Day 22 - Still a Buddy

The next day Buddy turned up as promised and took us down to the gas station.
We only filled up the trikes tank halfway. The short strip meant the takeoff was going to require as less weight as possible. Buddy was with us on our mission all the way, and even went as far as mowing the grass airstrip that day so to allow for a quicker takeoff. (Good old Southern hospitality).

Being so close to Panama City Beach, Buddy was good enough to drop us off there for the day and kindly offered to come and pick us up as well. We needed time to relax and mind you we had had a few that day at the local bar over lunch.

In no rush to leave, we decided to stay one more night in the boat. However, Buddy insisted we stayed at his house which was only a golf buggy ride away. We went over there for dinner, a good chat and slept a full night. How great it is to share our little adventure with our new mate Buddy who was so interested and supportive. Again we were blown away by people’s hospitality.

Life living out of airstrips. Washing day ! Who says kingposts and lufflines are useless !!!

Day 21 - A real Buddy

So it was time to leave the wretched Destin. The rampant commercialism and the busyness of the place was something we were not used to from coming down the Midwest of the USA. Amongst the corporate jets at about 6:45 p.m., we taxied out onto the runway and took off in about 8 knot wind on the ground. As soon as we got airborne life got bumpy with 18 knot + northerly headwind through military controlled airspace. ”Bugger that” we thought, we took the option to head east down the coast towards Panama City. Along the beach we had the southerly sea breeze bumping into the northerly prevailing wind. It made for an interesting ride. We spotted a few fixed wing aircraft at about our 700 agl level. You always seem to spot these aircraft too late for comfort. No chance of a collision here but still !!!!

With a light fading and a change of plan, Anna-Klara was busy in the backseat looking at airports and air strips to land. Things got quite stressful as we where getting knocked around yet we kept it together as a team. I always find in these situations you just need to do your best and that is all we can do. Yes you would love to be on the ground but you are not, and your life depends on your performance, or our performance in this case.

Anna –Klara came up with a couple of options. The first was a very small airstrip 10 mins away with about 30 minute of light left. The second was an airport about 25 minutes away, which meant going right around controlled airspace. We looked at the first airstrip, after doing a low pass, I decided it was do-able, just, and it was time to get out of this ugly weather.

With a high tree line on the approach things were going to be tricky. The weather was rough and bumpy, and with the air strip being surrounded by trees I imagined it may be pretty bumpy on the ground as well. The adrenalin was pumping, the mind was focused, we came in the final approach. (SEE VIDEO)





That night we met the manager of a nearby RV park. Buddy was his name and that is just what he was. To keep us away from the alligators, snakes, wild pigs and mosquitoes that like to frequent this part of Florida, he let us stay in a large cruiser boat that was being stored in their storage sheds there at the airstrip. That was fun.


The next day he arranged to pick us up and take us to the gas station for fuel. What a day.

Day 20 - Hurricane Katrina's Beautiful Construction

So here we were, back on the coast again. This was not the beautiful Australian coast we were used to but it was the also equally beautiful American coast. Like in Australia we saw many sharks, dolphins, large stingrays, turtles and clouds of fish from the air.










Hurricane Katrina had ravaged this area a little, although many places are starting to rebuild or the construction of new hotels is going ahead.
We flew low and enjoyed the 2.5 hr to Destin Florida. We stopped off after 1.5 hr and at what seemed like the trikers dream. A road along the sand spit had been partially covered up by the cyclone. The single lane road was closed to car traffic however it provided the perfect landing strip for a small aircraft such as a trike! We landed without any dramas on the road and enjoyed the moment. Life can be a little surreal sometimes but we are pinching ourselves enough to realise it all is true.






Below is a creation of Katrina. The video shows a landing on a unique sand spit with a half buried road on the Florida South Coast. (Click on the play button in the video button for intant start)


A picture of the turqoise colored water at Destin Bay with the spat in the corner. Photographers luck!!








Landing at Destin Airport was a real thrill. This airport is really busy with dozens of corporate jets and scores of twin engine charter flights. Destin is a holiday destination and Sunday in summer sets it off.

