KY to CA in an Archer II... how insane am I?

cowman

cowman

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So my wife and I wanted to do something huge this year, it's possible we might have a kid in the next year and that would make a trip like this exponentially more difficult. Also we've always taken our other big trips south and east.

Really we're starting out at KUIN just N of St louis but for logistical reasons our trip starts out at 2I0 in KY and will end in Santa Barbara with a day's rest about halfway in Roswell.

Here's the general very subject to alteration based on winds/weather route. Planned departure date is the 1st week of Apr.

Day1:
2I0 KFYV KHBR KROW

Day2: Take a day off, explore Roswell area, look for aliens.

Day3:
KROW E80 KSJN KEED KSBA

Hopefully, if all goes well next week I'll have a shiny new instrument rating for this trip. I've taken some long cross countries in the past... not quite this long but still pretty long VFR only. So aside from the usual suggestions of bringing snacks, money, and expecting weather related delays anyone got any route specific notes/suggestions? Being that the outbound trip is mostly west, I am somewhat concerned about headwinds making it grueling but it will do what it will do. Not above putting in early somewhere if it gets too long but the number of places that are near the route and look like fun aren't too long.

We have 2 weeks available to us and we're not completely committed to staying in Santa Barbara, there's been some talk of staying a day in Albuquerque on the way back. I'd also thought about stopping in the Vegas area or Grand Canyon but we've been to both of those before so IDK. Usually our pattern is spending 2-3 days in one town before getting bored with it and onto the next place.

Anyway, comments/suggestions/concerns?
 
I'd spend all my free time in California. Way cool. Come in north of La and fly up the coast, above the coastal mountains and in the Sierra foothills. Oceano is way cool, walk to a restuarant beach town. They all are.
 
coloradobluesky said:
I'd spend all my free time in California. Way cool. Come in north of La and fly up the coast, above the coastal mountains and in the Sierra foothills. Oceano is way cool, walk to a restuarant beach town. They all are.
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:yeahthat:

Sounds anything but insane. Explore coastal California; fly it from Santa Barbara to Watsonville. Check out the vineyards around Paso Robles. Fly up to the historical gold rush area east of Sacramento - it will surprise you. Lots of interesting places to explore, and if you only have two weeks no better way to do that than with your own plane.
 
Sounds fun! Just do it, make some memories.
 
GO FOR IT!!!
Stop at Grand Canyon it is fantastic!!!
 
Looked good until you said Roswell. FBO folk are nice, but once you leave the airport, you will be seriously disappointed. Find somewhere else to spend the night (Ruidoso just to the west comes to mind), and, as has been mentioned, spend your free time in places much more interesting out west. Sounds like a fun trip!
 
I'd say it's very sane.

Who knew that one could go places in an airplane... ;)
 
Santa Fe might be a better stop than Albuquerque. Or Albuquerque on the way out and Santa Fe on the way back. Just me but no way I’d go to southern New Mexico unless it was a weather decision.
 
Non-aviation advice: check closely on conditions in Santa Barbara. They've just had fires and mudslides and floods in the last few months and may not be fully back up to tourist-level operation.
 
So what's wrong with Roswell? I kind of feel like we have to at least land and look around the town just to say we've been there.
 
Roswell is probably not a three day town. Consider also seeing Alamagordo KALM, which offers White Sands National Monument, White Sands Missile Range, a very cool space museum in town, and some other stuff. Not many 'nice' restaurants and hotels are modest. A long day, maybe a day and half. You'll need a car. Have not seen Roswell but understand it's a half-day town.

Sounds like a terrific trip. Enjoy.
 
Take this with a grain of salt, but it might be a stretch to make ROW all in one day. Just a quick distance/time calculation estimates ~10hrs from 2I0 to ROW. Even with those stops, that would make for a long day of flying in an Archer.

What about a stop around Amarillo? That would make for a neat overnight, tourist visit.

Again, just my 2c. This does sound like a fun trip you’re planning for!
 
Yeah we were never going to spend 3 days there. It's just a waypoint with a history and a couple quick sights to see.
 
On the sanity issue, my view is that a long fight is just a series of shorter flights strung together. Of course, the longer the trip, the more extra time one needs to allow for diversions, waiting for better weather, etc.
 
At the Grand Canyon, you can stay overnight at the El Tovar or grab lunch there. There is a shuttle from GCN. This canyon is a definite must see if you are this way.
 
