Leg 41 - Tampa to Key West International

[ddavid 149]

Leg 41 - Tampa to Key West

Welcome to Leg 41 of Mutley's Round the World Challenge, which today flies from Tampa International down the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, across the southern tip of the Everglades, and then follows the Florida Keys, and Interstate One, to Key West International. Enjoy!

The story starts in Juanuary 1914, with the world's first scheduled passenger service between Tampa and St Petersburg, Florida:

So, this leg has to be flown in, yes, a sea-plane - here we are arriving to pick up the baton:

Do you remember the Rarotonga to Honolulu MRTWC leg? Well, here comes our Sharon again, with the baton (and Minder, it's a valuable item, you know):

This was taken by our agent on Route 75 as they headed for the plane:

And here they come, ready for the off:

Sharon's had her P.P.L. for a number of years, but she still enjoys making the coffee on longer flights. Today, she's in the driving seat - taking off:

Hey, what's that?!:

It's a KC-135 Refueller, Sharon, and those:

are The Thunderbirds over MacDill AFB, which is just over there:

MacDill is also home to a division of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the Joint Communications Support Element, the 622d Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, the 297th Military Intelligence Battalion, Detachment 1 of the 347th Rescue Wing (from Moody Air Force Base), the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory, elements of the American Red Cross, the Civil Air Patrol, and the Army Corps of Engineers, and the anti-medfly operation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among numerous other agencies. The base also supports the large and active military retiree community in the Tampa Bay area - does that include you, John?!

Anyway, on with the flight - checking GPS over Tampa Bay:

And on, southwards, down the coast to Sarasota:

Now then Martyn, Air Force One was at the airport on September 11, 2001. George W. Bush was at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota when Andrew Card first informed him of the September 11, 2001 attacks at 9:05 AM. Bush returned to the airport. Airforce One taxied at 9:54 AM and lifted off at 9:55 AM flying to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

Just south of Sarasota is Venice. On September 12, 2001, national news and the FBI descended on Venice as it was discovered that three of the WTC 9/11 terrorists, Mohamed Atta, Marwan Al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah, had all lived in Venice for the purpose of taking flight training lessons at the Venice Municipal Airport. The trio had all enrolled in Huffman Aviation.

Here's the local FBI office:

and here's Venice airport:

There's plenty to see down there, that's Coral Creek:

We're flying VFR, but the clouds are rolling in:

and, as you can see (or maybe not!):

It's time to go down a little, to get under the cloud-base:

This is Sanibel Island, We turn left here, for Naples:

Oh, look, there's the light-house:

Thanks, Sharon. Well, you can't see it so well in FSX, but the island's most famous landmark, the Sanibel Lighthouse, is located at the eastern end of the island, adjacent to the fishing pier.

Now, Naples was founded during the late 1880s by former Confederate general and Kentucky U.S. Senator John Stuart Williams and his partner, Louisville businessman Walter N. Haldeman, the publisher of the

Louisville Courier-Journal. It had grown into a resort town by the turn of the century. The city got its name from developers who advertised it in the north as to have "a bay comparable to that of Naples (Italy)". Here it is, on the port bow:

Naples is home to a number of famous people, including Tom Cruise (remember Top Gun and his whispered 'What's on your mind, Buddy?'). Then there's Steven Spielberg - do you remember that bit in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' when he re-enacted the car/lorry chase from 'Duel'? Ace! And, of course, the late Robert Ludlum, who wrote the brilliant book 'The Bourne Identity', and other excellent titles.

Flying on south, the next landmark we come to is Cape Romano:

Here are the Thousand Islands:

I made it 998 - that's global warming for you....

And this is paradise island - nice FSX homestead for your retirement, Joe?

Can you get that map out now, 'cause I'm going to cut off the corner and fly through the Everglades channel Sharon has prepared this map:

She's saving fuel by not flying around Cape Sable, but cut across through Joe Lake and Whitewater Bay to Flamingo on the Gulf. Here's the start at Oyster Bay:

And in no time we've found the exit channel:

which leads to Flamingo:

and it's a short hop to where we join the Keys at Lawson Long Key:

The Florida Keys are a chain of islands that separate Florida Bay from the Straits of Florida. The islands are the surface layers of one of the world's greatest carbonate platforms. For hundreds of thousands of years, this environment permitted the growth of coral reefs. Evidence of the long history of a similar environment to the modern one is in the existence of older fossils similar to today's living reef. Florida Bay islands (west of the Keys) are made mainly of modern sediment, carbonate mud, sand and mangrove peat, while the elevated Keys are made of limestone.

Reef building and distribution are controlled by sea level changes and topography. About 18,000 years ago, sea level was approximately 100 m lower than today's sea level. Since then, the sea level has risen until it flooded the south Florida shelf. This rise created the appropriate conditions (high salinity in the summer and warm temperatures in the winter) for the modern coral reefs to grow.

That must be Marathon:

Nice golf course, too:

Bet I can fly under that bridge....:

Leave that one for Sam, Sharon! By the way, did you know about the Fat Albert accident in April?

Do you mean the Detection Balloon cable Yes, I think it’s just ahead:

The plane crashed late on a Friday night in April, 2007, and officials were sifting through wreckage Saturday and trying to identify the victims, said Monroe County sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin. Three were believed dead after the small plane hit a blimp's wire tether and crashed. Witnesses reported seeing the plane crash about two miles off the northern shore of Cudjoe Key. The plane's wing hit the wire at about 4,000 feet - halfway between the ground and the blimp - then crashed in about two feet of water. The blimp did not appear to be damaged and a camera trained on the blimp captured the crash. The blimp is used by the federal government to monitor suspected drug flights and other potentially harmful activity. The area surrounding it is restricted airspace. The plane, a Cessna 182, is believed to have been coming from Key West, but investigators do not know its intended destination.

Here’s a more detailed map:

Look, there’s the Mooring Station and the radar antenna:

And up ahead is NAS Key West:

And there's the docks:

I'll take her down and taxi to the jetty.....:

We dis-embark at the Marina:

And here's Mr Minder from the A-Team!

Can we go to Wendy's - I'm famished - here's a map:

I'm sure it's some place round here.......:

And this is where we say G'bye to Sharon as she takes the baton into Key West International:

Well I hope you enjoyed that little trip - especially the diversions

And so on to the next leg of our adventure:

Mutley's Round The World Challenge - Caribbean Convolutions, or something........! Take it away Joe!

[mutley 4,498]

Great post Dai, that's really put me in a Caribbean mood!

There will be no announcements on the next section until mid next week to allow yours, Freds and Johns post to get

Cheers

[allardjd 1,853]

David,

Just excellent! What a great narrative to go along with a very picturesque piece of landscape. Great idea going

VFR, low and slow, to see all the sights. If ever there was a venue for a seaplane, this was it, though it looks

like the next segment will offer some similar opportunities. I'm looking forward to more of your flights -

with or without pontoons.

:yes: :wink: :good

Now, as I recall, the last we'd heard of Sharon, she'd been busy logging a little dual time with your Shorts Empress

co-pilot out in the islands. So what's the rest of the story here? Inquiring minds want to know. :chuckle:

John