Cross country route

T

Todd Wilson

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Jul 12, 2018
Messages
11
Display Name
Display name:
Todhog
Hi everybody, I’m new here and I’m hoping for some help on planning a cross country trip. By cross county I’m mean all the way across the country.

I’m “thinking” about buying a plane in Sacramento and flying it back to the Atlanta area but I don’t know the best route for leaving California. Can anyone familiar with the area give me a hand?

I’m also trying to load this route into ForeFlight to try and get an idea what the fuel costs would be. I haven’t flown GA in quite a while so I’m having to relearn all this. Help a stupid airline pilot out, thanks.


Todd
 
Fly down to Lake Havasu. Pick a side of the Sierras, I don't think it really matters. I did the east side crossing over Tahoe. From Havasu you can cross the Rockies at under 10,000 around Albuquerque/Santa Fe, and once you're past there, you'll find cheap fuel and flat land pretty much any where in TX or OK. Use http://www.airnav.com/fuel to help find cheap places.
 
Todd Wilson said:
Cessna195
Click to expand...
Nice ride! Add about 2hrs extra at each stop to answer questions and for people taking pictures. There's one at the field I trained at, thought it was the prettiest airplane on the field. Roomy too. Dig that step that drops down when the door opens.
 
Interesting, I was thinking just fly south then turn east. This is what I’m looking for,thanks!

EdFred said:
Fly down to Lake Havasu. Pick a side of the Sierras, I don't think it really matters. I did the east side crossing over Tahoe. From Havasu you can cross the Rockies at under 10,000 around Albuquerque/Santa Fe, and once you're past there, you'll find cheap fuel and flat land pretty much any where in TX or OK. Use http://www.airnav.com/fuel to help find cheap places.
Click to expand...
 
Next question. How do you start a new trip on ForeFlight? I packed the first one.

I need somebody to teach me how to use ForeFlight. I know a kid that’s probably an expert.
 
Last edited:
When I was ferrying Pipers from Florida to Seattle back in the 1970s my route pretty much depended on the weather. Most of the time I went across the southern tier of states, a one-eighty from your trip but still instructive. I would overnight at places like Waco or Midland and turn north when I got to Blythe. In your situation I would fly to Palm Springs before turning east. Watch out for all of those restricted areas, and use flight following.

Bob
 
bobmrg said:
When I was ferrying Pipers from Florida to Seattle back in the 1970s my route pretty much depended on the weather. Most of the time I went across the southern tier of states, a one-eighty from your trip but still instructive. I would overnight at places like Waco or Midland and turn north when I got to Blythe. In your situation I would fly to Palm Springs before turning east. Watch out for all of those restricted areas, and use flight following.

Bob
Click to expand...

That’s what I’m talking about! What’s the best route through those and best places to land? How many days should I plan for a trip like this? At work I just program the box and bring some free news papers from the hotel.
 
Three basic ways outta CA in a single headed east for the unfamillar...

Follow I-80, but weather over the Sierras can be iffy

Head down to Bakersfield then over Tecahapi Pass towards Vegas then follow 40...can be windy through there

Safest route IMO for a flat lander is to head south through SoCal then follow I-10 east.

There are a ton of youtube videos on foreflight

Ideal conditions you can do that in two days
 
For noodling with possible very long distance rote's and using ForeFlight to do it, I prefer being on my laptop or desktop and using https://plan.foreflight.com than trying it on my tablet.

Bigger screens, mouse a availablity, easier to rubber band the route, and some other useful tools.

And once you've created your masterpiece, it's auto saved and can be found in FF on your tablet under the Flights Tab.


And the videos and other material found in https://support.foreflight.com/hc/en-us can really help explain the different features. Sometimes a bit better then the Pilots Guide.
 
And as you cross Texas, plan a stop at KDTO so myself, Br-y-an, John Cranford, @overdrive148, and a few others can meet you, derogatory over your new plane, and treat ya to some good food and bev.
 
Before you get to Texas, stop in Gallup, NM. I'll take you to the best restaurant in town.... (taco bell)
 
Not Casa Zeldman? What a rip....
 
Todd Wilson said:
Hi everybody, I’m new here and I’m hoping for some help on planning a cross country trip. By cross county I’m mean all the way across the country.

I’m “thinking” about buying a plane in Sacramento and flying it back to the Atlanta area but I don’t know the best route for leaving California. Can anyone familiar with the area give me a hand?

I’m also trying to load this route into ForeFlight to try and get an idea what the fuel costs would be. I haven’t flown GA in quite a while so I’m having to relearn all this. Help a stupid airline pilot out, thanks.


