St John's River Route

Quick flight today ... I have often thought about making this flight ... St Augustine Airport north along the coast to Mayport ... Turn west to Craig Air Field ... Follow the St John's River through the Downtown Jacksonville Area ... Continue along the St John's to the south past NAS Jacksonville all the way to Green Cove Springs ... Turn to the east back to St Augustine ... Ran this route in Reverse today ... 

St John River Route

The St John's River has many scenic areas in North East Florida ... First stop ... Shands Bridge and the Reynolds Airfield in the background ... Pictures are only so so today ... Noticed at the end of my flight that camera was on the incorrect setting ...

Shands Bridge

Traveling north along the St John's River there are many boat marinas ... This one is located between Mandarin and Jullington Creek ...  It's funny ... A small airplane like the on I fly is about the size of a sail boat ... They look like small dots down there today ... Makes me think that when they look up they can barely see me ... 

Bridge on San Jose Blvd
St John's River Entrance to Durban Creek

Continuing north and you quickly pick out the Buckman Bridge ... Great to be at 3,500 Ft ... At rush hour I-295 backs up well past the center of this bridge ... Not a factor today ...

Buckman Bridge Crossing the St Johns River

Next stop on our way up the St John's is Naval Air Station Jacksonville ... Home of the P3 Orion ... I see P3's flying around Jacksonville all the time ... Mostly an anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft ... None in the air today ... Every so often the Jacksonville Air Show is held at NAS Jacksonville ... Different view of the Air Station today ... I have a friend that we call "New Matt" ... Long Story ... "New Matt" works in the tower at NAS Jacksonville ... Wonder if "New Matt" has me on radar today ...

NAS Jacksonville

Flying over downtown Jacksonville makes the city look much smaller than it actually is at street level ... Had a uncooperative cloud hanging out in the downtown Jacksonville area ... Will have to fly back this way in the future to get a better shot ...

Jacksonville Florida

Just past the downtown area is EverBank Field ... Home of the Jacksonville Jaguars ... Thinking I should drop them a note and let them know that if they ever need a fly-over on game day and the local F-15 or F-18's are not available ... Then I would be glad to provide a low pass over the stadium in the C152 ...

Jacksonville Jaguars
EverBank Field

The Hart Bridge ... Runners of the Gate River Run are very familiar with this one ... Runners travel over this 150 ft tall Bridge durning the race ... Best part os that the race ends shortly after crossing the bridge ... As a matter of fact the last mile and a half are downhill from the midpoint of the bridge ... No sweat crossing over the bridge today ... 

Hart Bridge

Traveling back to the south along the Inter Coastal Water Way ... Nice looking boat cruising north ... My favorite restaurant, Lu Lu's is right in this area of the Inter Coastal ...  Have to try to catch a better photo next time ...

Inter Coastal Water Way

Fun Flight Today ... Landed on Runway 24 ... Rare that the wind sets up for a landing on this runway ... Till Next Time ... bobt

First Cross Country Solo - KSGJ to KGNV

Nice evening for a quick flight to Gainesville ... Was hoping to see the stadium where the University of Florida Gators play football ... No such luck tonight ... Maybe next time ...

KSGJ to KGNV

Power Plant in Palatka Florida

First Cross Country Solo Flight went well ... Plotting of courses and times were right on the money ... Every checkpoint was right where it was suposed to be ...  

Quarrey West of Palatka

Excited about adding a new airport to the list for 2012 ... Landing at Gainesville went well ... While I was taxiing back to runway 25 I notice a Florida Gator Logo on a hanger ... Pretty Cool ... Made me smile ... Gainesville Tower Cessna 5165B at Bravo 1 holding short RWY 25 ready for departure ...

Melrose Private Airport

Looking forward to my next Cross Country Solo to Waycross,GA

Evening Ride Around St Augustine

Great evening for a quick flight around St Augustine ... Winds were favorable and light ... Departed on Runway 6 ... Wind was 030 at 8kts ... Quick Takeoff and Turn to the North ... Pretty night to see the coast from 1500 feet ...


Atlantic Ocean and Homes Along the Beach


Climbed to 2500 Feet and Turned to the West ... St Augustine is a Great Little Airport ... Continued Climbing 3500 Feet ...

St Augustine Airport

Flew by my neighborhood ... Murabella looking good from the air ... Never realized how close to the ocean we really are ... Need to spend more time at the beach this summer ...

