Flying into Palm Springs KPSP

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jconway2002

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jconway2002
Hi everyone, new pilot here with some concerns. I may need to drop my brother off in Palm Springs this April and I hoping to get some feedback/ advice from others who have been there. Is flying in VFR in a C172 okay? Will it be super expensive to tie down for a couple hours, or maybe just drop him off at the FBO? I am departing from Palomar Carlsbad KCRQ, can you suggest a route?

Thanks everyone.
 
Does he need to be downtown or will one of the other airports suffice?

jconway2002 said:
Hi everyone, new pilot here with some concerns. I may need to drop my brother off in Palm Springs this April and I hoping to get some feedback/ advice from others who have been there. Is flying in VFR in a C172 okay? Will it be super expensive to tie down for a couple hours, or maybe just drop him off at the FBO? I am departing from Palomar Carlsbad KCRQ, can you suggest a route?

Thanks everyone.
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jconway2002 said:
Hi everyone, new pilot here with some concerns. I may need to drop my brother off in Palm Springs this April and I hoping to get some feedback/ advice from others who have been there. Is flying in VFR in a C172 okay? Will it be super expensive to tie down for a couple hours, or maybe just drop him off at the FBO? I am departing from Palomar Carlsbad KCRQ, can you suggest a route?

Thanks everyone.
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Yep - this way you don't need 11000 . . . .

Take a right downwind departure to ROBNN intersection, then TANNR Direct HDF V372 PSP through Banning Pass - easily doable at 5500/6500 . . . its only about 84nm so its less than an hour each way. March will let you overfly them too so don't get scared and fly around it.

You'll want to stop at the FBO and gather your wits for the return trip and some gas - unless he is not actually going to PSP airport - but just the general area - then you might want to consider landing at UDD - Bermuda Dunes- reasonably priced fuel and no fees.

The desert should not be too hot yet - so it might a tolerable flight even through the pass - you never know what to expect through Banning - its almost never dead calm but sometimes its so nasty it'll break things. Pretty decent chance in April of clear skies the whole way too.
 
Itenerant golfers sometimes land at Bermuda Dunes. I've seen them hanging around old Comanches while waiting for a ride to the nearest track.

comanchepilot said:
Yep - this way you don't need 11000 . . . .

Take a right downwind departure to ROBNN intersection, then TANNR Direct HDF V372 PSP through Banning Pass - easily doable at 5500/6500 . . . its only about 84nm so its less than an hour each way. March will let you overfly them too so don't get scared and fly around it.

You'll want to stop at the FBO and gather your wits for the return trip and some gas - unless he is not actually going to PSP airport - but just the general area - then you might want to consider landing at UDD - Bermuda Dunes- reasonably priced fuel and no fees.

The desert should not be too hot yet - so it might a tolerable flight even through the pass - you never know what to expect through Banning - its almost never dead calm but sometimes its so nasty it'll break things. Pretty decent chance in April of clear skies the whole way too.
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wabower said:
Itenerant golfers sometimes land at Bermuda Dunes. I've seen them hanging around old Comanches while waiting for a ride to the nearest track.
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At least I know it was not me - I gave up golf 18 months ago - I went back to baseball - hardball - at 52.
 
With your swing I would have done the same thing.:D
Was it two years ago that we played at Desert Willow? or three?
comanchepilot said:
At least I know it was not me - I gave up golf 18 months ago - I went back to baseball - hardball - at 52.
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Nothing wrong with landing there. They are GA friendly although I do not know what the landing fees are. Thermal is also a good spot.
 
Inverted said:
Nothing wrong with landing there. They are GA friendly although I do not know what the landing fees are. Thermal is also a good spot.
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We landed in Thermal the other day. Cool FBO, Tradition, with rocking chairs on the porch. Of course I don't know I would want to sit outside rocking if it was 110F...
 
Tradition is nice, its probably my favorite on the field. And ya it is so crappy in the summer there, that is for sure.
 
wabower said:
I thought so. Who was that guy with Rick?
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Wow - I've completely brain farted on that! And yeah, I gave up golf - just could not master the repetitive thing or dealing with frustration that well . . . I could consistently shoot a 95-100 but thats not good enough!

that was Jeff - he and Rick are about 5 handicaps now - their short game ord putting always fails them - one or the other - thats the thing about Golf - its always something. . . . if its not one thing - its another.
 
Very good airport, the flights shouldn't be a problem.

When you land there go to Signature. I didn't like Atlantic there, they made me park (at night) with my wingtip less than 1 foot away from another aircraft and one of their lineguys walked into my prop.
 
comanchepilot said:
then you might want to consider landing at UDD - Bermuda Dunes- reasonably priced fuel and no fees.

