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#1
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Wanting to take a LONG Cross Country - Ft. Worth to San Diego... advice?
Received my instrument rating about a year ago, but I haven't managed
to rack up alot of flight hours since then (Im just shy of 200 hours). I think I've just become bored with flying around the same area all the time, and I'm really wanting to do something different and challenging. Plus it would help me to build up the hours I need before I start the commercial. So I'm considering making a flight from my home base in Ft. Worth (KFTW) out to San Diego. I've got a friend that lives out there so it would be a good excuse to go - plus the fact I think the change of scenery and the experience itself would definitely be worth it. I'd be flying a 1978 C-172 that cruises at about 110 KIAS. So I'm figuring about 10-11 hours travel time each way. I'm looking to hear from others who have made trips like this and what advice you might have and/or pitfalls to watch for. Any recommendations on some cool places to stop or ideas on the best way to break up the flight segments? |
#3
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"Peter Gibbons" wrote in message Any recommendations on some cool places to stop or ideas on the best way to break up the flight segments? My father-in-law was an Air National Guard UH-1 crewman for many years and said that the most interesting non-pucker places they flew over (besides the Nevada Test Site) were in west Texas, where they'd fly low and see all kinds of old adobe buildings and ruins and Alamo-like structures out in the middle of nowhere, miles from any roads. Said sometimes even the pilots wanted to set down and have a look, but of course they couldn't do that. Take a GPS and mark points of interest, 'cause you might want to find them again sometime if you're into that sort of thing. -c |
#4
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"Peter Gibbons" wrote in message
om... I'm looking to hear from others who have made trips like this and what advice you might have and/or pitfalls to watch for. I'm sure you'll get good info from people more familiar with that particular route. My only advice is to make sure you have plenty of buffer built into your schedule for weather delays, regardless of the time of the year, and to remember that a 10-hour cross country is just five 2-hour cross countries put together. In other words, all of the same stuff you learned during your initial training is applicable, and sufficient for the most part. You'll just be exercising more of it over a shorter period of time. If you haven't had any mountain-specific training, that would be a good idea before you go too, since there are a few hills on the way from Fort Worth to San Diego. As for particular pitfalls, one big one is to make sure you contact your anticipated fuel stops, as well as nearby alternates. You want to make sure fuel is available where you expect it to be, and that if something does go wrong, you have someplace nearby to go (at one fuel stop, I found that even though the fuel pump worked, their credit-card approval system didn't, for example...they didn't find out about the problem until their first credit customer of the day -- that was me -- showed up). Check on parking arrangements, ground transportation, and lodging, for overnight stops. Other than that, it's just like the flying you've already done, only more fun because you get to see a lot of new places, and meet lots of new people. Pete |
#5
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Last july 4th the wife and I took a trip from Vegas to Louisville Ky.
about 1450 miles each way, it was fun. took us about 9-10 hours of flying time, I have a turbo arrow and flight plan at 150 KTAS, going into ABQ for fuel I had a ground speed of around 180 kts on my decent from 12,500 ft, ATC told a 172 that there was a arrow off his left at almost twice his speed...that felt good to hear It was great to get out of the desert, in the midwest you can see forever since its so flat and there are little towns and airports all over the place. Allot different then this area. on my planning, I planned 2 fuel stops, one at Albuquerque, Nm's double eagle and one at Joplin, Mo, I chose airports with cross runways just incase the winds were to become a problem so I could minimize the x-wind. some tips on flying through this area, next month its going to get really warm here, you may want to make sure you plan to fly over Nm, Az and Nv early in the morning.after noon it can get pretty nasty turbulence wise. Peter Gibbons wrote: Received my instrument rating about a year ago, but I haven't managed to rack up alot of flight hours since then (Im just shy of 200 hours). I think I've just become bored with flying around the same area all the time, and I'm really wanting to do something different and challenging. Plus it would help me to build up the hours I need before I start the commercial. So I'm considering making a flight from my home base in Ft. Worth (KFTW) out to San Diego. I've got a friend that lives out there so it would be a good excuse to go - plus the fact I think the change of scenery and the experience itself would definitely be worth it. I'd be flying a 1978 C-172 that cruises at about 110 KIAS. So I'm figuring about 10-11 hours travel time each way. I'm looking to hear from others who have made trips like this and what advice you might have and/or pitfalls to watch for. Any recommendations on some cool places to stop or ideas on the best way to break up the flight segments? |
#6
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Stop in Sedona Arizona SEZ if you get a chance. Really pretty. You can fly over meteor crater just east of Sedona as well. MYF is very close to everything. If the marine layer rolls in and you cant get into MYF, RNM and SEE are still pretty close. On 22 Apr 2004 10:23:41 -0700, (Peter Gibbons) wrote: Received my instrument rating about a year ago, but I haven't managed to rack up alot of flight hours since then (Im just shy of 200 hours). I think I've just become bored with flying around the same area all the time, and I'm really wanting to do something different and challenging. Plus it would help me to build up the hours I need before I start the commercial. So I'm considering making a flight from my home base in Ft. Worth (KFTW) out to San Diego. I've got a friend that lives out there so it would be a good excuse to go - plus the fact I think the change of scenery and the experience itself would definitely be worth it. I'd be flying a 1978 C-172 that cruises at about 110 KIAS. So I'm figuring about 10-11 hours travel time each way. I'm looking to hear from others who have made trips like this and what advice you might have and/or pitfalls to watch for. Any recommendations on some cool places to stop or ideas on the best way to break up the flight segments? |
#7
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#8
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Get a copy of Rinker Buck's, FLIGHT OF PASSAGE.