Murabella

Quick flight this time ... Called the tower from the Outlet Mall ... Was cleared for the straight in landing on Runway 6 ... Landing into a headwind made putting the plane back down easy ... Taxied back to Florida Aviation and tied 65B down for the night ... Nice scenic flight in N5165B ...

First Solo Flight

Well tonight was the big night ... I have read several articles about students on their first solo flight ... I found every one to be true and then some ... Wasn't really sure if we would be flying when I arrived at the airport ... It had stormed that afternoon ... Still a few clouds sticking around in the earily evening ... Jay (Flight Instructor) showed up and we decided to fly the pattern and see how things went ... 3 Laps in the pattern and 3 pretty good landings ... Jay requested that we taxi to the overflow parking ... Jay jumped out and gave me a few final pointers ... I contacted Ground Control and they gave me taxi instructions to runway 13 and advised to hold short at Bravo 1 and contact the Tower when ready to depart ... St Augustine Tower ... Cessna 24499'er is Holding Short at Bravo 1 ready for Departure ... The Tower cleared me for takeoff ... Funny how many things run through your head the first time you zip down the runway solo ... Rotate and Lift Off at 50 kts ... Climb to 700' ... Left Turn and Climb to 1000' ... Left turn to down wind for Runway 13 ... Can't see Jay on the ground ... I know he is there on the radio listening ... Everything is going well ... Add Flaps and Turn Base, Pitch the Nose Down and hold 70 kts,  One more left turn and another notch of flaps and I'm at about 500' on Final for Runway 13 ... First landing solo ... Here We Go ... Pre Landing Checks Complete ... Butterflies - Yes, Attempting to Remember All of your Training in 5 Seconds - Yes,  A Couple Prayers ... Just to make sure everything is all squared up with the Big Guy - Yes, Yes, Yes ... First Landing was a little firm ... Second Lap around the Pattern ... Second Landing ... Right on the Money ... Third Lap around the Pattern ... Third Landing ... Same as the Second ... Cleared the runway and taxied back to Florida Aviation ... Jay is waiting with a big smile ...  His probably didn't compare to the one I was wearing ... Put the first solo flight in the log book ... Lots of fun and a huge sence of accomplishment ...

Flight training so far has exceded my expectations ... Great to spend time flying with Jay ... Awesome to scoot around North Florida and See the Sights ... Looking forward to the rest of my flight training ...

Jay in the Cap 10

Just happend to be out at the Airport and saw my flight instructor returning from a flight in his Cap 10 ... Neat Plane ... Very Acrobatic ... Jay is a cool guy and lots of fun during flight instruction ...

Quick Flight to Craig Municipal Airport for Touch and Go's

Flight 10     3/17/2012
Good flight this weekend ... St Augustine to Craig to St Augustine ... Put in 3 Touch and Go Landings at Craig and 3 at St Augustine ... Add another airport to the list for 2012 ... Great views of NAS Jacksonville, Downtown Jacksonville, and Mayport NAS ... Feel good about flying in the pattern and on final approach ... Need a little bit more work on the Flare and Touch Down ... I said to Jay ... Any landing you can walk away from is a good one ???  Jay responded,  And we can still use the airplane ... All Is Good ...

Cross Country #2

Flight 9     3/11/2012
Cross Country #2 - SGJ to LCQ to 42J to SGJ ... Weather a bit on the iffy side today ... Toss up between go and no go ... After a quick chat with Jay we decide to give it a try ... If not for anything else we can further define my personal minimums reference flying weather ... The flight to Lake City was pretty uneventful ... Ended up flying slightly North of my planned route ... Had to adjust course along the way to arrive at Lake City ... Touch and Go's at Lake City (Windy) ...

Lake City to Keystone a little better from the navigation side ... Weather starting to take a turn for the worse ... Wind still going at it ... Leaving Keystone and heading for Palatka ... Misty ... Ceiling dropping from 2800' to 2600' to 2400' ... Can still see the ground and reference points ... Not a day for the weak at heart to be tooling around in a Cessna 152 ... We press on towards Palatka and turn for St Augustine ... We pass right over the Power Plant in Palatka ... Had the chance to look down the Smoke Stack and the Cooling Tower ... Not a view enjoyed by many today ... Weather clearing on the way back to St Augustine ... Took Off and Landed on RWY 6 Today ... A First ... Next Cross Country Flight will be Solo ... Can't Wait ...