Planning first Coast to Coast flight - Need tips (Long)

Sounds awesome, and it sounds like you're on top of your game. I only have experience between Austin and California... my comments:

> Fly over Grand Canyon
> Stop in Sedona AZ (to have lunch with friends)

Get the Grand Canyon SFRA chart (Foreflight has it, of course), follow it, zig zag across the Canyon. You can also find a few blogs where people describe their route, and cool things to look for. Stay in Sedona and get your gas there. It also has a good on-airport hotel with reasonable prices. Read up on landing at Sedona. Better to land on Runway 3 if possible.


> Try real Texas BBQ (possibly in Lockhart TX, just south of Austin)

Lockhart is good, but Hard Eight BBQ in Stephenville (KSEP) near Ft. Worth is my current favorite. Call them and they'll pick you up and drop you off at the airport (it's not a long walk anyway). http://www.hardeightbbq.com/stephenville.html

If you come by Austin and want to meet up, send me a PM. I have a job like yours - "self employed, anywhere with Internet." I'm based out of Georgetown (KGTU) just north of Austin. It has the cheapest gas in the area.

If you're going around the US, I think the winds may favor you if you go counterclockwise (but someone correct me if i'm wrong).
 
I've flown, Las Vegas to Maine and back, and Las Vegas to Alaska and back.

Even with an IR, it's not fun to push the weather. Getting up and down through a marine layer or low stratus is fine. Flying for hours in cloud, not so much, unless you really have to get somewhere. I was forced into about 2hrs IFR in heavy smoke to get out of Fire country and get home.

Plan no more than 2 legs a day of about 3-4 hrs each. Take a nice lunch break. Part of the trip is enjoying the local experience.
 
Also, For BBQ if your in NY area stop by Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse (locations in ALB and BUF as well). Id put them up against any of those TX/KC/Southern BBQ places in a "Pepsi Challenge" any day.
 
Rykymus said:
For those who think I was asking if I'm qualified or ready, I am not. I have no problems planning this flight, nor executing it. My purpose was to look for suggestions to make the trip more enjoyable and/or safer.
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Make a mini-survival kit, tool pouch etc. (which you probably already have). Weather now in SW is horrible. Current winds in my area are 35G51 knots and are like that ever other day the past month ... on the off days, we get all the way down to 20G30:confused: Aloft, that's a total butt whipping, but if you have oxygen and can climb to 13500 or higher, things will be much smoother. If VFR, stay in vicinity of the highways ... in my area, it's possible to land off airport with a problem and have to hike 30 miles or more to civilization or a main road if you're accustomed to just hitting "GPS direct" on all your flights (not fun if it's 105* out). My son lives in mid Texas where they had softball size hail last week ... you're IR so I'm sure you'll do fine weather planning.

For stops -a couple of suggestions:

1. Santa Fe NM if you haven't been there
2. Carlsbad NM for the caverns if that interests you
3. San Antonio for the Alamo (Stinson is close - FBO can get you better hotel rates than the internet if you call ahead)
 
camel said:
> Try real Texas BBQ (possibly in Lockhart TX, just south of Austin)

Lockhart is good, but Hard Eight BBQ in Stephenville (KSEP) near Ft. Worth is my current favorite. Call them and they'll pick you up and drop you off at the airport (it's not a long walk anyway). http://www.hardeightbbq.com/stephenville.html
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Franklin BBQ is the best I've had, ever. Hard Eight has amazing ribs, though. We have "brisket parties" here in NY after I return from my Texas work trips.
 
Big Big hockey fan, but a Bruins fan. Both my dad and I are VFR pilots and flew from Syracuse, NY to Salome, AZ. We did get socked-in in Ohio but the rest of the trip was amazing. Having your IR will be very helpful because if either of us had, we would have been out of Ohio in no time. My favorite part was our stop in Wink, TX. My father got a huge kick out of it being very close to Roy Orbison's birthplace or where he lived. My past time was judging the FBO restrooms. Can't exactly remember, but there was a place in NM that had the greatest facilities, Deming I believe but not sure. Have fun!
 
Forgot to add (is this becoming a BBQ thread?) When in London KY, go up to Red State BBQ in Georgetown. Very good....
 
Sounds like a great trip. I had a similar itch a couple of years ago. I didn't have the time you do for an extended trip, but I wanted to take my Bellanca Super Viking from San Jose to Tennessee to visit the family. My first airplane ride ever occured when I was two months old in a Bellanca 260 that my Dad briefly owned, and I thought it would be fun to fly back to TN with my Bellanca to visit close the loop as it were.

I left after work on a Wednesday evening and flew to Prescott AZ for the night then on to TN the next day with a stop in OK to refuel. Total time: 4.1 hours to AZ and 8.3 hours from AZ to TN.

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I spent a couple of days with the family and doing a little flying around then came back on a Sunday. 15.2 hours in the plane that day, but it was a lot of fun. You can typically expect headwinds when going West. I stopped in Oaklahoma, Santa Fe, and Lancaster to refuel before getting back to San Jose that evening.

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With your experience and your IR, you should be well equipped for the flight. I had 550 hours, my IR, and was a PPL at the time I did my trip. Doing a trip like this in a small plane is a real confidence booster. Makes me want to do mine again.

One tip. Because the MEAs out here can be fairly high, if you go IFR (I did) you might want to have some Oxygen along with you. You may not legally need it, but remember that the body reacts to density altitude and not what's shown on the altimeter. You may be at 11000 ft on the altimeter but the density altitude may be significantly higher. Good idea to have a pulse oximeter and some O2 along just in case. I used mine on some of the legs...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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You can't fly below 3500' above Niagara Falls. There is a restricted area.

A long trip like that is just a series of one day trips. You get used to going to hotel and back, getting the plane fueled and keeping track of the weather. My advice would be to be flexible and fly where the good weather is. July has the best weather, statistically. Camping might be an option. When the weather gets low, LAND and wait it out. Good luck. Its doable.
 
'Sounds like a fabulous trip. I have some ideas for you.

First, don't miss flying through Monument Valley in the cool of the morning, and make sure you have your camera with you! Stop at Page (just to the west of Monument Valley) and take a short walk to the Ranch House Grill for the best chili rellenos I've ever tasted (they're part of "breakfast"), even having lived in Arizona for a few years. Don't be put off by the restaurant's nondescript appearance,

Fly on the west side and parallel to Glacier National Park (near Kalispell, MT) for another great set of pics,

On you way in (or out of) coastal Washington, fly over Northern Cascades National Park.This is where the mountain scenes from "The Deer Hunter" were filmed. I hope you luck out and get a clear day over coastal Washington. If so, fly along the eastern side of the Olympic Peninsula on up to Port Townsend for what I think is the prettiest flight I've ever made. Also, if you can, stop at Victoria, BC to see Butchart Gardens, especially if you wife will be along for that portion of the flight.

Enjoy,

Don
 
John suggested Branson, but you would be extremely disappointed after spending time in Vegas.

My 2 cents... Use FBOs to book hotels - They'll get you a fantastic discount. Don't try to schedule hotels, rental cars, etc., in advance. Be a gypsy. Less stress, and it will work out fine.
 
Let's get to the real question(s) on this thread:
1.) Can the OP legally log each leg as a XC, even if it's not more than 50 nm long and he doesn't have an operable ADF?
2.) Is an AOA indicator absolutely necessary when passing through MOA's and in Class G airspace, and if so can one be rented and returned?

Have a great trip! I'm envious!
 
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