Key West, FL

By LifeStyle Aviation Ambassador Cynthia Lee

Cross country adventures in my DiamondStar  DA40 are one of my favorite past times.  In the summer of 2013, my friend and Air Race Classic co-pilot, Nancy Rohr, and I flew to Key West for a little R&R.  We left Wilmington, DE (KILG) and flew to Key West, FL (KEYW) with two intermediate fuel stops.

Being able to fly without the headaches of commercial airports and TSA security lines are such a blessing and a relaxing way to travel.  And the scenery along the way is wonderful with the great visibility in the DA40.  With two pilots on board, Nancy and I can share the flying and photography duties, so we got some great images as we dodged the normal summertime cloud build-up at 10,000’.
 
The approach into Key West is beautiful with the aqua colored ocean along the Florida coast.  While we spent most days exploring Key West, we took one day for a sight seeing flight up the Keys and back at 1,500’.  Needless to say, Key West is very photogenic with glorious sunrise and sunsets everyday.
 
The freedom of cross country flying in the highly capable Diamond Star DA40 is a good marriage with my other hobby of photography.  In addition to Key West, I have flown to many places including Cape Cod, the Bahamas, Martha’s Vineyard, Sedona, AZ and Texas, in addition to the 2012 Air Race Classic.  Nancy and I will be flying the 2015 Air Race Classic, June 22-25th.  You can follow the race at  http://airraceclassic.org/2015race.asp and my blog at  http://tejas.zenfolio.com/blog and follow Team 28 “10 Carat”.  I will be writing about my other flying adventures in the coming months for Lifestyle Aviation.