Members,

Ok, I will take the heat for not updating you on the end of the year ride. I can’t believe it’s already the middle of January.

December 30, 2007, was our club’s end of the year ride. Those of you that know me know that plans with me can change on a moment’s notice. Such was the ride today.

The club met at Rick Case Honda Powerhouse at 7:15am. The morning greeted us with mostly clear skies, low 70’s, and a light breeze. Not as many riders showed up as normal; this time of year everybody seems to have other higher priority plans then riding to Key West for breakfast.

If I remember correctly, about 6 bikes showed up for the ride. We departed sharply at 7:30am and enjoyed light traffic down the Florida Turnpike to Florida City. For those of you who don’t normally take the Turnpike, DOT is adding much needed high speed SunPass lanes. You only need to slow to 55mph and stay to the left. There are no narrow passages to worry about. This is another reason to purchase a SunPass!

Our first stop in Florida City at the Shell Station allowed for a short stretch and to top off the fuel tanks. While there we ran into another group heading to Everglades City for lunch. This gave me the opportunity to tell them about our upcoming Ride for Kids in January 2008.

Before we boarded our bikes for the ride south, Carlos G. pulled into the parking lot to join us. So now we had seven bikes. An idea came to my mind, don’t laugh. With this small of a group, I proposed instead of going to Key West, let’s have breakfast at Harriett’s in Key Largo, then head back north to Miami Air Traffic Control Tower (where I work) and I would give everyone a tour of the facility. I am not able to do this with large groups and this was the perfect size.

Breakfast was great. Harriett’s has the largest biscuits you will probably ever eat. Before we could adjust our suspensions (we ate too much) for the ride north, fellow club member Ken A. called me saying he was trying to catch up. We waited for him and told him our plan to tour the tower. He was in.

Our trip north back through Card Sound was smooth. The road has been repaved and it makes for a nice ride. There were a few cars going a little slower then we wanted to, so a slight twist of the wrist and we were rapidly accelerating past them. I currently ride a Gold Wing and it always amazes me at the power this wonderful bike possesses. The engine is so smooth and quiet; you are able to forget whatever disturbs you and get to that place in life we strive for. Thanks Honda.

We arrived at the tower a little before 1pm. Our first stop was to get everybody a visitor’s I.D. Of course I did not have my FAA ID with me and had to also get a temporary ID. Some members decided to take some photographs outside of the control tower, but the security stopped them immediately. Guess it has something to do with a terrorism threat. I thought it funny, they could not take pictures, but I was going to escort them into the building?

Once getting past security we first visited the radar simulator room. After controllers first arrive for training at Miami, they spend 3-6 weeks in classroom and then another 2-5 weeks in this lab. Seats were taken, I logged on and the scope was filled with live aircraft. We spent about 30 minutes in the lab before actually going into the control room.

For those of you who have seen Air Traffic Control movies, the control room also called the TRACON. This is a dark room with lots of lights flashing, people sitting in front of a scope actively working their piece of the area. Miami TRACON is divided into two halves, half the room works Miami airport and south, and the other half works from Opalocka north including Fort Lauderdale International, Executive, Pompano, and Boca Raton. Right in the middle of the room we have an area call the Traffic Management Unit (TMU). Miami’s airspace extends from Boca Raton south to Key Largo, from Dade Collier airport in the middle of the Everglades to 50 miles east of Miami, surface to 16,000 feet.

The TMU’s responsibility is to manage the flow of traffic into and out of South Florida. The TMU manager demonstrated the flow currently into South Florida. Using satellites, he was able to zoom out to show the entire western hemisphere, along with traffic departing Europe for the US. A quick touch of the keyboard and every aircraft flying in the continental United States was displayed. If I remember correctly, there were over 4,000 aircraft being worked by Air Traffic Controllers.

Our next stop was the control tower. Miami’s tower is either the 3rd or 4th tallest in the world. The view afforded controllers is magnificent. The tower is responsible for aircraft within 5 miles of the airport from the surface to 3,000 feet. We watched several aircraft land then headed for an area where the view might be a little better.

A better view? Out on the 23rd floor catwalk. Here we could hear and watch the aircraft land with nothing but air between us. Everybody had their cameras out. Soon it was time to go. We all took the elevator down and turned in our temporary ID cards. Some of decided to call it a day, while others headed over to A1A for the ride north.

I returned home around 4pm, just in time to catch some football. A perfect day.

Like I said, I am not able to do tours with large groups or when the security level is raised. I hope those who went enjoyed the tour. Who knows, maybe we can do something like this again.

Ride Safe,

Greg Mathes