June 12, 2024 - Learning to Fly Seaplanes
Transit Home
The plan Wednesday morning was to fly over to an airport community south of Vero Beach to visit a friend of Nhu-An's. Her friend is quite an accomplished aviator, having won a Gold in the Unlimited Category at Reno and owning a bunch of interesting airplanes including a P-51 Mustang. Although our destination was only 78 miles away, a quick look at the radar picture made it clear the flight was out of the question. A huge thunderstorm was located right over east coast of southern Florida. We were fortunate that Winter Haven was outside the weather. So we headed for home.
But first we had a very nice breakfast in the Flightline Cafe in the airport terminal. We were the only ones there, however, which surprised me as the food was excellent and the price reasonable. Maybe the bad weather nearby kept people from flying?
Here's a good shot of Winter Haven Airport. The FBO Termianl is at center.
There were some rain showers in central Florida, so we decided head northeast at first, loop around the Orlando airspace, and fly up the eastern side of Florida.
Here we are flying past a huge residential community with lots of water.
Passing over the famous Marine Corp Recruit Depot, Parris Island. Marine Corp enlisted recruits living east of the Mississippi River report here to receive initial training. Marines were first assigned to Parris Island on June 26, 1891, in the form of a small security detachment. On November 1, 1915, Parris Island was officially designated a Recruit Depot, and United States Marine Corps Recruit Training has continued here ever since. The Marines train about 17,000 recruits at Parris Island each year.
Recruit training for those enlisted in the United States Marine Corps includes a thirteen-week process during which the recruit becomes cut off from the civilian world and must adapt to a Marine Corps lifestyle. During training, the drill instructors train recruits in a wide variety of subjects including weapons training, Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, personal hygiene and cleanliness, close order drill, and Marine Corps history. The training emphasizes physical fitness and combat effectiveness. Recruits must attain a minimum standard of fitness to graduate. This standard includes a Physical Fitness Test and a Combat Fitness Test. Recruits must also meet minimum combat-oriented swimming qualifications, qualify in rifle marksmanship with the M16A4 service rifle, pass minimum curriculum standards, and complete a 54-hour simulated combat exercise known as "The Crucible".
Leaving Berkely County, it was time to get high and go fast. We took off and climbed up to 9,500 and headed directly for home. We didn't have much of a tailwind if any but we still made a respectable 180 mph or so. The air was smooth and cool. We flew on top of a broken layer which made things a little more interesting than just clear blue sky.
Here we are looking down at the James River running through Richmond.
