June 9, 2024 - Learning to Fly Seaplanes
Transit to Winter Haven, Florida
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I'm heading south to Winter Haven, Florida this Sunday morning. The reason? To learn how to fly seaplanes at Jack Brown's Seaplane Base. Nhu-An is flying with me. She wants to learn how to fly seaplanes too. Jack Brown's is very popular so you have to make reservations well in advance. We've had ours since January.
Today's weather is excellent. Here we are high over the Blackwater Swamp which is a pretty green in June.
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We flew down the Eastern Shore/Delmarva peninsula, crossed over the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk, and headed down the Atlantic Coast. Here we are descending after having crossed over all the Norfolk airspace.
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| Approaching the hallowed site of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. |
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A closer look at the monument to the Wright Brothers and First Flight airport.
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| Approaching Oregon Inlet. Bodie Island Lighthouse is at far right. The relatively new Marc Basnight Bridge -- completed in 2019 -- goes to Hatteras Island. It replaced the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge which was built in 1963. Both Bonner and Basnight were democrat politicians. Many residents of Hatteras Island wanted to call the bridge the New Bonner Bridge. |
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| Cape Hatteras juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. |
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| Looks like the 1870 Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is being renovated. |
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A closer look at Cape Hatteras.
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| It's a parking lot down there! |
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About four miles to the west of Cape Hatteras is Billy Mitchell Airport. An early and outspoken proponent of air power, Mitchell (1879 - 1936) is now regarded the father of the U.S. Air Force, but he was a little too passionate and in 1925 he was drummed out of the army for insubordination. Milwaukee's International Airport is also named after Mitchell. |
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| Five planes down there including what looks like an RV. |
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Continuing on, we come to the end of Hatteras Island and encounter Hatteras Inlet. As you can see, No bridge crosses the 2-mile wide Hatteras Inlet. A fleet of eight ferries, owned by the North Carolina Department of Transportation, provides a free 60-minute ride year round to people who want to traverse the inlet from Hatteras to Ocracoke. These ferries connect North Carolina State Highway 12 between the two islands.
Ocracoke Island is on the other side.
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| The Ocracoke Airport at lower left with Ocracoke town at top.. |
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A closer look at Ocracoke.
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| Over Ocracoke Inlet and continuing south to the next island. |
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This section of the outer banks is pretty deserted so we went down low.
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| Doesn't get much better than this! |
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| Cape Lookout dead ahead! |
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| Passing by Cape Lookout Lighthouse with its distinctive black and white diagonal checkerboard, or diamond, pattern. The second lighthouse at this location, it was completed and lit on November 1, 1859. |
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A big sandbar off Cape Lookout.
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| Over the sandbar, looking back north at Cape Lookout. |
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| Trucks on the Cape! |
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We are back in civilization. This is Atlantic Beach, just past Beaufort Inlet.
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Next up along the coast are the Restricted areas R-5036C & D, plus Bogue Field, a towered US Marine Corps Landing Field. All three block the path down the beach. In the past, I've just flown offshore to get around their airspace. Since today is Sunday, I gave Cherry Point Approach a call and sure enough the restricted areas were inactive, and Bogue Field was closed. Sweet!
That's Bogue Field on the other side of the sound.
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| Approaching the New River Inlet. |
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| Surf City. I know this area. Lynnette and I have some good friends who live down there. We visited them a couple of years ago. Link. |
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They live in one of those houses on the left side.
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| You can really see the Intracoastal Waterway in this picture, heading south on the right. It runs all the way from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following the Gulf Coast to Brownsville, Texas. |
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Holly Ridge/Topsail Island Airport. I've landed here a couple of times.
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| The first time I came here, there was nothing. The big hangar and T-hangar row are relatively new. The airport was public before but I see now it is private and you need prior permission to land. |
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| A bunch of jetskiiers are having fun on the water. |
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| Looking down at Cape Fear. |
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A school of fish were going wild in the Ocean, practically creating a whirlpool. Of course the fishing boats were all over it.
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| A party out on the water near Oak Island (to the left). |
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About five miles to the west of Cape Fear was Cape Fear Regional Jetport (KSUT). This was our fuel and lunch stop.
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The airport personnel were very friendly and nice. They have not one, not two, but three courtesy cars! Unfortunately for us, all three were in use. Apparently nearby Oak Island is jammed at this time of year. We were able to get a local driver to take us to the nearby recommended restaurant.
That's Nhu-An in front of the FBO terminal.
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| We had a lunch at the Koko Cabana on Oak Island. |
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We sat outside; this was our view!
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The Cape Fear airport manager had been Chief Hospitality officer on Air Force One for 27 years or something like that.
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| Oak Island from the air. |
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| We continued on down the South Carolina coast. |
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In the early afternoon, it was getting warm and bumpy down low. Northeast of Charleston we climbed and headed direct for Waycross, Georgia, our next stop.
Here, we're approaching Charleston with a nice overall view. You can see little Fort Sumpter -- where the Civil War started -- at far left .
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| Looking down at Patriots Point, featuring the World War II Essex-Class aircraft carrer U.S.S. Yorktown, which has been turned into an outstanding floating museum. I checked it out back in 2018. Link. |
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Off to our right is what used to be Charleston Naval Base, where I was stationed for two years in the late-80s with Destroyer Squadron 20. The Naval Base closed in 1996 and has been transformed into a multiuse Federal complex, with 17 Government and Military tenants, as well as homeport for six RO-RO Military Sealift Command ships, four Coast Guard National Security Cutters, two NOAA research ships, the United States Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Academy, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center FLETC-Charleston. In addition, Detyens Shipyards, Inc. runs three dry docks, one floating dock, and six piers, and is the largest commercial facility on the East Coast. Projects include military, commercial, and cruise ships.
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| Looking at Charleston Executive Airport off to our left. The upscale Kiawah Island is at top. |
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| Approaching Hilton Head with the Hilton Head Island Airport clearly visible. |
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| From a distance, Hilton Head Island looks like nothing but trees. But when you get overhead, you can see lots of bungalows and golf courses. |
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Passing to the east of Savannah.
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| Interstate 95 heads south from Savannah. I'm sure glad I'm flying and not driving on I-95. Been there, done that. |
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Overhead Waycross-Ware County Airport. I've landed here many times. There's just something about the airport I like. Plus it's strategically located to enter Florida, located to the west of all the Jacksonville airspace.
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| We stopped to stretch our legs and ended up getting fuel, although we could have easily made Winter Haven without it. |
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Inside the terminal building was this interesting weather map. All green; that's what we like to see.
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| Departing Waycross, we were almost immediately over the big Okefenoke Swamp. The eastern edge of the swamp is clearly visible. |
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Continuing down the middle of Florida, we pass The Villages on the right.
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| Passing by Kermit Weeks' "Fantasy of Flight", just off Interstate 4. I visited Fantasy of Flight many years ago when you could see quite a bit of Kermit's very large collection of aircraft, plus some dioramas and a restaurant. Now it is one hangar showing 20-25 aircraft at any given time. Too bad. |
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And now here we are safe on deck at Winter Haven Airport! But it was hot: 95 degrees plus.
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| I used Turo.com for the first time and this big, tricked-out Tundra was waiting for us in the airport parking lot. We need to be at Jack Brown's Seaplane Base tomorrow morning at 7:30 am. Let the seaplane learning begin! |
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Our path to Winter Haven, Florida. Nhu-An and I split the flying time on the way down, which was about seven hours or so. Not bad, since as you can see, we didn't take the most direct route and we did not stay up high to go fast.
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