Well, I'm on vacation visiting my parents and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to fly in some different airspace. I call the airport office at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport to find a flight school. They were very happy to help. They emailed me a list of schools before I even hung up the phone. I went down the list - most of the schools were full time schools. I found one that I liked called Airborne Systems. I spoke to Vinny who set me up in their Piper Warrior II circa 1982.
To say that this was a new experience would be an understatement. First time flying in Florida, first time flying in a steam gauge and first time with a different instructor.
It was a great flight! I had a pretty serious crosswind on takeoff - the instructor said I handled it really well. We flew straight east towards the ocean - the entire flight was filled with the most amazing views of the water. Once we reached the coastline, we turned south and flew the entire southern coast until we reached Key Biscane. Once we got to Key Biscane we practiced a few standard rate turns and headed back. On the return trip we stayed over land, in fact I flew the FLL VOR and crossed right over the airport (Mom thought it was cool to see the planes taking off and landing around us). We proceeded to land on runway 8 - the landing was good - I continue to have an issue with letting the nose drop on it's own. I have a tendency to force it down once the mains are down. I have to keep that in mind so I can practice more.
The difference between steam gauges and the glass wasn't that bad - the thing I found most interesting was the level of situational awareness you have when you're flying the glass. Between the weather and the TIS you really have a much more complete picture of what's going on in the air. The other thing I noticed was the positioning of the engine instruments - in this Warrior II the tachometer was literally behind the yolk, making it tough to see unless you leaned to one side.
Overall, I really enjoyed all of the new experiences associated with this flight - most of all the chance to take my Mom on a nice air tour.
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