On November 28, 2008 my Son Mark and I flew in my Series 6 Kitfox from our home base in Warrenton, Virginia to Key West, Florida for a few days in the warm Sunny South. It was colder than usual in Virginia at that time and we looked forward to some warmer temperatures. We were accompanied by two of my pilot friends in their Piper Cherokee. We had two fuel stops along our route south at Orangeburg, NC (OGB) and Brunswick, GA (SSI) with a nights stopover at Fort Pierce, FL (FPR). Heads winds and poor visibility (light rain and 1200 foot ceilings) in the Savanna, GA area extended our flight time beyond daylight hours resulting in a night landing at Fort Pierce. I do have landing and taxi lights, but the panel lighting was inadequate. Mark, holding a flashlight on the panel instruments, eliminated a lot of the unknown.
The next morning we all took off for the last non stop leg to Key West, flying low over the long chain of the Florida Keys. We entered the Keys over Key Largo, then the six islands of Islamorada, Marathon, Big Pine Key, and finally Key West. Key West is the most southern point in the Contiguous U.S.A., only 90 miles from Cuba. Another point of fact; in 2002 I flew to Point Barrow, Alaska which happens to be the most northern point of land in the U.S.A. Our friends later said we flew very close to a large tethered balloon which we never saw. The winds must have blown it well over its restricted area shown on the charts. If you are not looking right at it, it is hard to see. The Key West International Airport (EYW) is so close to the Key West Naval Air Station that the two airspaces overlap. The Navy Tower does not like general aviation aircraft to penetrate their airspace, so give it a wide berth. Staying at the Key West International Airport is not cheap with 100LL at $5.74 a gallon and nightly tie downs at $30.00. If you purchase fuel they reduce the tie down fee to $15.00 per night. What can you do, it’s the only place in town.
Key West is basically a tourist town with sport fishing, swimming, water sports of all kinds, many museum’s, tours and historic forts. There are plenty of good places to eat and drink and shop along the waterfront and Duval Street the main drag in town. We had originally planned to spend only two days at Key West, but the weather there forced us to lay over another day. Not a bad place to spend some extra time.
Our morning departure on 12/3/08 had to be a hurried one due to a soon to be west to east weather front rolling in over the Key’s. Since the Key’s basically run more west to east than south to north, we would be flying almost parallel to the front trying to out race it to the Florida mainland. Our goal was to get to the Florida mainland before the front overtook us. There are far more airports on the mainland that on the Keys, providing a lot more places to land if IMC conditions prevailed. It did get marginal once we were over the mainland with ceilings between 1200 and 1000 feet and visibility 3 to 5 miles. The only reason we landed at Okeechobee, FL (OBE) was because the Cherokee had a rough running engine. The visibility had improved by this time and we continued going north to Fernandina Beach, FL for fuel. As we continued northward and approached Orangeburg, NC (OGB), it became obvious we were not going to make it to our home base in Warrenton, VA (HWY) before dark. We would do the last 3 + hour leg the next day with better weather. Although the fuel at Orangeburg was $4.98 a gallon, they put us in a hanger for the night and provided a brand new courtesy car, both at no cost. They also directed us to a new hotel in town that gave a discount to pilots landing at the airport.
Early the next morning we arrived at the airport to see frost on all the airplanes parked outside. The hanger kept the Kitfox nice and dry. The last leg to Warrenton was clear skies and a wonderful tailwind. We sometimes saw a ground speed of 140 kts. It was cold at Warrenton when we landed and appreciated the cabin heater on the last leg. This was my second trip to Key West. Back in 2003 I took my Daughter Diane there for three days. Attached are some pictures we took along our way.
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John King
Kitfox Series 6
Warrenton, VA
Key West Trip 2008
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