Plan a cross country trip in USA

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Dror Pilot

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Dror Pilot
I'm a ATP, CFII, MEI pilot from Israel with more than 2000 flying hours, with FAA license. I own this website: www.drorpilot.com. I plan to perform a 3 weeks cross country trip in USA this summer, which should include the touristic places for someone who is visiting USA for the first time. Therefore, I considered renting a high performance airplane, which can give me low cost per mile, e.g. Cirrus SR22 or SR22T, such that I can cover long range in the limited amount of time. I also thought to rent 2 of these, one in the west coast and the other in the east coast, in order to save time, but I'm not sure it's a good idea. I also want to visit Oshkosh in my trip for few days.

Any comments/recommendations about my plan?
Any recommendations where to rent such an airplane?
Any recommendations about the route?
 
Welcome

Here are a few places I like to visit
New Orleans Louisiana
Dallas Texas
Austin Texas
Grand Canyon Arizona
Las Vegas Nevada
Los Angeles Calfornia
Catalina Island Calf
San Francisco Calf
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming

Good luck on your trip.
 
Where do you intend to start your trip? I rather suspect you'll have a lot easier time renting something like a Bonanza than an SR22 (at least, the cost/performance ratio will be a lot better).

Tell us a bit more about what you want and like to see, as well.
 
It may be difficult to rent a plane in California and drop it off in New York. You may have to do "loops", such that you rent a plane and fly a big circle, go commercial to somewhere else and repeat the loop there.
Do you want to play tourist, enjoy aviation, or both? Might be challenging to do both.
You might want to check out some good aviation museums; members here can recommend some.
If I were in your shoes, I'd consider getting some dual in a good glider and having a soaring experience somewhere in the West. I'd also look into a flight in a float plane or amphig, including river or lake landings. You could do that in several places, including around Minneapolis and on into Wisconsin.
If your loaded with money, try to get in the back of a big bad warbird, or maybe you could buy a ride at OSH.
Balloon or airship?
Some mountain, short stirp flying?
Without knowing if you like the opera or jazz, art or architecture, haute cuisine or hamburgers, it's hard to guess what touristy things you'd like.
For natural wonders, as Scott suggested plus the mountains in general. As you are a resident of a densely populated region of the world, I'm willing to be you get quite an impression of the American Great Plains and Midwest, with thousands of miles of wheat, corn and cattle. If you fly from the west to OSH, you will get a feel for that. No special site, just the overall impression.
As your plans develop, keep us posted. There may be members here who would enjoy giving you a ride in their plane and show you the local sites.
 
It all depends upon your interests. Will you be alone? Will you have children?

East Coast, from north to south, here are the highlights.
Boston - Concerts, history, seafood, art, shopping
New York City - Museums, shopping, fashion, music, theater, art, architecture
Washington DC - Museums, architecture, government
Philadelphia - Museums, history, art
Orlando - Theme parks
Miami - Beaches, shopping, nightlife, sailing
Key West - Fishing, snorkeling, beaches, dolphins

Center of the US, from east to west
New Orleans - Jazz, riverboat, aquariums
Nashville - Music, nightlife
Chicago - Theater, architecture, music, museums
Grand Canyon - Rafting, canyon, hiking
Yellowstone - Geysers, volcanoes, bears

California
Las Vegas - Casinos, circus
Los Angeles - Film studios, beaches, art, shopping, fashion, concerts, theme parks
San Francisco - Art, shopping, parks, the bridge
 
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Here is what I plan to do when I retire in two years. I will take my wife around the country in our plane. Starting in Huntsville AL, here are the stops:
Charleston SC-riverfront site seeing
Chalotte NC-NASCAR museum
Norfolk, VA-Naval base and beach
Charlottesville, VA-Monticello
Frederick MD-My kids live near there
Philadelphia PA-Museums
Boston MA-Baseball game and museums
Cooperstown NY-Baseball HoF
Niagra Falls NY-for the falls
Pittsburg PA-Museums
Akron OH-Football HoF
Detroit MI-Henry Ford Museum
Chicago IL-Baseball game and museums
Oshkosh WI-
Sioux City SD-Mt Rushmore and Sitting Bull monuments
Yellowstone Park WY-
Salt Lake City UT-Church
Las Vegas NV-for the lights
Grand Canyon AZ-
Cortez CO-Four corners
Alamogordo NM-Trinity site
Abalene TX-for the steak
Tyler TX-visit family
Branson MO-for the shows
St Louis MO-to fly under the arch (but don't tell the FAA)
Memphis TN-for Gus' fried chicken
Home
Each stop is a half days flight and I plan to spend another full day in each.
 
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Dror Pilot said:
I'm a ATP, CFII, MEI pilot from Israel with more than 2000 flying hours, with FAA license. I own this website: www.drorpilot.com. I plan to perform a 3 weeks cross country trip in USA this summer, which should include the touristic places for someone who is visiting USA for the first time. Therefore, I considered renting a high performance airplane, which can give me low cost per mile, e.g. Cirrus SR22 or SR22T, such that I can cover long range in the limited amount of time. I also thought to rent 2 of these, one in the west coast and the other in the east coast, in order to save time, but I'm not sure it's a good idea. I also want to visit Oshkosh in my trip for few days.

Any comments/recommendations about my plan?
Any recommendations where to rent such an airplane?
Any recommendations about the route?
Click to expand...


Hardest part will be finding a high performance plane with 3 weeks of availability. You'll need to get on the schedule 2 or 3 months in advance.

SR22/TTX types around here are going for ~$375/hr wet. You can get an A36 for ~$190.

Edit to add that "around here" is DC.
 
