Flight Planning PYM to DEN

I am in the process of planning a flight from Plymouth, MA PYM to Front
Range Airport in CO, starting 12/21/2005 in an Arrow. (Yes Jay I am planning
to stop in Iowa City to see you.).
Does anyone know of a long range planning weather source?
Thanks
Bill Snow CP, IA, ASEL

You can get 10 day forecasts from www.weather.com but that is hardly
useful for planning a flight. I live south of FTG and I don't make
flight decisions until that morning.

Just weeks ago I made a decision to do a short local flight close to
the airport because of concerning clouds to the north. Five minute
drive to the airport, opened the hangar door, pulled the plane out and
looked again to the north. Did not like what I saw so put the plane
back in. Home five minutes later and it was snowing. Not sure if it
was predicted.

If you are not familiar with high altitude flight, read up on it.
Leaning the engine during the runup process is always done by me. Plus
use your airspeed during landing and take-off. Actual ground speed
will be higher than you are used to so don't let groundspeed
perceptions determine flare and rotation points.

FTG does have a tower now so make sure that you have that frequency.

Red Oak IA typically has cheap fuel.

The visibility out here should please you.

Ron Lee




"William Snow" wrote:

I am in the process of planning a flight from Plymouth, MA PYM to Front
Range Airport in CO, starting 12/21/2005 in an Arrow. (Yes Jay I am planning
to stop in Iowa City to see you.).
Does anyone know of a long range planning weather source?
Thanks
Bill Snow CP, IA, ASEL

Thanks for the tips Ron. I just bought one of those Anywheremap systems.
We'll see how they work. Also, I would like to get the airplane inside
during our stay so that it is warm and ready to depart on the
27th. Any recommendations for an FBO at FTG?
Thanks
Bill Snow

AOPA has some general long-range predictions.

This one isn't very long range, but longer than a TAF:
http://usairnet.com/cgi-bin/launch/c...Get+Fo recast

Midwest weather is notoriously unpredictable beyond 2 days.

Check this link for the FBO (at the bottom):

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KFTG

Also note that you are under Class B at pattern altitude and would
enter Class B just to the west or north of the east-west runway. Be
careful about that.

Ron Lee


"William Snow" wrote:

Thanks for the tips Ron. I just bought one of those Anywheremap systems.
We'll see how they work. Also, I would like to get the airplane inside
during our stay so that it is warm and ready to depart on the
27th. Any recommendations for an FBO at FTG?
Thanks
Bill Snow

You can also do the last part of the trip IFR (Interstate 70)

Ron Lee

I am in the process of planning a flight from Plymouth, MA PYM to Front
Range Airport in CO, starting 12/21/2005 in an Arrow. (Yes Jay I am planning
to stop in Iowa City to see you.).

Reservations are always a good idea. (Don't worry -- we'll let you off
the hook if conditions fall below 1000' and 3 miles...! :-) Go he
www.AlexisParkInn.com/reservations.htm

Does anyone know of a long range planning weather source?

Sure, you've got ADDS, The Weather Channel, NWS, and our local TV
stations. Oh, wait, did you say you wanted *accuracy*? Sorry, no such
thing!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article , Ron Lee none wrote:
If you are not familiar with high altitude flight, read up on it.
Leaning the engine during the runup process is always done by me. Plus
use your airspeed during landing and take-off. Actual ground speed
will be higher than you are used to so don't let groundspeed
perceptions determine flare and rotation points.

FTG does have a tower now so make sure that you have that frequency.

Ah yes, high-altitude flying. Ron & I are do used to it that
it's instinctive. But on the plus side for you, from IOW to FTG it's
pretty much flat land, with an airport no more than 20 min. from
anywhere. Mountains, on the other hand, are a different matter.

Please promise you're NOT going to try to fly to Steamboat...

blanche

With the tower, there's not much worry about Class B during office
hours. They'll keep you away from the north side (class B surface is
about 1.5 miles north of the 8-26 runway). If you're IFR you'll come
in on either 35 or 26 (ILS & GPS on both). If the winds are
horrendous, then you get 17.

As a rule, 8 and 35 are right traffic unless the tower says otherwise.
I've noticed lately that they'll often put the T&G students on 17/35
and put the rest of us on 8 with left traffic to avoid confusion. I
had to confirm left traffic last week -- I just didn't believe it!
And yes, they promised to keep me out of Class B.

When the tower is open, airspace is surface to 8000 MSL, otherwise
it's surface to 7000 MSL under Class B.

AWOS 119.025
Tower 120.20
Ground 124.7 yes, we know this is wierd.
FBO 123.0 (and also the Erie freq)

I live at FTG (well, the cherokee lives there) so let me know if
I can help.

blanche

In article , Ron Lee none wrote:
You can also do the last part of the trip IFR (Interstate 70)

Ron Lee

Remember to turn north BEFORE the set of golf balls (Buckley AFB)
and BEFORE Denver International (DIA/DEN) or you may have an
unpleasant view of a B757.