Flying Around The Bok

The good weather continues.  The forecast for Monday looked great for a run from the Florida Ridge north.  With Fay stirring the pot, Mike and I decided to "take a stab" at flying to the Ridge yesterday and then fly back (or further) today.  Although the numbers didn't "add up" for the trip south, I was game for a go.  I even packed my toothbrush and a clean shirt in the harness.

Mike launched first behind Paul and I was second a few minutes later behind Fay.  I pinned off in a good climb that slowly turned into a mass of rising but unorganized air.  I wallowed around far below cloud base before moving south on course to Interstate 4.  Moments later I was struggling just to stay in the air as Jason was reporting great lift back at Wallaby Ranch.  Sigh.

I eventually climbed out only to find that Mike was now low and struggling over Davenport, east of our course line.  I decided having a flying buddy was better than a climb or two lead and flew over to join him.

After our "low scares" we shifted into conservative mode which didn't mode well for a long flight to the south.  However the flying was fun, mentally challenging but not "finger biting" dramatic.  We picked our way south to Haines City staying high.  When faced with a big blue hole north of Lake Wales, I decided to dive across while Mike faded east to a line of clouds skirting the hole.  His choice didn't work out well and I got a jump on him with a strong climb north of the mall.

We both knew the Ridge was just a dream at this point, so I flew west of course line to join a sailplane and to take some pictures of skydivers at the Lake Wales airport.

Mike suggested tagging Bok Tower and then returning home.  Sounded like a great plan to me since we didn't have a driver.

I was about 5 miles due west of the tower when Mike tagged the turn point putting him a climb ahead.  He radioed he was going to follow a line of developing clouds to the east which I decided to do as well after tagging the turn point.  His decision was spot-on.  I ran into a vacuum cleaner that was sucking up birds, bugs, leaves, and one happy pilot.  I shared several turns with an immature bald eagle before diving for the edge of the cloud.

The return trip was a cake-walk.  I flew along at base arriving back at the Ranch at 5000 feet (1500m) with only two brief stops.

I wasn't done for the day so I flew north towards to the intersection of route 27 and 474 to meet Jason who was finishing up a task he and Tyson flew.  After that I floating around the Ranch in the smooth glass off before spiraling down to land with a no-stepper in calm air.

Today does look like a killer day to fly from the Ridge north, but who can complain after all the flying we're doing.

Flights: 1, Duration: 3:57, Distance: 56.2 miles