Unless you find someone selling a plane to be delivered to the other coast, I doubt you'll be able to find a one-way rental across the USA. As for routing, if you follow Interstate 80 across the USA, you'll take a route which encompasses a huge range of worthwhile things to see and places to stop, as well as a route which is pretty friendly to light airplanes such as those you mention without getting really cooked (as summer through the southern routes can do). You might also want to book a day of mountain flying training around the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains if going westbound, or in California if going east -- the Golan Heights are barely bumps compared to the challenges our mountains offer.
 
cgrab said:
Here is what I plan to do when I retire in two years. I will take my wife around the country in our plane. Starting in Huntsville AL, here are the stops:
Charleston SC-riverfront site seeing
Chalotte NC-NASCAR museum
Norfolk, VA-Naval base and beach
Charlottesville, VA-Monticello
Frederick MD-My kids live near there
Philadelphia PA-Museums
Boston MA-Baseball game and museums
Cooperstown NY-Baseball HoF
Niagra Falls NY-for the falls
Pittsburg PA-Museums
Akron OH-Football HoF
Detroit MI-Henry Ford Museum
Chicago IL-Baseball game and museums
Oshkosh WI-
Sioux City SD-Mt Rushmore and Sitting Bull monuments
Yellowstone Park WY-
Salt Lake City UT-Church
Las Vegas NV-for the lights
Grand Canyon AZ-
Cortez CO-Four corners
Alamogordo NM-Trinity site
Abalene TX-for the steak
Tyler TX-visit family
Branson MO-for the shows
St Louis MO-to fly under the arch (but don't tell the FAA)
Memphis TN-for Gus' fried chicken
Home
Each stop is a half days flight and I plan to spend another full day in each.
Click to expand...

That would be Rapid City, SD. Sioux City is in IA.
 
Best to start and finish in one place - it could really be anywhere. Check with this outfit:

www.rfcdallas.com

May be able to make a deal for and extended rental...
 
Thank you all for your replies. I'll try to give more information, which addresses the questions you asked here, such that it'll be easier for you to help me.

The background is as follows: my mother has never been in USA, so she proposed to go there for her 80th birthday, with me and my 17 years old son. The idea to do it in an airplane is a combination of:
1. Save travel time.
2. We all love to fly.
However, the emphasis should not be on flying but to see USA. I would say, 30% to focus on aviation, 70% to focus on the monuments. Therefore, I thought to include Oshkosh which is a concentrated aviation experience. Maybe do a seaplane rating "on the way" and other "on the way" aviation related experiences like soaring, mountain flying etc.

I understand that I'll have to pick up the airplane and to return it in the same place, unless I get a reply here suggesting that I'll transfer someone's airplane from east to west or vice versa. Therefore, I was not sure if it is wiser to do a single loop, all over USA or two loops, one at the east and one the west.

We can start our trip anywhere, preferably in a convenient international flying destination, e.g. NYC.

About the airplane, it doesn't really matter. I thought to look for something with a cruise speed of 200 knots more or less, just to gain distances easily, but this is not mandatory, and if I can get something much cheaper per mile, that's fine.

I plan to do all the research during this month such that I can book the airplane and everything else around 2 months ahead.

Thank you!
 
Dror Pilot said:
The idea to do it in an airplane is a combination of:
1. Save travel time.
2. We all love to fly.
However, the emphasis should not be on flying but to see USA. I would say, 30% to focus on aviation, 70% to focus on the monuments.
Click to expand...

The hard part will be to decide what to include and to what level or depth. Three weeks is not nearly enough time.

Figure two days for seaplane rating - you can do it in one if everything is just right. Maybe just do a few intro flights instead. Seaplane ratings in upper Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan) or Florida. Where will you put mother and son while you get rating?

Glider transition not nearly enough time - do a couple of mountain or ridge soaring flights dual. Again, where to entertain others while you're soaring? Great soaring around mountains, so Reno, Marfa, Pennsylvania and many others. Yes, you can thermal in Iowa but.....

All can go up in a balloon somewhere or ride in the Ford Trimotor or B-17 at OSH.

A 200 knot airplane is going to be a challenge. It will be expensive and rare. It will be fairly hard to even find a C182 to rent. You'll have a lot of baggage to haul around.

Fly into Seattle and spend a day. Take the Amtrak sleeper train through the Rocky Mountains to Minneapolis and spend a day or two there. Do some float plane flying (could fly floats in Seattle, too). Rent a car and drive to Oshkosh for a couple of days. Drive on to Chicago for 2-3 days. Get someone to fly you around the area. Drive to Dayton OH to aviation museum. Finish trip in NYC.

Alternative is to fly into San Francisco and come east on I-80 as Ron Levy suggested.

What you miss on the above two routes is the Grand Canyon and the American Southwest desert, which are pretty impressive.

Another option is to fly into Miami, come north west through Atlanta, St. Louis to Oshkosh and back east through Chicago and NYC. Great culture and nice scenery. Plenty of opportunities for soaring and seaplane flights.

American trains are nothing like Europe, but they are a consideration. You'll probably find some legs best done by renting a car.

Finding a place to stay for your mother, your son and you at OSH is not trivial. Plan to stay 40-60 miles out and commute in.

There will be other, probably better suggestions. All will have their merits.

Again, let us know where you decide to go and I bet many of us will be happy to offer you a local ride in our plane.
 
If you are thinking osh, the hilton on the field is probably already sold out. If you wanted to start your trip in the Philadelphia area pm me and I'll send you information for a few rentals. I've rented a 182 at KPTW that should have no problem carrying 3 average size people and lots of luggage.
 
When you get to St Lous start following Rt 66, close to Interstate 44, I40. I15. Both from the air and on the ground there will be a lot to see and do.
 
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