Oregon trip

JCranford

JCranford

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JCranford
We're planing to fly Ruby out to Oregon (from Dallas) to visit the in-laws the second week of July. Granted when I bought her I flew her home from Virginia, so Ive been on a big trip with her, but my wife hasnt, and I havnt been over the big bumps yet.

Any great advice? Any crappy advice? Current plan it to divert a little south through Santa Fe then direct as much as possible. Mainly cuz the big bumps scare my wife.

Im O2 on board and turbocharged so getting high isnt a problem.

What ya got?
 
Go fly over Crater Lake. It's an absolute must.

My route coming back (the long way around from Portland) was down I-5 past Shasta over Tahoe, down the east side of the Sierras into Death valley and then to Havasu. Then back up over GCNP and Bryce Canyon, Farmington, Santa Fe, NM before heading to Norman.
 
Get some GoPros attached. You will be flying into some nice territory and documenting your flight would make the trip that much more awesome for you and us.

(And I'm jealous of you. That is a trip I'd like to do myself someday)
 
I snapped about 900 some odd pictures on my trip. I took a video camera, but was like nah, way too much editing involved.
 
EdFred said:
Go fly over Crater Lake. It's an absolute must.
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Yup. First time I was up ther after I got my PPL I rented a plane at Grants Pass and flew to Crater Lake. Snow still on the ground. It was beautiful!

And EdFred, You gotta change that picture. I dont know if we can be friends if I gotta stare at that spider!
 
When we did that trip in a 170, we went Roswell, 4 Corners reagonal, Logan Ut, Pendleton Or, and home.

No tall rocks, along the route. Beautiful red rock country in Ut.

But, go where and when the weather will allow.
 
JCranford said:
We're planing to fly Ruby out to Oregon (from Dallas) to visit the in-laws the second week of July. Granted when I bought her I flew her home from Virginia, so Ive been on a big trip with her, but my wife hasnt, and I havnt been over the big bumps yet.

Any great advice? Any crappy advice? Current plan it to divert a little south through Santa Fe then direct as much as possible. Mainly cuz the big bumps scare my wife.

Im O2 on board and turbocharged so getting high isnt a problem.

What ya got?
Click to expand...
I am sure you know about the Rocky Mountain Wave. Hot weather will make for a very bumpy ride. I did a July trip to Las Vegas from Tyler. The bumps started just passed the New Mex. state line and did not stop until we landed in Vegas. After that, SW Airlines did not seem so bad!!! I wish you luck!!!
 
Scott@KTYR said:
I am sure you know about the Rocky Mountain Wave. Hot weather will make for a very bumpy ride. I did a July trip to Las Vegas from Tyler. The bumps started just passed the New Mex. state line and did not stop until we landed in Vegas. After that, SW Airlines did not seem so bad!!! I wish you luck!!!
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How high were you?
 
Scott@KTYR said:
Started at 8500 and worked my way up to 14500. All Bumpy. On the radio all the Commercial flights were saying it was bumpy up to 45000.
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I did my trip in July and had no turbulence, and was below 10000 with the exception of flying over GCNP. Might have just been luck of the draw for either of us.
 
EdFred said:
I did my trip in July and had no turbulence, and was below 10000 with the excepting of flying over GCNP. Might have just been luck of the draw for either of us.
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Very True!!!
 
JCranford said:
We're planing to fly Ruby out to Oregon (from Dallas) to visit the in-laws the second week of July. Granted when I bought her I flew her home from Virginia, so Ive been on a big trip with her, but my wife hasnt, and I havnt been over the big bumps yet.

Any great advice? Any crappy advice? Current plan it to divert a little south through Santa Fe then direct as much as possible. Mainly cuz the big bumps scare my wife.

Im O2 on board and turbocharged so getting high isnt a problem.

What ya got?
Click to expand...

