on the flight service stations enroute to obtain updates by radio. They began to see a large thunderstorm cell develop over the Jacksonville area. As we got closer, we conferred with them again and they indicated that continuing to Herlong was not advisable. We asked them if the airport to the east of Jacksonville, Fernandino Beach, was in the clear. This was our best option. We landed, pulled into the self-service fuel pump, and logged into the computer while we pumped gas. I literally had the laptop on the wing of the plane and was reviewing weather radar. Indeed, there was a huge storm right over Jacksonville, and the animation was clear, it was headed due South. Again, with thunderstorms nearby, your best bet is to remain VFR so that you can see the cumulonimbus buildups and have the freedom to rely on your own navigation, rather than having to go where ATC tells you to go. The plan was to follow the eastern shoreline of Florida down to the Daytona Beach area to outrun this cell, and then cut over towards the Orlando area and ultimately land in Bartow near Lakeland.

Matt piloted the plane VFR and proceeded to take off from Fernandino Beach. To our right, we could see a large dark and gloomy area that matched perfectly with the radar images we had looked at early. Under no circumstances did we want to find ourselves in this area of severe thunderstorms. The plan worked flawlessly. The further south we got, the better it looked off our right wing, until finally, we were able to turn right and head towards the Orlando and Lakeland area. We flew through a VFR practice area, which is where private pilots are practicing a variety of maneuvers. There were aircraft all around us that we had to look out for. As ATC put it: numerous targets, all sectors, all altitudes. My traffic alerter device was going off constantly. Finally, we made our way to Lake Apopca, just outside of Disney. Surprisingly, despite our efforts to identify Disney World from the air, we just couldn't find it. Disney has its own special airspace. Air traffic below 3000 feet is not allowed over the Disney theme parks. This was a new restriction put into place after 9/11.

Next, we flew directly over a small untowered field, Winter Haven, where we heard a student pilot soloing in the pattern. We also heard her instructor on the ground giving her pointers. I guess she bounced the landing, because we heard her say "Oh " on the radio. Finally, we entered the pattern at Bartow, landed, and taxied over the self-service fuel pumps where fuel is priced an economical $3.35/gallon! Needless to say, I filled the tanks to the top, since the average price so far has been just over $4/gallon.

George O'Connor walked across the ramp from his hangar to great us. We parked the airplane at the FBO on the field and made our way over to his hangar to check out his Bonanza. I had mentioned to George that I was having a minor avionics problem, my VOR #1 was off by 40-60 degrees. There was a good avionics shop on the field, so they had the airplane towed from the FBO to the avionics shop. They ended up fixing the problem the next morning, a loose resolver connection. Before I left on the trip, I had the local avionics shop back in the Albany area check my VOR receivers and transponder. I'm thinking that when they buttoned everything back up, somehow this item was not tightened. I think this bill might find its way on their doorstep.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon with George working on his Bonanza. When he arrived at the airport and was awaiting our arrival, he thought he would do a little work on the airplane and change out some older corroded screws for some shiny new ones. A fifteen minute job turned into a 3 hour job as a few screws were stripped and could not be removed. He tried dremelling slots into them and using a screwdriver, but then had to resort to the use of an "easy-out" tool. Of course, the last one is always the one that presents the most difficulty, and in this case, the easy-out broke off in the screw and our options were limited. Matt decided to shave off the head of the screw, leaving just the inner 1/3 which formed a bolt head that the vice grips could be used on.

Finally, that storm that we outran near Jacksonville found its way down to the Lakeland area. When it hit the airport, we could see a dust cloud a mile down the road approaching us as the gust front kicked up dirt from the road. We immediately closed the hangar door and braced for impact. Just prior, I had run over to ensure that my airplane was properly tied down. "There's a twister Auntee Em" could be heard echoing in my mind as a severe thunderstorm and microburst descended on the airport. I peered out from the hangar and tried to imagine what it would be like to fly through such dangerous conditions. Later, George recounted such a flight where he was flying an airplane from Glens Falls, NY to Albany, NY. It is definitely one of those moments where you were in the air wishing you were on the ground rather than on the ground wishing you were in the air.

That night, we all returned to George and Abigail's home in Lakeland where George demonstrated his sushi-making prowess. We made many sushi rolls and taught Matt & I how to prepare sushi. I think I will buy the necessary supplies and start making sushi at home myself, it is really not that difficult if you know what you are doing. We enjoyed some wonderful Philadelphia and Veggie rolls. After polishing off some Red Stripe and Sharp's beer, we all headed off to bed. The next day was going to be another first for me. As they say at the end of the Superbowl: I'm going to Disney World!