We landed behind a jet and taxied into the ramp that had rows of aircrafts. Ourlittle trike was one of a kind and got such curious stares from other aviators. I felt obliged to keep the same runway direction even though it was tail crossed. The landing was not pretty, but you definitely live and learn in this business. What a day !
It was straight into the courtesy car and down to the beautiful beaches they have here.

Day 19 - Pilot's Paradise

We love an early-morning, although Anna-Klara sometimes needs to be coaxed into it. We prepared the trike and got away just as the sun was rising. Visibility was not great although there was a nice tailwind giving us an extra 5 knots.Tail winds are beautiful!

After the weeks break from flying everyday, we had just put in a nice two and a half-hour flight . We landed on the nicest grass strip, and what turned out to be a piloting neighbourhood.


Bayou la Batre airstrip (5r7) is set up with a 2000ft Turf runway surrounded by pilot’s houses and their personal hangars. The funniest thing we found is that they drive around in golf carts from house to house and around the strip. All of them had golf carts!!!

After fuelling up with the MOGAS that was available from the pump, we borrowed the manager's car and went down to the local store for breakfast. Then we had a sleep in the sun.

During my sleep I was a woken by a pilot doing a very low pass that buzzed me out of my morning nap. How nice I thought. All I saw from there was a biplane shooting up 3000 to 4000 feet, diving 3000 feet, doing rolls, hammerheads, spins you name it.
Both Anna-Klara and myself became extremely excited when he did all the acrobatics known to man, landed and taxied into his hangar on the strip. Excitement overcame shyness, and we ran over and introduced ourselves to Keith, the pilot.

Keith is a cool guy, very cool. He was from an aviation family and was actually rebuilding his grandfather's plane that his grandfather also rebuilt . Keith did air shows and was one of the most passionate aviators I have ever met, a real inspiration. We hung out all day there and Anna-Klara was very happy being accompanied by Keith's very cool wife and their cute toddlers which was a nice change. Burgers and beers in the afternoon were offered along with a bed for the night and the chance to SHOWER !!!


The highlight undoubtedly of this great day was going for a SPIN in the EAGLE stunt bi plane with Keith. With calm clear conditions in the afternoon, I was strapped in and was more than ready to experience a new perspective on flying.
During the flight we experienced 6 G positive and 2 G negative, did an eight point roll, a hammerhead stall which saw us shoot vertically up into the sky until the airspeed reached 0. I definitely came down shaking full of adrenaline and elated at having the chance to fly upside down. Thanks Keith again!!

Day 11-18 The big break

Hammond was our gateway to New Orleans and the surrounding area. After 10 days straight flying, it was time to have a little bit of a rest. We found an excellent spot to hangar MR P for the seven days we spent there. The local flight school lent us their car and we slept in the terminal building(which had TV, Wireless Internet, cooking facilities and was 24hr air-conditioned) until one of the local flyers who also happen to be a photographer let us stay at his house.

Part of the stopover was waiting for a new part from Airborne that we needed to keep the engine cool in a hotter weather. During the week we can’t vouch to doing much but we were never really bored. If we were bored at all we were fun bored as opposed to bored bored!! We did manage to get to downtown New Orleans and see what the Hurricane Katrina had done. In some of the flooded areas there was only about 5% of the population. And it was a little eerie and like nothing we had experienced before.


Some of the highlights of the trip are definitely meeting the people. Larry, aka Mr Photographer was from an aviation family and grew up with aircraft in his backyard strip. With an absolute passion for flying and all things that fly. Larry also had a passion for photography and after a late-night intoxication session at his house and home studio, he began directing his photography shoot !! And it made us laugh, chuckle and feel a little strange. Have a look at his produce.











Our initial attempt to leave town were thawed due to some serious afternoon storm activity that was right across our flight plan. The radar was showing many areas of thick buildup of clouds. The local weather where we were going, showed rain. We spent one last night in the terminal building and headed out at daybreak next morning. I'm glad we didn't try being Heroe's Pilots as it turned out it was quite a hectic storm down there.