Author: JoeO

Shell Creek Airpark.

No drama

Service notes…. Tighten pos battery connection. Correct Cardo paring to devices. Go Pro 11 has only 45 minutes of film time at current setting.

Wind cross to the runway at 250 ft but calm at surface. Flew out to a sand quarry where hundreds of semis were loading. Overflew the operation for about ten minutes. No lower than 300 feet. The air was noticeably choppy from the semi exhaust.

No Drama.

I just learned of the passing of my friend Alan Fine. He was a good man.

Nice flight at Lake Suzy with Paul

Great flight! I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to get out of bed after staying up past midnight but when the alarm rang I was up and raring to go. It was 72 degrees and dead calm.

I launched without a plan but ended up flying all the way to Crossroads Academy home for boys. Once I got past the Redneck Yacht Club I figured what the heck and was rewarded by buzzing the campus and making some kids smile.

Eleven Seventy two was at Shell Creek with Jay spectating

Eleven Seventy Three was at Placida with Paul Czarnecki . Beautiful weather.

Beautiful day … Great Flight

Two mornings at Shell Creek. No Drama

There is story that came from the second flight. In a nutshell… I spent an hour chasing my air pods. I thought they had been carried away by a critter and according to the “find My” app … the critter was staying 10 meters ahead of me. I followed the app and wandered around the runway with growing frustration until finding the lost air pod was lodged in a crease in my hat.

I wish I was greatly inspired to write because todays flight had all the elements. Yesterday I stopped at Shell Creek to see if I could resume flying there. I’d seen that the SW Florida Sky Diving Club had changed hands and was hoping that I might be welcomed back.

I was! Richard, who I had thought was dead, told me he was indeed the manager and the Skydiving Club had no right to run me off. Frank said basically the same thing. I’m back!

It looked to be a beautiful morning. There were patches of ground fog and the sky was clear. BUT … when I turned back to the airfield, it was completely socked in. I was able to see the Airpark on the FlySkyHi app but it wasn’t until I had descended to 300 feet that I was able to see enough of the surface to locate the runway.

Very nice morning. Flew out to Gasparilla Lighthouse because today it is being returned to service.

Takeoff and landing were very pretty. The air was calm at the surface and 10 mph above 200 feet. Radical temperature variations.