Short sightseeing trips near KAPA - Denver?

We finally made it to Denver after having to divert to Holyoke Muni
airport the day before to avoid severe thunderstorms. We plan to stay
until Monday. We would like some recommendations for short, 1 to 2hrs
sightseeing round trips from Centenial airport. Without oxygen and
with 180hp engine, we probably would not want to go higher than 10,000
or 11,000 feet.
Thank you in advance.

Hai & Rick Longworth

"Longworth" wrote in message
oups.com...
We finally made it to Denver ... We would like some recommendations for
short, 1 to 2hrs
sightseeing round trips from Centenial airport. Without oxygen and
with 180hp engine, we probably would not want to go higher than 10,000
or 11,000 feet.


Given that altitude restriction you are pretty much limited to the
foothills, although with a 180hp engine (I assume in a Skyhawk or
equivalent) you could easily do some mountain flying. All the usual
warnings regarding mountain flying training apply...

If you are going to stay below 11K, you can fly NW under Denver Class B,
transition Jeffco Class D, fly over the foothills and up the Front Range.
Boulder, Lyons, Loveland, Fort Collins will pass off your right side, and
the Divide will be on display on the left. Try to avoid direct overflight
over Boulder if you are low - the locals are very noise sensitive.

From Fort Collins you can follow highway 285 NW to Laramie, WY. Beautiful
valley on the way. If you land there and borrow the courtesy car you will be
almost sure to see pronghorn as you drive around. From there fly over to
Cheyenne - you can walk to restaurants for lunch. After lunch it is about a
one hour flight back to Centennial - ask Denver for Class B transition -
they almost always provide it. I'm sure you know by now that we get
thunderstorms almost every afternoon - you might have to dodge or wait one
out - no big deal they seldom cause more than an hours wait. If you have to
avoid them, land at Longmont or Boulder - both nice airports (Longmont is my
home airport). I don't think either has a courtesy car, but if you land at
Boulder you can either get a cab or just ask for a ride to Pearl Street Mall
(a 4 block stretch of Pearl Street that is closed to traffic). Kind of fun
to walk around. Or just take a walk over to the glider side of the field and
talk to the people hanging out there - interesting bunch of gliding
fanatics.

Feel free to email me for any more info.

Michael

"Michael 182" wrote in message
...

"Longworth" wrote in message
oups.com...
We finally made it to Denver ... We would like some recommendations for
short, 1 to 2hrs
sightseeing round trips from Centenial airport. Without oxygen and
with 180hp engine, we probably would not want to go higher than 10,000
or 11,000 feet.


Given that altitude restriction you are pretty much limited to the
foothills, although with a 180hp engine (I assume in a Skyhawk or
equivalent) you could easily do some mountain flying. All the usual
warnings regarding mountain flying training apply...

If you are going to stay below 11K, you can fly NW under Denver Class B,
transition Jeffco Class D, fly over the foothills and up the Front Range.
Boulder, Lyons, Loveland, Fort Collins will pass off your right side, and
the Divide will be on display on the left. Try to avoid direct overflight
over Boulder if you are low - the locals are very noise sensitive.

Don't forget Red Rocks or the Flatirons.

Quite honestly, once you're in Denver, it's easier to rent/borrow
a car than fly anyplace within an hour. It's an hour's drive
to Colorado Springs, which means you can drive and visit the
USAF academy, drive to the Garden of the Gods, drive to Culver's
for custard, etc. From APA it's less than an hour's drive to
Boulder (traffic permitting). There are some trips that really
don't make sense flying.

On the other hand....2.5 hours to Sante Fe flying. 1 hour
flying to Pueblo and there's a little museum there, and you
can usually borrow the field car to drive into Pueblo.

Blanche,
We have access to a car and have done several driving trips in
Denver/Boulder areas. We just want to take our daughter up for an
aerial view.

Hai Longworth

The flight up toward Cheyenne is your best bet, then. You'll have nice views
of Eldorado Canyon, the Flatirons, the Indian Peaks Wilderness, Rocky
Mountain National Park, etc. Or go south and take a look at Pikes Peak and
maybe turn up toward Royal Gorge.

If you're at all interested in geology, this is a fascinating area to view
from the air. Check this out:
http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame...mt/modis02.jpg

Seth
Comanche N8100R

"Longworth" wrote in message
oups.com...
Blanche,
We have access to a car and have done several driving trips in
Denver/Boulder areas. We just want to take our daughter up for an
aerial view.

Hai Longworth

"Blanche Cohen" wrote in message
...
Quite honestly, once you're in Denver, it's easier to rent/borrow
a car than fly anyplace within an hour. It's an hour's drive
to Colorado Springs,

It's an hours drive from the Tech Center to Castle Rock!!! :~)

which means you can drive and visit the
USAF academy, drive to the Garden of the Gods, drive to Culver's
for custard, etc. From APA it's less than an hour's drive to
Boulder (traffic permitting).

And they NEVERE permit it!!


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

Seth,
We plan to take a short southern route tomorrow morning. How about
going southwest from KAPA following the South Platte River to Cheesman
Lake. Then head toward Lake George, Florissant area (west of Pikes
Peak). Then head to Royal Gorge. We plan to stop at Fremont 1V6. On
the way back, we will follow the Arkansas River to Pueblo Reservoir
then follow 25 back to KAPA avoiding USAF area. We will certainly have
flight following.
If we have time and weather permit, we may take the northern trip on
Sunday.
Thank you for the link. Rick is a science teacher so we are quite
interested in gelology.

Hai Longworth

Sounds like fun. Don't count on flight following for most of the route: At
your altitudes ATC radar is going to lose track of you when you turn the
corner. Pick it up again after you leave Fremont.

Check density altitude, and fly safe!

Seth

"Longworth" wrote in message
oups.com...
Seth,
We plan to take a short southern route tomorrow morning. How about
going southwest from KAPA following the South Platte River to Cheesman
Lake. Then head toward Lake George, Florissant area (west of Pikes
Peak). Then head to Royal Gorge. We plan to stop at Fremont 1V6. On
the way back, we will follow the Arkansas River to Pueblo Reservoir
then follow 25 back to KAPA avoiding USAF area. We will certainly have
flight following.
If we have time and weather permit, we may take the northern trip on
Sunday.
Thank you for the link. Rick is a science teacher so we are quite
interested in gelology.

Hai Longworth

Michael, Seth, Matt & Blanche,
Thank you for your advices. We had a great flight to Fremont today.
It's quite interesting to see Royal Gorge from the air. Seth was
right about losing radar contact near Pikes Peak area.
We had called Signature the day before to ask them not to fuel the
plane but somebody forgot! We were at least 100lbs below max weight
but took extra caution and removed all extra stuffs in the baggage
compartment to loose 20-30 more lbs. We departed at 9am and could
barely get 400fpm climb rate. We managed to get to 10,500' before
crossing the ridge.
We will be at half the max weight tomorrow and expect to have a more
decent climb rate. Depending on departure time, we will head north
towards either Fort Collins or Cheyenne (KCYS). We got back to KAPA
before noon today and had already seen TS build up in the East & could
feel some turbulence. Hope that it will be another great flight
tomorrow. The beautiful clear sky here is a big change from the hazy
summer weather in NY.

Hai Longwort