Crossing the Rockies in a 172

Straight line from ENW to MYF is 1505nm. Throw in LVS (Las Vegas, NM) in
there for terrain avoidance and it only adds 17nm and keeps you south of all
the highest terrain. 10,500 is the ideal altitude west of LVS, at 8,500 you
may need to zig-zag a little between Las Vegas and Grants, NM.
Places you'd fly near or over along the way...
Moline, St. Joseph, Manhattan, Great Bend, Dodge City, Albuquerque, St.
Johns, and a whole lot of nothing until San Diego.

Northern route sure is alot longer. Through Yellowstone adds about 200nm,
figure all with a headwind, and much dicier weather probable. But you'd fly
right over Salt Lake City and the other Las Vegas (NV). Just noticed you
said during the summer. This would a pretty nice scenic route, will have to
zig-zag around the mountains more. The southern route above is surely to be
bumpier especially in NM and AZ. But you can hook up with I-40 and have one
heck of a long emergency runway and it showing the way through the lower
passes.

Another scenic option is LVS towards Shiprock, NM and Monument Valley, then
over the Grand Canyon. Total miles= 1585nm, all comfortably done around
10,500. Watch out for the SFAR over the Grand Canyon though.

Have fun, Chris

Wow, Peter, you are on it! Excellent of you to do pre-planning
so early, with enough time to get something accomplished!

Either of your aircraft will work well for such a trip.
Yellowstone is beautiful that time of year.
We fly early in the morning (dawn), and at 10% or more
below the max gross weight of the aircraft, (better performance).

I am sure you have had good training up to now, yet density altitude,
winds and navigation are yet catching pilots on their first time out
west.

May I suggest that you stop at Jackson, Casper or Cheyenne, Wyoming
for some 1:1 mountain training from some local pilots on your way in?

May I humbly suggest that I am available at 3V5, Fort Collins Downtown
Airport, Colorado, at Poudre Aviation, just south of Cheyenne, WY, if
you want some mountain flight instruction in the Colorado Rockys...
Aspen, Leadville and Glenwood Springs await.

As you are in Wisconsin, you might consider discussing flying
out west with another Wisconsinite at Portage:

Airport, WI - Portage Municipal Airport, C47
POB 319
Portage, WI 53901
608 742-3300 OFFICE FBO Air Portage, Inc., John Poppy
608 742-0049 FAX FBO Air Portage, Inc., John Poppy
email poppy'at'air-portage.com, http://www.air-portage.com

Please feel free to email me with your questions or comments...
that goes for any pilot or wanna-be on the net...

If you have the opportunity to get education and training, and have an
excellent experience in the mountains, then I will have avoided
another search and rescue call-out for Civil Air Patrol to find
someone in the mountains.

My compliments on pre-planning your out-west flying adventure!

May I suggest there is a great mountain flying course in northern
Idaho, at McCall 3-7 day adventures, custom tailored to your needs,
wants and skills. I believe the URL is:
http://www.mountaincanyonflying.com

Lori MacNichol is the owner, Chief CFI, and an excellent mountain,
canyon and backcountry instructor.

Peter von Tresckow wrote:
Hi, I am in the planning stage for a trip from Kenosha (SE Wisconsin)
to San Diego to visit my brother this summer. This will be my firsrt
time in the mountains, and I was looking for some help picking the
route. So far I have picked up the WACs for the general area for
planning, and I was thinking of a northern route through SD with
perhaps a stop in Yellowstone on the way there and roughly following
route 66 on the way home.

What are some of the routes that would be acceptable in a 172SP or a
180 HP archer.

Thanks

Peter von Tresckow

P.S. I am planning on taking some dual in the mountains as well any
suggestions for that also??

Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocation!" Eberhard

--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jer'at'frii.com WEB http://www.frii.net/~jer
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider, FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot, BM218 HAM N0FZD, 197 Young Eagles!

Know how to lean your engine properly at altitude. Summertime density
altitudes can exceed 9000' in the summer.

Also land and take off using airspeed. The actual groundspeed will be
higher so do not let sea level groundspeed perception fool you. This
means longer landing and takeoff distances.

Ron Lee

Ron Lee wrote:
Know how to lean your engine properly at altitude. Summertime density
altitudes can exceed 9000' in the summer.

And that's at ground level!

Blanche wrote:

Ron Lee wrote:
Know how to lean your engine properly at altitude. Summertime density
altitudes can exceed 9000' in the summer.

And that's at ground level!

Thanks for pointing that out! You are correct. We have had people
arrive in CO and not successfully make a take-off. Probably due to
the effects of high density altitude on the runway.

When I took off from Leadville this summer the DA was just over 12,000
feet (on the ground!)

Ron Lee