Deer Valley (KDVT) to Eloy (E60) - Questions

CC268

CC268

Final Approach
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CC268
I think I am going to start making this flight a lot after work as it will help me get my 50 cross country hours needed for my Instrument rating.

Anyways, first thing I noticed is there is no AWOS, so I think I will use Coolidge's AWOS (P08) since it seems to be the closest airport (about 12 miles North East). I would just over fly the airport and check the windsock, but the AFD says, "Approach from west and do not overfly airport, extremely heavy parachute jumping activity over east side of airport SR-SS. When wind 10 knots or less depart Runway 02 and land Runway 20".

This seems a little odd to me...how do I know what the winds "really" are if there is no AWOS and I can't overfly the airport to check the windsock? It specified to land 20 and depart 02 if less than 10 knots...

I haven't come across this situation yet (I am low time though so not uprising), so looking for some advice before I make the flight.
 
Check other visual cues like trees, smoke, etc to gauge where the wind is coming from. Just estimate
 
jordane93 said:
Check other visual cues like trees, smoke, etc to gauge where the wind is coming from. Just estimate
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Yea that's the difficult part...just not many visual cues in the middle of the desert...maybe I can spot some tumbleweeds on the ground haha...I'm sure I will figure it out though.
 
If you have a GPS you can compare your True Airspeed to your GPS (groundspeed), take the difference and that is the headwind/tailwind component.
 
coloradobluesky said:
If you have a GPS you can compare your True Airspeed to your GPS (groundspeed), take the difference and that is the headwind/tailwind component.
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I got ForeFlight lol and a Garmin 295 on the panel (which is use for the nearest function and that is it) but sounds like that could give me a general idea
 
If you read that AFD entry real carefully with a little "between the lines" knowledge -- it's saying to remain west of the runway centerline on overflights. The jump stuff is on the east side.

In other words, you could still overfly offset on the west side above pattern altitude (probably north to south so the airport is on your side of the aircraft) to get a look at the windsocks if you really couldn't get the info any other way...

If the jump planes are up, listen in on the CTAF early and see what runway they're using. Same with any other traffic arriving or departing. The frequency is listed as a UNICOM also so maybe there's a radio on inside that someone would answer. "Eloy Unicom..."

Ground cues. Dust, water (I know you don't have much/any of that), closest weather reporting airports (Chandler?) and overall weather picture (if there's not a big weather system moving through, things TEND toward being the same across fairly large areas...), hints in the AFD for calm wind runway are also often the general direction the wind comes from... you can always even just set up for a normal pattern with a plan to fly down final if you're out there by yourself and execute a go around looking at the sock as you do that... and then as others have said, electronics and gadgets can give groundspeed vs airspeed and see if your predictions from reading the weather seem to match the reality.

And here's one nobody has mentioned that you usually see almost everywhere... flags. Look for flags.

Yeah you'll need to be down around 1000' AGL to see them, but they're everywhere. They're just small. :)

Dust being kicked up by wind or construction, smoke from diesel equipment or trucks, all sorts of stuff -- but it takes a while to notice them without really thinking about it.

It sounds like the place is fairly busy reading comments, with jumping activity. The jump pilots will help out if asked. They'll be listening for you as other traffic anyway. I've had some interesting conversations with jump pilots in the middle of nowhere passing over airports where they're working and deconflicting myself from their work. They don't want to meat-bomb you any more than you want to be meat-bombed. LOL. A friendly "Hey what runway are y'all using at Eloy today?" [insert whatever airport here if anyone's jumping that day] when you're 15 miles out or so, usually takes care of it.
 
Thanks for the info - I will use those suggestions when I make the flight! I thought about asking UNICOM about the winds, but not sure what to expect, I have never actually used UNICOM before.
 
CC268 said:
I think I am going to start making this flight a lot after work as it will help me get my 50 cross country hours needed for my Instrument rating.

Anyways, first thing I noticed is there is no AWOS, so I think I will use Coolidge's AWOS (P08) since it seems to be the closest airport (about 12 miles North East). I would just over fly the airport and check the windsock, but the AFD says, "Approach from west and do not overfly airport, extremely heavy parachute jumping activity over east side of airport SR-SS. When wind 10 knots or less depart Runway 02 and land Runway 20".

This seems a little odd to me...how do I know what the winds "really" are if there is no AWOS and I can't overfly the airport to check the windsock? It specified to land 20 and depart 02 if less than 10 knots...

I haven't come across this situation yet (I am low time though so not uprising), so looking for some advice before I make the flight.
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Check here (you can type in airport codes as locations and save them by clicking the star): http://www.wunderground.com/
 
All good info. A low pass over runway would be OK, 'no different than a landing. DenverPIlot is right, if there's jump activity, they'll let you know wind info, but but might actually land contrary to the wind themselves. You can almost always count on some dust, from somewhere. Dust devils abound, or dust from farmers, or cars on a dirt road. Casa Grand Awos will work fine, too. Be careful of the occasional jumpers just NNE of KCGZ.

Check this out... https://www.windytv.com/KE60?32.808,-112.687,8
 
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I've flown by Eloy several times but never landed there. When you have the CTAF dialed up, you can hear the jump planes constantly making calls like, "STAY AWAY FROM ELOY!" They are pretty emphatic and direct about it. But those jump planes have to come back and land.

If you just want X-country time to the south, why not just fly to Coolidge (P08)?
 
azpilot said:
I've flown by Eloy several times but never landed there. When you have the CTAF dialed up, you can hear the jump planes constantly making calls like, "STAY AWAY FROM ELOY!" They are pretty emphatic and direct about it. But those jump planes have to come back and land.

If you just want X-country time to the south, why not just fly to Coolidge (P08)?
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I'd pay money if someone would record themselves...

"Quit dropping humans on airports, drop them somewhere else and hire a bus driver to bring them back!"

LOL. I don't mean it, of course, but it would be funny as hell.
 
I fly to Eloy often, I'm in the same boat, but based out of KSDL. Eloy is the closest far enough airport. The jump pilots will gladly talk to you. They are good at communicating what's going on. Seriously, just ask them. They'll tell you what the winds are like and which runway is in use. You usually land one way and take off the other. I usually listen to P08, MZJ, and AVQ. All 3 are in the same flatland area and the winds are usually very similar.

The first time you fly there, you'll probably just about fly past it before you see it. It blends in pretty well. The easiest way to pick it out is to look for the indoor skydiving wind tunnel building. It has 4 fairly tall white 'tubes'. It's on the east side of the field.

Are you planning to fly the Class B down there? If so, since you're on with approach anyway, get flight following. They'll keep you updated to what the skydiving activity is like down there before hand.
 
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Walboy said:
Almost...this is ZAB's airspace, the jump planes aren't talking to PHX approach.
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This is true. I wasn't suggesting approach would give you the info, I was saying get on FF, and you'll get updates. You'll be talking to center by the time you get down that way.
 
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