Route from Lake Havasu to Western Texas

Lndwarrior

Lndwarrior

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Gary
Planning a trip, a portion of which will begin at Lake Havasu and I need to get to western Texas. Completely unfamiliar with any part of this. I'm flying a light sport plane VFR. There is a lot of mountains and high terrain to get thru.

I have a strong desire to land at Sedona because I've never been there. If so, it looks like highway 40 to Albuquerque and then pick up Hwy 60 across to Vaughn and then pickup Hwy 285 down to Roswell and onward seems logical. However, I would like to hear opinions on this route.

If I drop the requirement to go via Sedona, it seems a southern route via Tucson and Hwy 10 would have me flying a shorter distance of high terrain.

One last data point. This is a once in a lifetime experience for me. Enjoying the view, interesting airports and taking my time is a part of this equation.

I appreciate any thoughts on these routes and/or any other suggestions for flying this area.

TIA
Gary
 
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Learn to read an IFR chart, published routes typically follow the lowest terrain.

Dont know where in western Texas you're going but the southern route is a bit lower, just leave Sedona, head south through Phoenix (stay well west of the Phoenix metro if you don't want brave the Bravo) then follow I-10. Pretty much what the airways do. Plus, if you're going soon, I think the southern route is more likely to provide VFR weather for you.

I'd watch the winds in Sedona in an LSA, but definitely a worthwhile stop with very good food at the airport restaurant.
 
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If you leave Sedona to the north you can work Meteor Crater into the route. It's worth a look.

You can either simply head WNW from Sedona and you'll see Meteor Crater about 35 nm later. You can then pick up Hwy 40.

Or head north along either hwy to Flagstaff, then east along hwy 40 with a short jog to the crater.

West of Sedona may be high ground, but it's not mountainous. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, always get the t-shirt.
 
Sedona to ABQ along I-40 is the prettier of the 2. Don't miss out Sedona! However, as time isn't the issue, no reason you can't go from Sedona down to I-10 for the 'lower' route. I've flown both, and decide on the day based on forecast weather. Going to I-10 after Sedona only adds about 30 min to my trip.
 
SEZ is low enough to be doable most days even in something not that powerful.
 
The I-10 corridor is pretty wide open. Watch the wind forecasts.
 
If I was doing this, LSA:

Fly Havasu to Sedona. Just because SEDONA.

Fly from Sedona to the East side of Phoenix, and continue to Tucson. Keeps you away from the highest terrain.

From Tucson - easy to El Paso and onwards.
 
Just FYI, Western New Mexico, on the way to ABQ really comes up to meet you rather quickly. heading East in that area, 9,500' has you skimming along the ground. VFR you really need to plan 11,500 for decent terrain clearance. This is why I'd prefer to see you head South to Phx/Tuc/ElPaso.
 
Agree with the others above about going to Sedona and then the safer route down to Tucson along the I-10 being the more conservative and less remote.

Also note that there is a VFR transition route through the Phoenix bravo that you can use.

You can fly south along the I-17 from south of Sedona to minimize the risk of the area near Black Canyon City with limited land-able terrain.

Also note that Cottonwood, near Sedona, has much better fuel prices.
 
Stewartb said:
The I-10 corridor is pretty wide open. Watch the wind forecasts.
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Our windy season is already starting to kick into gear. Travel sun-up and land prior to noon if high winds are expected. Mountain peak MSL - MSL to ground level added to peak will generally keep you out of the roughest turbulence (e.g. Franklin MTN here is 7500 - 4000 airport level, cruise at 11,000 MSL if your plane can do it). Running 11.5 eastbound will keep things fairly smooth and you'll have a tailwind kick of about 30-55 knots on the windy days ... my best was a 70 knot smooth tailwind in cruise.

Edit: In my area you'll get a "brown out" and won't be able to see to land if surface winds exceed 40 MPH.
 
Can you educate me on brown outs? Are these dust storms? Do you get similar, but less severe loss of visibility, at winds lower than 40 mph?

Are they limited to some altitude? In other words, does the loss of visibility only go up so high, so you can conceivably fly over them? Not ideal, of course, but just trying to understand the phenomenon.

Also where are you located?
 
Lndwarrior said:
Can you educate me on brown outs? Are these dust storms? Do you get similar, but less severe loss of visibility, at winds lower than 40 mph?

Are they limited to some altitude? In other words, does the loss of visibility only go up so high, so you can conceivably fly over them? Not ideal, of course, but just trying to understand the phenomenon.

