 Rest
Area Diversion
By Jeff Goin
Dec 15, 2001
Interstate 75 at it's lowest latitude
is called "alligator alley" and for good reason. It spans the otherwise remote
and alligator populated Everglades National Park. It is one long boring section to drive. This afternoon
I had to do so...going from Naples to Vero Beach.
My Sky Cruiser is packed in the back,
ready to go from yesterday's flights. After an hour and a half or so of driving
I came across a recreational area. Hmmm...I've flown the beaches plenty of
times, but I've never flown the Everglades! So I pulled over into the next rec area
(which allowed airboats too) with air thoughts a flying.
  The
launch area, pointed to in the above picture, was clear save for one parked
truck which was easily circumnavigated before leaving the ground. It even had
plenty of room for emergency options. The wind was 8-12 so it wouldn't take long
anyway. I laid the wing out in the grass next to the parking lot, brought it up
and went.
What an amazing capability. And what
a sight! What is boring from the fenced confines of I-75 opened into an eye-filling expanse of marshland. The Everglades are BIG! They extend as far
as the eye could see in every direction but East where the makings of
civilization darken the view.
The flying was limited in area owing
to hungry alligators...I had to always stay within gliding range of the
launch...the only landing option out there! Doing so denied them this one bony
little ppg morsel.
After about 45 minutes of flying my
fuel dictated a return. I had thermalled mostly up to 2500' and so managed to
squeeze an hour from 30 minutes of fuel. The thermals were mellow and weak but
were "streeting" and strong enough to keep me in zero sink quite a
bit.
I landed next to the van and kited
the wing back to the grass. 10 minutes later I was back on the road again. This
was my kind of road side stretch!
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