Todd
Click to expand...
Don't overthink your routing:
Take off and maneuver to keep the Big Water on your right.
Fly to the dotted lines and turn left
If morning, keep the Big Light in front of you*
If afternoon, keep the Big Light behind you*
Once past checkpoint Big-Brown-Smudge (Hou), Keep the So-So Big Water to your right
Fly until you see So-So Big Water slightly behind and to your right AND Big Water in front of you
Land

*this method does not work well at noon, night, and under overcast skies.

Happy aviating:)
 
Todd Wilson said:
That’s what I’m talking about! What’s the best route through those and best places to land? How many days should I plan for a trip like this? At work I just program the box and bring some free news papers from the hotel.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I did not plan ahead. Insurance would not let me fly at night or on instruments (stuck in Lake City FL for three days due to fog). I took off from Vero Beach, headed north to Pensacola and turned left. Flew until I needed gas and landed at the next airport with fuel and a restaurant. Allowing for weather delays, I averaged three days from Florida to Seattle. There is no "best place to land," just places with fuel, food, and a place to lay my head at night.
There was no internet at the time....there are dozens of airport-information sites today.

Full disclosure: I had a couple of thousand hours logged before my first ferry flight.

Bob
 
AggieMike88 said:
Not Casa Zeldman? What a rip....
Click to expand...

Gallup, Nm is not known for its culinary cuisine. Neither is my wife..... however, she can really make a great chocolate banana smoothie.

(but she dropped a metal spoon into the blender the other night. Man, it was a spectacular sight..!!!!!)
 
Shawn said:
Safest route IMO for a flat lander is to head south through SoCal then follow I-10 east.
Click to expand...

That's what I would do, but I live along that route so I'm probably biased by knowing a fair bit of the area.

Also, it is monsoon season now in southern Arizona / NM; plan to allow some extra time for weather just in case.
 
Shawn said:
He has the Sierras and the Rockies in his way...a fair amount of overthinking is warranted!
Click to expand...
That's why I crossed over at Lake Tahoe and slid down the east side.
 
AggieMike88 said:
And as you cross Texas, plan a stop at KDTO so myself, Br-y-an, John Cranford, @overdrive148, and a few others can meet you, derogatory over your new plane, and treat ya to some good food and bev.
Click to expand...

I don’t wanna derogatory on his new plane but I’ll surely drool on it!

I did DTO to Southern Oregon in 9.5 hrs, but I was probably going faster than the 195
 
JCranford said:
I don’t wanna derogatory on his new plane but I’ll surely drool on it!

I did DTO to Southern Oregon in 9.5 hrs, but I was probably going faster than the 195
Click to expand...
Damn... auto correct and fat finger syndrome...

Thang goodness the latter doesn't need to be reported on the medicals
 
Todd Wilson said:
Hi everybody, I’m new here and I’m hoping for some help on planning a cross country trip. By cross county I’m mean all the way across the country.

I’m “thinking” about buying a plane in Sacramento and flying it back to the Atlanta area but I don’t know the best route for leaving California. Can anyone familiar with the area give me a hand?

I’m also trying to load this route into ForeFlight to try and get an idea what the fuel costs would be. I haven’t flown GA in quite a while so I’m having to relearn all this. Help a stupid airline pilot out, thanks.


Todd
Click to expand...
#1 Is the weather. Depends on the time of year. If anytime in the next 3 months, the route doesn't matter - fly 4-6 hours starting in the EARLY morning to avoid developing TStorms & heat (which is cause massive up & down drafts much worse than any roller coaster).

#2 if you're not familiar with flying in the Rockies, take either I-80 route or head south and follow I-20. I-80 requires about 10K altitude at times. The southern route is much more forgiving on altitude, but the weather is the tradeoff.

#3 - The direct route won't work, even with a 195. Too many places where there are few or no "outs" if you run into trouble.
 
What I do is just make a direct line in FF, and drag it around anything I want to avoid, or towards anything I want to check out.

When it comes to the flight, eyes out side, don’t second guess your gut and take it as she comes.

By the way congrats on your good taste in aircraft!
 
Zeldman said:
(but she dropped a metal spoon into the blender the other night. Man, it was a spectacular sight..!!!!!)
Click to expand...

How'd that go down with the chocolate/banana smoothie? That oughta clean ya out fer sur!
 
Todd Wilson said:
Hi everybody, I’m new here and I’m hoping for some help on planning a cross country trip. By cross county I’m mean all the way across the country.