Also where are you located?
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Let’s put it this way....if the surface winds are 40mph plus, you probably aren’t going to be flying an LSA that day.

I’d focus on winds more than I’d worry about brown outs.

I grew up in AZ and have years of flying across the southeast.
 
L"et’s put it this way....if the surface winds are 40mph plus, you probably aren’t going to be flying an LSA that day."

Exactly, which is why I asked about dust storms at winds under 40 mph...
 
PeterNSteinmetz said:
Depends on the day I guess. ForeFlight was showing $0.49 / gallon less last Tuesday.
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Even at $.50 were talking $10-$15 difference when fueling an lsa after a couple hour flight. Hardly a factor when a big part of the goal is to see Sedona.
 
Lndwarrior said:
L"et’s put it this way....if the surface winds are 40mph plus, you probably aren’t going to be flying an LSA that day."

Exactly, which is why I asked about dust storms at winds under 40 mph...
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Understand. My comment was more directed at the idea of warning someone about a condition that happens under circumstances they wouldn’t be flying in the first place.

I’ve never seen such brownouts on the ground or in the air in conditions less than 40 mph.
 
Definitely land at Sedona, even if you want to get fuel elsewhere. And perhaps catch breakfast or lunch at the on field restaurant - one of the better ones in AZ.

Perhaps search for prior threads for the beta on landing on aircraft carrier Sedona.
 
I will be traveling in the spring - mid May to early June.
 
Lndwarrior said:
Can you educate me on brown outs? Are these dust storms? Do you get similar, but less severe loss of visibility, at winds lower than 40 mph?

Are they limited to some altitude? In other words, does the loss of visibility only go up so high, so you can conceivably fly over them? Not ideal, of course, but just trying to understand the phenomenon.

Also where are you located?
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In El Paso (along your line of flight if you take the east I-10 corridor vs the I-40 northern corridor). There are videos on "Haboob Sandstorms" on Youtube ... ours kick in at about 40-45 MPH, and generally are never more than 300-500 AGL. Wind forecasts are ALWAYS wrong in our area, plan fuel wisely. Not sure of your LSA, but everything I've flown once maximum leaned could get 4.5 to 5.5 hours of endurance easily. I planned on flying OVER those high wind areas at 11.5 eastbound, used the tailwind, and landed far downwind (El Paso to San Antonio or Austin) in record time landing in smooth air condition.

I was at the airport last year and a non-local was trying to land in one of our dust storms (I was working in the hangar), heard him on CTAF, he wasn't instrument rated, but it wouldn't have mattered. He was target fixated on our field. Next city up Las Cruces wasn't in as bad a condition and has multiple runways ... directed him there.

Lndwarrior said:
L"et’s put it this way....if the surface winds are 40mph plus, you probably aren’t going to be flying an LSA that day." Exactly, which is why I asked about dust storms at winds under 40 mph...
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I left my field for a short flight to the Class C for night stop-n-goes with forecast "winds calm all evening" by WXBrief and online weather. Unforecast 50 MPH winds hit my home field and KELP, but not KLRU, so I spent the night in the back of the Tiger there (11pm to 5am) returned to my field in calm winds and went to work the next morning.
 
danhagan said:
In El Paso (along your line of flight if you take the east I-10 corridor vs the I-40 northern corridor). There are videos on "Haboob Sandstorms" on Youtube ... ours kick in at about 40-45 MPH, and generally are never more than 300-500 AGL. Wind forecasts are ALWAYS wrong in our area, plan fuel wisely. Not sure of your LSA, but everything I've flown once maximum leaned could get 4.5 to 5.5 hours of endurance easily. I planned on flying OVER those high wind areas at 11.5 eastbound, used the tailwind, and landed far downwind (El Paso to San Antonio or Austin) in record time landing in smooth air condition.

I was at the airport last year and a non-local was trying to land in one of our dust storms (I was working in the hangar), heard him on CTAF, he wasn't instrument rated, but it wouldn't have mattered. He was target fixated on our field. Next city up Las Cruces wasn't in as bad a condition and has multiple runways ... directed him there.



I left my field for a short flight to the Class C for night stop-n-goes with forecast "winds calm all evening" by WXBrief and online weather. Unforecast 50 MPH winds hit my home field and KELP, but not KLRU, so I spent the night in the back of the Tiger there (11pm to 5am) returned to my field in calm winds and went to work the next morning.
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Great insight. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for taking the time for a full explanation.
 
I feel your original plan is fine. Weather permitting, I40 eastbound should be no problem, providing you have tailwinds you can ride(plus no brown outs). Coming back, I’d prefer the southern route, I-10 due to lower terrain and fighting head winds. The more you fly West-East the better especially when the wind is coming out of the west. North south flying in those conditions guarantee turbulence.
 
