Flight of Two to Sugarloaf Key

ms80831

PRA member since 1973
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
1,546
Location
Colorado Springs CO.
Aircraft
Cessna 210 +, Xenon RST, Citabria
Total Flight Time
2000+
Tuesday morning, we loaded up the aircraft and taxied to Marathon's Runway 25 for departure. Our route of flight was from Marathon (MTH) Hwy mile marker MM50, in the middle Keys down to the Sugarloaf Resort MM17 at Sugarloaf Airport. (Most of the flight was at 700ft. MSL over the bridges, dropping down to 500 ft. MSL over land.)

Sugarloaf is a private airport in the Lower Keys just east of KeyWest Naval Air station.

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We departed Marathon heading west over Boot Key Harbor,
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and soon we were over the seven mile bridge.
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We were a flight of two, with my son Tom flying my Citabria, accompanied by his wife, Lori.
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My wife Julie flew right seat in Xenon TurboCopter 719MB.
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2 - Flight of Two to Sugarloaf Key

2 - Flight of Two to Sugarloaf Key

This is the kind of low and slow cross country to breakfast that we take several times a year at home. This one had some of the best scenery I have seen yet this year. (Our normal breakfast or lunch flight takes us from Colorado Springs to Pueblo airport. That scenery is pretty brown, or stark white this time of year.) Not a trip you want to make with the vents and window open this time of year either.
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This trip took us over the Bahia Honda bridge,
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the famous seven mile bridge Arnold Schwarzenegger blew apart in "True Lies",
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and past a 3000 foot tall tethered balloon (holding radar, and inferred detection equipment), towering out of the restricted area north of US Hwy 1 on Cudjo Key.
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As Sugar loaf came into view, its 2700 ft narrow runway looked plenty long for the gyro and the Citabria.
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http://www.floridaairplanetours.com/airport.html

The Sugarloaf Lodge where we ate breakfast.
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This is a breakfast flight I will remember for a long time.

Mark




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sweet!!!!!!!!!!
 
Thank you for having us along.

Thank you for having us along.

It looks like fun Mark.

The Strip looks wonderfully remote.

Thank you, Vance
 
Thats the way to fly.....thanks for posting your adventure.


Stan
 
You can tell how much fun you guys had simply by the smiles on everyone's faces. Thanks for taking us along!!

I love seeing pics like this because it just makes me want to get started that much sooner!

God Bless!

Rene' Gonzales
....can't wait for my first $100 hamburger
 
Great stuff !!!!

You is CRAZY !!!
 
Dude, someone bent the prop on your Xenon. I'll give you $50 buck for it!:lol:

Don Loftus
Gainesville, FL
 
Can Ya Swim REAL Good Mark ??

Can Ya Swim REAL Good Mark ??

If memory serves correct Mike Bantum assisted in a rescue on Lake Okeechobee a while back..the guy almost drowned.
A friend that flew DNR in the key's for 15 years said you can land a 737 on the center line of that very same bridge.
Just hope the traffic ain't bad that day..

Great pix Mark
 
Dude, someone bent the prop on your Xenon. I'll give you $50 buck for it!:lol:

Don Loftus
Gainesville, FL

He bent it just right. It sure pushes this machine through the air nice....
 
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Great Air2Air shots!

I love the little airship platform.

thanks for posting!
 
If memory serves correct Mike Bantum assisted in a rescue on Lake Okeechobee a while back..the guy almost drowned.
A friend that flew DNR in the key's for 15 years said you can land a 737 on the center line of that very same bridge.
Just hope the traffic ain't bad that day..

Great pix Mark

Hi Steve

Lots of traffic on the main bridge unfortunately (on the left side of the photo). But the bridge to the right is the old bridge, and although narrow, it is not used any longer and would make a great runway in case of an emergency.

That's why I stay close to the bridge when I cross that stretch of open water..

Mark
 
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PHOTO's ADDED

PHOTO's ADDED

I added a few more photo's to the original posts above.

Mark
 
Sugarloaf key had some of the first eco-friendly mosquito control efforts there at the strip.
There was a bat tower built, and bats imported to inhabit the tower.
It was done well, built so that a large box trailer could be parked underneath to collect the guano.
The bats would not co-operate, and would not occupy the tower. It is probably still there.
Thanks for the ride along. Great pics.
 
Sugarloaf key had some of the first eco-friendly mosquito control efforts there at the strip.
There was a bat tower built, and bats imported to inhabit the tower.
It was done well, built so that a large box trailer could be parked underneath to collect the guano.
The bats would not co-operate, and would not occupy the tower. It is probably still there.
Thanks for the ride along. Great pics.

You are right. The bat tower is still there.

The bat's I am told were imported from the mainland , and when released, flew home.

Mark
 
Oh Yea,,

I knew you had a "E" landing spot in mind Mark, If need be. The friend I was speaking of did mosquito control with DC-3's in the 70's.

Steve
 
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