Thursday, July 9, 2009

Atlanta Trip - Day One

The Flight Up

After deciding the week before that we needed to get "out of town" for awhile, we decided to make a trip to downtown Atlanta. We hopped on the computer do do a little research and found there was quite a bit to do there. It looked like the City Pass was the perfect ticket and we could reach most things by walking and using public transportation. We left Jacksonville on June 17 and headed north. As usual my daughter fell asleep after playing her Leapster for a few minutes. My wife read and tried to relax as she continues to find her comfort zone when flying in and out of clouds.
Due to it's close proximity to downtown, I chose to fly into Fulton County Airport (KFTY). I filed and flew an IFR flight plan & clearance. We flew around and through some cumulus build-ups at 6000', but thankfully there were no thunderstorms anywhere near our route. Initially we were cleared direct, but as expected we were vectored east of town to TUCKR intersection and then on for the RNAV (GPS) RWY 26 approach. You can see our track here. The approach afforded us a few sights before landing:

Startup to shutdown was 2.5 hours. There was a 15-20 knot headwind all the way up. We left the plane with Hill Aircraft & Leasing, one of two FBOs on the field. Within 20 minutes, we had the plane secured, our taxi loaded up, and were headed downtown. The taxi fare seemed a little steep at $45, but given we weren't renting a car and having to pay the required $29/day hotel parking, it was still worth the convenience. We checked into our room at the Embassy Suites Centennial Park, unpacked, and hit the pool. After a good dinner at the Park Avenue Deli & Market, we got a good night's rest for our first full day of adventure in Atlanta.

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