Waypoints

There are a few places in the United States that every general aviation pilot should visit at least once. Go for the obvious first: the Grand Canyon. Things are a-changing down there, and in the future you may find yourself flying higher and wedged into smaller airspace corridors, but it's still well worth the avgas to fly across that great scar in the Earth's surface.

Coastal California should also be on the must-see list. There are many others: First Flight Airport in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina; Alaska; Hawaii; and New York City via the Hudson River corridor, to mention a few.

Florida certainly ranks as one of the easiest and most enjoyable places to use a GA airplane, and it's one of my favorites. About three times a year I'm lucky enough to get to fly around the state for business or personal reasons. I always come away with a new appreciation for the utility of the airplanes that we fly and also for the officials in Florida who keep all those airports going.

The state is nearly awash in airports, many of them leftover World War II military training bases.

The weather, of course, also contributes to the flying experience. Florida's worst "winter" weather is awfully inviting to those of us from the North, who are used to days on end of low overcast and freezing conditions. Florida's winter weather generally consists of a few hours of scattered rainshowers across some part of the state, to be followed tomorrow — or, in the worst possible case, the day after tomorrow — with sunshine and daytime highs in the 70s. Floridians think that they've got it bad when the mercury sinks to 40 at night.

And then there's the terrain — or lack of it. Nebraska has nothing on Florida when it comes to flat. Just watch out for those antenna-festooned "peaks" reaching almost 2,000 feet into the air.

During a recent round-robin trip in Florida, I stopped at six airports in 3 days. The first stop was Avon Park, a sleepy little airport in central Florida. Pull your airplane up to the pump and pay cash at the Avon Park Jet Center to get the low price of $1.75 a gallon for avgas.

After dropping off a couple of passengers, I headed southeast to North Perry Airport in Hollywood. This was one of the scattered-showers kind of days, and I spent much of the trip in the clouds. At times the showers were quite heavy, Level 4, but the air was unruffled and the ride smooth. Occasionally I could look down and see Lake Okeechobee and then the Everglades gliding by. Finally, a juicy cloud squirted me out its side and there was North Perry ahead. Good thing, because there was no instrument approach to the field. You'll find few ILSs at general aviation airports in Florida. The weather is rarely low enough to warrant them, except on those occasional early mornings when coastal fog brings air traffic to a halt. But the fog usually lifts quickly to at least VOR-approach minimums.

North Perry is the new home of Socata Aircraft, maker of the Aerospatiale Tampico, Tobago, and Trinidad piston singles, and the TBM 700 single-engine turboprop. Socata moved to Florida last fall after pulling up stakes in Grand Prairie, Texas. Socata President and CEO Bernard Silvie says that the decision to move to the Sunshine State was made after carefully studying the worldwide general aviation market. There's no doubt that if you build trainers, Florida is the place to be. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FlightSafety International Academy in Vero Beach, and American Flyers in Fort Lauderdale train thousands of pilots a year, and they have a big demand for training aircraft and support. Piper, of course, figured that out more than 30 years ago when it opened its first plant in Florida. And now it's become a trend. Diamond Aircraft is setting up a flight training facility in Fort Pierce — which is just across the ramp from where The New Meyers Aircraft Company is planning to build its airplanes. So Socata is in good company.

The rainshowers persisted as I left North Perry and headed north up the coast to visit The New Piper Aircraft in Vero Beach. That evening, a rare winter nighttime thunderstorm hammered the coastal city.

In moving out to sea, the thunderstorm dragged all the rainshowers with it, leaving a clear, cool morning behind for the rollout of the new Piper Seneca V. The company went all out in unveiling the new turbo twin — the festivities featured dry ice, balloons, and a lot of drama. After flying the Seneca V from Palm Beach back to Vero Beach, I believe that the company is justifiably proud of what it has done to enhance the model (see " High Five," page 48).

After checking with LoPresti Speed Merchants in Vero Beach on the progress of the new cowl being built for our Ultimate Arrow sweepstakes airplane, I pointed the airplane westward toward Punta Gorda on the other coast. Charlotte County Airport in Punta Gorda is home to Mod Works, the company that is doing much of the refurbishment work on the Ultimate Arrow. After spending half a day going over plans for the project with the Mod Works staff, I headed northeast for the 25-minute flight back to Avon Park.

Clear skies prevailed the next day as we headed north again, trading the comfortable Florida clime for the frigid temperatures of the Mid-Atlantic region. Seventy-knot headwind components provided lots of time to anguish over our decision to leave the sunny South.

Learning a new aviation skill or getting a new rating can be an ideal excuse to tool around Florida. No matter what your aviation interest, Florida has it available. If you're into aerobatics, stop by Aero Sport in St. Augustine to try on a new Extra or visit Pompono Air Center in Pompono Beach to see if you can handle the Russian-built Sukhoi. Bill Thomas, a former member of the U.S. Aerobatic Team, offers aerobatic training in a Pitts in Venice. Or you can train with some of the best on the airshow circuit if you visit The French Connection at Mudry Aviation, located at Flagler County Airport in Bunnell, near Daytona Beach.

Any number of flight schools will help you to add a seaplane rating to your certificate. It's not exactly tough duty flying floatplanes in and out of some beautiful Florida lakes for a couple of days. Among those offering seaplane ratings are Brown's Seaplane Base in Winter Haven and Florida Seaplanes in Sanford.

If you're into raw horsepower, call up Stallion 51 in Kissimmee and book a flight in Crazy Horse, the same P-51 we wrote about last summer (see " Crazy Horse," August 1996 Pilot). Since you're in the neighborhood, drop by Polk City to visit Fantasy of Flight, an aviation theme park unmatched anywhere else (see " Move Over Mickey," April 1996 Pilot).

Never seen an aircraft factory? The New Piper Aircraft gives factory tours every Tuesday and Friday at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. You'll probably be surprised at all the activity in Vero Beach.

If you need a keystone event around which to build your Florida flying vacation, there are two good ones coming up. The Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In, the biggest airshow outside of Oshkosh, runs April 6 through 12 in Lakeland. It's a busy place during showtime, so keep an eye out for traffic.

Can't work out your schedule to make an April date? Try October 23, when AOPA Expo '97 gets under way in Orlando. There you'll see the Ultimate Arrow all ready for its winner and be able to take in 3 days of exhibits and seminars.

Florida is truly one of general aviation's gems. Whether you fly your own airplane down or buy an airline seat and then rent some wings, you'll never find a better use of a general aviation aircraft. And if you're feeling a little more adventurous, it's only a short hop over to another general aviation mecca: the Bahamas. But that is, quite literally, another story.