What's your most familiar route?

All of California west of the Sierra Nevada/Banning Pass
and north of (and including) the LA basin, and the southwest
corner of Oregon, roughly speaking. Couldn't name
EVERY airport or one-horse town, but can certainly
find my way around.

John

"Ben Jackson" wrote in message
news:EMNec.26772$xn4.47816@attbi_s51...
What route do you fly most often or feel most comfortable with? How
far could you wander from your home base without needing a map or even
a compass to find all the cities and airports?

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

(Ben Jackson) wrote in message news:EMNec.26772$xn4.47816@attbi_s51...
What route do you fly most often or feel most comfortable with? How
far could you wander from your home base without needing a map or even
a compass to find all the cities and airports?

I've been regularly flying between Phoenix and Las Cruces, NM for
the past 15 yrs. I can't remember the last time I pulled out a chart
on that trip. It's about 240 nm. It's a lot like driving down to
the corner grocery store.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

"John Galban" wrote in message
om...
(Ben Jackson) wrote in message
news:EMNec.26772$xn4.47816@attbi_s51...
What route do you fly most often or feel most comfortable with? How
far could you wander from your home base without needing a map or even
a compass to find all the cities and airports?

I've been regularly flying between Phoenix and Las Cruces, NM for
the past 15 yrs. I can't remember the last time I pulled out a chart
on that trip. It's about 240 nm. It's a lot like driving down to
the corner grocery store.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

John,

What (traditionally) are your checkpoints for this route?

Just curious,

Jay Beckman
Student Pilot - KCHD
12.8 Hrs ... Nowhere to go but up!

"Jay Beckman" wrote in message news:9K%ec.2029$432.87@fed1read01...
"John Galban" wrote in message
om...

I've been regularly flying between Phoenix and Las Cruces, NM for
the past 15 yrs. I can't remember the last time I pulled out a chart
on that trip. It's about 240 nm. It's a lot like driving down to
the corner grocery store.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

John,

What (traditionally) are your checkpoints for this route?


I just go SE to Coolidge to bypass the restricted area east of
Gateway, then it's 090 degrees direct. I pass just north of the peak
on Mt. Graham (10,000+ ft.), Safford (KSAD), Silver City (KSVC) then
Las Cruces (LRU).

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

"John Galban" wrote in message
om...
"Jay Beckman" wrote in message
news:9K%ec.2029$432.87@fed1read01...
"John Galban" wrote in message
om...

I've been regularly flying between Phoenix and Las Cruces, NM for
the past 15 yrs. I can't remember the last time I pulled out a chart
on that trip. It's about 240 nm. It's a lot like driving down to
the corner grocery store.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

John,

What (traditionally) are your checkpoints for this route?


I just go SE to Coolidge to bypass the restricted area east of
Gateway, then it's 090 degrees direct. I pass just north of the peak
on Mt. Graham (10,000+ ft.), Safford (KSAD), Silver City (KSVC) then
Las Cruces (LRU).

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

Thanks John,

It sounds like a very scenic trip.

Jay

"John Galban" wrote in message
om...

What (traditionally) are your checkpoints for this route?


I just go SE to Coolidge to bypass the restricted area east of
Gateway, then it's 090 degrees direct. I pass just north of the peak
on Mt. Graham (10,000+ ft.), Safford (KSAD), Silver City (KSVC) then
Las Cruces (LRU).

You don't drop down a bit further south to Lordsburg?

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message ...
"John Galban" wrote in message
om...

What (traditionally) are your checkpoints for this route?


I just go SE to Coolidge to bypass the restricted area east of
Gateway, then it's 090 degrees direct. I pass just north of the peak
on Mt. Graham (10,000+ ft.), Safford (KSAD), Silver City (KSVC) then
Las Cruces (LRU).

You don't drop down a bit further south to Lordsburg?

That would be a bit out of the way. The most direct route passes
just south of the Silver City airport. I don't meet I-10 again until
I'm east of Deming.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

"Ben Jackson" wrote in message What route do you fly most often or feel
most comfortable with? How
far could you wander from your home base without needing a map or even
a compass to find all the cities and airports?

A real pilot in these parts navigates by the color of the water. :-)
In my student pilot days, I was riding shotgun in a Twin Beech to the
islands. Just after the gear came up, the captain pulled out an alarm clock,
wound it up, and set it to go off in 3 hours. Then he said to me to keep my
heading and altitude and to wake him up when the clock goes off. Sure
enough, when it went off, there was the island right under the nose.

I used to run a C-402 about 600 miles down island and back every day. Both
ways, I would set the autopilot heading bug just after crossing the shore. I
wouldn't touch it until nearing the destination. Most days, I would be
within 10 miles of centerline.

D.

Ben Jackson wrote:

What route do you fly most often or feel most comfortable with? How
far could you wander from your home base without needing a map or even
a compass to find all the cities and airports?


In the 80's and 90's, my elderly parents lived in Grants Pass, Or.
I have flown from SLC to 3S8 about 25 times, a flight of ~500nm,
across NW nevada, which has nothing but wild mustangs.
Several times, I turned off the radios and loran, and just flew
the route navigating by recognizing familar mountain peaks. Cant
miss Pilot Peak, the Rubies near Elko, Mt Shasta, or the big volcano
between Klamath Falls and Medford (Mt McLaughlin).

I routinely fly from SLC to Hall's Crossing at Lake Powell, about
200nm. I have made this trip about a hundred times, and can
do it asleep. Actually, I could fly anywhere in Utah, Wy, Idaho,
Colo, Nv, Az without maps, just point the nose and go.

My pilot wife is from Calgary, AB. We have now made the
trip SLC-HLN-CTB-Lethbridge-HighRiver enough times that
it is becoming routine, too.

Most difficult for me is SLC to OSH, which I have done about
6 times. I can easily get lost anywhere between E. Wy and
Wisconsin...

MikeM
Skylane '1MM
Pacer '00Z

In article EMNec.26772$xn4.47816@attbi_s51, Ben Jackson wrote:
What route do you fly most often or feel most comfortable with? How
far could you wander from your home base without needing a map or even
a compass to find all the cities and airports?

I can easily do 50 miles out from Houston without needing a map. In
some directions, 100.

Most often flown route used to be AAP (now closed) - CFD. We were
based at AAP and spent most weekends skydiving at CFD.

Today, it's EYQ-89TA - from home base to the soaring club. I probably
do the round trip an average of 3-4 times a month.

The area I spend most time in would be the area around 89TA. I've got
more then 125 hours towing there, and only once did I take a tow plane
outside of a 5 mile radius of the airport. This makes me so familiar
with the area that one weekend I happened to notice the cows in the
field below me had a few calves I hadn't noticed the week before.

Tina Marie