Cedar Key (CDK)

My wife and I took a day trip to Cedar Key, an old fishing village on the "nature" coast of west Florida. It's sort of a peaceful, tranquil, quiet, less crowded version of Key West. Most likely being located in the middle of no-where helps with that atmosphere. The place is known for good seafood, wildlife, fishing, arts, and relaxation. It's not a beach community. The coastline is saw-grass marsh in that area of Florida, hence all the wildlife. There was only one thing wrong with the trip, and that was the traffic jam we got into on the Skyway bridge getting to the airport. Otherwise, a perfect day.

Cedar Key has a paved 2355 foot runway that is orientated 5/23. I'm guessing that's usually a good orientation with the morning land breeze/afternoon sea breeze we have on this side of Florida. However, I picked a day with the wind directly out of the south. So I landed with about a 10 knot crosswind. I didn't do poorly for a guy used to airports with multiple runways. Sorry that the runway pic is not better. The sun was in front of us as we landed. There is a small apron at the west end of the runway with tie downs.

The only other airports my wife has landed at have been controlled fields. We get out of the plane and she says "Where's the airport?" I don't really understand and reply that this is it, after all didn't we just land on yonder strip of pavement? "No, I mean the terminal building." Now I get it, and while trying to suppress a huge grin I explain that not all airports have the facilities she has become accustomed to.

I called ahead and reserved a golf cart for the day. Cedar Key is made up of several small islands. The place is not too big, but you need some type of transportation to see all of it. There is a cabby on the island who monitors the CTAF and will be happy to drive you into town for a small fee. The cabby will also give you her idea of the wind conditions prior to landing. Somehow, letting the cabby select my runway seems risky. I can't find that section in the FAR, but I think pilots are supposed to make their own decisions. The golf cart worked out well. The owner drove the cart to the airport to meet us, and when we were done for the day, we left it at the airport as instructed.

After the obligatory tourist photos, Alice and I headed out on the cart to explore. Our first stop was the island's school, where I had my picture taken with the school's mascot. Yep, they're the sharks. Alice is a teacher and just loves schools. I guess if they had a car wash on the island, I would have had to take a look at that. Next it was on to the museum. Cedar Key has a history that pre-dates the Civil War, kinda rare in Florida, and the museum has historic and natural history exhibits. We skipped the trail because we were getting hungry.

We checked out some of the restaurants along the waterfront and decided on the Dockside Depot. It was not the fanciest place, but the prices were reasonable and we could sit by the water. Both Alice and I had the blackened grouper sandwich, a Florida staple. My sandwich was good with a generous portion of grouper. There's a good half dozen restaurants to choose from and I would try something different next time, just to be adventurous. We did a bit of shopping after lunch. I bought a cap, and Alice got a shirt and we found a nice water color print that now graces the foyer in our house. My wallet was a bit lighter when we flew home.

We rode around the islands looking at old houses and wildlife for a bit. This osprey has taken up residence by the airport and pelicans are all over the place.

This would be my Cedar Key dream home. Guys, you're gonna love this:

Backyard: Gulf of Mexico

Front yard: Private taxiway to the airstrip

Top Floor: Residence

Bottom Floor: Hanger

I don't need to know any more.

So much for the dream home, this is what I probably could afford:

As we departed, Alice was able to get a shot of the light house, which is accessible only by water.

I was able to log 2.5 hours of PIC cross country time. I'll try to make most of my flights cross-country so that they build toward that instrument rating. The ride home was bumpier than the trip north. I followed the coast, and I guess there was some convection working. Next time I would take life jackets and fly direct, climb more and probably have a smooth ride. My landing back at Whitted was horrible. The wind was splitting the runways, so I had another cross wind to deal with, but I was barely crabbed on approach so I thought it was no big deal. About the time I crossed the threshold I started drifting left, a lot. Left rudder, right aileron to correct. I landed straight, but I had drifted to the left half of the runway before I had it under control.

1st $100 hamburger.

In keeping with the theme of important personal aviation firsts, I performed a pilot's ritual for the first time today, the $100 hamburger. Actually, it was an omelet, and it cost more than $100, but there were three of us, so that brought the unit cost down below $100.

My daughter is home for Spring break, and today just happens to be her birthday. I thought it would be nice to take the girls out for breakfast, and since I have a pilot's license, why not fly somewhere? We flew to Bunky's Barnstormin Restaurant at the Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW). If you look at the flight track, it's kinda goofy. We did a bit of sightseeing on the way over and back. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I flew the pattern at Bartow a bit low. Someone in a Cessna flew into the class D airspace at pattern altitude and announced himself, apologizing, as he crossed the field! I went low and he went high as we crossed paths.

The Bartow airport is an old WWII and Korean War Army air force training base. So, the runways are wide and long. They have a brand new terminal building that houses the restaurant and an aviation museum, among other things. Bunky's was good and reasonably priced. My wife says she would go back, so it can't be bad.

I had planned on flying to Lake Wales (X07) after departing Bartow, but a quick walk around after breakfast revealed a low strut on the right main gear. Not wanting to bang the plane up at Lake Wales, I headed home to Albert Whitted. My cross-country time building will have to wait for the next trip. Today was fairly warm for March, even in Florida, and the trip home was sort of bumpy. I planned on cruising at about 2500 feet, but the base of the clouds was right there and I flew home below the clouds in the rough air. Alice said it wasn't too bad and that she definitely like the Archer better than the 172. I think it feels more solid. The door closes and latches more securely and the cabin is quieter. All things that make the wife feel better about flying. Landing at Whitted, I made the stall horn growl good before I set down, thinking about that left strut. When I got back to Bay Air, the strut was down, so it went on the squawk sheet.

My next cross-county trip will be to Cedar Key with my wife. Cedar Key is an old fishing village on the nature coast of west Florida. We'll make a day of that trip. I probably will get some practice in before hand.

Oh, this was parked on the tarmac outside the terminal. Alice said I need to learn to fly something like it because that is how she would prefer to travel. If I win the powerball... but I don't gamble, so it's kinda unlikely.

Bartow

You'll need google earth to open and view the Bartow flight track.

2nd Pax

Pax, that's passenger(s) in pilot lingo... I think. I didn't get to fly last week. The Archer had a leaky exhaust system. That's a bigger deal in airplanes than automobiles. The cabin heat in an airplane works by warming outside air with the engine exhaust system, hence a leaky exhaust system can mean exhaust gasses in the cabin. Don't want that.

I got back into the air today by taking a friend along for a bit of a practice flight. Out to the beach to run through some maneuvers and back to Whitted for some touch-and-goes. The sky was crystal clear with very little haze, perfect day for flying and keeping my skills sharp. I'm planning on taking my wife and daughter to Bartow (BOW) for breakfast Saturday. After breakfast we'll fly on to Lake Wales (X07) for a touch-and-go before returning to Whitted. I'm thinking ahead about the cross country time needed for an instrument rating and the extra few miles to Lake Wales is needed for the 50nm cross country minimum.

Archer1

You'll need google earth to view the Archer 1 file.

Statistics:

Total Time: 53.7 Hours
Cross Country: 12.0 Hours