Flying to Key West

I am planning to fly to Key West in a couple days and could use a little planning advice.

My current plan is to depart Perry, Ga (PXE) and fly direct to Venice, Fl. (VNC) under flight following and with a slight westerly diversion in the Tampa Class B to keep me over the coast of St. Pete and Clearwater.
Land at VNC for fuel and food then launch for Key West (KEYW) but not direct. I plan to use Marco Island as a waypoint then direct to KEYW. This way I am skirting the coast as long as possible before heading away from land and towards the Keys. My approach will be from the north which seems OK except for the warning about "unmarked tethered balloon up to 14k"
The sectional does not show a precise location for this aerostat and I'd like to know exactly where it is or if I need to change my plans to approach from a different direction. Also, is it a problem if you exit the CONUS ADIZ and re-enter during the same flight leg? I image that if you are under FF it's OK but what if FF cannot be obtained?

Any other suggestions about flying to the Keys will be appreciated. I have flown to the Bahamas before and have life vests, PLB, survival stuff, etc..

Thanks

bsacks05 said:

I am planning to fly to Key West in a couple days and could use a little planning advice.

My current plan is to depart Perry, Ga (PXE) and fly direct to Venice, Fl. (VNC) under flight following and with a slight westerly diversion in the Tampa Class B to keep me over the coast of St. Pete and Clearwater.
Land at VNC for fuel and food then launch for Key West (KEYW) but not direct. I plan to use Marco Island as a waypoint then direct to KEYW. This way I am skirting the coast as long as possible before heading away from land and towards the Keys. My approach will be from the north which seems OK except for the warning about "unmarked tethered balloon up to 14k"
The sectional does not show a precise location for this aerostat and I'd like to know exactly where it is or if I need to change my plans to approach from a different direction. Also, is it a problem if you exit the CONUS ADIZ and re-enter during the same flight leg? I image that if you are under FF it's OK but what if FF cannot be obtained?

Any other suggestions about flying to the Keys will be appreciated. I have flown to the Bahamas before and have life vests, PLB, survival stuff, etc..

Thanks

Click to expand...

Here is a nice track for you taken a few weeks ago. Off marco for the east side of KW. Intersection CANIN in the pic below. The ballon was off my left wing approaching Sugarloaf Key/CANIN intersection. If you go Marco direct, you will not come close to the baloon. Head off Marco with FF or on a flight plan and you will be fine with the ADIZ.

Have fun.

Here is some info ...

bsacks05 said:

I am planning to fly to Key West in a couple days and could use a little planning advice.

My current plan is to depart Perry, Ga (PXE) and fly direct to Venice, Fl. (VNC) under flight following and with a slight westerly diversion in the Tampa Class B to keep me over the coast of St. Pete and Clearwater.
Land at VNC for fuel and food then launch for Key West (KEYW) but not direct. I plan to use Marco Island as a waypoint then direct to KEYW. This way I am skirting the coast as long as possible before heading away from land and towards the Keys. My approach will be from the north which seems OK except for the warning about "unmarked tethered balloon up to 14k"
The sectional does not show a precise location for this aerostat and I'd like to know exactly where it is or if I need to change my plans to approach from a different direction. Also, is it a problem if you exit the CONUS ADIZ and re-enter during the same flight leg? I image that if you are under FF it's OK but what if FF cannot be obtained?

Any other suggestions about flying to the Keys will be appreciated. I have flown to the Bahamas before and have life vests, PLB, survival stuff, etc..

Thanks

Click to expand...

Here is some info and plots.

The route taken by N996PJ to Marathon and then to Key West fully avoids the tethered balloon.

Hug the coast a little longer and then direct to Marathon.

James


http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=39137&highlight=key+west&page=3

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=39137&highlight=key+west&page=2

Marco to Key West avoids the balloon. That is the way I went last time. The biggest problem I had was clouds which kept me pretty low and I lost contact with ATC for some time.

Question, if I may??

Do you guys travel with a raft, or simply vests? I want to make a Keys trip with my parents (hopefully this year!!), and was curious what other people are doing in real life.

If I am hijacking, could someone politely PM me?

Thanks to the original poster!

Key West Option

I am Based at Punta Gorda (KPGD) and I fly to Key West all of the time. First of all our SS fuel is cheaper than VNC. I file IFR direct to RSW then direct to MTH and take the scenic route down to Key West. If you favor east of centerline to MTH, you are always within gliding distance to the beach. Miami Center will try to get you to go direct before you get to MTH but are not insistant. Enjoy the flight.

