Coast to Coast in a small plane

Flew to Alaska and back, twice. Flew to remote BC, Canada and back on floats. Flew to Maine and back on floats. Numerous trips to west coast.

As soon as you cross to east of the Mississippi, the weather gets cloudy. Being IFR rated helps, but doesn't always mean you can go that way either. Thunderstorms, bad winds, turbulence all conspire to make you hole up is some hotel for a day or two, maybe one trip out of 10. It will happen. Plan on it and you will be a LOT safer.

One thing, going west to east you have tailwinds, but the time change means shorter days. Going east to west, you pick up daylight on the time zones, but get slowed down by headwinds. Fly low for less wind, high for more. Leave early in the morning for less wind, late in the day for more.

Keep an eye on those TFR's!
 
Did in January 2010 when we moved from Connecticut to SoCal . . . . with a brand new 18 year old pilot, and a labrador retreiver. Stopped every three hours or so for the dog more than anything. . . but at 160TAS you cover a lot of ground between stops.

First stop from CT was Greenville SC, then a short hop to overnight at a friends house in Huntsville, AL and woke up to a sparkling 19F morning. Airplane wanted to climb on take off that morning with a density alt of -1000'.

Headed into the Southwest with a stop at GYI [Sherman Texas, north of Dallas] and then on to the SW for an overnight at El Paso. Woke up bright and early and wheels up at 9a produced a 4 hour leg to Brackett and my new home.

I managed only 1 IFR arrival [into GSO] and we literally got the only 3 day window the whole month we could have pulled this off on sequential days. . . . .

Sometimes its better to be lucky than good . . . . I always went up to 8500 VFR and 10000 IFR to get the dog to quiet down and he always just calmed right down after we hit crusing alt and slept until the power was reduced. The arrival into the LA basin was the most turbulent ride I've ever had in a GA airplane . . . .
 
I'll add that I have done much of this in some very slow airplanes as well such as my Champ that cruises at about 85 mph. Despite the slow speed if the wind and weather cooperate you can really put some territory behind you if you keep the nose pointed in the same direction for any length of time.

When we flew to Alaska we met an old couple in Talkeetna that had flown up there from Ohio in a J3 Cub. I have all of the logbooks for my '46 Luscombe and the original owner flew it from Texas to Fairbanks Alaska right after purchase. He logged 57 hours on that trip north!
 
Northern California to eastern Pennsylvania and back in a 1959 C182, steam gauges, no autopilot. Had a great time, would do it again in a heartbeat.
 
Coast to coast? Meh. Get a Diesel 182 and really go exploring :p

YiOHy5E.jpg


(But yes, have done coast to coast round trips twice as well in 172SP and Arrow!)
 
San Jose, CA to Grand Turk in the Turks Caicos is my longest trip to date. If I recall it was 548 nm's East of Miami to Provenciales where we cleared Customs in the Turks, and then on to Grand Turk. It was the trip of a lifetime. We've crossed the US several times, loved it each time.
 
Las Vegas to Augusta Maine and return. 43 hours.
Las Vegas to Anchorage and a few other Alaska destinations and return. 53 hours

T-41B, 210HP, 10gph, 125KTAS

SoCal to Cape Cod should be a great trip.
 
Last edited:
I would love to do this.. I am planning a trip from Indiana to Texas in my Cherokee 140 in April.. not Coast to Coast but should be a blast !
 
We do this fairly regularly, since we have family in San Francisco. It's a two day trip in a 172RG -- leave on the morning of the first day, arrive on the afternoon of the second. Santa Fe, Tucumcari, Ponca City, and Sedona are all good overnight stops. There's a good on-field restaurant in Ponca City. The leg from Evansville, IN to Ponca City is where it really gets interesting. Fox Field in Lancaster, CA is anothe good meal stop.

Paul
 
Bangor, ME to Midland, TX in a 172 over three days, lots of fun. Having a long-distance final destination gives you a lot of flexibility for planning fuel stops and RON locations, just remember the weather rules all.
 
