5 in the Plane!

My mom is visiting for Thanksgiving so we decided to "fly out" for dinner last night. This was the first time we've had five people in the plane and our Lance performed great! We went to Palm Coast to eat at Hijackers. It has been abnormally warm, even for North Florida weather. Even though the temps are pleasant, the early afternoon flight down was a little bumpy at first, but it settled out pretty quick. Shortly after leveling off at 5,500', we started a gradual descent for the field. Mary did ok, but she really doesn't like being confined to her seat or wearing her hearing protection. The noise isn't to bad so I'm not worried about it right now and other than take-off and landing, she is allowed to happily roam the rear seating area.

We found some nice seats outside and Abby quickly set off for the playground. Since our last visit they have added some nice new swings and teeter-totters. The food was great again. This time I tried their Pasta Carbonara, Kristi had a Chicken Quesadilla, my Mom had the Fried Shrimp Platter, and Abby of course had chicken tenders with fries. I think Abby's favorite part was that her meal came with Oreo cookies! The portions were sizable enough that we all had some leftovers to bring back and enjoy later.

After dinner, while the family strolled on the flight line, I taxied the plane over to the self-serve fuel pump. We loaded up and after a short run-up we were back in the air for the short 25 minute flight home.

The air was smooth and we cruised up the coast and enjoyed the views from 2,800'. The shadows made by the setting sun were pretty cool and we flew right over St Augustine prior to landing back at Craig. It was a nice afternoon of food and flying and I'm thankful the idea for it all came from my wife! Life is good.

HAPPY THANKSGVING EVERYBODY!!!!!

Burger Run to Palm Coast - KXFL

Even though it seems this cold weather will never end here in NE Florida, Feb 20th finally gave us a little reminder of the way the weather should be. With temps back high enough for shorts and clear skies above, Abby and I found ourselves heading to Flagler County Airport (KXFL), in Palm Coast, Florida for some lunch.

Flagler County is a perfect destination for those $100 Burger Runs. The restaurant, High Jackers, is located right on the field in front of the transient parking ramp. Besides having awesome burgers and other wonderful menu items, you can sit outside and enjoy the views of ramp and field while the kids entertain themselves on the playground.

It was nice to see how busy the airport and restaurant were. The ramp was full of planes and the kind folks from the airport gave us a ride to the gate in their golf cart. KXFL routinely has some of the cheaper fuel prices around, but on this day we got a bonus. They were having a weekend special of 25cents off at the self serve pump. Gotta love that.

The flights down and back were uneventful. It was nice to just go somewhere again. It has been a while since the latest edition to our family, Mary, was born just before Christmas. Hopefully you'll see more activity on this blog soon. We are hoping to take Mary for her first flight very soon and maybe even a family weekend trip shortly thereafter.

Of special note, since the last time I had flown there, KXFL now has a control tower in operation. It was very busy, but I think the controllers did a great job.

Matanzas Inlet and St Augustine

Approaching Craig Field from the South

On Final for Runway 14