I flew my Warrior (-161) at less than 10'000 MSL all the way from Sedona to Meteor Crater, through Albuquerque and the Sandia Mts. along I-40 to Oklahoma City. The I-40 pass through the Sandias tops out at just over 7K. Just south of the highway is lower as Sandia peak is just north. The pass is a funnel, so wind is a factor.

I like MountainDude's idea to keep at or below the altitude where you can climb 300fpm.
 
I've done it a number of time, but always in a turbocharged airplane (e.g. Go high). I concur with the go early in the day sentiment - it'll help the DA and be less bumpy. I stopped a couple of times a ROW - the airliner graveyard is impressive, but no little green men were seen.

There are other sights out in AZ and NM, but some will require more performance out of your plane. I do like the southern - I10 - route. LRU is a good stop, nice airport - it was my alternative to stopping in/around El Paso.

Mountain wave see a real thing. Pay attention to the wind forecasts. More than once I kicked off the autopilot altitude hold because the drops and climbs were pretty impressive (asked and received a block altitude +/- 1000 feet). Unless it's changed recently ATC coverage can be spotty down low.
 
wsuffa said:
I've done it a number of time, but always in a turbocharged airplane (e.g. Go high). I concur with the go early in the day sentiment - it'll help the DA and be less bumpy. I stopped a couple of times a ROW - the airliner graveyard is impressive, but no little green men were seen.

There are other sights out in AZ and NM, but some will require more performance out of your plane. I do like the southern - I10 - route. LRU is a good stop, nice airport - it was my alternative to stopping in/around El Paso.

Mountain wave see a real thing. Pay attention to the wind forecasts. More than once I kicked off the autopilot altitude hold because the drops and climbs were pretty impressive (asked and received a block altitude +/- 1000 feet). Unless it's changed recently ATC coverage can be spotty down low.
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DNA is a good stop too. Easy in and easy out. Just west of ELP, a little more north than LRU.
 
Sluggo63 said:
DNA is a good stop too. Easy in and easy out. Just west of ELP, a little more north than LRU.
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KDNA is my home field. Good stop for self-serve and if you want to see the War Eagle's Museum. Otherwise, I'd use Deming (KDMN) as it has multiple runways, fairly cheap gas and a courtesy junker if you need to go off airport for food.

Further east Van Horn (KVHN) does NOT sell fuel ... aim at Pecos (KPEQ) instead ...
 
danhagan said:
KDNA is my home field. Good stop for self-serve and if you want to see the War Eagle's Museum. Otherwise, I'd use Deming (KDMN) as it has multiple runways, fairly cheap gas and a courtesy junker if you need to go off airport for food.

Further east Van Horn (KVHN) does NOT sell fuel ... aim at Pecos (KPEQ) instead ...
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There are fuel prices for VHN published. What's up with that?
 
Practice your high altitude leaning procedures for take-offs. On the way to OSH, I've stopped at both Gallup and Grants-Milan in New Mexico, and they're both up in the thinner air.
 
N1120A said:
There are fuel prices for VHN published. What's up with that?
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Sluggo63 said:
Yeah, and the fuel prices on airnav.com were apparently updated on 1/28/2021.
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N1120A said:
The one review suggests that they have pump service with either limited hours or call our service.
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They used to not have the "ticks" on the sectional (indicating no fuel services). I haven't landed there in a few years, but one of the sheriffs and a game warden lived on the field and could get fuel in an emergency. Guess they decided to join the times. For several years there was no fuel available there ... guess things change. Called right now and they confirmed they do sell fuel ...
 
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wsuffa said:
There are other sights out in AZ and NM, but some will require more performance out of your plane.
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ElPaso - Alamogordo corridor (between the R areas) is nice, with the view of White Sands. It might work well for the Sedona - El Paso leg.

Flying past El Capitan in Texas is a nice view, too.
 
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I though El Capitan was in Cali. :)
El-Capitan-_Yosemite-Mariposa-Slide_-Photo-by-Chris-Migeon-700x425.jpg
 
Oops, my bad. I meant Guadalupe Peak. The highest point in Texas.

I can’t believe I made that goof, after digging up my own photo of it.
 
NoHeat said:
Oops, my bad. I meant Guadalupe Peak. The highest point in Texas.

I can’t believe I made that goof, after digging up my own photo of it.
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I've added this to my flight plan. It was close to my route. Thx for the suggestion!
 
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