The desert should not be too hot yet - so it might a tolerable flight even through the pass - you never know what to expect through Banning - its almost never dead calm but sometimes its so nasty it'll break things. Pretty decent chance in April of clear skies the whole way too.
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Went to UDD in May. It was empty. watch winds through Banning. Landing fee was five bucks.
 
Inverted said:
Nothing wrong with landing there. They are GA friendly although I do not know what the landing fees are. Thermal is also a good spot.
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PSP landing fees are over $50 or $75 when I checked. they really do not want small single engine traffic and they only tolerate twins.....however and at Bermuda dunes it is $5 with no fuel purchase or free with 10 gallons gasoline. I go into TRM all the time and they are pretty good. I don't remember them ever charging me for a landing fee but I usually go to the self service for fuel. Over night the first night is free with fuel but $5/10 per night after that. In both my Cherokee and Comanche I have had both Signature and Atlantic give me free tie down for up to 10-20 days. Once I left the plane for about 6 weeks and they didn't charge me a penny.

The only advantage of landing at PSP is that you have five car rental companies and get pretty good rates below $19.99 per day. Both other airports are going to charge you upwards of $50 per day rental fees and they are too far from rental company unless you have a local pick you up and help out.

PSP and Udd are only about 15 minutes drive apart but its another 20 minutes from Udd to thermal or 35 from PSP.
 
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Is your brother going to Coachella?? I may go as well coming from Nj flying into la then drive there.
 
HPNPilot1200 said:
I'm based at Thermal. Give me a ring when you're here next!
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I thought about you but we were only there long enough to drop off the passengers and it was a pop-up charter to begin with. You know, the ones where you are think you are going to have a peaceful day at home and the phone rings...
 
Everskyward said:
I thought about you but we were only there long enough to drop off the passengers and it was a pop-up charter to begin with. You know, the ones where you are think you are going to have a peaceful day at home and the phone rings...
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the way to solve that problem is to start the day with a bloody mary . . .
 
I've flown into PSP several times. Parked at atlantic, paid maybe 30 for a ramp fee and borrowed the crew car. Filed IFR out of MYF, flew if i remember right, to JLI and then Direct PSP.. this was a couple years ago, so forgive me if my memory is foggy, 2 kids do that to you.
 
jconway2002 said:
Hi everyone, new pilot here with some concerns. I may need to drop my brother off in Palm Springs this April and I hoping to get some feedback/ advice from others who have been there. Is flying in VFR in a C172 okay? Will it be super expensive to tie down for a couple hours, or maybe just drop him off at the FBO? I am departing from Palomar Carlsbad KCRQ, can you suggest a route?

Thanks everyone.
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I don't think its 50 minutes by Cherokee/172 including climbing to about 9500' I would probably go from Carlsbad to Borango Springs to Saltan Sea to TRM. Or If going to UDD then I would go Carlsbad to Pinon Pines to UDD.

I wouldn't go all the way to banning pass only to come back down to UDD or TRM.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. My brother is meeting his wife and her family in Palm Springs, so maybe I can land at Bermuda Dunes and have him picked up? That seems like the way to go huh?

Do I really need to take the Banning pass, or could I fly to the BALDI intersection if I am coming from KCRQ and landing KUDD?
 
you can go anywhere you want in consideration of the performance of a 172 . . .

I was thinking that you might not want to climb much higher than 6500 . . . once you get over the rocks you are going to get updrafts and downdrafts and turbulence and I really like when the ground is only 2000 instead of 5000 - it adds a level of comfort to knowing that if I get pushed all the way to the ground a) the ground is flat and b) there is someplace to land. But thats just me.

CRQ JLI L08 UDD is 79.5 nm -

CRQ ROBNN TANNR HDF V372 PSP UDD is 85.

Look at the terrain. Consider it will be April - it might get a little bouncy in the desert in afternoon - have not heard if OP is IR yet - which may mean a 8a departure may not work - so we are looking at 10-11a out and 1pm back. I want to be in the Desert near Borrego Springs when its 95F in April .. . . needing to clear or fly between 2 8000' plus peaks with 165 0r 180hp. Yep. Thats me.
 
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Thank you for the replies. I guess its not much longer to take the pass after all. I am a VFR pilot, no instrument rating. I know CRQ can be IFR a lot in the mornings and evenings, but how is weather at Palm Springs typically? I would imagine hot and clear.

comanchepilot said:
you can go anywhere you want in consideration of the performance of a 172 . . .