Long cross-countries are always an adventure. My longest so far is Mojave, CA to St. Mary's, MD in a SNJ(AT-6). Took about 4 and a half days due to some weather delays.
 
the guy who works next to me flew from Washington state to central GA in a cub that he purchased. I think it took him 3 days.
 
I flight planed a trip around the world. I had a flight plan program that had international airports. At the time, it was possible to go through Russia to Japan. Political unrest didn't let you go through the middle east and india.
The longest leg was Greenland to Iceland, as I recall, 450NM.
 
coloradobluesky said:
I flight planed a trip around the world. I had a flight plan program that had international airports. At the time, it was possible to go through Russia to Japan. Political unrest didn't let you go through the middle east and india.
The longest leg was Greenland to Iceland, as I recall, 450NM.
Click to expand...

Biggest hassle with that route is staging fuel. That's why a Diesel would be so nice to have. 100LL and even quality MoGas in some parts of the world is tough.
 
Iowa City to Reno, NV.
Iowa City to Lakeland, FL
Iowa City to Corpus Christi, TX
Iowa City to Washington, DC.
Port Aransas, TX to Oshkosh.
Port Aransas to New Orleans.
Port Aransas to Brownsville, Tx,
Dallas, TX,
Marfa, TX.

These are just a tiny sampling of the many cross country flights we've made over the last two decades, all VFR.

I'm always amazed when I learn of pilots who DON'T do cross country flights. Might as well own a boat, if you're never going to leave the pattern.
 
I once did a 250nm xc for a commercial fixed wing requirement.


Oh yeah, and a flight from Manhattan, KS to Key West, FL in a 172XP. Made it as far as Miami the first day, then "had" to stop....for the nightlife! Fun trip, and Miami wasn't bad either.
 
I did KYIP-KDRT in one day. Not a coast to coast, but technically I did cross the Country border to border. That was a 10-hour day block time (9.4 flight time). Didn't talk to a soul either. Post-purchase ferry flight home *yikes*. Had to skyradar my way out of Michigan and Indiana but once I outran the flanking front, it was warm and bright skies all the way home. Good times.
 
In the summer of 2013 I bought a Maule in the Seattle area and flew it back to Manassas, VA. That trip took 8 days, but I did a BIG dogleg down the west coast visiting friends and family before heading east through Tehachapi pass. Since my wife went with me I took my time (not that you can hurry in a Maule) and we dawdled at nice restaurants along the way. More doglegs were required to get around a persistent line of thunderstorms that blocked the southern 2/3 of the country through the Midwest. The whole flight was done VFR and it was a blast.

This year we decided the rain shadow just north of Seattle (Sequim and Port Townsend, WA) was the perfect place to live. So, we sold our house and moved back to the west coast. We drove both cars and the dog back first, then I went back to Virginia for the plane. This time it was a 4 day run (average airspeed just 105 knots). I could have made it a quicker run, but I flew way south so I could land on grass at Gaston's resort on the White River in Arkansas, and I made a stop in Albuquerque to see our daughter. The countryside from Albuquerque up through northern New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and SE Idaho was spectacular! Here is a link to my photo diary of this year's trip. I strongly encourage you to make the trip, and I also encourage you to plan for enough time that you can take in some sights along the way. If you're going to rush the trip you might as well fly commercially...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...426.1073741831.1460040976&type=1&l=9793e882d6
 
Longest trip in shortest time was NJ to Arksansas (1000nm) for a client meeting. Left that morning, had the meeting that afternoon, stayed the night, one extra meeting that morning, quick lunch, then AR back to NJ, home in time for dinner. 2000nm in two days.

Flight planning to find the cheapest fuel (without going too far out of the way) is fun.

The Lancair 360 was built for it. 192ktas at 9.5gph (lean of peak).

Am very excited to take to coast to coast sometime next year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top