The Great Circle Route!

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Re: The Great Circle Route!

Post by Henrik »

Gnomad wrote:Although, the highlight had to be circling Old Faithful and then watching it erupt, now that was cool!
Damn, that is one lucky shot - I bet you circled for ½ hr to get that one! :D

Almost as impressive, you managed to snap it without obstructions - I usually have to bank the DA42 pretty steeply to get the wings out of the shot...
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Re: The Great Circle Route!

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Damn, that is one lucky shot - I bet you circled for ½ hr to get that one!
I did get lucky! Did a full 360 then began wondering how often it goes off...upon further inspection I could see a huge crowd around the viewing area, started thinking it might be going off soon....boom there it goes!! Only two circles. :thumbsup:

Day 3 is in the bag!

Took off from Beautiful Jackson Hole, Wy on a Northbound route to see Glacier National Park, before skirting the Canadian boarder toward Seattle. Sadly the turbulence near the park was pretty rough at all altitudes below 10,000ft. At one point I went way down to 1000ft agl looking for better air (and scenery) but after a canopy headshot, gave it up.

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Climbed back up high, which provided it's own unique view of the park, then headed over to Glacier Airport to refuel. While taxiing up to the ramp, I spotted another TwinStar! Walked over to introduce myself and the guy already knew my name! What the?!?! Ken is an Canadian DA42 flyer, and Diamond Forum lurker, who apparently had read this thread and knew I was in the vicinity. Very cool getting to meet with him!

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I then made a beeline West toward Seattle, wound up landing North of the city in Bellingham. After resting for an hour, studying the maps and what my options where, I made a change of plans! Took off SW out over the water, VFR at 3500, squeezed between Seattle and the Canadian boarder NORDO ;) , then out to the furthest Western most point, the TOU VORTAC before turning South and following the Coastline to Oregon. Sadly the fog was up against the shoreline, so I didn't get to see too much of the rugged coast, but the air was so cool and smooth and finally, after over 2000nm, I had a tailwind! :P

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About halfway down the Oregon Coast, after passing Portland, I then turned inland straight for Mt. Hood. Climbed back up to 13,500' and was in awe. Clear air everywhere and I could see Volcanoes 100 miles+ in the distance, truly unbelievable for a NC pilot! Circled Mt. Hood twice without as much as a single bump, smoothest air I could imagine.

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Finally, I flew South around Mt. Bachelor then landed in Bend, OR. Grabbed dinner and then slept for 9 hours! SF next up... :D
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Re: The Great Circle Route!

Post by RC7 »

Looks like an awesome trip! I'm jealous!
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Re: The Great Circle Route!

Post by carym »

Looks like Eric is having all the fun. We left Indy this am was mostly IMC to Fort Dodge. Had lunch then took off for Pierre SD. Again mostly IMC but smooth at 10K. At least the headwinds all the way were never worse than 30 kts :(


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Re: The Great Circle Route!

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At least the headwinds all the way were never worse than 30 kts :(
Sorry to leave those winds behind for you, Cary. Had them all the way from Charlotte to Seattle without a break! Good riddence! :thumbsd:



Day 4 is over with and I never left the ground!

Spent the entire day in Bend, Oregon. Out to the airport once to clean one million bugs and talk to a mechanic about my right aux pump, which has been giving me "issues".

This kind of marks a midpoint of my trip, most legs starting tomorrow will be with a destination in mind and a friend or relative to meet...and to crash on their couch!

I loaded up the flight data to the forum and then Google Earth, totaled out to 3,010 miles so far. :shock:

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It was nice to wake up in Oregon on such a historic day, trust me I didn't plan it this way!

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Needless to say, I stayed out of trouble and spent the day sightseeing. Bend is an awesome town, love it here. Highlight was probably riding the chair lift up Mt. Bachlor where, for the first time in my entire life...I walked on snow with flip flops! :D

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Crater Lake, Mt. Shasta, Golden Gate and landing in SF south bay tomorrow!
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Re: The Great Circle Route!

Post by Gnomad »

RC7 wrote:Looks like an awesome trip! I'm jealous!
Thanks Ben...errrrr ummm i just noticed you live in Charlotte...let's go flying when I get back! :thumbsup:
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Re: The Great Circle Route!

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Day 5...

