Cross Country to Amelia Island, FL (55J)

Saturday was the big day. Beth & I packed our bags, waited for the rain to clear, and took our first cross-country trip together! Since getting my PPL, I had been wanting to go "somewhere" substantial, and since our last vacation was more of a "roughing it" vacation, which is to say that Beth tolerated 3 nights of camping with a bunch of airplane geeks in a hot dusty field at Oshkosh:). So, we agreed that the next vacation would be a relaxing vacation on the beach. Our initial thought was to fly down to Hilton Head (HXD) and so I scoured the web, looking for places to stay. The forecasted weather was in the mid-to-low 70's, and that was just not warm enough. So, we looked further south, and I found an island near Jacksonville, FL that had an airport on the beach! (or rather near the beach). Further searching found an appropriate hotel for proper "relaxing" with a spa and meandering fairways.

Saturday came with loads and load of rain. We were starting to despair, because of the front that had stalled out right over our part of Ohio. The morning was pouring rain and the weather forecast showed continued showers through the day. It was really starting to look like we weren't going to be able to leave, and the really frustrating thing was that we just had to get as far as the Ohio River and the ceilings would improve. It was VFR all the way to florida....we just had to break out of the clouds. Finally, around 2PM, the ceiling had lifted to about 1800ft AGL, and there were big holes appearing. We left Coshocton and bounced along a little while before making it through the clouds near Dresden, OH. We climbed to about 7500ft before heading south over the poofy clouds.

The air was smooth up there and the sun was bright! It was a wonderful change, but alas, it was not meant to last. Around the Ohio River, over Point Pleasant, WV, we saw towering clouds ahead, so I circled down through a vast hole and ended up at 3500ft bouncing over the mountains of West Virginia. It was very convective, and bouncy, but the wife of my youth was quite the trooper. She only let out gasps when we hit an especially big bump, like when we dropped about 25 ft and both of our heads hit the top of the canopy. West Virginia was a very pretty state to fly over, unfortuately, I wasn't able to get any photos, because I needed to have both hands flying the airplane!:). We slowly climbed to 7500ft to cross the Appalachian mountains with plenty of room to spare. We flew over the mountains, near Bristol, over Virginia Highlands and the lakes down there. It was very beautiful - and Beth grabbed a couple of pictures.

Over the Glade Springs VOR on the Virginia Border, looking Northwest.

Looking Southwest over the Appalacians towards the Smoky Mountains.

As you can see, the visibility wasn't altogether GREAT, but it was still about 25-35miles. There was a lot of moisture in the air, and as we headed into North Carolina for our first stop, it was about 32°C. Very hot in comparison to Ohio! We descended with ease into Rutherford County, NC (KFQD) and I executed a PERFECT approach and landing. I think that the 1-1/2 hour of bouncing along over WV helped ot hone my control skills of the airplane greatly!:) Total time for the first leg was 2hrs, 32min (I calculated 2hrs 30min, so my planning skills are still sharp!)

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a very enthusiastic ramp attendant, who fueled us promptly and gave us the keys to their courtesy car (Ford Contour) for a trip into town to dine at Legal Grounds, a bar/coffeeshop/pizza parlor. It was good, but we were in a hurry to get down to Florida before the sun went down, so we didn't stay long. Maybe we'll stop there on the way back. We fueled up wtih 23.2 gals (Not too bad - only 9gal/hr!) and took off for FL. At max gross weight and the 2600ft density altitude, we used up about 2000ft of ground roll before we rotated and lifted off. Climbout wasn't too shabby - about 700-800ft/min was as much as the DA40 would handle. (only.....I can't imagine what a C172 would have been!). It was hot and humid, but after hitting 5500ft the air was smooth as glass. I continued to climb to 7500ft, where I obtained more favorable winds (10-15kts on the tail!) to make a ground speed of 145kts on my 180° course to Savannah. The air was clear, but very hazy and smooth. So smooth, in fact, that Beth took a short nap at 7500ft. She enjoyed the second leg quite a lot - I did too - Flying through turbulence in WV was very mentally and physically taxing. As I cruised in smooth air looking for traffic while the KAP140 Autopilot kept us on course, I thought....now THIS is the way to travel. About 30 miles from Savannah, I called in to the friendly approach controller to inform her that I was transiting over her airspace from the north. We squawked 4257 and continued on our merry way.

Flying over Savannah at 7500ft gave a good view of the city, but not in any paraticular detail. I snapped the below photo, but was disappointed with the level of detail upon downloading. Must buy Digital SLR.......

Looking Southeast over Savannah, GA from 7500ft.

The remainder of the flight was smooth and uneventful as we descended into Florida. It was very cool to fly along the coast, to see the Atlantic Ocean and to look down on the twisting fingers of the tidal marshes. We were treated to a beautiful sunset shortly before landing at Amelia Island (55J). It was amazing how clear the air was - I could see for 50+ miles or so along the coast - I first saw the beacon for Amelia about 55-56 miles away.

One of the prettiest sunsets I have experienced in years! (from 7500ft)

Tidal rivers along the coast in Georgia

We made another great approach and landing into 55J, and taxied past all the corporate jets, and tied up next to a Piper Meridian. The facilities seemed nice at 55J, but you'll have to wait for another post to get a full review. We headed for our beds and fell asleep overlooking the pounding surf of the Atlantic. 5.1hrs flight time logged, and a happy wife. Can you have a better day?