Las Vegas to Eastern Oregon in PA-38 Tomahawk

saddletramp

saddletramp

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saddletramp
Let's just say I know a CFI that's been asked to go to Las Vegas with a student pilot & bring his newly purchased Tomahawk to Central Oregon. I'm thinking the best route considering the aircraft involved would be to scoot over to California & come north. What say you?
 
saddletramp said:
Let's just say I know a CFI that's been asked to go to Las Vegas with a student pilot & bring his newly purchased Tomahawk to Central Oregon. I'm thinking the best route considering the aircraft involved would be to scoot over to California & come north. What say you?
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Direct. Adjusted to avoid Restricted Airspace, etc. I think I might follow @brcases advice to do the IFR(i follow roads) thang just for the sake of of being near help in case that becomes an issue.
 
The ironic part of this scheme is in the 50 years this CFI has been flying he's only had one total engine failure...dead stick landing in...you guessed it...a Tomahawk. A little deja vu here. IFR (roads) was already thought.
 
If the mountain tops are under 10k feet, and weather permits, I like to go direct. Otherwise I follow valleys mostly, but I live half the year in pretty mountainous terrain.
 
Concur, especially since it’s a plane whose history is a relative unknown.
 
saddletramp said:
The ironic part of this scheme is in the 50 years this CFI has been flying he's only had one total engine failure...dead stick landing in...you guessed it...a Tomahawk. A little deja vu here. IFR (roads) was already thought.
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So uh, was it a Traumahawtic experience?? Just a punchline. That being said, maybe a good reason to do the ol’ ‘pilotage’ thang on this ferry trip with this student pilot, is it may be an opportunity to do just that. I say turn off whatever Gucci avionics may be in the plane, and/or throw the I(phone, pad or android equivalent) in the back and have some fun.
 
Whitney said:
If the mountain tops are under 10k feet, and weather permits, I like to go direct. Otherwise I follow valleys mostly, but I live half the year in pretty mountainous terrain.
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Tomahawks have a fairly low service ceiling. On the way home from Oshkosh one year I had mine at 11k feet and couldn’t get it any higher.

Point is, the OP needs to be aware of the Tomahawk’s performance limitations, particularly flying in hot weather around tall terrain.
 
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I’ve done it a bunch of times in low-powered airplanes via BTY - OAL - MVA - YERIN - O43 (fuel and a McD’s a block away) - FMG - LMT - BDN. Not the most scenic, but (weather permitting) it avoids the long detour through California.

When summer convective conditions kick in through Nevada, the California central valley may be the only viable route. Smoke from wildfires becomes a consideration, too. I've been at 14,500' between REO and BNO, legal VFR, but no discernible horizon.

YMMV.
 
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Unfamiliar plane and history?
Las Vegas to Bakersfield by way of Tehachapi.
Up the valley then follow I-5 around Mt. Shasta and Hwy 97 to Klamath Falls.
 
I'd go inland. I flew from Burns, OR, direct to Minden, NV, in July once. I wouldn't do it again. That is a lot of terrain that presents great opportunities for emergency landings, and equal opportunities for death by dehydration.

Even flying at 13-14K on O2, I was getting bounced around a lot.
 
The guy who bought my Cessna 150 from me flew it to Oregon. It came back and now lives in Murfeesboro Tennessee. Thing seems to like mountains. Anyhow, it can be done.
 
Well that is one way to knock out a X-country... :D

Do you know which one the student bought?
 
I tend to be cautious by nature. I would take the long way via California and enjoy the trip.
 
A quick and dirty distance comparison:

Direct: Las Vegas to Bend (as an example): 550 nm
Las Vegas to Bakersfield up I-5, Redding, Shasta, then Hwy 97 to Bend: 765 nm

That's 215 nm longer--2 hours flight time.
How much is having the comfort of nearby pavement worth?

Whatever route you take, let us know how it goes/went.
 
somorris said:
I tend to be cautious by nature. I would take the long way via California and enjoy the trip.
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I tend to be cautious too. At @Pilawt 's suggestion a few years ago, I flew the same route he suggested upthread. It's not as bad as it seems. You can scout it out with Google.
 
Ditto Jeff’s comments. I’ve flown from the FMG VOR at Reno all the way north through eastern Oregon. Desolate does not even begin to describe that area. And there’s a fair portion of the stretch between Reno and Burns that you cannot get flight following. It’s kind of fun to note the considerable distances between ranch houses, and imagine what you’d do if you had to put it down somewhere. If you go that way, carry extra water and supplies. Best time to fly is early in the day. The high desert is probably at 6-6500 MSL, and you’ll be getting rocked if it heats up.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
I'd go inland. I flew from Burns, OR, direct to Minden, NV, in July once. I wouldn't do it again. That is a lot of terrain that presents great opportunities for emergency landings, and equal opportunities for death by dehydration.

Even flying at 13-14K on O2, I was getting bounced around a lot.
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I have flown that route from Boise to Minden an August in a Luscombe 8A.. I didn’t find it that bad but then left at sunrise. True I probably wouldn’t like it much in the afternoon. Although two of my friends have flown the route from Boise to Winnemuca and back in their gliders. If I was leaving from Burns I would just follow the Highway down to the Rome VOR. I would be near or over reasonably well traveled roads the whole route.


Brian
CFIIG/ASE
 
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