On 2005-08-22, jackle wrote:
I'm planning a trip from Palo Alto to Las Vegas, landing at Henderson
Exec (closest airport to where we are staying). I'll be flying in a
Saratoga.

Hey! I did that flight about two weeks ago in a Piper TriPacer (from
OAK, but close enough to Palo Alto)

1) Best route from PAO to Henderson?

If you don't have the power to get over the mountains (remember -
Yosemite - you need to be 2000' above the terrain, which really means
you need oxygen), you'll need to go south. My route (and I had to stop
for fuel, my range was probably quite a bit more limited than yours) was
OAK - Porterville (a cool airport btw, especially if you like playing a
piano) - Henderson.

If you take the low route like I did, ask Joshua Approach about the
status of the restricted area over Edwards. It's not hot all the time
and quite often you can go straight through it which saves probably 50
miles off the trip (and you get to fly right over Edwards which is
pretty cool in itself).

Porterville also has decent inexpensive food right on the airfield.

2) Best arrival procedure through Las Vegas airspace, such that we get
a view of the Strip (if possible) while not interfering with Class B
airspace? Is IFR recommended to navigate the space?

You can't do it - you'll have to fly in the class B to fly over the
strip so you'll have to intefere with the class B. Henderson is on the
south side of Vegas so you'll get there before overflying the strip
anyway if you're flying the route I did.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"