It seems like a paradox for an airplane based in Florida, but my wife, Cathy, and I fly our Cheyenne less in the winter months than any other time of the year. Why? Well, because the winter weather is so consistently agreeable, there is little incentive to leave home base in Tampa. When we do stir ourselves, there is little inclination to go very far. These meteorological truths do mean that we habituate ourselves to some fearsomely great locales nearby — most notably in the Florida Keys.
Key West has been a favorite since we moved to Tampa 30 years ago. Back then I was the proud owner of a Cessna P210. I was a foreigner in Florida, my mouth agape at the weather, not to mention the fauna and flora. For a pilot so recently based at Chicago’s Midway Airport, flying to Key West seemed like going to the moon.
