We departed Fort Myers today. Oh man, talk about craziness. All of the planes departed at once from the field with about 30 second spacing. Well, each aircraft was supposed to call ground and say their racer number, the ATIS, and ask permission to taxi. Each aircraft was supposed to call in order (i.e. five calls before six and so on). Well, apparently that was too difficult for some people to understand. Chaos ensued. Nothing like taxiing around at a towered field with no clearances or permission! We were denied flight following due to controller workload, so it was straight VFR. Jann and I knew the other racers were going to stay low (in Florida, ~500' MSL), so we went high to get out of the way. We picked 6500 for our altitude. We were able to see everyone jockeying for position waaaaay below us. There is a common air-to-air frequency for the racers (122.75), and we were listening in. Since Jann and I had kind of been bullied earlier, we decided to mess with peoples' heads.
There was Lakeland's airspace along the direct route, so we decided to give them a "courtesy call" and let them know we were overflying their airspace. Since the other racers were on Lakeland's frequency to request transitions (and to listen in on other racer's altitudes), we called up. It went something like this:
21: Lakeland Tower, Classic Racer 21 will be overflying your airspace at 6,500 feet.
LT: . . . Say again your altitude?
21: 6,500 feet.
LT: Well, you are well above our airspace. Altimeter setting is 30.11.
21: Thank you!
We then listened in on the air-to-air frequency. Hilarity ensued. There was a brief pause in the constant chatter as everyone thought that we were on to something. Quite funny. I think a few of them actually started to climb up to see what we were up to(they were all basically scudrunning). Ha!
Everything was fine and dandy, until we got close to the first flyby. Since everyone was all clumped up, lots of aircraft were trying to attempt the flyby at once. And land after the flyby. At a single runway airport. We were on the flyby (at 300' AGL), and an aircraft called downwind. I was just waiting for them to turn into us as we zipped in for the flyby. They held off, and we continued on to Douglas for fuel. We stopped at a non-race stop for fuel because we didn't want to get caught in the madness on the ground at Waycross. Good choice. It was then on to Tuscaloosa.
Once again, enroute was pretty uneventful. However, MANY racers failed to notice in their planning that there was a big blob of restricted airspace right along the GPS direct route. How dumb do you have to be to punch in GPS direct and not even look at the route?!? So, they go punching right through it. It turned out to be an Army base that had C130 activity and parachuting going on as the race was passing through. The controller at the base was very kind, and got on the air-to-air and requested that people STAY OUT OF THE RESTRICTED AIRSPACE. Well, racers got right on the horn and started arguing. Again, how dumb do you have to be? Jann and I had briefed the route and chosen points that routed us around the airspace. It took more than two strokes on the GPS to get the route in, but guess what? No fear of being escorted out of the airspace! Listening on the air-to-air, people were genuinely confused about the airspace. Yikes.
Once we got within range of Tuscaloosa's tower, all hell broke loose again. The controller was completely overwhelmed, and aircraft were being vectored into each other, cleared for landings and takeoffs on the same runways, and/or not acknowledged. Jann and I set up for the flyby, and immediately had to enter into a steep turn for traffic avoidance. After that adventure, we lined back up. I'm watching ahead and the altimeter, and I see a flash out the corner of my eye. A Cirrus came screaming from above us, dove in front of us, and knife-turned out of there. She wasn't talking to anyone, and completely cut us off. In controlled airspace! We were immediately turned onto base for a separate runway, so I had to go from full-throttle low flyby mode to "oh, let's setup and land" mode. Well, I did a no-flaps screaming fast landing, but it was very soft. And we were out of the hell that was that airspace. We got fuel, and had to taxi on out.
Departure was also interesting. The controller steered us into two other aircraft, and I had to enter a fast slip to get down to the appropriate altitude for the flyby. Meanwhile, the GPS is screaming at me for terrain alerts and there are aircraft zooming past me in every direction. I thought my hair was going to fall out. Then it was off to Hot Springs!
Cruise was very uneventful. I had a lot of time to learn how to breathe again, just in time for another flyby! This time, we couldn't find the airport. It was very hazy, and the airport is stuck between three large hills. We didn't see it until about 4 miles out. We commence the flyby, and another aircraft enters into a dual flyby with us. Fortunately, she knew what she was doing, and gave us plenty of room to maneuver and land. We entered into a downwind (in front of aircraft on the flyby, but that is becoming mundane at this point) and landed. The ramp was crazy, but we got the plane taken care of and got to the hotel. And here we are now!
I just finished looking at the weather for tomorrow, and thunderstorms and wind look to be factors. That can all change, but we'll be watching it closely. We would like to do three legs tomorrow (Hot Springs - Cameron, MO - Carbondale, IL - Elkhart, IN), but we are going to have to be flexible.
Oh, almost forgot to share some of my favorite radio calls from the air-to-air today.
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Racer1: I have the V-Tail in sight.
Racer2: Are we a V-Tail?
Racer1: Are we an airplane?
(Racer 2 was serious . . .)
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Racer1: The Army base requests that you stay at or above 2,500 in the vicinity of the base.
Racer2: What? I can't go direct?
Racer3: It's restricted airspace.
Racer2: I'm following my GPS!
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Army base (to military aircraft): They're coming in droves! Five or more Cessnas at a time!
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Oh, my God, this would be hilarious if it weren't dangerous -- what the hell is wrong with some of these women? They're giving us all a bad name. I particularly love "I thought my hair was going to fall out." Sounds like you are having quite the adventure. Have fun on the next legs -- I love reading about it.
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