Summer Morning

The early appointment got me out of the house just as the sun was rising. Fortunately the sun's rays glimmered off the newly built spider's web that hung across the entrance to the front porch and I was able to avoid the mess. I took a few minutes to brush it away before it surprised Kathy.

Sally and me.

Step brother?

Tropical Storm Cindy passed us by, taking a western track out in the gulf before slamming the Florida panhandle and flooding low country as it moved inland. The eastern edge created very unstable air over Tampa. Fog and mist in the morning with low overcast throughout much of the day. Then very active thunderstorms in the afternoon and early evening. I think this ended the water restrictions in Hillsborough County. It wasn't good for VFR Flying. So when I found the spider's web early Friday morning I was at least glad to see the sun shining. It would finally be a good day to fly. My appointment was finished early so I headed out to the airport. A pink flamingo flew by as I parked the car behind Sally. We had a new neighbor, a Piper Tomahawk.

I think an airplane should be exercised at least twice a month. Obviously I would like to do it more often but any longer than every other week risks damage to any of the moving parts. The same rule applies to me. If I go longer than two weeks without flying I feel rusty. The training is still there, the procedures are still good, but my finesse is affected, I'm no longer smooth and I feel it.

The beauty of the world around us.

More spiders. I pulled the canopy cover off onto the right wing and a few little spiders scurried off the edges. There was a web around the pitot tube cover. A little spider got washed out of the right fuel vent when I sumped the tank. And as I taxied out, one dropped from the glare shield onto my D120. He didn't survive to make the flight.

We took off on RWY18 and departed to the east. The clear blue sky was starting to get spotted with little puffy white clouds. Friendly now, they could easily turn into monsters when fed by the hot humid Florida air. I stayed below them at 2000'. We practiced some basic air work maneuvers, I tested all of the navigation systems and Sally's autopilot modes, then we headed over to Plant City for a landing. They were using RWY10 and another Light Sport was getting ready to depart. A Caravan was in the pattern already but by the time I entered on a 45° he was on final, no factor. I made a nice landing, 4 stars out of 5, we turned off on the first taxiway and I went through the takeoff checklist for departure. I use 10° of flaps for take off, especially on a high density altitude kind of day. (OAT 30°C)

I wanted to get above the clouds, so we wove our way through the layer on a rough heading of south. Sometimes we forget about this part of aviation. Experiencing the pure beauty of flight. We were above the tops by 5000' and we had fun in the smooth air by making easy turns and watching the cloud shadows on the earth beneath us.

It was a great day to start the summer flying season.

Video Notes: Summer Morning