We have been in Roswell once in 2010. While it wouldn’t be on my list again, it was interesting for half a day.

Expect strong headwind on the way west - we flew from Detroit to Kansas City at 4,500’ and headwinds were even stronger than forecasted at this altitude and increased significantly with higher altitudes.

When traveling with our plane, we add 45 minutes (We need that time for traffic pattern and taxiing, getting gas, seeing the facilities, checking weather, TFRs, ... talking with other pilots / FBO employees, and and and) for each gas stop to the flight planner’s calculation. This gives us a good idea about how long the flying day will be. It seems that you are planning for really long flying days even without the additional time for the gas stops.

Be prepared to change your plans based on weather. We for example spend three (or four) nights in Page, AZ because weather was really nasty. There is a lot to do around Page and we were busy those days we stayed in that area.

If you come from Las Vegas and fly to Page you ‘have to’ fly over the Grand Canyon! :) From Page, Monument Valley and Shiprock Mountain are around the corner before you could go to Santa Fe / Albuquerque / Los Alamos.

If you have to go a more southern route due to weather, you might want to consider to check out Big Bend, El Paso (White Sand National Monument), Tucson (Boneyard).

We did a west coast vacation with our Mooney in December 2016. It is an awesome experience to take your own plane to California. Have fun and show us some pictures, once returned!
 
Winslow AZ, there was a great Mexican restaurant on the field. Do. It know if it’s still there.
Get a ride to town, everyone needs the picture. “Standing on the corner,”
 
White Sands is cool. Well, Kewl anyway. Temperatures not so much :)
 
Palmpilot said:
On the sanity issue, my view is that a long fight is just a series of shorter flights strung together.
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I've heard more than one CFI say this, and I consider it patent nonsense. Going to vastly different places exposes one to conditions and hazards that one might not have before encountered. Mountains, high density altitude, coastal fog, all these things can confound a pilot. That said, I say by all means do it. I just think that the best plan is no plan. Be prepared to divert, or to just take a day off if you're tired. But do it, airplanes are meant for travel.
 
If you're up for a great air museum, check out Planes of Fame at Chino, maybe an hour's flight from Santa Barbara. Easy way is to stay north of LAX's Class B and overfly Burbank and Van Nuys. Flo's Airport Diner on the field looks a little rickety, but great eats!!
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
If you're up for a great air museum, check out Planes of Fame at Chino, maybe an hour's flight from Santa Barbara. Easy way is to stay north of LAX's Class B and overfly Burbank and Van Nuys. Flo's Airport Diner on the field looks a little rickety, but great eats!!
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There are actually two air museums at Chino, both of which are excellent. I can also vouch for Flo's, great food, ratty joint.
 
steingar said:
I've heard more than one CFI say this, and I consider it patent nonsense. Going to vastly different places exposes one to conditions and hazards that one might not have before encountered. Mountains, high density altitude, coastal fog, all these things can confound a pilot.
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Since I live in a state that has mountains, high density altitude, and coastal fog, I don't see the length of the flight as the operative issue, other than what I said about scheduling enough time to allow for diversions and waiting for better weather.
 
Sounds fun. Two weeks and your flexible, that makes it easy. Some other ideas. Sedona, SEZ. Furnace Creek, l06. You can walk to the Death Valley Visitors Center. Checkout your navigational skills doing the 'Trona Gap.' Fly up north of SBA a ways around FLW and you can see the San Andreas Fault from the air. Lots of geology out west to see from the air if you like that sort of thing. Hop over the mountain to Santa Ynez, l47, Solvang is close, a cool Danish town and a Casino with some good Entertainment, chumashcasino.com. If your lucky the desert may be in bloom. Draw a line from GMN to KWJF. That area can be spectacular when in full bloom and given the weather this year it may be. I can't figure out how to make theses italics go away.
 
Oh yeah. The usual Southern California bucket list destinations, Santa Catalina and Big Bear. Look into them and heed the cautions.
 
So we might be choosing to simply drop off our dogs with the in-laws at 2I0 and go... which means we're starting out with 1.5-2hrs already on the flight clock for the day. Can anyone advise on a good place to spend the night... probably between/including the Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas?
 
Two LONG legs a day is about right, yes, depending on enthusiasm level. One needs to remain flexible, I wouldn’t make any reservations until noon of the night in question.

