Flight# 38

Finally the weather improved at Ocala (KOCF) and Gainesville (KGNV). So, we took off around 11 am to Ocala first, flying at 4,500 ft identifying different landmarks and used dead reckoning to ensure we stay on course. Ocala is 80 miles away. We landed and parked the plane on ramp and walked over to the restaurant at the airport to have lunch. It took us close to an hour to get here. They built a new control tower at this airport but is not operational yet. I was surprised to see a Qantas airways plane on the ramp of this small international airport! The picture on the right is of planes parked on Ocala's ramp.

We headed north to Gainesville after lunch which is around 35 miles away and is a towered airport. We flew at an altitude of 3,500 ft. We tuned to the ATIS frequency first to get weather information. I then had to contact control tower to give them our position 10 miles out and say we are inbound for landing. The controller asked me to talk slowly but when he rattled off instructions it was very fast and I couldn't keep up to acknowledge! Bill had to pitch in now and then. Around 2 miles out, he cleared us to land and provided taxi instructions to the FBO area. Just like in big airports, our small plane was directed by a lineman to the tie down area! We took a break while they fueled the plane.

I had to contact Gainesville ground on our departure to get taxi instructions and request for flight following. On the way to the runway, went through the Run up checklist and taxied to the Approach threshold as directed. Ground controller came back on radio and asked us to contact Jacksonville departure at certain frequency once in the air and gave us a squawk code. I then contacted tower indicating that we are ready to take off. He cleared us to Runway 11 for take off. I had to cross Runway 7 to get onto Runway 11 and headed south to Lakeland (KLAL).

Once in the air, contacted Jacksonville informing them that we will climbing to 5,500 ft. He acknowledged us and told us to let him know if we deviate from that altitude. After a while he passed us on to some other controller by giving us another frequency. At the same time, Bill also put me under the hood to fly the plane by looking only at the instruments. Keeping track of all the chatter on the radio made my head spin. Trimmed the airplane after reaching 5,500 ft so that it can fly by itself. We then used Ocala and Lakeland VOR radials to take us all the way to Lakeland. KGNV to KLAL is about 120 miles. Bill purposely stressed me out on this flight by keeping me busy all the time. I could hardly enjoy the sights outside. After a while, we got transferred to Tampa approach.

Prior to reaching KLAL, got permission from the controller to switch the frequency to ATIS for KLAL. Close to KLAL, controller asked us to contact KLAL tower. I called the Lakeland tower and he asked us to contact again 2 miles out. He then cleared us to land. After we landed and crossed the runway threshold, contacted Ground for taxi instructions to FBO. He told us that we may not be able to park there since there is a Delta airways plane in that area. We then told him that we changed our mind and would like head back to Winterhaven. He cleared us to A3 taxiway. Contacted tower again and he cleared us to take off from Runway 9.

On the way to Winter Haven which is only 15 miles away, Bill created an emergency situation by closing the throttle when we are at 2000 ft. I quickly established best glide speed by pulling the nose up and identified a site to land and flew close to it while reciting the emergency procedures. Tuned to the Winter Haven's AWOS frequency 5-6 miles away from the airport and since there is only 3 kts wind speed, decided to land on Runway 5. Positioned my self for a 45 entry to the downwind and landed very smoothly.

This trip was very tiring. I was completely drained at the end of the day. This is like a military boot camp. I am beginning to wonder why am I putting my self through this!

If weather permits, I'm going to go all by myself to Ocala (KOCF) and come back to Winter Haven tomorrow. It is looking very bleak that I can take the check ride on Saturday. There is still some dual training left and I have to do 5 hours of cross country and a few more hours of solo time. Bill thinks we can shoot for the check ride on Monday!

By the way, we have a new house mate who is also starting the accelerated flight training tomorrow. His wife will be joining him tomorrow for the same! Both are physician assistants working for Coast guard soon to be transferred to Hawaii.

The Hobbs time of this flight was 4.1 hours. Cumulative Hobbs time: 41.3 hours.