My Student Pilot's Log
Key West

Flight 26, part 3

Flight 26: continued

Due to the unique geography of Key West, I was over the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean while waiting for a clearance. It was sheer torture flying around the island waiting to land!

We took a cab into town and had lunch at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant, which is not a tourist trap. We walked around a bit and caught another cab back to the airport. While waiting to leave, we saw a large jet make a landing as bad as any I've ever done; it bounced several feet a couple of times. (That must have been embarrassing.)

 

The ride back was the first time I've flown as a passenger since I started training. The military training area over the Gulf was active when we left, so we couldn't fly the same route back. We flew northeast to the tip of Florida, then northwest to around Naples, where we got back on the due north heading to Fort Myers. There we were vectored around several times due to traffic we didn't see and suspect didn't exist.

I was impressed how roomy the back seat of the Warrior was; I had more legroom than in any car I can remember, and there was a fair amount of room for baggage behind me.