Violet's First Adventure - Summer 2025
| << Leg 11 - Washington, DC to Greenville, SC | Trip Home | 🛬 Trip End 🏠 |
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Leg Stats
- Time Enroute: 2.8 hrs
- Distance (direct): 382nm
- Distance (actual): 409nm
- Fuel Used: 33 gal
Because we were less than 3 hours from home, I wasn't too concerned about the weather, assuming we would be down to Florida well ahead of any afternoon thunderstorms. So we slept in a bit too late, and got a late start. Got our Uber back to airport.
Unfortunately, it was pretty clear even at noon that the thunderstorms would be picking up earlier today, and this would turn out to be by far our most challenging leg. I filed IFR and we departed for an easy first part of the flight, but I kept a keen eye on the NEXRAD the entire way down.
It looked like it would be an extremely challenging final hour, with a pretty big mass of thunderstorms already popping up all along our route, from Jacksonville south and across to Ocala. I prepared Katherine that, unfortunately, we may be diverting today. I decided that, if the storms did not dissipate some, we would likely be diverting to St. Simons Island, GA or possibly Fernandina Beach, FL.
Fortunately the timing was on our side, and it became clear that the first 'phase' of thunderstorms was burning itself out, and as we passed over Jacksonville area, they had given way to a broad area of high overcast and light precipitation. A further bonus was the restricted areas in the center of the state were cold today, giving us a free hand to choose a path around the remaining cells. In the end I had to cancel IFR, go VFR around 4,500 ft and pick our way around below the bases, and then once we were clear, I picked up IFR again to get through some of the scud that was left behind in the wake of the storms.
Finally, we were clear, after what turned out to be a pretty smooth, if meandering, path through the remnants of the weather.
We landed back in Orlando just as the storms were starting up again nearby, but the weather was beautiful at home. We all celebrated another wonderful flying adventure!
As a bonus, we arrived home on Violet's 4 month birthday!
Legs Photos