I was thinking that you might not want to climb much higher than 6500 . . . once you get over the rocks you are going to get updrafts and downdrafts and turbulence and I really like when the ground is only 2000 instead of 5000 - it adds a level of comfort to knowing that if I get pushed all the way to the ground a) the ground is flat and b) there is someplace to land. But thats just me.

CRQ JLI L08 UDD is 79.5 nm -

CRQ ROBNN TANNR HDF V372 PSP UDD is 85.

Look at the terrain. Consider it will be April - it might get a little bouncy in the desert in afternoon - have not heard if OP is IR yet - which may mean a 8a departure may not work - so we are looking at 10-11a out and 1pm back. I want to be in the Desert near Borrego Springs when its 95F in April .. . . needing to clear or fly between 2 8000' plus peaks with 165 0r 180hp. Yep. Thats me.
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HPNPilot1200 said:
Usually, gorgeous. The banning pass gets interesting with Santa Ana winds. If it's IFR, better mins going into UDD or TRM. The mins going into PSP are rather high.
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Thanks again for the tips. Again, I am a VFR only pilot...only 65 hours under my belt. The two routes I'm considering are:

CRQ to Pinyon Pines to UDD (63nm) - I would probably fly at 7500, navigating around the highest peaks, which are 6140, 5755, and 5590. They look easy enough to avoid.

The other option, which will give me some more ground clearance is:

CRQ to HMT to BNG to UDD (84nm) - I could fly this at 5500, but have some parachute and glider activity to worry about, and the turbulence through the Banning pass.
 
All you gotta know about Banning pass can be learned from:

1. Observing the location of the windmill farms.
2. Observing how fast the windmills are turning when the winds in the remainder of the valley are light and variable.
 
wabower said:
All you gotta know about Banning pass can be learned from:

1. Observing the location of the windmill farms.
2. Observing how fast the windmills are turning when the winds in the remainder of the valley are light and variable.
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'Tis true. SoCal is usually helpful if they PIREPs from other aircraft going through the pass. 134.0 west of BNG, 126.7 east of BNG.
 
Thanks everyone! I think I have decided on taking the Banning Pass to PSP. Does anyone know the cost for just a PAX dropoff in a single engine?
 
wabower said:
Itenerant golfers sometimes land at Bermuda Dunes. I've seen them hanging around old Comanches while waiting for a ride to the nearest track.
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Hey, I resemble that remark. :D. Been too long. We should do it again. I enjoyed that round with the Master. OK, enjoyed not so much my game that day, but the company and wx were nice.

comanchepilot said:
Wow - I've completely brain farted on that! And yeah, I gave up golf - just could not master the repetitive thing or dealing with frustration that well . . . I could consistently shoot a 95-100 but thats not good enough!

that was Jeff - he and Rick are about 5 handicaps now - their short game ord putting always fails them - one or the other - thats the thing about Golf - its always something. . . . if its not one thing - its another.
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Yeah, we're maybe 5 + 5 + 3 ++ h/c now. Just when we think we know what we're doing.... Fortunately, most courses serve beer. That either Improves our game or our attitudes. :yes:
Jeff's short game is amazing, even though he does it ALL WRONG - breaks wrist, etc. My game is like you said, pick one aspect on any given day....:yikes:

You should come out w/us again. Today, we're headed to Hidden Valley.
 
MachFly said:
Very good airport, the flights shouldn't be a problem.

When you land there go to Signature. I didn't like Atlantic there, they made me park (at night) with my wingtip less than 1 foot away from another aircraft and one of their lineguys walked into my prop.
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Sounds messy, did they at least help clean off the blood etc?
 
pericynthion said:
Sounds messy, did they at least help clean off the blood etc?
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Sorry didn't realize I didn't clarify this in the original post, the engine was already off. The guy was refueling me and walked into the prop. :mad:
 
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My scores never change, only the color of the tee markers.
ActiveAir said:
Hey, I resemble that remark. :D. Been too long. We should do it again. I enjoyed that round with the Master. OK, enjoyed not so much my game that day, but the company and wx were nice.



Yeah, we're maybe 5 + 5 + 3 ++ h/c now. Just when we think we know what we're doing.... Fortunately, most courses serve beer. That either Improves our game or our attitudes. :yes:
Jeff's short game is amazing, even though he does it ALL WRONG - breaks wrist, etc. My game is like you said, pick one aspect on any given day....:yikes:

You should come out w/us again. Today, we're headed to Hidden Valley.
Click to expand...
 
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