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#9
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In article ,
Peter Gibbons wrote: So I'm considering making a flight from my home base in Ft. Worth (KFTW) out to San Diego. First bit of advice: DO IT! Sure it'll cost you money. Sure, it'll take time. But it's one hell of a fun trip. I flew my 1946 Cessna 140, complete with 85hp engine and cruise prop from coast to coast, Houston to California, back across via Utah, then back to Houston to do my 50 hr maintenance, then out east all the way to Kill Devil Hills, and back up through Ohio. I logged 100 hours or so on the trip, and spent two months crossing the US. On a trip this long, flexibility is the key. I often didn't plan my next leg until right before the flight - I looked to see where the weather was good, and flew there. I had no particular schedule except cover the US in two months. It was friggin' cool, and you can read part of my writeup on my website (I *still* haven't finished the writeup :/). I must have taken dozens of rolls of film, and I shot several hours of video (I hooked the camera up to the intercom, and made a glareshield camera stand by sculpting some polystyrene to fit the curve of the instrument panel, and Velcroing it and the camera down). You don't need to be a high-time pilot to do this kind of trip. Just be flexible, and thoughtful and you'll have a trip of a lifetime. -- 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" |
#10
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Last October I flew a friends Cirrus SR-20 (he was moving to San Diego) from
Charlotte NC (UZA) to San Diego Started early Saturday morning (5:30am) and landed in San Diego at about 8:30pm (11:30 Charlotte time) same day! Of course there were a few stops along the way for fuel. First was Greenville Mississippi, then Hobbs New Mexico, Tucson Arizona and then on to San Diego. Fortunately I had a pilot friend along (RJ First Officer)! Things I learned or would have done differently.....in no particular order... 1. The Moving map GPS and Auto-pilot sure helped 2. Wish I had brought more to eat and drink 3. Should have taken 3 days instead of 1 and enjoyed the scenery or detours 4. Winds aloft are not always what they are reported..especially over long distances... 5. Even a Cirrus SR-20 takes some time getting to 12,000 ft and you can tell your there by how the plane feels and acts 6. Being at 12,000 ft and being only 3,000 above the ground is weird! 7. Land at airports to refuel that have something close by. Although the aiports we landed at had low fuel prices and all....there was nothing around for miles.... 8. Having someone along, even if they are not a pilot, is a big help and makes the trip more enjoyable. 9. When your in the middle of nowhere...expect the radios to be very quiet...lol 10. Finally, we averaged 14 miles to the gallon....impressive for an airplane! Bob Charlotte NC ASEL AMEL Inst. Airplane CFI CFII MEI AGI IGI "Peter Gibbons" wrote in message om... Received my instrument rating about a year ago, but I haven't managed to rack up alot of flight hours since then (Im just shy of 200 hours). I think I've just become bored with flying around the same area all the time, and I'm really wanting to do something different and challenging. Plus it would help me to build up the hours I need before I start the commercial. So I'm considering making a flight from my home base in Ft. Worth (KFTW) out to San Diego. I've got a friend that lives out there so it would be a good excuse to go - plus the fact I think the change of scenery and the experience itself would definitely be worth it. I'd be flying a 1978 C-172 that cruises at about 110 KIAS. So I'm figuring about 10-11 hours travel time each way. I'm looking to hear from others who have made trips like this and what advice you might have and/or pitfalls to watch for. Any recommendations on some cool places to stop or ideas on the best way to break up the flight segments? |
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