Flew from Bend, Or to the San Francisco Bay area with a quick stop in Medford, Or (I lived here for a few years). Right after taking off, I was soon approaching Crater Lake. Water is a very beautiful blue color, not sure what causes it.

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Next I picked up the Rogue River, which I used to raft while living there. First time I did the river run by air! Pretty fun, then landed in Medford. Upon takeoff, Mt. Shasta quickly looms on the horizon. Probably the last volcano I'll see this trip, it didn't disappoint.

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After that, I angled over to the coast, plan was to come into the SF Bay from the NW at low altitude so at the very least I'd get to see the Golden Gate (It's under KSFO 3000 shelf) VFR.

This is a shot of me diving in for my low altitude run down the coast. Not for the faint of heart, as I went down low (very low...wait till you see the video!), but without a doubt the absolute best 20 minutes of piloting I've ever experienced!

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Finally, the moment had arrived! The Golden gate at last!!!

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Well...dammit!

Meeting up with Chris, from the forums, tomorrow for a two plane flight to Monterey. He has scooters! :D

p.s. For you FAA purists out there...don't read this!

So, as mentioned earlier I filed IFR out of Charlotte on the first day for leg 1. During the second leg, I picked up Flight Following, as I was really close to KC bravo. Since KC, I have not talked to anyone except some towers until I approached SF. I'll have to total it up later, but managed over 2000 something miles squawking 1200 with the radios off! 8) It really became a badge of honor for awhile there (hello Seattle airspace!), but I had no choice coming into SF. Sadly, I'll probably have to file for our breakfast run tomorrow due to the marine layer around here. The streak is over, but it sure was fun! :P

Wise = Naaaaa
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Fun = Hell ya!
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Re: The Great Circle Route!

Post by carym »

Eric,
Your pics are great. What views you are getting! Our day 2 was no where near as exciting. We left Pierre SD in rain and overcast and remained in IMC for at least half the way to Great Falls. When we weren't IMC the smoke ( from Canada) was so bad we could barely see the ground straight below us. What made it more fun we flew at 10K and for long stretches we were out of radar and out of communication. Today we are off to Seattle at 14k so hopefully we will get some good video at last. Of course, like the trip so far we expect 20kt+ headwinds all the way.
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Re: The Great Circle Route!

Post by Henrik »

Gnomad wrote:Well...dammit!
Don't feel bad Eric- here ya' go! :D
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Re: The Great Circle Route!

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Day 6-8...

Well I haven't updated in the last few days, each day I had about a 2 hour leg to the next friend or relatives' house and was kept quite busy socializing. Currently in Tucson, visiting my parents, on my last stop before a big flight flight tomorrow toward NC. Not sure if I'll make it all the way home tomorrow, or one last overnight. :scratch:

Anyway, so after landing in the SF Bay area and touring the area that I grew up in, seeing my old house and school etc... The next morning I met up with Chris, from the forums, who is based at KRHV where I had landed for the overnight. He knew a place in Halfmoon Bay for coffee and breakfast, so he gave me a quick briefing and off to our separate planes. Wound up going close to minimums on the approach. :shock: We both made it in just fine and I met Chris down at the far end of the runway for a scooter ride!

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Around noon it was time to move on, with a short flight down to Paso Robles to visit an old friend and his family. It was nice to overnight at my friends' house as he was the best man at my wedding, but I hadn't seen him in about 15 years. Got to meet his three boys for the first time too which was really cool.

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The next morning was a quick flight down toward San Diego with a landing at Palomar. I flew off shore VFR over the top of Catalina Island at 5,500. Catalina was the only runway VFR as the marine layer was everywhere else. I picked up a pop up IFR and the controller vectored me right on in for the ILS on 24, he was super friendly. My sister picked me up and I over-nighted at her house/stables. She has an equestrian training facility with 25ish horses. Oh, we also made it out for some fireworks that night too!

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Finally, this morning, I headed off for Tucson. Low overcast and mist at Palomar, so I was on another flight plan. Quick takeoff and I was heading East over the desert. Had to dodge some cells and even saw some lightening on the say into Tucson :shock: First time I've seen storms on the entire trip. Today was a little taster of what I'm likely to see tomorrow. :thumbsd:

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6am departure and 1,500 miles to Charlotte. Should have some nice tailwinds, although I'm expecting some weather so we'll see how it goes. :cry:
Last edited by Gnomad on Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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