Quick Flight Around Winter Haven

[DB93]

Hi all,

I know quite a few folks here are real pilots, however I'm not fortunate enough to be one of you. Today at my local airport (Gilbert KGIF), the local flight school (Tailwheels Etc.) had an 'open house' with barbeque, music, and best of all, $10 scenic flights. Now while I've flown in commercial jets many, many times, the only time I've been in a small GA aircraft was when I was about 9 or 10 years old, and that was a seaplane ride up on Lake Winnepesaukee.

Well today my wife and I took advantage of the $10 flights to go up in a quick flight around the area in a nice little cessna. While it's certainly not a big deal to many, I've just felt great all day with that same feeling I had as a kid on that first seaplane ride. Literally like a kid in a candy store. It was just so much fun. :) Anyhow, I figured I'd come here and share my little flight story with other aviation enthusiasts, and to share a few pictures I snapped today. (N3608L is the one I flew in today.) :)

(PS - Sorry Michael, they held this on the opposite side of the airport from where the new terminal is, so I couldn't get any good pictures of it at all.)

[falcon409]

Good for you DB93. Glad you got another chance to break the bonds of earth and soar with the birds for a while. It's always a kick no matter how long the break is in between. Congrats.:ernae:

[AusWilko]

Nice story :ernae:

I had the good luck to go on a helicopter flight a couple of weekends ago, go to sit up front, it captivated me totally, I now fly mostly helicopters in FSX now and love it.

[harleyman]

Its a great feeling being up there ..

I am not a pilot, but love to fly too!

[FelixFFDS]

DB93 - one of these days - save up and go to Kissimmee - take a flight in one of the SNJs at the "Warbird Experience" .... IT's a bit pricey, but worth doing.

[MCDesigns]

Great shots George and congrats on the experience. As noted, it doesn't matter what you fly in, it's the experience of being in the air. I don't have a PPL, but I have a growing number of pilot friends that are usually more than happy to split the cost and I get a learning eperience also.

BTW, no worries on the images, just glad you had a good time.

[TeaSea]

Well George....

What are you waiting for? Go back down there and ask them to give you an introductory flight for your PPL.

That's exactly how I got started -- just a sudden impulsive act about 4 years ago -- and now I've over 300 hours and am working on my Instrument rating.

If you start now you can have your license in 6 months at a nice leisurely pace --- or a year at a more leisurely pace. And if you never get it -- doesn't matter...you'll have a great time anyway. Could also just get the sport license, which is not as difficult.

Call Winter Haven Air Services at KGIF (863-956-3300). They should be able to tell you how to get started.

[Chacha]

Good for you George,

Great shots, too. It is always a good experience soaring the skies. Flying always fascinates me, it's a feeling I can't describe- Yes, like a kid in the candy store! Drooling for more! :icon_lol:

[DB93]

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. :) I just woke up about 20 minutes ago, and I still find myself smiling over that little flight yesterday. I honestly can't wait to get another chance to fly again!

@FelixFFDS - That sounds like a blast! I'll definitely have to look into it some more, but perhaps that's something I can convince my wife to 'get' for me when my birthday rolls around in January. ;)

@TeaSea - The flight school here in Winter Haven (Tailwheels Etc. @ KGIF) are the ones who held the event. Their program is "accelerated", and intended for folks who need their ppl quickly (I think their literature said something like 'in as little as two weeks'.) The only thing holding me back from lessons/working toward a ppl is cost, but after yesterday, I can guarantee you that if I could find a way to pay for it, I'd have signed up on the spot. :)

@Chacha - That's a perfect description, "A kid in a candy store! Drooling for more!" :applause: It was like the perfect piece of candy, and I'm still left drooling for more a day later (and considering how good I'm still feeling over it, I may still be drooling a month from now... now that's good candy!!) :icon_lol:

@MCDesigns - Thanks, I had a blast! If you look at the pic on the bottom left (second-last picture overall), where we're coming in for a landing on rwy 4, if you look way down the runway and off to the left, you should see a red and tan colored 'box', that's the new terminal building. If you look off to the far right on that same picture (back where the planes are parked, behind the ones that are waiting to enter the runway for takeoff), you'll see a collection of small buildings and a bunch of parked planes. That's the side they had the event on, so unfortunately, the main terminal was pretty much as far away from me as it could be while still being on airport property. :(

@ Everyone -
Thanks to you all for the great comments. There were also a few things I found interesting while I was there that I figured I'd share. First, while Cessnas and Pipers made up the two largest manufacturers of aircraft that park at KGIF, the Lake Renegade seemed to be the single most popular model of aircraft at the airport. There were easily a dozen or more Renegades, while the Cessnas were divided up between Skylanes and Skyhawks, and the Pipers were mostly Warriors and Warrior II's, with a couple of Cubs thrown in the mix. So just by model alone, the Renegade seems to be the most popular plane at KGIF (at least by the aircraft that were parked and tied down at the airport that were not part of the open house/show).

Finally, that biplane had a sign on it claiming that it was a one-of-a-kind. I didn't have time to read the sign they had hanging on the front of it, and just grabbed a couple of quick pictures figuring I'd come back and find out more after we went for our flight. Unfortunately, the biplane was taking off right after we landed, so I never was able to find out more information about it. Does anyone here recognize it and have any idea what it is, and if it really is a one-of-a-kind?

Thanks again, everyone. It's wonderful to have a place to come and share these kinds of things with other folks that have the same interest of being up among the clouds. :)