Come Fly Like a Bird
Created | Updated Jan 20, 2005
Flying to Florida Part 1
I had never been there. In fact, I had never been in an airplane with just one other person. I didn't know what would happen on this unexpected trip as we prepared to take off from the New York airport where the plane was stationed.
As had, apparently, happened many times before, the weather was bad at take off. This meant that I had to learn about 'filing' with ground communications and how to fly with the help of instruments because you can't see anything once you are in a cloud.
Only the instruments let you know where you are. There is no feeling of your position, or even if you are up or down in relation to the Earth! Only the instruments let you know everything required in order to proceed on a successful 'mission'. I can tell you this much: it was not an easy or pleasant situation to find oneself in when beginning as a 'carrier'. I was at a total loss. Only a blind, atavistic instinct kept me quiet and confident that I trusted Leo - whom I hardly knew yet! But my blind intuition has, so far, never cheated me in my life.
Fortunately, if the weather is bad when you take off that does not mean it is going to stay that way. The jetplanes, which travel at 600 mph, can, in the space of a few minutes, go over the cloud cover and into the sunshine to 'fly the friendly skies'. But our airplane was a single engine, though heavy-duty, small aircraft going at only 160 mph. Eventually we left the clouds behind and, with clear visibility, I could see the Earth down below as we cruised at 10000 feet altitude.
Leo loved to fly over water but I hated it. He would always follow the shoreline if heading south. He said it was safer to fly that way, but I preferred to see the solid ground below rather than the waves of the Ocean! Thankfully we were not too far out from the shore and I could see some nice landscapes of New Jersey and enjoy the flight.
'Weather flying' can sometimes keep you very busy because the clouds can often obscure the way again. When this happens one has to go back to relying on the instruments and constantly keep in radio contact with the ground.
You are not alone up there! Many other airplanes are coming and going and the ground constantly tells you what to do in order to avoid a collision! Because of this system of communication, collisions in the air are extremely rare! I didn't ever encounter such an event throughout my 15 years of flying!
The distance from take-off to our destination, Sanibel Island Florida, was about 1500 miles. One could easily get there in six hours, but we were not in a hurry so took a break for the night in Savanna, Georgia.
