Visiting Vero Beach

Today, I find myself in 02B. We're leaving Tamiami VFR along the coast all the way to Vero Beach. We arrive at the airplane and I am reminded that it's no SP, but having flown it before, I know it doesn't have any unduly unpleasant characteristics. It even has a "proper" flap selector. My PNF attends to the external inspection while I set up the cockpit. He brings to my attention that the baggage door is tempestuous and is only "sort-of" locked. We try our best to secure it and remember to avoid steep turns to the left!

Since we anticipate the flight continuing into the night, we're careful to inspect the external lights before we depart. Unfortunately we discover that the landing and taxi lights are both inoperative. While not required, it isn't prudent to fly at night without a landing light, so we decide not to waste too much time faffing about. We want to get back home before the sunlight runs out. The PNF goes back inside to grab something for his in-flight meal while I fill out the paperwork for the inoperative lights. Ten minutes later, we're back in the plane and ready to go. I'm told we have full fuel- more than enough for a 2 hour trip. The engine starts on the second attempt and the clock starts ticking. As the PNF sets up the Garmin 430 GPS for the flight, I taxi the airplane out of the ramp towards the taxiway. I have to be careful moving the airplane between 2 rows of aircraft- a little too far left or right and the wingtip will touch something- not good.

Safely out of the parking ramp, I push the PTT switch:

Tamiami Ground, good afternoon, 02B

Silence

Tamiami Ground, good afternoon, 02B

No reply

I'm hearing other transmissions on the frequency, so I know the volume is properly adjusted.

Ground, 02B, how do you read?

At this point, I notice that the transmit caption on the GPS is not displayed, indicating that the radio is not transmitting. I exchange a knowing glance with the PNF as he pushes his PTT button.

Tamimi ground, 02B.

02B, Tamiami ground, go ahead.

02B with ATIS Bravo, requesting taxi for departure to the north, flight following to Vero Beach

02B, Taxi to nine left via Delta. Standby for the squawk.

I hold the brakes. My PNF asks if I'm sure I'd like to fly with my PTT inoperative. He's comfortable if I am. I think about it for a second; although I've never seen him fly, he's competent on the radio, and I'm willing to make the trip. I release the brakes and start taxiing towards the runway. I note that the right fuel tank indicates only 75%. I think of the regulation that states that the fuel quantity indicators need to read zero when there's that much usable fuel left. Nothing says they need to be accurate at other fuel levels. I wonder why that rule isn't in place...

Ground gets back to us with the transponder code and departure frequency. The PNF sets up the avionics accordingly. As we approach the runway, the windsock is standing at attention in the 20 knot wind. Thankfully the wind is straight down the runway, so directional control should not be a problem. We do the engine run and all seems well. During the flight control check, I feel the airplane pitch up and down as we test the elevators. A 20 knot wind will do that to a one ton airplane.

Runup complete, we're cleared for takeoff. The acceleration is brisk (for a 172) and the climbout is equally impressive at about 800 feet per minute. That's nothing for the jet jocks, but for an airplane with a 160hp engine, it's quite a feat. We level off briefly and she wastes no time accelerating to 110kt before I pull back the power. This airplane most likely has a climb propeller. We contact Miami approach and are told to proceed northbound once we get to the coast. We're cleared to maintain VFR below 2500ft. In short order, we level off at 2000ft, as further climb will probably put us in the clouds. Hopefully we can get to fly over Fort Lauderdale at this altitude. As we go along the beach, we're still low enough to spot hundreds of people soaking up the sun.

Unfortunately, we're not allowed to fly over Fort Lauderdale today, so we're told to fly east of the shore below 500ft. From an engine failure point of view, this is not good, but I have faith in the powerplant, and take the opportunity t admire the scenery going by at 90knots. We continue up the coast at that altitude until we're past Boca Raton, where we're told to contact Palm Beach Approach. They clear us to 2500ft while remaining clear of clouds. Again, we stop at 2000ft to satisfy that condition.

We're around half way there, and everything is going pretty smoothly. I decide to practice my approaches, and select the VOR approach into Vero Beach. I find it amusing that such a relatively large airport hasn't got an ILS. Doesn't matter anyway, I've done plenty of ILS approaches, but only 2 VOR's so this will be fun. Plus, this is one of the few aircraft that is equipped with Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), so I'm happy to be able to use it.

The PNF requests the VOR approach to runway 11R, the southerly of the two parallel runways at Vero beach. Once we start getting vectored for the approach, I put on the hood (view limiting device) so that I can't see outside. I remind my PNF that he's now fully responsible for making sure we don't hit anything.

The approach goes pretty well, and I manage to keep the needle within one a dot deflection. Not bad considering we've got wind from the east at 14kt, gusting to 21, so we're getting a pretty bumpy ride. At the minimum descent altitude, I remove the foggles and I'm nicely lined up with the runway. Now comes the hard part- landing the thing. In light of the wind condition, I elect to fly the last segment of the approach at 70kt. The decision of what flap setting to use is tricky today. A lower setting affords better directional control, but a higher setting means I have better forward visibility. I elect to land with 20 degrees of flaps. The controls will be slightly mushy, but I'll clearly see where I'm going. The gusts seem even stronger than advertised, because the airspeed is fluctuating by a bit more than 10 knots. A gust of wind comes along at 200ft and drops the wing maybe 20 degrees. My PNF expresses his displeasure at the situation, and I'm sure he's thinking about going around.

As I cross the runway threshold, The speed starts bleeding off just as planned. We float a bit because of the excess speed, but I'm aggressive with the controls. The last thing I want is to stall too high above the runway. As I flare for the touchdown, I resist the urget to just let it plop onto the ground like a drunken duck. I do as I was taught, and fly it all the way to the ground. The touchdown is smooth, but positive, just as I hoped. We slow down, and The PNF makes some comment about being happy he didn't have to do that landing. I grin to myself. It wasn't the most challenging landing I've done, but it did take effort to complete safely. We vacate the runway, and I turn off the strobes and raise the flaps as we taxi towards the FBO. We pass a Global Express, my all time favorite business jet, and I think of how much smoother the approach would be in an airplane fifty times the weight of mine. One day...