I got tired of the drive from MIA down to MTH .... too many impatient people, plenty of speed traps ... flying is the way to go, even if the NSA/DEA/ETC puts a balloon in your way.

TODR

I did the Marathon route on the way down and got brave on the way up. I did have life preservers. There are also a ton of boats out there to land by.

It should also take you less than 4 hours to fly there from Macon.

Need IFR or DVFR flight plan

I believe if you leave the ADIZ, you need either an IFR or DVFR flight plan, flight following is not enough. Not sure about the need for 12" N numbers if you originate and terminate within the US. The Marco-KEYW direct will take you across the ADIZ.

I flew there with 3" numbers

I flew there with 3" numbers. I filed IFR out of Lakeland with and airway routing including V3. I was cleared as filed but was rerouted essentially 180 deg. direct to Key West. I took it and close in I was vectored through the clouds for a visual to rwy 9. Departing was very similar. I flew over more open water than there is between Key West and Cuba ind I did not see a lot of boats down there when clear of clouds. Two NFL football players drowned the same weekend in that area when their boat was overturned while on a fishing trip. The advise of the fellow that says they will try to route you direct is certainly true in my limited experience operating in that area. Refusing to accept an unsafe clearance because of no life jackets and raft on board is obviously the right thing to do and not go with the flow as I did. If you fly VFR you have to be up to date on the airspace requirements but you do have more ease of control over your flight. I debated this but decided to go IFR. The balloon area is clearly marked on the Miami Sectional and if you carefully plan your flight, it should not be a problem. The Key West Naval Air Station airspace is something you have to plan to deal with but there is so much traffic into Key West International that is routinely handled by them that as long as you contact them before entering their airspace that should not be a problem. There is a control tower at Key West International and the FBO has a lot of tiedown space so once you get in there it is like any other airport interface. In sumary, outside of the normal flying chores, I was concerned about the long overwater flight potential, airspace sensitivity due to the location of the airport and the NAS airspace. IFR took care of the second two but greatly accentuated the first.

Bob Axsom

AlexPeterson said:

I believe if you leave the ADIZ, you need either an IFR or DVFR flight plan, flight following is not enough. Not sure about the need for 12" N numbers if you originate and terminate within the US. The Marco-KEYW direct will take you across the ADIZ.

Click to expand...

You will have to file IFR or DVFR if you go Marco-Key West.

stay w/nw of the eyw 050 radial and you will stay out of it. just watch out for fast traffic on the 050 at 1600 feet doing 250kts. make sure you have the current info. navy keywest just changed to 124.02 and the controller still give the old freq a lot out of habit.

bob burns
N82RB RV-4

I've been down to Key West twice now, once in the RV-6 and once in the Rocket. Being a flatlander from up North, I chose to stay within gliding distance of the highway. I am not IFR rated so I just took the longer route. I flew down to Homestead and then followed the islands out. I did give the Naval Center controllers a call from about 30 miles out. He let me fly a low pass down the center of their runway before handing me off to the Key West tower. Very cool.


The entire trip story can be found HERE

Flying down to Key West

Hey Bruce,

You have fellow RVers at HWO @ SE hangars (near Miami) if you need anything or want to see some RV's. It's quiet a site flying up or down the chain of the Florida Keys. If you decide to deviate NE on the way back up let me know.

FYI,
The balloon is about the size and shape of a blimp and should show up on your gps but the cable attached to it is all but invisible. I just skirt it by a few miles, no biggie.

The local club is flying to Marathon for lunch on Sun 3/22/09.
Enjoy!

Eddy Fernandez
RV9A
954-914-5579

Excellent write-up Randy! I am here at work tying up loose ends as some of my students rush to finish up their aircraft sheet metal projects before the quarter ends....and we all know what happens when you rush a sheet metal project. Oh well, they were given plenty of time and squandered it. So...I am feeling the end of quarter stress as well and am very ready for some "island time".

OK. Updated plans are to depart PXE around 1400 Thursday. Arrive VNC 1630 for fuel, etc.. Depart VNC 1730 for EYW via MKY and MTH. Flight planning is complete and aircraft prep will commence this eve.

Thanks to all for the valuable info!