16-APR-2007
Part 1: The Checkout
I arrived in Orlando on VS73 from MAN on 14th April, Bill and Mary arriving later from MAN via their Smoking Stopover in Boston. Picked up the rental car, called at the Publix supermarket for essentials like tea, coffee and beer, and got to their huge house in Davenport quite late on.
So we went back out to the China 1 at Publix Plaza for some serious take-away and ended up discussing the state of the local property market with the manager. Holiday rental is down, tourist numbers are down, but hey, it's a great time to buy...
16-APR-2007
Kissimmee Gateway
SunState's premises are right next to one of the taxyways at Gateway so you get to see a mouthwatering array of bizjets and warbirds close-up while you're on down-time. This is one of the two T6s from Warbird Adventures, then there's Crazy Horse 1 & 2, the Spitfire XIV and others from Stallion 51. On this day I saw a Global, a BBJ, various Premier 1s, Citations, Learjets and Falcons and if you're a bizjet fan like me then you don't get much more variety than that (except maybe at MAN when Chelsea are visiting).
This was our second day of being weathered-off due to high winds. Forecast said winds easing-off for tomorrow... In the meantime we had a 2-hour groundschool session with CFI Jeff Sullivan (ex-USAF Reserves, all-round top bloke) in which we were well-grilled on VFR procedures, R/T, the 172, the weather and anything else aeronautical you may think of...
Denny's for lunch, in which Mary & I took on another strawberry milkshake with refill. Quality.
16-APR-2007
One of SunState's G1000-equipped 172s on the grass outside their office. This is the side that faces the taxyway so you can see the spectator gallery already filling up...
16-APR-2007
This is a couple of SunState's SPs being fuelled up. As an instructor, what I really liked about this company was their unwillingness to fly in unsuitable conditions i.e. strong winds, unlike a certain other British-owned-and-run establishment on the other side of the airfield that Bill and I had dealings with last year. Not only that but they had a well-stocked bookshelf and loads of free coffee too.
17-APR-2007
Time To Go Flying...
It's the 17th, it's sunny, and it's not too windy! The actual wind was predominantly northerly, straight down 33, 10 kts-ish, so this meant no haze and excellent visibility (of which more later). Our ride for the day was N5190J, and we were off to Leesburg for circuits and navigation/general handling on the way. The Sun 'n Fun exhibition had just started at Lakeland the same day so the area to the south-west of Orlando was a no-fly zone if you weren't going there.
17-APR-2007
The Walk-Round
This is Jeff (on the right) explaining the finer points of checking out the 172 to Bill & I. What really impressed me the most about this and all of SunState's aircraft was how very well equipped, clean & tidy and new they all were. Being so used to 30-year-old tatty aircraft with "less-than-perfect serviceability" I found their 172s a real pleasure to fly.
Bill was first up, taking us to Leesburg where after a few touch & goes we were swapping seats and I was bringing us back to Gateway.
17-APR-2007
I took this as we were departing Gateway (rwy 33) for Leesburg. That's Marathon FBO's ramp with a diverse selection of bizjets and, yes, that is a BBJ on the right. Jeff and the crew at SunState told us how it made a spectacular arrival 3 days previously in those strong winds. The 6,000-foot runway is clearly not necessarily a lot for an aircraft like that. Parked up there we have a PC12, Metro I, Hawker 800XP, Falcon 900EX, BBJ, Beech Baron, Premier I and another Hawker. I'm a spotter and I'm proud...
After this we turned left and headed west to stay out of the TFR surrounding Disney World. Got a stunning view of south-west Orlando.
17-APR-2007
US 192 featuring Orange World
We're heading west for a while and this was how good the visibility was in that northerly air mass. That orange ball in the middle is the shop on the 192 that sells nothing but oranges and you can see it from 30 miles away on a good day (like this).
17-APR-2007
En-Route to Leesburg
Bill checking the map while I enjoy the novelty of being able to see vertically down and out of the back window (can't do either in the PA28). The only downside is doing power-on stalls where the perspective from in the back is like you're about to go into orbit or something...
17-APR-2007
As we headed out into central Florida we passed a few of the dozens of lakes that are typical of the area. This is up near Leesburg but some of the lakes around Winter Haven and Lakeland are so perfectly circular they look artificial.
17-APR-2007
We're in the circuit (pattern!) at Leesburg. After a few touch-and-goes we stopped and Bill and I swapped seats. Now it was my turn in the 172. I was expecting a big change from the PA28s that I've done hundreds of hours in, and I wasn't wrong. Initial impressions: high seating position, the novelty of having a door on the left (and being very conscious of whether it was shut or not!), great acceleration, short take-off roll and strong climb-out even though we were heavy. Sensitive in pitch although that might have been me overcontrolling at first; very stable, nose-heavy in steep turns, huge pitch change when dropping the big Fowler flaps, high nose attitude in the flare. Note to self: set the trim slightly forward of the take-off position for more elevator feel on the take-off roll.
17-APR-2007
I always wanted to get a "shadow shot" like this but I hardly ever get the chance normally because I'm too busy flying or watching someone else do it. The large lake visible in the previous shot had a huge alligator sitting in it right under the approach path, just waiting for someone to have an engine-failure...
En-route back to Kissimmee Jeff put me through the wringer with some navigating, stalling, general handling, some emergency drills and other stuff and we landed after 90 minutes or so. Checkout done, we had the big trip to plan. But not before we went to Downtown Disney and House of Blues (Gumbo, Seafood Jambalaya v. spicy. Quality), and then a visit to the Sun 'n Fun the next day.
There may be a gallery of that soon...
