Deland 2nd LSA Showcase

The weather at Tampa Executive was foggy. This time of year the temperature and dew point meet at about 60°F and the high humidity condenses into a thick fog or mist (BR). I waited until the sun warmed the earth enough to get VFR conditions then took off to the north east. Deland is about 85 miles away, very close to Daytona Beach. The trip would take about an hour. Along the way I was vectored around the parachutes at Zephyr Hills and  cleared through the Tampa
Class B and later, the Orlando Class B. Flight following alerted me to numerous targets and I was able to visually confirm most of them.

Sally's numbers were good.

• 5400 RPM
• 5.6 gph
• 113 kts TAS
• 3500 ft and 20°C

When I switched to the temporary tower at KDED I was instructed to make a straight in approach for runway 5 and call a 6 mile final. Soon a Mooney came in behind me at 8 miles. I was asked to keep my speed up. So I came down the glideslope at about 115kts (indicated) with the trailing traffic closing at about 160kts. The trick was to transition to a "normal" approach speed. I made the no flap landing, touched down long and made the exit just before the Mooney landed. All of the controllers at the field did a great job as ATC.

The show was just a little bigger than last year. Some of the majors were there including Bristell and CTLS. All brands of Auto Gyro were there and constantly providing demonstration flights. I did not see Icon but their competition was there and I spent some time in the booths talking about amphibians. But the "foot traffic" was very slow for a Saturday afternoon. Sebring draws a much bigger crowd.

The weather that had given us morning fog now changed to afternoon cumulus. The bottoms were right about 3500'. R2910 was active. We were given a vector of 220° but that was driving me right into the clouds. So I asked for higher and was given 4500'.  That gave us a smooth ride. The view was fantastic.

The trip home was uneventful.

video notes: Deland2