Do you plan on flying (or traveling in general) to see the eclipse on April 8th?

Will you be traveling to see the eclipse?

  • Total voters
    72
AV8R_87

AV8R_87

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Feb 1, 2024
Messages
824
Location
NE USA
Display Name
Display name:
OC
Will you be traveling to see the eclipse? GA flying, commercial flying or driving? Or none?
Curious to see how interested we all are in this event. If flying GA, do you plan on taking other people with you? Share your plans (no need to disclose the destination if you want to keep it quiet over there) and discuss.

I am trying to organize it as a group flight with a couple more aircraft, we've picked a primary destination and a couple alternates on the path. Back-up plan is to be in the air and watch totality that way if it looks like clouds might obscure it on the ground. Next one in the US is in 2044, so I want to make the best of this.
 
Taking a camper to a state park near totality, will do a bicycle ride into totality that morning.
 
I'll fly GA (Piper Arrow) just under 500NM. I have a second home and hangar that are in the path of totality. My wife will be with me. Having said that, even if weather conditions won't allow viewing at our destination, we'll still fly there to enjoy a long weekend.
 
No. We’re in the path of totality. Schools are closing, cities and counties have already made emergency declarations, and tourism bureaus are salivating at the income opportunity for the localities.

What has this world come to?
 
Karen and I are leaving 4/1, headed to a campground in Killeen, TX, arriving a day before. Have high school friends coming to the area from San Francisco and Phoenix.

A fun way to travel. Here at a blueberry farm near Jacksonville on a recent FL trip.

53532919894_42fdfc75f7_c.jpg
 
I flew up to SC to see the one in 2017 I think it was. Was well worth the flight. This one is further so I'm skipping it.
 
Nope. Although spectacular this will not be our first 'rodeo'.
 
I'm still waiting for an invitation from our Texas PoA affiliates since, you know, Texas is in the path.
 
I answered that I will fly 500 - 750 nm to see the eclipse although I may not have to. This is just the most I'd be willing to fly in order to see it. I'm pretty near the path of totality, about 1 hour by GA or 2.5 hours by car. Hopefully the weather will be good here. However, just in case it isn't, I do have hotels booked in different places along the path so I'll look at the forecast a few days before the date (within the window where I can cancel the hotels) and make a decision where to go. The farthest hotel I booked is 650 NM away.
 
Visiting family that live in that area, just driving. Kind of nice because I'm not worried about them losing my reservation. Am a little concerned about what traffic might be like in the area, it's a small town that will probably become a big town for a short period of time. Although perhaps not, because there aren't too many hotels in the area?
 
Did the one in 2017, and the Ring of Fire last October. NASA asked CAP to take temp/wind/cloud cover and radio quality across the entire US. We got over 300 cadet squadrons and lots of middle schools from Hawaii/Alaska to Puerto Rico doing this.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
I was thinking about it, but it sounds like it’s going to be a mess.
Click to expand...
There are certainly some plausible warnings about air traffic congestion at some airports and airspace. Imagine being in controlled airspace and getting instruction to "remain clear of xxx until advised" then having the eclipse occur while you're complying.

(NATCA link 2017 eclipse.)
 
Last edited:
I went to a little podunk uncontrolled field for 2017. Maybe 5 or 6 other planes flew in. The locals had set up a hangar for a shady place to sit and had some water and even some extra viewing glasses. It was pretty low key and pleasant.
 
eman1200 said:
I'm still waiting for an invitation from our Texas PoA affiliates since, you know, Texas is in the path.
Click to expand...
I dont know, we keep inviting you to Arkansas but you never make it. You know Texas is FURTHER :biggrin:
 
Is it too much to ask for airports to publish NOTAMs if they are going to not be doing business as normal, like requiring reservations, etc?
 
Flying, 150-600 nm depending on where the good weather is located. My S.O. will be coming too. We went to the 2017 eclipse and thought it was awesome.
 
FastEddieB said:
Karen and I are leaving 4/1, headed to a campground in Killeen, TX, arriving a day before. Have high school friends coming to the area from San Francisco and Phoenix.

A fun way to travel. Here at a blueberry farm near Jacksonville on a recent FL trip.

53532919894_42fdfc75f7_c.jpg
Click to expand...
You like that Tundra? I know it’s bad juju to criticize another man’s truck but the longest year of my entire life was the three months I owned a new Tundra. Everyone tells me I’m f.o.s. but that truck was a complete unbearable NIGHTMARE! Only time in my life I was in a horrible accident (that totaled the Tundra), and everybody kept asking me why I had a huge grin.
 
What are we going to see from the air vs the ground?

Can I log night time? Haha

Anyone in the Chicago area doing anything? I am free on the 8th.
 
Kind of hard to watch for traffic with eclipse glasses on.
 
Using eclipse as a reason to go visit family. Flying Atlanta to Cincinnati, which does have a couple of minutes totality, but likely fly or drive to center of totality (likely southern Indiana or mid-Ohio) wherever we are confident of no cloud cover, Just ordered several versions of glasses off Amazon.
 
Piperonca said:
Kind of hard to watch for traffic with eclipse glasses on.
Click to expand...

Might be hard to watch the eclipse, most of us don’t have a full glass canopy, the sun might be too high to see it if flying straight and level.
 
Flying GA on the SR22 G6, about 267nm south, 2h flight with the wife. Gonna be IFR on the way out, and sunny landing. I hope.
 
Weather is not looking so great for most of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top