Miami Executive Aviation

I jump-seated on one of my planes to pick up freight at Opa Locka, Florida (KOPF) and we used the services of Miami Executive Aviation.  

From the moment we got there, they were right on task.  We were parked and the truck that had our freight was positioned quickly.  The forklift operator was quick and efficient.  He even turned the pallets so that the crew could move them more easily!

As we were loading, our fuel was being taken care of to ensure the shortest ground time.  After we were all loaded and fueled, we went into the FBO to do paperwork.  The facility was clean and was very open.  All of the furniture was leather, even!  It was quite a bit more upscale than I'm used to, but considering the number of private, international flights that they must service, it was quite amazing.

 When the crew asked about the runway that they preferred being closed, the manager made a call and then it became available to us.  All we had to do after that was advise the controller that we had arrangements to use that runway.

Overall they were quick, efficient, and friendly.  Anything that they could do to help us out was no problem for them.  I would love to go back! 

Close Quarters Tactical

Through Groupon, I was able to get a great deal at Close Quarters Tactical on firearm rental, ammunition and an hour of range time.  This gave Dale and I a chance to get back on the range and also some time to just hang out.

When we walked in, we were not swarmed by pushy salespeople at all.  We wandered the shop area checking out the cool stuff they have before heading to the counter to cash in on our deal.  

The young lady who was working with us was very friendly and helpful.  She even suggested which gun I might like to try out(Smith & Wesson M&P9).  Dale ended up renting the Springfield Armory XDM that he was already looking at buying.  After going through a safety briefing for the range area and getting eye and ear protection, we were in the booths on the range!

We ended up going through 100 rounds of ammo (instead of the 50 provided for on the Groupon) but the extra ammo wasn't priced too high.  Both of us tried out both guns and Dale decided that he liked the S&W more than the XDM.  We even went so far as to start looking into getting the S&W for our own use.

I think I asked a bunch of questions starting with "may I" but the gentleman I kept asking seemed to appreciate it more than be annoyed by it.  Overall, the staff is friendly and helpful, but not overbearing at all. I loved that they had the exact gun that Dale wanted to try out anyway and we may have found our first firearm purchase.  

In summary:  I can't wait to go back to Close Quarters!

P.S.  Sorry I didn't get any pictures.  I was preoccupied and also didn't want to push my luck.

Welcome!

Currently, this is brand new and still very much a work in progress, but I can share the main thread of the plan.

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Enjoy!