January 27, 2022 - Atlantic Coast Flight in the Champ
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Bruce and his newest acquisition: a brightly covered Aeronca Champion -- better known as a "Champ". Bruce flies out of New Hibiscus Airpark (X52), just west of Vero Beach Airport.
Although not as famous or well-known as its competitor, the Piper Cub, the Champ in some ways is a more practical airplane. Like the Cub, the Champ has tandem seating. But when flying the Champ solo, you fly it from the front seat, unlike the Cub, which you fly from the back seat. Having flown both, the Champ seems a little faster and climbs better than the Cub. Both use the famous and reliable Continental A-75 engine. More than 10,000 variants of the Champ were built. The Champ was the forerunner of the Citabria. Bruce and I co-owned a Citabria awhile back. The Champ does not have an electrical system. You have to hand-prop it to get the engine going. Bruce had a battery-powered radio and intercom system installed. I learned to fly tailwheel in a Champ.
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We takeoff and head north, parallel to I-95, in order to avoid the Vero Beach Class D airspace. As you can see, it is a beautiful day.
Because of a headwind, the traffic on I-95 was passing us!
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After awhile, we turn east, and head for the coast.
Here we are looking south at I-95.
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From the roads, Florida seems like it is filled up with houses, strip malls and fast-food joints. But from the air you can see quite a bit of it is still unpopulated. At least for the time being.
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| Following the Wabasso Causeway as it crosses the Indian River. |
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| Looking south at the Indian River. |
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| Looking south at the Atlantic Ocean coastline. That is the famous A1A highway at right. |
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We headed north up the beach at 500 feet.
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| A little secluded house on the beach. I immediately wonder how they got this great deal. Maybe it is an old house grandfathered? Or a government facility of some kind? Inquiring minds want to know! |
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A big secluded house on the beach. Again, I wonder how they got this sweet deal. Probably with lots of money.
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| Another big house, this one under construction. |
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| Looking east at the vast Atlantic Ocean. This area is called Treasure Coast. They've found a lot of Spanish gold and silver from the 1715 Treasure Fleet that foundered here. All eleven ships of the fleet were lost here in a hurricane. |
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| This stretch of coast line is intersting because it is so narrow. These lucky homeowners have a view of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Indian River on the other. |
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Approaching Sebastian Inlet.
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| A fishing pier juts out into the ocean. We were out on that pier a year ago. Link. |
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A large Pelican V-formation passes below.
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| Looking west at Sebastian Inlet. |
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| Bruce is pilot-in-command. I am the aviation photographer. |
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| Now we are heading south. Our speed picks up dramatically with the tailwind. |
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Soon we are back down where we started, by the Wabasso Bridge and Causeway. Here we looking down at a big golf community.
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| We turn west and fly by Bruce and Ellen's house. There it is, circled in blue. |
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Passing by the radio-controlled airplane field Bruce flies at.
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| Looking down at the place where we went on an airboat ride three years ago. Link. |
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We passed by New Hibiscus and continued west about 20 miles to Indian Hammock airfield (FL75).
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| On the deck at Indian Hammock, by another Champ. |
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| Indian Hammock is a private airport community field, but we know a friend of a resident, so we could land here. We ended up spending a pleasant hour of so with some of the residents, telling flying stories and other lies. As you can see, this hangar houses an RV-7 and a Stearman among other things. |
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| Taking off at Indian Hammock. |
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Pretty scenery to the north.
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Giant solar farm. Probably generates some serious juice with the sunlight they get down here.
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| On downwind at New Hibiscus. The runway runs north to south, so we are looking west. |
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A good look at New Hibiscus airport fromt he air. The big hangar at center is where Bruce keeps the Champ. The hangar at left is for gliders. Bruce has a Libelle -- first generation glass ship -- he keeps there.
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| Turning final for 36 at New Hibiscus. |
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A few minutes later, we celebrate the successful flying day over beer and nachos at the Tiki Bar & Grill.
Yes, my friends, retire to Florida and you too could be this man!
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