Planning a Trip Over The Rockies

Don't worry about it, just go. The valleys are big and wide. Fly early or
fly late but avoid the middle of the day.




"NW_PILOT" wrote in message
...
Hello, everyone I am wanting to take a flight from "COE" Coeur D'Alene, ID
to "GTF" Great Falls, MT I was wanting to do this in my Cessna 150 Any
advice or helpful hints from some one thats done the trip over the Rockies
in a 150 I know I will have to be at really high altitudes just wondering
on
how well the 150 will perform.

"NW_PILOT" wrote in message
...
Hello, everyone I am wanting to take a flight from "COE" Coeur
D'Alene, ID
to "GTF" Great Falls, MT I was wanting to do this in my Cessna 150 Any
advice or helpful hints from some one thats done the trip over the
Rockies
in a 150 I know I will have to be at really high altitudes just
wondering on
how well the 150 will perform.




I believe your C150 is only marginal for that part of the world. You can
certainly do it, but be sure to take precautions about wind, to NOT be
at max gross weight, to circle for altitude BEFORE coming to a high
ridge, and to lean/enrichen properly on climbs/descents. Good luck.

"John T Lowry" wrote in message .net...
"NW_PILOT" wrote in message
...
Hello, everyone I am wanting to take a flight from "COE" Coeur
D'Alene, ID
to "GTF" Great Falls, MT I was wanting to do this in my Cessna 150 Any
advice or helpful hints from some one thats done the trip over the
Rockies
in a 150 I know I will have to be at really high altitudes just
wondering on
how well the 150 will perform.




I believe your C150 is only marginal for that part of the world. You can
certainly do it, but be sure to take precautions about wind, to NOT be
at max gross weight, to circle for altitude BEFORE coming to a high
ridge, and to lean/enrichen properly on climbs/descents. Good luck.

All the comments are very good advice. I fly into and out of the
"Hole" every day and early morning is the best time to fly for sure.
It takes 11,000 msl just to leave the Jackson area altho in N801BH
with that oversized V-8 Ford it is not a problem. Mountian flying is a
beautiful way to see the scenery and the one comment about winds
aloft is the most pertinant. Now, if you observe lenticular clouds
then tie that sucker down, get an adult beverage, and plan for another
day to fly.

Ben Haas N801BH Jackson Hole WY

Learn how to quickly get best power during the takeoff roll, using
your mixture control for any higher altitude takeoffs. Expect the
engine smoothness range to get narrower in response to mixture
adjustments at very high altitudes. Do not run full rich on the
ground, or even on takeoff. Some use a full power runup to adjust for
max RPM before starting the roll but I always hesitated to do that to
an engine just before takeoff.

Is this your personal airplane? You want to know its flight and
engine operating characteristics pretty well to minimize the pucker
factor.

Having an EGT gage really helps. I think it should be mandatory on
any carburated engine but that is just the engineer in me showing I
guess....

I flew a 125 HP Tripacer with two of us in it thru that region amost
35 years ago. No problem

Now we go in comparative regal splendor in a 150 HP 172M!

wrote in message
om...
Learn how to quickly get best power during the takeoff roll, using
your mixture control for any higher altitude takeoffs[...]
Some use a full power runup to adjust for
max RPM before starting the roll but I always hesitated to do that to
an engine just before takeoff.

There's a good reason for doing it BEFORE starting your takeoff roll, and
frankly, adding "fiddling with the mixture" to the things a pilot has to
deal with DURING the takeoff roll seems unwise to me. Never mind the fact
that once the airplane is moving, you will have a much harder time
identifying the point at which the engine is developing maximum power, since
RPM will be increasing as the airplane accelerates.

I have no idea why you'd hesitate to do something proven to be safe, and
which is much less hazardous than your personal procedure, but I hope that
no one else applies your advice to their flights.

[...]
Having an EGT gage really helps. I think it should be mandatory on
any carburated engine but that is just the engineer in me showing I
guess....

The EGT gauge is not necessary, nor useful, for the purpose of obtaining
maximum power for takeoff. Your RPM gauge will give you a 100% reliable
indication of maximum power, since maximum power will result in maximum RPM
every time. Using the EGT gauge adds an additional layer of indirection,
and you may or may not wind up with the actual maximum power mixture setting
using it.

Pete

To each his own I guess.

I have gotten used to glancing at the EGT on my takeoff rolls just to
make sure things are feeding fuel and air, and also running right. I
look for something about 50 to 100 deg F on the rich side of peak.
EGT also tells me if I have loaded up the things with carb ice while
waiting for takeoff. It is the only cross-check that I have to figure
out if the air/fuel metering system is behaving right, and that the
engine is properly extracting energy from the combustion process.

Personally I feel that any new engine installation (such as in a
homebuilt) should have at least a temporary EGT until the
idiosyncracies (sp?) of the air intake system are proven out. I've
seen/heard of several aircraft that have been excessively lean
(especially in the winter) or rich to the point of stumbling when carb
heat is added. The technique of getting a badly iced engine back
requires aggressive leaning, but I don't see that taught anywhere.

How do you lean a constant speed prop aircraft without EGT? I agree
that leaning a fixed pitch prop on the run without an EGT is not good
practice unless you know the engine.

Maybe I am more into this because I am using autofuel.

Around here (Western Canada) most of the neophytes who get into
trouble in the mountains crash because of weather considerations or by
entering an upsloping valley that the airplane can't outclimb and the
pilot waits too long before turning around.
Mountain weather is treacherous and can change very rapidly. Pay
attention to the weather briefers. Mountain clouds usually have rocks
in them.
Mountain valleys can be confusing, especially if there's no
highway to follow, and it's easy to turn into a wrong canyon and get
lost real quick. The route should be marked on the map, with compass
headings penciled in on each leg. For anemic airplanes like the 150,
wind direction over the hills can make the difference between climbing
and sinking, as can lift or sink generated by solar heating or shade
on the slopes.

Dan

) wrote:

Learn how to quickly get best power during the takeoff roll, using
your mixture control for any higher altitude takeoffs.

I start my engine with the mixture set near normal best setting. Then
lean another quarter inch or so to taxi. Push in the mixture a bit
rich to perform a mixture RPM test around 1700 RPM. Mixture is
adjusted to maximum RPM.

Airport altitude around 6880'. Density altitude during the summer can
approach 10,000'.

Ron Lee

In article , NW_PILOT wrote:
Hello, everyone I am wanting to take a flight from "COE" Coeur D'Alene, ID
to "GTF" Great Falls, MT I was wanting to do this in my Cessna 150 Any
advice or helpful hints from some one thats done the trip over the Rockies
in a 150 I know I will have to be at really high altitudes just wondering on
how well the 150 will perform.

Some good advice on this thread already.

By coincidence, you posted this the day I was making a similar trip
in the opposite direction in an Arrow. On Thursday, we overflew
Billings, MT and overnighted in Bozeman. Next day (Friday), our first
leg was BZN to COE (destination was Seattle, which we made on the
second leg).

We did it at 8500', well above the valley floor. Flew along the I-90,
you can't miss it. Occasionally cut corners since we were high enough.

Don't have performance charts handy, but I'm sure you can get up to
8.5 in a 150. Remember your D.A., the airplane may think it's at 9000
or 10,000. Climb rate may not be the best. It's better to climb while
circling (or shuttling back and forth) than to try to outclimb rising
terrain.

Once you get to that altitude, as Sydney points out, you're not really
flying in the mountains, you're flying over the mountains. Best to
do it in good VFR conditions. Weather can be iffy.

Do the trip. The scenery is awesome.


Morris