cross countries

[Jim123]

For Key West CCX- pretty standard trip is to stay in the BOQ at Trumbo Point, which is a 5-10 minute walk/stumble to Duval Street, where you can wander around and find something that suits you.

For daytime adventure there are shops, restaurants, the beach, water sports, fishing charters, and the obligatory picture of yourself at the "Southernmost Point" monument. If you do a fishing charter (some are surprisingly inexpensive) then some of the restaurants will let you bring your catch and they'll cook it to order for you. (This is pretty neat, in a touristy kind of way.)

The people watching and sunburn are both free...

The roving chickens you see- make sure you leave them alone

 

[Swanee]

Speaking of XCs, if everything works out and goes as planned (yeah I know), I might be headed to Key West in September for a weekend.

For those that have been there, where are the good places to go or see?

And yes, I've been told about the Garden of Eden many, many times so don't try to pull that one ha.

You gotta go there once, just to say you've seen it. Teasers and the Red Garter are always popular places. Bonus points if you end up there with a Saudi SNFO who starts throwing loads of big bills around.

There is a rum bar on the other side of Duval street, it's worth the stop if you like good rum. There is also a small restaurant on Duval street that has awesome lobster rolls. It's tiny, and it's painted blue (don't remember the name). El Siboney has good Cuban food. it's off the beaten path but worth it.

Stay in the Coast Guard Annex (Trumbo Point), not the Fly Navy building. You're only 2 short blocks from Duval, an easy stumble or a cheap (less than 5 bucks) cab ride home.


I got stuck there with an instructor (who is also a member of this board) in primary- we had a broken T-34. We did a small jet boat tour that was pretty cool. Also went on his buddy's boat and went snorkeling out by some light house- that was really cool.

 

[Harrier Dude]

Speaking of XCs, if everything works out and goes as planned (yeah I know), I might be headed to Key West in September for a weekend.

For those that have been there, where are the good places to go or see?

And yes, I've been told about the Garden of Eden many, many times so don't try to pull that one ha.

Rule of thumb: Stay out of bars named after an animal or a color.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[RadicalDude]

Loved Tree Bar. Also if you skip Bare Assets you're a fool.

 

[e6bflyer]

You gotta go there once, just to say you've seen it. Teasers and the Red Garter are always popular places. Bonus points if you end up there with a Saudi SNFO who starts throwing loads of big bills around.

There is a rum bar on the other side of Duval street, it's worth the stop if you like good rum. There is also a small restaurant on Duval street that has awesome lobster rolls. It's tiny, and it's painted blue (don't remember the name). El Siboney has good Cuban food. it's off the beaten path but worth it.

Stay in the Coast Guard Annex (Trumbo Point), not the Fly Navy building. You're only 2 short blocks from Duval, an easy stumble or a cheap (less than 5 bucks) cab ride home.


I got stuck there with an instructor (who is also a member of this board) in primary- we had a broken T-34. We did a small jet boat tour that was pretty cool. Also went on his buddy's boat and went snorkeling out by some light house- that was really cool.

Been there many times. Swanee's advice above is a recipe for a good time. Enjoy.

 

[parrothead08]

2 in SNA Primary. 2 in Helo Advanced. Advanced...more of a "Hey, you're eligible for a cross country, you're going to XX this weekend. Bring money to drink and don't be weird." Which is fine with me. Minimal planning. The "direct to" function on the KLN-900 GPS in the '57 is pretty handy (and legal). I went to Houston and NOLA. NOLA was cool until I checked my bank account...

 

[sevenhelmet]

"Broken" T-34 in KW... Well played!

"Hey skipper, funny story..."

 

[dtxz]

Speaking of Key West, are TRAWING aircraft allowed to fly through ADIZ or do they pretty much have to stay near the coast the whole way down? (beyond 45's going to the boat)

 

[CommodoreMid]

Speaking of Key West, are TRAWING aircraft allowed to fly through ADIZ or do they pretty much have to stay near the coast the whole way down? (beyond 45's going to the boat)

One word: FACSFAC

 

[Swanee]

Speaking of Key West, are TRAWING aircraft allowed to fly through ADIZ or do they pretty much have to stay near the coast the whole way down? (beyond 45's going to the boat)

Would you want to cross the Gulf of Meh-he-CO in a T-34?

 

[Gatordev]

Speaking of Key West, are TRAWING aircraft allowed to fly through ADIZ or do they pretty much have to stay near the coast the whole way down? (beyond 45's going to the boat)

It is actually possible to cross the ADIZ and even go to another country in a TRAWING aircraft. There's an instruction for it, but it requires a huge lead time, which is hard when you aren't sure where a stud will be in 30 days (the minimum time to submit the request, I believe). In the TRACOM, going to another country would really be the only reason to go outside the ADIZ, as Swanee said, just because of flying over water (unless you're talking the D.C. ADIZ, which is a different animal).

One word: FACSFAC

Bingo.

Would you want to cross the Gulf of Meh-he-CO in a T-34?

Eh. It's not the end of the world. I have taken the hypotenuse across the Florida Bay. We survived. I have also crossed the Gulf Stream and a small part of the Atlantic, and it also wasn't the end of the world. Doing it in a section does make it a little more comfortable.



Guys used to take them all the way down to Vieques, which would have been a long but pretty awesome trip.

 

[dtxz]

Would you want to cross the Gulf of Meh-he-CO in a T-34?

I think you'd run out of fuel and have to swim the rest of the way in a T-34. I'm talking about twin engine types. Two engines at the same time, man.

It is actually possible to cross the ADIZ...

Noted.

 

[zippy]

You guys should have had "bull LTs," but I could see that ruffling feathers

My fleet squadron had a Bull... and it was usually a JG.

 

[armada1651]

For those that have been there, where are the good places to go or see?

Few that have been there and done it right remember enough to answer this question.

 

[BusyBee604]

Eh. It's not the end of the world. I have taken the hypotenuse across the Florida Bay. We survived. I have also crossed the Gulf Stream and a small part of the Atlantic, and it also wasn't the end of the world. Doing it in a section does make it a little more comfortable.

Guys used to take them all the way down to Vieques, which would have been a long but pretty awesome trip.

Back in the day, the A-4 RAG at Cecil (VA-44), rotated a Weapons trng Det. every 2 weeks to/from NAS Roosy Rds. and NAS Cecil. We managed to survive the transit through the infamous "Bermuda Triangle", without disappearing, having heading indicators spinning wildly, seeing ghost ships...etc. Being single-engine, we weren't allowed over-ocean transit solo, so we always made the transit in section/division.

In fair WX, Nav wasn't bad, we could check our DR position passing over or by various islands in the Bahamas (Euleuthera, The Turks & Caicos groups). Being 'tacan only' (gasp, no Center radar tracking, INS or GPS), there was a 200-300 mile gap in tacan coverage between Patrick & Ramey AFBs. In IFR/undercast conditions, it was always a great relief to get that Ramey tacan lockon. After all, no one wanted to be that guy who MISSED PUERTO RICO!

*BzB leading a flight out of Roosy to strike 'ViequesNam'! '69
BzB