6/1 Titusville, FL

Jim, Becky, Ashley, Erin and I headed south to Port Canaveral in the morning to have breakfast at Grills, a dockside restaurant at the entrance to the port. As we were headed out the door we got a call from Jim Sr. – he was at the airport, planning to go flying. The Arthur Dunn airport where Jim hangars his ultralight was south along the way, and we stopped there on our way to Port Canaveral. The hangar door was open and the ultralight was gone, so we scanned the horizon and eventually spotted Jim flying out a little to the east, possibly over the Indian River. He continued on south, but then made a turn and entered the pattern for landing. He landed in the grass strip next to the taxiway, turned and taxied back to the beginning of the strip and took off again for a photo op. Erin snapped some still pictures while I videoed the activity. After one more circle of the pattern, he landed again and taxied back to the hangar, where we visited a bit and looked over the airplane, a Pterodactyl. The design is a wing with a seat the hangs beneath it. There is no tail, but a canard out front is used for control. There are small rudders on the wingtips, and in place of ailerons, the wing flexes with movements of the control stick. The landing gear is of tricycle design, and steering while on the ground is accomplished by steering the front wheel with your feet. The plane is powered by a 2 cycle engine positioned behind the pilot’s seat with a pusher propeller. The propeller is driven by a belt from the crankshaft pulley – actually three or four belts for better grip and safety.

We continued on to Port Canaveral to the Grills restaurant, where we had a nice breakfast while viewing the harbor activity. It was already pretty hot out, and we opted to dine inside. To the left of us out on the dock was a fish cleaning station where the charter boat crews cleaned their catch. Someone was cleaning a fish when we sat down at our table, and several pelicans were hanging out waiting for their share. When we walked the dock after breakfast, we could see several mahi mahi carcasses on the bottom in front of the fish cleaning area. Apparently they are not that appetizing to pelicans.

After breakfast we went south a bit to Cocoa Beach, where we visited the Ron Jon Surf Shop. Erin found another pair of Crocs to her liking, and I got a hat similar to my Tilly hat, only very light weight with mesh around the edge to allow the breezes to cool your head even while it’s protecting you from the sun.

After that we headed towards the Air Force Base entrance to the Space Center, where we planned to enter with Jim’s employee ID badge and drive to the beach area and past launch pad 39A, where Discovery had blasted off the day before. Unfortunately, the rules had tightened, and only two guests per badged employee were permitted through the gate. We had no volunteers to wait out in the sun, so we circled out and headed back to Titusville and home.

We spent the afternoon doing as little as possible as the temperature out in the back yard approached and even momentarily reached 100 degrees. Becky prepared a ham dinner and later in the afternoon Jim and Barb, and Randy, Krista and Sarah were over for dinner. More visiting and good times ensued.