We did central MS to AK & back in a Cherokee 140, it was a great trip.
 
Sounds like a great trip! I've done two similar ones - once in an Archer, once in a 172. Both times I was chased out of KS by thunderstorms. Had a nice stop in Raton, NM. The FBO had a cool photo book of everyone who stopped there over the years. Those long distance adventures make for great memories.
 
FlySlater said:
Sounds like a great trip! I've done two similar ones - once in an Archer, once in a 172. Both times I was chased out of KS by thunderstorms. Had a nice stop in Raton, NM. The FBO had a cool photo book of everyone who stopped there over the years. Those long distance adventures make for great memories.
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Raton was great with the old owners. Home cooked burgers for lunch, no notice needed. Haven't been back since they sold so need to check out the new owners some day.
 
We're in Tulsa right now. A combination of lack of sleep and fatigue after poor night of sleep at the in-law's and iffy weather made us decide to put in. I think we might be here another night unless they change the outlook for this afternoon pretty quick.
 
Well I was thinking about filing IFR this afternoon if the convective activity died down and I think it will but the forecast winds at our refuel and destination points are more than I really want to deal with so we’re putting in.

We did see a neat aircraft salvage yard at KCCA.

88544216-52AE-4A94-98DD-1133B2CEB7A1.jpeg
A very big dude with a big personality came out to talk to us and ended up showing us around their shop. They have a huge overstuffed warehouse of used aircraft parts that some folks here might have interest in. Their website is www.dawsonaircraft.com
 
So, a couple of things for anyone considering this sort of trip:

1) Don't take anything I'm saying as trying to discourage it, because a LONG cross country like this, especially across the mountain west, will be one of the greatest experiences of your life.
2) Load up the airplane with as much weight as you'll have on the trip, and climb up to the altitudes you'll need to fly on your flight. Take note of climb and cruise performance, and factor that in.
3) Taking a mountain flying course is an excellent idea. My personal recommendation is Mountain Canyon Flying Seminars in McCall, ID (KMYL) because they not only teach you how to fly near mountains, they teach you how to fly into backcountry airstrips in some of the most beautiful country there is.
4) Be sure that if you have any pax, they're OK with lots of turbulence - Where there is more terrain, there is more turbulence. It can get quite uncomfortable, even for pilots, and if you want your pax to fly with you again, you must ensure that they have a good experience. Make sure you don't go too far between stops either.
5) Make a plan, but please don't stick to it unless everything works out. If you always make a plan and stick to it, safety will suffer. Make *lots* of plans for things to do and see along the way, knowing you won't actually do or see all those things, and then be flexible in both route and time. I like to tell my passengers that aviation is a great adventure, it just isn't always the adventure you had planned on. Keeping that attitude and taking things as they come will help you stay safe and still have a great time.

Enjoy your trip!
 
cowman said:
We're in Tulsa right now. A combination of lack of sleep and fatigue after poor night of sleep at the in-law's and iffy weather made us decide to put in. I think we might be here another night unless they change the outlook for this afternoon pretty quick.
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If I'd have caught some of your posts above between working earlier in the week, I'd have made a recommendation or two in OK - and have bought you all a meal and/or drinks! You still in Tulsa, or did you put in at Clinton?

EDIT - I assume you hit Clinton before Tulsa. Nevermind. Still - sorry I wasn't able to respond to your query when you needed it!
 
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For what you're planning McCall is probably over kill. Great course before going canyon flying and landing. The Colorado Pilots have a course that covers flying through the mountains to paved, reasonably long airports. Much on performance and winds/weather. Beech conducts a similar course for Beech pilots. My hangar sits at 5020' MSL and looks west to 14,000'
 
cowman said:
We're in Tulsa right now. A combination of lack of sleep and fatigue after poor night of sleep at the in-law's and iffy weather made us decide to put in. I think we might be here another night unless they change the outlook for this afternoon pretty quick.
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Probably late suggestion, but downtown Tulsa has a great Mexican restaurant that has 3 floors. Top floor is open like a patio, IOW you're on the roof. Forget the name but it's popular so someone will know.
 
Btw Roswell's approach and tower/ground controllers were extremely friendly. Huge field but very little traffic and they'd let me do pretty much anything I wanted from what I heard over the frequency. The FBO was great too, I had arranged for a car and they had pulled it right up to the plane for me before I even got shut down. Very impressed with the airport and it's people so far.
 
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