All the usual it’s bumpier later in the day than earlier stuff. I flew east to west over the Rockies neighborhood just once but it was way down yonder via El Paso. Where in Orygun are the inlaws? West of the Cascades and East are two different worlds. I’ll be having good thoughts for you(and me of course) that a bunch of fires don’t break out, haze up the sky and ruin some spectacular scenery. You didn’t ask about what to do once you get to OR but here goes, I’m a Chamber of Commercer at heart. Crater Lake is of course cool but all the Mountains up the range are also. Mt St Helens and the view of what’s left after blowing its top are cool. Columbia River Gorge. Spectacular flight. Plug in KTTD KCZK 4S2. The Oregon Coast is some beautiful flying to. Anyway, have fun.
 
Theyre in Medford (Gold Hill actually). We've been up there quite a few times, this is just the first time flying our plane up there. Been to Crater Lake, still need to go to Columbia River Gorge and fly to the coast. We drove up the coast once. Really pretty.
 
JCranford said:
Theyre in Medford (Gold Hill actually).
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I know that area very well. I have relatives in Gold Hill, used to own property there myself (on Kane Creek Rd just off Old Stage), and my dad's home from 1992 until his passing in 2008 was in Wimer, not far to the west. While he lived there his 172 (which I'm flying now) was based at Grants Pass.

From the Phoenix area to southern Oregon we use two main routes.

Through western Nevada (via KHII, BTY, OAL, O43, KLMT) is the most direct. Terrain is fairly tame, but mostly remote and boring. O43 (Yerington NV) is our usual fuel stop - nothing there but reliably cheap fuel and a McDonalds a block down the street. After K-Falls it's an easy dogleg to get a good view of Crater Lake. There's about a 75-mile gap midway between FMG and LMT where flight following radar coverage is not available below 14K' or so.

If summer convection is an issue in Nevada, we go the California Central Valley route (via KBLH, L22, LUCER, AMONT, KVIS, O85, 1O6 and KMFR). It's quite a bit longer, but there are plenty of good airports and emergency landing possibilities all along the way. The only high terrain of note is the ridge between Lancaster and Bakersfield, and the Siskiyou foothills between Redding and Mt. Shasta. Flying past Shasta itself is spectacular. Bend the route north of Fresno to the east a little for a nice view of Yosemite Valley.

Have a good trip. Post photos!
 
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I fly out to Oregon every year for the last 5 years "calling it a business trip" 2 times in a 1965 Cherokee 180 and now in a Commander 112A from Savannah TN. Actually my avatar is my Commander in Logan Ut on one of my trips. my flight is through the central route which easy to do and some need things to see. I did a route from an airport near Dallas and it seems the distance is nearly the same for me and you. Going the western route is a bit longer.
On my trips I usually stop in Rawlins Wy. Nice people and the Hotel just down the street with a courtesy car. From there you can make it the next day if you want a long flying day. I usually make it a 2 1/2 day trip and land different places on the second day. This route there is only one range of fairly high mountains to cross which is just west of Bear Lake. about 9000-9500 ft. I tend to cross those early in the morning on the second day and us usually smooth.

My trips are usually in Mid June, but have flown in July as well. They seem to have a lot of fires around so watch out for TFR's and stay far away as the smoke really reduces visuals for many miles.

Anyway if you want to know more you can PM me and I give you my number.
 

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There's some great airport information in these forums: http://www.pacificnorthwestflying.com/index.php?board=17.0

If you poke around elsewhere on the site, you'll probably find some good routing advice.

Vans is based at KUAO and the factory tour and demo flights are worth a stop. You can walk to the beach from KPFC or 3S7.
 
JCranford said:
Mainly cuz the big bumps scare my wife.
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Correction...its the funky winds coming off the big bumps that make me a bit nervous. I've flown into airports next to them and its been a bit interesting at times and that's in a big bird.
 
Well, we made it! Denton (KDTO) Santa Fe (KSAF) to Cedar City (KCDC) to Silver Springs (KSPZ) to Grants Pass (3S8). Leg 3 was rough, but the rest of the trip was nice. Went up to 16500 for good mountain clearance and trying to find smooth air and to test the O2 system of course. We’ll be here a week then headed back. Probably do a west then south route coming back.

