Sun-N-Fun 2009

Summary:  Roland Martin flew his Ximango to Sun-N-Fun 2009 and posted a travelogue and event updates on the XOG Blog section, which are transcribed herein.  His postings are summarized in the sections below with a section break inserted between each Blog entry.  The photo album for this trip is located in the Gallery section by looking under Main Gallery > Personal Albums Index > SunNFun 2009.

Flight planning done
Posted on 21 April 2009 at 11:42:25 by Roland Martin

Finally the bad weather is gone. Tomorrow morning is a window to get on the trip. I plan for gear up at 7 am or earlier. New showers are forcast to arrive in the late morning. I'll have headwind most of the trip. Flight time may be over 9 hrs from N57 (New Garden, PA) to X36 (Buchan, 6 miles south of Venice, FL). I plan two fuel stops. The first in LBT (Lumberton, NC) and 28J (Palatka, FL). I have several alternates looked at in case the wind is stronger than currently forecast.

Final go-nogo decision will be tomorrow morning with the 0600Z Wx. Main concern is wind in VA and NC. Limit is 15kts on the ground and 20 kts in 3000ft plus VFR for the complete route.

If its worse, I'll go on Thursday.

Delay
Posted on 22 April 2009 at 06:34:29 by Roland Martin

Wednesday morming, 6:30. Bad news.

An unplanned blob of showers with visibilities down to a few miles reported on radar and METAR's between Easton and Norfolk.

More showers in the forecast for the afternoon.

I'll wait for the 1200Z Wx. to see whats up. Stay tuned.

Postponed
Posted on 22 April 2009 at 08:46:49 by Roland Martin

Dark clouds are now moving into Southeastern PA.

A weather picture for the first leg at 8am is in the mobile gallery 'Sun-N-Fun'.

Rain over Chesapeak Bay. Showers popping up in VA. Strong winds (~20kts) in the Carolinas.

I am too old for that.

See you tomorrow morning around 6am.

Time to go
Posted on 23 April 2009 at 05:54:51 by Roland Martin

Showers are moving out later than forecast.

Winds will pick up during the morning. Strong (20+ kts) winds aloft from my right. Will be a bumpy ride.

I am going for a take-off shortly after sunrise.

First leg
Posted on 23 April 2009 at 10:55:22 by Roland Martin

I do not like driving to tha airport with wipers on.

Cleared up during preflight. Take off at 7:00 am. Few clouds at 3000 over Delaware. 6000 over VA. Clear south of Richmond. Cruising at 4500ft with 5300 RPM 106 kts airspeed ~95 kts ground speed.

Landing at LBT at 10:45. 20 gal fuel. Wind from 240 at 10kts.

Will go on to Florida as soon as I have the Wx update.

At Sun-N-Fun
Posted on 24 April 2009 at 12:44:47 by Roland Martin

I comleted the trip yesterday. Nice cruise along the SC and GA shoreline. Good visibility. Wind not as strong as in the morning, but coming from SW. Not faster than the 1st leg. 2nd fuel stop at Fernandena Beach, just N of JAX.

Last leg to X36 trough heavy thermals up to >7000 feet. It is real hard work in the Ximango to cruise at 105 kts right thru a 1000 ft/min lift. It just wants to stop for soaring. But my friend Gottfried is waiting at X36 for me. X36 Buchan is ~50 miles S of Tampa, a 2500x150 ft grass strip. no traffic. just one other plane tied down.

Flight time was 8 1/2 hours plus two fuel stops 1 hr each. Total time 10 1/2 hours for 853nm.

This morning flight to LAL with the morning haze burning off in front of us.

Traffic at Lakeland much slower than 2 years ago. I was looking forward to a nose-to-tail approch of hundrets of airplanes. We just saw 3 others in the pattern with us. The slow economy shows.

I cannot upload picture. Gottfried does not have internet in his vacation home. I amposting this blog from the Sun-N-Fun Internet cafe. 2 yaers ago this was so busy, you had to wait 1/2 hour to get to a computer. Today there are 2 computers open. You'll get pictures in a few days as soon as I'm back home.

Airshow at Sun-N-Fun 2009
Posted on 24 April 2009 at 19:08:34 by Roland Martin

Parchute with flag and anthem is the traditional opening. A well narrated demostration of WorldWar II airplanes follows. Then amazing aerobatics.

My flight instructors never showed me how to do all these strange maneuvers. Should I try them anyway in the Ximango? -:). I am not sure how climb straight up 3000ft. in a couple of seconds. N97SM always takes several minutes to do that. Any advise?

Like 2 years ago the airshow ends with an amazing formation flight of airforce's past and present.

I hope the pictures in the gallery give you some impression of that great show.

Around 6 pm the airport opens for departure. Again no waiting in long lines.

Nice sunset over the Gulf on the way 'home' to  X36. Re-hydrating with a couple of beers after landing.

Saturday, April 25
Posted on 25 April 2009 at 19:36:19 by Roland Martin

Sleeping long after 2 strenous days in sun wit lots of fun. Lunch with my friends Moni and Gottfried and their neighbors.

Around 4 pm take off. Low flight along the beaches of Venice, Sarasota and Clearwater. Wind from East; good thermals even over water. Further North mangroves. Inspecting the airfield of Cedar Key (CDK) from the air. Still need to get rid of 8 gallons in my tank befor resting for the night.

Overnight in Tifton, GA.

Sunday 4/26/09 - return flight
Posted on 27 April 2009 at 14:45:58 by Roland Martin

Departing Tifton, GA around 10am. CU's developing nicely at 3500 ft. Heading North at 5500 ft. to meet the Smoky Mountains / Blue Ridge. Jackson County airport (24A) is my waypoint on the GPS. Surounding peaks are up to 6200 ft. CU base 7500 to 8000  ft. Ideal soaring conditions; engine off;  5 - 8 kts lift. Moving along Blue Ridge Parkway to Waynesville and North of Asheville. Passing Mt. Mitchel at 6703 ft on the NW side. Good opportunity to check the calibration of my altimeter.

Fuel stop at Ashe County airport. Marvin, the FBO knows Germany quite well. He was flying B-17's during WWII. Told me a few of his stories. I thanked him for not bombing my home town. Marvin does not take credit cards for fuel.

Moving along NE around D.C. ADIZ with Frederick, MD as waypoint. I was looking for Holliday in his N9154H, but did not find him.

Turned the engine off again after passing the Susquehanna to safe some gas. Landing as usual motorless in New Garden at 5:30 pm.

Lots of Sun and lots of Fun - not just in Lakeland, but all around the trip.