Welcome to Wingnut's Wild Blue Yonder!

Here are some shots of Peter O' Knight Airport in Tampa. It's located right downtown on Davis Island. That's Davis Island Yatch Club nestled in that basin by the airport. It's where I learned to fly, so I'm very comfortable there, but it is some complicated airspace. Peter O' is in Class G to 700', Class E to 1200', Then Class B for Tampa International up to 10,000'. It's also about 1/2 mile outside of McDill Airforce Base airspace, so you really wanna watch those downwind to base turns on 03.

The longer runway is something like 3300'. It looks a little intimidating from this angle, but it's really plenty for most GA planes.

I've seen tarpon, manatees, sharks, dolphins and schools of whatever's swimming down there on regular occassions. That's Tampa Bay that the island is sitting in.

Here's a shot from the front doors. It's a small FBO that has a decidedly late 60's design that reminds you of an earlier time. It's a regular stop for thirsty runners on the island, and pilots can often be found just hanging out and shooting the breeze with each other.

It's the kind of place where pretty much everybody you cross paths with is into aviation in some way or another. Many of the line guys are studying to be CFI's. Most fly often. I like knowing that the guy gassing my plane knows exactly how important it is to double check those caps and really take a good look at that oil. I take donuts in every Saturday for the staff. It's pretty lame, I know, but it's a small way for me to show my appreciation.

This is the city of Tampa, from just North of Peter O'. Click on the picture to see the larger version. Check out all the cruise ships and freighters. At one end of Peter O', are the fuel docks. These are huge tanks where fuel is pumped off of ships and then sent inland by train and truck. You don't want to get caught in an emergency here without a plan.

I work in the tall building just to the right of the center of the picture. It's kind of rose colored.

Another little obsticle at Peter O'... Moving buildings! These big boys go up and down the channel that runs accross the end of 21. You definately wanna check both ends of the runway before committing to an appraoch.

Other port related obsticles to be avoided include cranes, tall buildings, hospital helicopters that run up and down that same channel, news helicopters that use Peter O' because it's right in the middle of town, and Air Force air-to-air refuelers landing at McDill

Here's the rest of the island from about 900 feet. That's downtown Tampa in the background. Click on the picture to see it full size.

All and all, I really like Peter O' because of the people there. It's very relaxed and un-hurried, and their rental rates are reasonable. I also like the way that I can handle my reservations online in a realtime schedule program tied directly into the FBO at Peter O', so when I make a change or new reservation, it shows up on their desktop right then.

Drop in on them and see some excellent scenery.