Beach Run

[jrc712]

Weather wasn't suppose to be so nice, but found out at the last
minute the Panama City, FL boys were going on a Beach Run today. I
was in the air this morning and it was beautiful and smooth as silk.
I decided to gamble that I could get back this afternoon and plugged
into my GPS the coordinates for the airpark just E of Panama City,
and went a gallavanting down thataway (@ 102 miles).

Got down there, and with 3 other ultralights and 3 C-152's we all
went down the Florida Gulf Coast Beaches and outer Islands. The
route was Sandy Creek Airpark down to Mexico Beach, down the beach
until we made the jump over to the Port St Joe peninsula and on
around until we made the jump over to St Vincents Wildlife Preserve,
jump to St George's Island, then over to Dog island, jump over to
Alligator Point and into Panacea, FL (this leg is about 100 miles of
Beach and coastal flying). The scenary was magnificent - Lighthouses,
lots of various birdies (including cranes, pelicans, and even a
couple of hawks), schools of dolphins, sea turtles, and a manna ray
for the wildlife - lots of trawlers and private boating, and their
were even some babes out there. We generally fly about 10-50 feet
above the beaches at about 50-65 mph and it is just a great adventure.

Now the rest of the gang stayed in Panacea for lunch before heading
back along the same route back to Panama City. I decided to beat the
weather and return to my home airfield. It was a pretty good flight
back, and the weather didn't hit until about an hour after I
returned. All in all a great day.

For those who may be interested, here are my total numbers: This is
flying a Gull 2k w/HKS engine. (the other UL types on this particular
trip included a Challenger 1 CW, Kolb, and a Fergy IIB.

Total trip - 293 mile round trip
3 hrs 46 min flying time (includes ground engine time)
8 gallons used (not bad)
36.6 mpg
2.31 gph used

Jim C