Saw some great scenery through Monument Valley and the Lake Powell area. Flew VFR all the way except for a short IFR clearance through the smoke from the fires south of Ashland. We’ll post a few pictures soon.

I had a GoPro on the wing, but the battery life sucked and I couldn’t keep connection to turn it on, so not much video.

When I landed in Grants Pass the airport was deserted so I parked where I saw a few other planes, which was apparently near a maintenance hangar. Figured i’d Call in the morning. So I call the next morning and ‘Kara’ tells me she will call me if I need to move the plane. She calls a bit later and says the plane needs to move. I tell her ok, not to move the plane because the brakes are set and I will be there shortly. I get there and they have moved the plane about 500 ft with the effing brakes on! I blow a gasket all over the guy towing it and ‘Kara’. They apologize and assure me if anything is wrong with the brakes they will fix it. Yes, yes you will! I start up the plane and taxi around a bit. Everything seems normal fortunately. And they’re waiving the tie down fees. Ok, that’s something.

Anyway, will post more later.
 
JCranford said:
Well, we made it! Denton (KDTO) Santa Fe (KSAF) to Cedar City (KCDC) to Silver Springs (KSPZ) to Grants Pass (3S8). Leg 3 was rough, but the rest of the trip was nice. Went up to 16500 for good mountain clearance and trying to find smooth air and to test the O2 system of course. We’ll be here a week then headed back. Probably do a west then south route coming back.

Saw some great scenery through Monument Valley and the Lake Powell area. Flew VFR all the way except for a short IFR clearance through the smoke from the fires south of Ashland. We’ll post a few pictures soon.

I had a GoPro on the wing, but the battery life sucked and I couldn’t keep connection to turn it on, so not much video.

When I landed in Grants Pass the airport was deserted so I parked where I saw a few other planes, which was apparently near a maintenance hangar. Figured i’d Call in the morning. So I call the next morning and ‘Kara’ tells me she will call me if I need to move the plane. She calls a bit later and says the plane needs to move. I tell her ok, not to move the plane because the brakes are set and I will be there shortly. I get there and they have moved the plane about 500 ft with the effing brakes on! I blow a gasket all over the guy towing it and ‘Kara’. They apologize and assure me if anything is wrong with the brakes they will fix it. Yes, yes you will! I start up the plane and taxi around a bit. Everything seems normal fortunately. And they’re waiving the tie down fees. Ok, that’s something.

Anyway, will post more later.
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Shame about the fires. Looks like you may have gotten a view of Mt Shasta though. Ah, the ol’ the brakes were set beat the tiedown fee ploy eh
 
My 172N was based at Grants Pass from 1991 until 2008, when my dad owned it. He lived in the next valley over the ridge to the east of the airport. In those days there were good people running the place.

Then there was a change of management ...

:(:mad::rolleyes::confused:
 
Pilawt said:
My 172N was based at Grants Pass from 1991 until 2008, when my dad owned it. He lived in the next valley over the ridge to the east of the airport. In those days there were good people running the place.

Then there was a change of management ...

:(:mad::rolleyes::confused:
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Or as my friends on the Confederate side of the Civil War Skirmish Association called it, "Lee's Pass"..:p There's a nice gun club on the north side of town right along I-5. We held our national skirmishes there a couple times years ago. Great camping on the grass and the range was set up on their trap range. One year they were looking to clear some trees down range and were more than happy to have our cannon take some down. :D
 
luvflyin said:
Shame about the fires. Looks like you may have gotten a view of Mt Shasta though. Ah, the ol’ the brakes were set beat the tiedown fee ploy eh
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We got a great view of Shasta as we flew past!
 
Oh man, Silver Springs? Surprised some meth head/escaped convict didn't walk off with your plane :)

You check out the EF-111 that is on the airfield?
 
