Immediately after departure, we called Fort Myers Approach for flight following. We take note of where the lightning strikes are coming from, and fly right in the middle to avoid them by as much as possible. The controller asks in we have weather radar on board. I laugh and think "If only he knew.." I ask the controller to keep us abreast of the weather up ahead, and for maybe half an hour, I keep talking to him to make sure what we see in the darkness is similar to what his radar is showing. It's never good when ATC uses phrases like "area of extreme precipitation" and "moderate to intense echoes". We're going balls to the wall to get out of the weather ASAP and this is the first time I've seen an older 172 get all the way to the yellow arc in level flight. It's a good thing the ATCO was only talking to 3 planes. He was able to give us a lot of assistance as we flew into the darkness that was only illuminated by flashes of lightening some miles away. We gingerly navigate around the weather as best we can. All the time communicating with ATC to make sure we weren't flying into hidden danger. In those times, more than ever, you appreciate the hard work and training ATCO's go through. No doubt controllers have saved the lives of countless pilots by providing services such as I was receiving. Thank you again, Mr. Fort Myers Approach!
When we're told to contact Miami Center, I express my gratitude to the approach controller. The center controller is a lot busier, but is able to tell us that our heading will keep us in the clear, and he's able to keep us abreast of what the weather is doing. By the time we contact Miami Approach, we're in the clear, but continue east for a bit more to ensure the weather doesn't catch up with us. Pretty soon, we're back in our comfort zone on the east coast where there are lots of airports, and the nasty weather is behind us. The rest of the flight is completed uneventfully. Not a moment too soon though. As I walk back to my car, the wind picks up and it starts to rain as one of the storm cells reaches the airport.
I've included a picture of what the weather looked like. Of course it's a little misleading because radar shows the weather at the time I printed it and not while I was flying, but you get an idea of the weather that existed and the kind of course deviations that were necessary.
As I hoped, I learned a lot on this cross country flight with my instructor and gained some valuable experience. I hope I don't forget it any time soon. For now, I'm back to the books.
