Summer land Key FD51

[FloridaPilot]

Hello,

My wife and I are considering a move to the Keys so while we were there, I checked out Summer land key FL I was told they have a pretty good GA atmosphere there so I had to check it out myself. If anybody has lived there or visited what are your thoughts? My wife and I are licensed Scuba Divers and we love mostly all water sports.

Thanks!

 

[FloridaPilot]

Above is the actual runway...very narrow. You have to be on your game landing here. The winds from the ocean make it pretty challenging.




How cool is that to have your airplane on your front lawn!

 

[mscard88]

Cool pics, and airport! Looked it up on google earth, and Cudjoe just west of there. Northern end of Cudjoe is where they have a blimp on a cable up to 15,000'. Not sure if it's still there, but if it is watch out for that cable!

 

[Skyrys62]

How cool is that to have your airplane on your front lawn!

No kidding...
Around here in 'tucky it's a 71 buick on blocks. Way less cool.

That looks like a reeeeeealy nice place.
I don't have any real input for you. I've never been there.
But are those homes with hangers underneath on a runway in the Keys? If so, that's a pretty awesome setup for a scuba diving pilot.
You only live once!

 

[Radar Contact]

Zinc Chromate the entire plane.

 

[Skyrys62]

Zinc Chromate the entire plane.

Good advice...I almost brought that up too.
But I assumed since he was a FloridaPilot he was pretty aware.
Not knowing anything about it, I wanted to ask, if it's hangared is it a concern still?

 

[Art VanDelay]

I almost bought a house there back in 1999. Coulda shoulda woulda !!!! I bought up in Key Largo instead and still did very well money-wise. With the exception of Key West living in the other Keys is definitely an acquired taste. Not for your average American suburbanite for sure. There's little to no delivery food and grocery stores can be quite far apart. You definitely bug-out whenever you see a hurricane coming up the spine of Cuba. As my ex-wife used to say "There's NOTHING to do here !" As I used to say "Perfect !"

 

[FloridaPilot]

Cool pics, and airport! Looked it up on google earth, and Cudjoe just west of there. Northern end of Cudjoe is where they have a blimp on a cable up to 15,000'. Not sure if it's still there, but if it is watch out for that cable!

View attachment 53893 View attachment 53894

Yep, it's still there I came down from the west coast of florida, hit the middle of the Glades, (I wanted to show my wife something) and landed at Marathon FL. Summer Land is a VERY narrow landing strip which I'm not comfortable to land there yet. It's also a private strip which I would have to get permission to land there. One of the requirements of landing there is to have at LEAST a 1mm insurance policy...that should tell you something.

No kidding...
Around here in 'tucky it's a 71 buick on blocks. Way less cool.

That looks like a reeeeeealy nice place.
I don't have any real input for you. I've never been there.
But are those homes with hangers underneath on a runway in the Keys? If so, that's a pretty awesome setup for a scuba diving pilot.
You only live once!

Yeah, that is true. My wife wasn't too impressed with the homes though and she doesn't want to live next to the landing strip. I wanted to talk with the residents there but it was really early when we got there so not much activity going on but it was nice to see. The landing strip is not gated so you can drive right next to the strip.

 

[FloridaPilot]

Good advice...I almost brought that up too.
But I assumed since he was a FloridaPilot he was pretty aware.
Not knowing anything about it, I wanted to ask, if it's hangared is it a concern still?

That sucker is going in a hangar and Summer Land has homes with enclosed hangars. I have a buddy that uses furniture polish on his airplane, doesn't wash it and leaves it outside. I want to check out the results in a few years. Corrosion is VERY real here in Florida, especially near the water if you leave your plane outside.

I almost bought a house there back in 1999. Coulda shoulda woulda !!!! I bought up in Key Largo instead and still did very well money-wise. With the exception of Key West living in the other Keys is definitely an acquired taste. Not for your average American suburbanite for sure. There's little to no delivery food and grocery stores can be quite far apart. You definitely bug-out whenever you see a hurricane coming up the spine of Cuba. As my ex-wife used to say "There's NOTHING to do here !" As I used to say "Perfect !"

That's kind of what I like, living here next to 48X) I'm from New York and I love the slower lifestyle so yes it is an acquired taste. I don't do much delivery and I hit the supermarket once a week. Winn Dixie is about a 10 min drive but I like Publix better which is 30 mins if we lived in Summer Land...time will tell. If I had a choice of airports I would go with Marathon because of the access to rent cars for guests and I can land there at night if necessary the runway is much wider and all of the options that I need is in one area, (Win Dixie, Publix, Office Depot...etc) Bahia Honda is my favorite park in Florida and it's not a long drive to get there. So I would be leaning toward Marathon than Summer land but you never know!