35 AoA said:
Oh man, Silver Springs? Surprised some meth head/escaped convict didn't walk off with your plane :)

You check out the EF-111 that is on the airfield?
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LOL, yeah, it was pretty deserted. But the woman who owns / runs it came out and we had a good conversation. We bugged out pretty quick cuz the wind was squirrelly and we didn’t want it to get worse.
 
JCranford said:
Well, we made it! Denton (KDTO) Santa Fe (KSAF) to Cedar City (KCDC) to Silver Springs (KSPZ) to Grants Pass (3S8). Leg 3 was rough, but the rest of the trip was nice. Went up to 16500 for good mountain clearance and trying to find smooth air and to test the O2 system of course. We’ll be here a week then headed back. Probably do a west then south route coming back.

Saw some great scenery through Monument Valley and the Lake Powell area. Flew VFR all the way except for a short IFR clearance through the smoke from the fires south of Ashland. We’ll post a few pictures soon.

I had a GoPro on the wing, but the battery life sucked and I couldn’t keep connection to turn it on, so not much video.

When I landed in Grants Pass the airport was deserted so I parked where I saw a few other planes, which was apparently near a maintenance hangar. Figured i’d Call in the morning. So I call the next morning and ‘Kara’ tells me she will call me if I need to move the plane. She calls a bit later and says the plane needs to move. I tell her ok, not to move the plane because the brakes are set and I will be there shortly. I get there and they have moved the plane about 500 ft with the effing brakes on! I blow a gasket all over the guy towing it and ‘Kara’. They apologize and assure me if anything is wrong with the brakes they will fix it. Yes, yes you will! I start up the plane and taxi around a bit. Everything seems normal fortunately. And they’re waiving the tie down fees. Ok, that’s something.

Anyway, will post more later.
Click to expand...
Was it bumpy?

That is bad about moving the plane with the brakes on. That gives me an Idea. I think I will make me a BIG sign for my plane with BRAKES ON DO NOT MOVE just in case I run into the same situation.

Pictures of your trip when you the time.
 
Scott@KTYR said:
Was it bumpy?

That is bad about moving the plane with the brakes on. That gives me an Idea. I think I will make me a BIG sign for my plane with BRAKES ON DO NOT MOVE just in case I run into the same situation.

Pictures of your trip when you the time.
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Only the Cedar City / Silver Springs leg was bumpy. The rest was pretty nice

SixPapaCharlie said:
WOW!!!!!

That is all.
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Believe me, mountains in your window are a LOT bigger than they appear! Flying past that was kinda freaking me out!
 
JCranford said:
LOL, yeah, it was pretty deserted. But the woman who owns / runs it came out and we had a good conversation. We bugged out pretty quick cuz the wind was squirrelly and we didn’t want it to get worse.
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Nice! I drove past it dozens of times on the way to Tahoe when I lived nearby, but I actually never went to check it out up close. Did the lady explain its background? I always just figured they had some "barn burner" scenario like a dual engine fire or something, and just put it down there because it was the nearest runway, and then it was so badly damaged that they never brought it out. Probably way off base, but that was the story in my mind anyway :)
 
Aaaand, made it back home! Grants Pass (3S8) to some place in Idaho to Grand Junction (GJT) to Dumas to Denton (DTO). Plenty of weather to dodge, some actual, mountains. Whats not to like? Grand Junction was beautiful scenery.

Got some long range, high altitude, IR filing, mountain flying, actual IMC, wind shear, O2 use, weather dodging, controllers yelling at me, VMC, smoke IMC, night flying. A good time was had by all!

Pictures soon...
 
JCranford said:
Got some long range, high altitude, IR filing, mountain flying, actual IMC, wind shear, O2 use, weather dodging, controllers yelling at me, VMC, smoke IMC, night flying. A good time was had by all!
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Which is the entire reason why you went and found Ruby in the first place!

How much flight time did it take to get from there to home?
 
AggieMike88 said:
Which is the entire reason why you went and found Ruby in the first place!

How much flight time did it take to get from there to home?
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Yup! And she ran great the whole way. Flight time home with all the diversions was right at 10 hrs.
 
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