Planning a Trip Over The Rockies

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

) 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