Blake Dowling
January 2025 in Tallahassee was an anomaly. Ice coated the streets, snow blanketed the town, businesses shuttered, and drivers seemed even less competent than usual (a truly impressive feat). Our community collectively experienced the “Blizzard of 2025.”
At the end of that week, I was invited to tour the snow-covered region from a unique perspective — above.
Whether it’s the Nazca Lines in Peru or the Quincy airport, everything looks different from above. Aerial views possess a certain magic. I’ve always been captivated by flying. As a kid, I practically lived at the Atlanta airport and on planes. My dad lived in Texas, my mom in Alabama, and by age eight, they were letting me fly alone. Back and forth I went, racking up enough miles for a Delta frequent flyer card by age 10.
I loved the airport — newsstands, hot dogs, the general buzz. And the takeoff from Atlanta and the final descent into Houston at night? To my 1980s self, those were some of the best views on the planet.
Ideally, these views were paired with my Walkman blasting Iron Maiden’s “Aces High” for takeoff (a song about the Royal Air Force in the WW2 Battle of Britain) and Pink Floyd for landing.
Indeed, everyone had their takeoff and landing anthems growing up.
My father was also a pilot, flying a Cessna 172 and a PA 28 in the 1960s and 1970s. He used to joke about simply following the interstate when his instruments weren’t cooperating. It’s mind-blowing how far aviation technology has come. Within my lifetime, we’ve gone from virtually no computer components to completely integrated, high-tech tools (altitude pun intended!).
The pilot who invited me on the aerial tour of the post-blizzard landscape was Jason Gonzalez, elite attorney at Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC, and pilot extraordinaire. We flew in his Cirrus SR22, an aircraft equipped with cutting-edge apps and tools and a Starlink connection for catching the Florida Gators’ epic basketball season run.
Jason uses ForeFlight – General Aviation, an app suite with excellent tools I witnessed firsthand as we traversed the region. They also made a tool for military aviators called the Military Flight Bag. Several other impressive companies in the aviation space are based here in Florida, including Aviation Mobile Apps, which develops apps for both the flight industry and the Department of Defense. Based in Cape Canaveral, they offer a suite of apps for pre-flight planning, weather analysis, apreflightother functions (What We Do — Aviation Mobile Apps, LLC).
I asked Jason about the ForeFlight app to better understand its capabilities.
“Using the ForeFlight App on my iPhone, I can create and file a flight plan in about 20 seconds as I pull up to the airport. By the time I get on the plane minutes later, air traffic control will have already sent me an email approving the flight plan, which I then upload to the plane via Bluetooth. The autopilot flies the plane along the fligAutopilotIt’s basically an autonomous vehicle.”
According to the Robb Report, Florida boasts over 14,000 privately owned aircraft. Like elections and college football, Florida reigns supreme in this area (along with Texas and California). The great weather and abundance of airports are likely major contributing factors. Florida also offers over 140 airports ready for use.
Here in Tallahassee, the aviation company Flightline was founded in 1982 and provides services and sales of planes for the general aviation community. They sell and service Piper and Kodiak planes.
Florida is clear for takeoff, with aviation tech providing a safer and more enjoyable experience for plane enthusiasts statewide.
Speaking of safety, you may notice in the picture of my dad by his plane that he is wearing a parachute. The idea is that he could jump out in a worst-case scenario where the plane stalls.
Today, the Cirrus SR22 has a built-in whole-plane parachute, so you don’t have to jump in case of an emergency, which is a definite improvement.
Thanks to technology, the days of following an interstate are also long behind us.
That’s over and out for today. Buckle your seatbelt and put your tray table up, as this column is coming in for a hard landseat belt a shoutout to Dad.
Thanks for letting me tag along worldwide with you on dozens of flights as a kid.
Also, thank you, Jason, for the opportunity to fly Aces High above our state during the 2025 Blizzard.
