Mountain/High Altitude Training

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TaylorSX16

Filing Flight Plan
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TaylorSX16
After looking into possible routes to allow an Non-Turbo Piper Lance over the rocky mountain range safely, I'm looking into any possible courses to teach the fundamentals of high altitude mountain flying. Any Recommendations? it would be greatly appreciated! I'm looking into visiting Seattle WA, Portland OR, and Heber City Utah
 
Mountain training isn’t usually about altitude, it’s about managing winds and making good choices about routes and ridge crossings. Talk to any flight instructor who lives near mountains. It isn’t a special endorsement.
 
I second that, there isn’t really that much to learn. I did go up with an instructor and I can send you the PowerPoint if you would like, DM me.

You can plan your route on foreflight and pick the route with the lighter brown color shading, drag the magenta line to suit, usually following roads, then check your profile view for the highest terrain along the route. You can make a lot of routes at around 7000’ when the mountains nearby are several thousand feet higher.
 
There are several good books about Mountain Flying. If you are looking to gain some insight before flying in the mountains those books are a good place to start on the cheap. If you are intending to do some serious flying over the Rockies, I'd be looking for an instructor with Rocky Mountain experience.
 
Good on you for the awareness. Crossing the mountain ranges can be serious, but it is mainly a wind and weather exercise. I'll second the suggestion for Colorado Pilots Assn, they've got some great presentations on crossing routes in the state that would apply to any high altitude operations.
I will add though that one of the main things that gets folks in trouble is high density altitude ops. If you've primarily operated near sea level, multi thousand foot density altitude will surprise you. Lean appropriately, and leave yourself plenty of margin on runway lengths if there's any question.
 
A man from the Sacramento area bought a Cherokee here in Wisconsin to fly it home. He was rusty, and we did a flight review. I had him climb to 10,000 feet to show him how anemic the climb rate was at that altitude. I suggested he think of his trip as a series of short cross-countries. I also told him to fly the airways, which are usually close to the interstate highways, where he could possibly land if he had an emergency, and to resist any temptation to take a shortcut. Finally, I suggested he not fly past noon in the Rockies and asked him to send me a text each day after flying.

The only event on his trip was some bad weather that kept him in Reno two nights.
 
TaylorSX16 said:
After looking into possible routes to allow an Non-Turbo Piper Lance over the rocky mountain range safely, I'm looking into any possible courses to teach the fundamentals of high altitude mountain flying. Any Recommendations? it would be greatly appreciated! I'm looking into visiting Seattle WA, Portland OR, and Heber City Utah
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For the non-turbo, many people choose to come down to El Paso because it’s just so much easier to cross down there rather than New Mexico or anything north of there.

New Mexico is completely doable, but it’s really turbulent almost all the time, and in many areas of the state the average Front yard of someone’s home can get up to 9000 feet and it’s rather surprising to many.

How long have you had your lance?
 
I had one of the best, most informative AND most fun flying experiences of my life at Mountain Canyon Flying in McCall, ID KMYL. Highly recommended - All of the information about how to fly around the mountains, as well as the experience of landing at a bunch of amazing backcountry sites in the area.


N271G in Johnson Creek, ID. (1).jpeg
 
Follow I-90.

Mountain Flying Bible, Sparky Imeson
It's available on Amazon, ebay, Abe Books,
 
TaylorSX16 said:
After looking into possible routes to allow an Non-Turbo Piper Lance over the rocky mountain range safely, I'm looking into any possible courses to teach the fundamentals of high altitude mountain flying. Any Recommendations? it would be greatly appreciated! I'm looking into visiting Seattle WA, Portland OR, and Heber City Utah
Click to expand...
I just thought of this... the book Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck has 2 Chapters about crossing the mountains in a Piper Cub. One talked about the Appalachian mountains in Pennsylvania (Monterey Pass?) and the other talked about the Guadalupe Pass in New Mexico. If they did it in a Cub.... It is worth reading if only to get an idea of how their thought process worked.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
I just thought of this... the book Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck has 2 Chapters about crossing the mountains in a Piper Cub. One talked about the Appalachian mountains in Pennsylvania (Monterey Pass?) and the other talked about the Guadalupe Pass in New Mexico. If they did it in a Cub.... It is worth reading if only to get an idea of how their thought process worked.
Click to expand...
A PA-12, to be technically correct. ;)
 
TaylorSX16 said:
After looking into possible routes to allow an Non-Turbo Piper Lance over the rocky mountain range safely, I'm looking into any possible courses to teach the fundamentals of high altitude mountain flying.
Click to expand...
On a good day, there's really nothing too it, like others have said. Be aware of the wind and what it does for turbulence and mountain wave activity for your flight.

Even with a turbo, consider the possibility of flying low, due to weather (maybe there's icing up high, or too much turbulence) or emergencies. A true mountain flying course (down low, not in the flight levels) would help prepare you for that.

- Martin
 
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