IFR to Chandler AZ (Phoenix area)

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In rec.aviation.piloting S. Sherman wrote:
Sorry, I should have posted a trip report. Here it is...

The trip went pretty well. I went to Chandler via the south route
(Yuma). Somewhere past Yuma, I got an updated clearance that was
basically as I had filed but take out the last checkpoint and vectors
after the last VOR (forget the name right now). I had a non pilot
friend on board who is very interested in learning to fly and is good
at holding heading and altitude so it was nice to be able to copy the
clearance, look at and refold the maps, etc. while my human autopilot
flew.

Sounds like you flew IPL(Imperial) - BZA(Bard) - GBN (Gila
Bend) then up to PXR direct.

The first surprise was the visibility. I'm from So. Cal and it's
usually pretty smoggy or hazy there. In AZ, 10 miles from the airport
looks like 4 miles in CA. I was 10 miles out just like my GPS and the
controller said, I could see an airport with parallel runways like
Chandler does but I refused to believe it was 10 whole miles away!

Oh yeah. Once you get out of the smog that is SoCal, visibility
clears right up! You can get a good visual on KLAS at lesat 20 miles
out before even getting to anywhere near a pattern there. I'm not
surprised you could see KCHD that far out.

Going back, we went the north route (via Blythe). Much bumpier this
time and my passengers had a hard time with airsickness. I landed in
blythe for a while to give them a rest. I think next time I'll just
go via Yuma. fewer mountains.

Thanks for all the help!

I'll assume you came in from the LA Basin or San Diego. For the
major carrier traffic, you'll notice more of the preferred route from
the LA area being TRM.BLH.BLH4 or TRM.BLH.ARLIN3 inbound. You're going
over the San Bernardino mountains there, which could get really gusty,
especially if the Santa Ana winds start messing about. You'll
definitely get a much smoother ride if you fly down through IPL and BZA
and pick up the arrival from there.

BL.
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Brad Littlejohn | Email:
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