I’m “thinking” about buying a plane in Sacramento and flying it back to the Atlanta area but I don’t know the best route for leaving California. Can anyone familiar with the area give me a hand?

I’m also trying to load this route into ForeFlight to try and get an idea what the fuel costs would be. I haven’t flown GA in quite a while so I’m having to relearn all this. Help a stupid airline pilot out, thanks.


Todd
Click to expand...
You say you’re ‘thinking’ about buying a 195. I usually don’t spend a whole lot of time on flight planning until I’ve actually committed to buying it/done a prebuy...etc.

That said, I’ve flown coast to coast several times including a Cessna 170, Beech 18 and a T6.

Like Bob said, your route is going to depend largely on weather at the time you do the trip. Have at least two or three rough routes planned in advance and the go with the best one for the weather at the time. But also, you need to be flexible along the way as weather changes will affect your plans.

When flying a tailwheel across the country, wind forecasts are going to drive your route as much as clouds and t-storms, especially when you are new to an aircraft. Trying to safely land a tailwheel airplane that you are new to when the wind is blowing 25 kts 90 degrees to all the nearby runways takes a lot of the fun out of the experience.

I like to pick my overnight spots in advance, but I don’t focus on fuel stops as much since they can change due to weather.

The first thing you have to decide is how confident you are in the airplane. Coming out of Sacramento, you are either going to have to cross the Sierra Nevadas right off the bat or fly all the way down to LA area before heading east. If you decide you are comfortable crossing the mountains, I’d follow highway 50 to Tahoe and then head down toward the Grand Canyon and over toward Albuquerque or Santa Fe. After you cross the Rockies, it’s all downhill from there.

As far as fuel planning, I usually estimate $5/gallon. Some places are going to be less, some a little more, but $5 is a good average for ballpark cost planning.
 
Fearless Tower said:
You say you’re ‘thinking’ about buying a 195. I usually don’t spend a whole lot of time on flight planning until I’ve actually committed to buying it/done a prebuy...etc.

That said, I’ve flown coast to coast several times including a Cessna 170, Beech 18 and a T6.

Like Bob said, your route is going to depend largely on weather at the time you do the trip. Have at least two or three rough routes planned in advance and the go with the best one for the weather at the time. But also, you need to be flexible along the way as weather changes will affect your plans.

When flying a tailwheel across the country, wind forecasts are going to drive your route as much as clouds and t-storms, especially when you are new to an aircraft. Trying to safely land a tailwheel airplane that you are new to when the wind is blowing 25 kts 90 degrees to all the nearby runways takes a lot of the fun out of the experience.

I like to pick my overnight spots in advance, but I don’t focus on fuel stops as much since they can change due to weather.

The first thing you have to decide is how confident you are in the airplane. Coming out of Sacramento, you are either going to have to cross the Sierra Nevadas right off the bat or fly all the way down to LA area before heading east. If you decide you are comfortable crossing the mountains, I’d follow highway 50 to Tahoe and then head down toward the Grand Canyon and over toward Albuquerque or Santa Fe. After you cross the Rockies, it’s all downhill from there.

As far as fuel planning, I usually estimate $5/gallon. Some places are going to be less, some a little more, but $5 is a good average for ballpark cost planning.
Click to expand...

Thanks Fearless, I’m still in the planning phase now. Like you said, I have to fly out there and inspect the plane first. I was just trying to get some idea of what it would cost to fly it back. In looking at the route I realized I had no idea which way to go so I found this site and it has been a wealth of information in one day, thanks guys.

I have a friend with a 195 and a Lockheed 12 so maybe I could get him to go with me but I haven’t gotten that far into this yet. Give me some time to work things out and we’ll see what happens. Making more calls tomorrow.

Todd
 
@Todd Wilson ... it’s been said before in other long XC threads, but just treat the long XC as a series of shorter ones like you did during your training and plan them separately, staying inside a reasonable fuel range with each “hop” with plenty of gas left at each stop.

Many of us would be conservative, especially with a new-to-us airplane and land sooner than later for the first couple of “hops” in the overall trip, and stick the tanks (or start topped off if the W&B allows and “measure” by topping off again) and make sure the fuel burn is as expected.

Once you know the fuel burn is matching the book (or not) you can plan slightly longer legs with at least VFR minimums, and many would say to double that in an unfamiliar aircraft.

But planning-wise, just plan each leg like it’s a one way standard cross-country and keep up on what the weather is doing ahead and behind you, and you’ll be golden.

Have fun flying home if you buy the airplane.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top