I decided not to in my PA28R last time I was there for the same reason. Climb rate was too anemic in the high DA for me to be comfortable flying up there. But my lack of experience and a little nervousness in high DA was the major factor in deciding that more than the airplanes limitations.
That is a lot of IAS for that altitude! I feel like the only time I ever got a skyhawk that high was on a ferry gig and I was top of the white arc-ish.
I haven’t flown a Cessna yet that the fuel gauges stayed put or were accurate between 3/ and 1/4, or that didn’t have a nosewheel shimmy at some point.
Tour operators get to fly lower so the general public can get a better view on their cheap ride
My late father's sense of humor. It had been his airplane, and there was no way I was going to remove that placard, nor the one on the pilot-side yoke (under the iPhone): "No Screaming"."Avoid prolonged inverted flight"?
Wow, what a flight!
I just did it a few weeks ago in my DA40, same IO360 engine as a C172. I've flown the canyon half a dozen times, and made more than 25 passes. First time was in a C172 with 3 people from KVGT. You could definitely do the west end of the canyon, which is still spectacular, and minimum altitudes are only 8500 MSL. Even the east end is not an issue if you fly really early and have very low winds. If you go much farther east than Grand Canyon West, you should really leave Vegas before dawn and fly the east end as early as possible. Last year I had the displeasure of trying it on a hot May afternoon with 40kt winds out of the south. I made one pass up Zuni northbound at 11,500, then turned to come back Dragon at 10,500 southbound. The high winds from the south were creating a mountain wave up the North Rim and the rollers tossed me around like a ragdoll. I made a couple of 360's to the north, climbing to 12,500 and attempted southbound Dragon again. But the turbulence was very bad, and the mountain wave made it incredibly difficult to hold altitude at 12,500. At full throttle (normally aspirated IO360 at probably 18-19 inches) I was still being pulled down and aborted my attempt when IAS fell below 80kts. Turned back westbound and headed for Vegas north of the North Rim. Bottom line, if you try to fly with 180hp, fly early with low winds. It's a spectacular experience that I highly recommend for any pilot. Just don't be afraid or slow to abort if your plane's performance is not up to the task.
Cool. What’s next?
