Have wings, will travel

Sometime in the next couple of weeks I’ll be pulling up stakes and heading west to Texas. It is there I will pick up a Cessna 152 that looks exactly like my company car and fly it home to central Florida.

You might think of this as a ferry flight. However, I do not.

With the help of readers like you, I choose to believe this could be a real adventure. An adventure anyone who flies could easily replicate — and maybe they should.

Here’s the deal.

My route will take me from just west of Houston, Texas, to the geographic center of the Florida peninsula. That’s 740 nautical miles in a drafty 40-year-old trainer in the middle of winter. It snowed in Texas just the other day. I’m going to have to wear my winter shorts and fur-lined flip-flops to make this trip work out. Yikes.

Truthfully, I’m really looking forward to this. We Americans sometimes take the size and scope of our nation for granted. Which might make some think, “Big deal. East Texas to Florida? That’s nothing.”

If I were in Europe, the value of this trip might be more obvious. This same distance would take me from London, across the English Channel, over Belgium and the Netherlands, across all of Germany, and through better than half of Poland. My ultimate destination might well be Warsaw. Now that sounds a bit more culturally stimulating than Texas to Florida, doesn’t it?

Obviously, I’m not thinking about making this a non-stop journey. The fuel tanks simply won’t allow for that. Nor will the biological needs of the pilot. However, what might be perceived by some as a limitation can easily be turned into an opportunity.

I’m going to have to stop for food, fuel, and rest on this trip. Several times, in fact. A reality that rules out the straight-line route, which would take me over the Gulf of Mexico for much farther than my fuel tanks would allow. So, I’ll be taking a less efficient, somewhat longer route. One that allows for the possibility of encountering interesting people and places along the way. And that’s where the adventure lies.

It’s impossible for me to believe that somewhere along my route, or my potential route, there aren’t at least a handful of really interesting stops to consider. This is where you come in, if you’re willing.

Assuming I’ll be cruising low and slow over the coastline for most of the flight, the route will put me in close proximity to Eastern Texas, Louisiana, the nubby little panhandles of Mississippi and Alabama, then a significant portion of the Sunshine State. That’s a lot of real estate where there are an untold number of airports I’ve never landed at and towns I’ve never visited.

Logic suggests there’s a really great airport restaurant out there or a hangar filled with treasures an aviation nut like me would enjoy seeing. Perhaps there is town along my route that boasts of having the World’s Largest Ball of Yarn or the best BBQ on the planet. I honestly don’t know — but you might. That’s where the magic happens, when locals share the pride of their little corner of the world with travelers passing through.

You’re the local guide. I’m the weary traveler. I just happen to be passing through on metal wings rather than astride a four-legged beast. What makes your town and your airport one that a short-hop long-distance flier like me should take time to visit? 

Seriously, write me or leave a comment here. I’m curious and have to make a handful of stops along the way anyhow. Why not in your town? Heck, if you’re around I’d love to meet you in person. I’ll even buy the coffee.

As you can tell, I’m getting pretty fired up for this trip. It’s become much more than a simple Point A to Point B flight.

Then my buddy Drew Myers, manager of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Flying Club initiative threw an idea out there that I really like. What if I adopted a set of personal weather minimums that a new pilot might use?

Genius! Let’s face it, a lot of pilots never stray 800 nautical miles from home in their rented airplane. They could, but they don’t. Maybe it’s because they’re intimidated to travel far from home where they’ll find unfamiliar geography, or airports they’ve never landed at, or massive MOAs that are filled with military aircraft and activity that’s a little worrisome for the uninitiated. All those issues are easily dealt with, but you have to know how to do it.

Honestly, we all feel better when we can follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before. It’s a whole lot more comfortable than blazing a new trail for ourselves.

So, I’ll write about my plan and how the execution of it goes. I’ll pop a video or two up on social media that includes planning considerations, maybe some inflight content, and a word or two about the places where the airplane and I stop. 

This is going to be interesting. At least it will be for me, and hopefully for you, too. Who knows? There’s at least a possibility that I’ll bump into you in person along the way. I think I’d like that. So, let me know where you, or your flying club, or your pilot’s association hangs out.

Even in socially distanced times, we can meet up, share a fist-bump, grab a bite to eat, and hang out for a bit before I move on, ever homeward, toward warmer weather.

We Floridian’s aren’t big on snow and freezing temperatures, ya’ know.