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[April 3, 2019]


It's the kickoff to the 2019 big fly ins - SUN N FUN! On my way home from last years SNF, I decided I was not going to make the long EARLY run from Maryland the Florida in the same day if weather permitted. It's a super early wakeup (4am) and a very long day of flying. So this year, on my 4th consecutive SNF, I decided to work half of a day, fly 4 hours, then make the quick hop to Lakeland the next day.

Fast forward a year and holy cow...the weather gods Mostly agreed with my perfect plan...except for the winds. When I was at work, winds were blowing a gale - 70 degree crosswind, 23G38 at my homebase. Screw it, I was going to head out to the airport and see what it really was. 50 degree crosswind, 20G27....LETS GO TO SNF!!!!


It was a severely CAVU day.


My only complaint besides the strong groundwinds was a predominant headwind of 20 kts. But hey, I'm flying to FL, no weather concerns only wind. LIFE IS GOOD!


132 kts GS. Still better than the alternative - still being at work.



461 nm from my night stop at Baxley, GA the wind gods gave me a slight break and decided to be negligible.


I hit 600 hours TT about half way through my trip. Made me reflect on the great SEVEN (ABOUT TO BE EIGHT) consecutive Oshkosh's and (about to be) FOUR consecutive Sun 'N Fun's I've attended. WHAT A MACHINE!!!


BOOYAH! Finally a little push after 3.3 hours!


Scenery was not much on the trip down...apologies to The South. Crossing the Savannah River from SC into GA.


3.8 hours is a LONG TIME to be in the RV. Felt good to be at my night destination in Baxley, GA.


I tried to reserve a room at the Baxley FBO, but both were taken. Ugh, and none worse than SONEX DRIVERS!!


The two Sonex's belonged to some great guys from Siler City, NC (KSCR) - Wayne and Peter. We all grabbed the crew car to see what sort of wild night life Baxley, GA had to offer. After taking an inventory of what the town had to offer, we settled on Dick's Wings. I had a tremendous time with these two (Only Wayne pictured here...Peter has a "Radio Face" ;)). Both Wayne and Peter coincidentally happened to be heading to my final destination tomorrow - SNF HBC. They might of been insulted that I recommended they leave MUCH earlier than I do to make sure they make it to KLAL before the airshow shut the airport down at noon. They were still kind enough to return me to KBHC for me to enjoy a nights sleep on the FBO's leather couch.

Some people ask me if repeatedly making the same trips to the big fly-ins ever get boring. And this is why it doesn't. You never know what amazing people you meet along the way. I made two new incredible friends even before I made it to Lakeland.

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Last Modified: August 13, 2023