Reflections on a true cross-country

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danno2000
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Reflections on a true cross-country

Post by danno2000 »

Just got back from a roughly three-week trip from western Massachusetts to San Diego and back. I'd been hoping to do a trip like this since I bought the plane five years ago but never had the time. It's in the books now, with 40.7 flight hours over 20 days with several long layovers.

Some observations:
-- It was surprisingly hard to find warm weather in March. My route was KAQW -> KPNE -> KMQI -> (KOGB) -> KDTS -> (KLCH) -> KIWS -> (E41) -> KPEQ -> (KDMN) -> KTUS -> KIPL -> KMYF on the way out -- intraday fuel stops in parens, others for overnights. Only Tucson wasn't outright chilly, and even there, they said it was the coldest March in decades. Coming back, it was even colder: KMYF -> (KSEZ) -> KABQ -> (KAVK) -> KSGF -> (KLEX) -> KMGW -> KAQW, with cold winds in Albuquerque and some frost to burn off in Morgantown.

-- I don't fly much IMC because my plane doesn't have an autopilot and I'm not confident in my abilities to balance workload solo in hard IMC. But with the temps, I wouldn't have been able to do much IMC anyway because of icing concerns. That made for some days on the ground when conditions were marginal and I didn't want to get somewhere I didn't want to be in the air.

-- Tailwinds westbound are worth hunting for. Had a rare opportunity to get tailwinds pretty much from Destin all the way to Tucson.

-- I did my instrument rating in Denver but otherwise have little mountain flying experience. The southern route was quite hospitable and the scenery was quite lovely. I stuck largely to I-10 in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona and felt much more comfortable even with some weather threats.

-- Flying in the West and Central US meant a lot more surface wind than I was used to. It was good experience and a nice reminder to get out there on subpar days here at home for practice and training.

-- After spending hours and hours on sleepy frequencies listening to Center talk mostly to jet traffic (I always get flight following), it was a real jolt to the system to make the transition to the rapid-fire calls from SoCal approach. I'm glad I had filed IFR for the short jump from Imperial waiting on weather as there's no way they would have talked to me otherwise.

-- I had wondered how the old plane would handle higher altitudes, both for takeoff and cruise. I was quite pleased. Sure, density altitudes weren't high because of the cold, but only minimal leaning for takeoff was needed for Sedona in the mid-afternoon. And 11,500 is now my new best friend for cruise, getting me to max ground speed of 185 kts on the way back even over low terrain.

-- General aviation is all about the stories. Poking under NYC's Bravo in marginal VFR and having to ask for a Delta transition to avoid clouds. Dropping into First Flight briefly to see the Wright Brothers memorial. Having to deal with controlled burn-induced near-IMC in the Florida panhandle while navigating the military-dense SFRA near Pensacola/Ft. Walton. Getting told to maintain 500 feet or lower along the shoreline for 10 minutes on departure. Having the FBO at West Houston give me a Crown Vic with 200K miles as a crew car for three full days at no charge. Meeting countless line workers at small airports with minimal traffic and then visiting the lavish Signatures and Atlantics at larger airports. Navigating densely packed San Diego airspace and still finding a way to give my sister-in-law a nice scenic flight up the coast. Picking Alva, OK as a reasonable fuel stop only then to find it was a POW camp for German prisoners in WW2. Waiting for weather to get a little better and then using every skill to pick the right angle over Appalachian ridges in gusty winds and land in still crosswinds. Stretching your comfort level while staying safe and not getting reckless.

-- Only real disappointment was Sedona, and I'll admit, that's an accident of (1) the restaurant being totally full when I was there, and my not wanting to wait, (2) the flood of tourists up on the mesa generally, and (3) my expectations being super-high based on videos and other pilots' stories. Not to say it wasn't visually stunning and worth visiting. But I was prouder of my KLVX Leadville landing and takeoff.

I'm hoping to do the northern route sometime later this year, so I'll be back with a similar report then. Maybe by then I'll have a video setup figured out so I can share that. Thanks to all of you for the stories you've told, flight plans you've shared, and information you've given everyone - it helped prepare me for what I experienced out there.

cheers,
dan
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Boatguy
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Re: Reflections on a true cross-country

Post by Boatguy »

Well done!
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dmloftus
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Re: Reflections on a true cross-country

Post by dmloftus »

Nice stories. A few months after we bought our DA40, my son and I took a 6000-mile vacation from Atlanta to visit 10 national parks out west. Next time you go, you definitely want to take a few passes over the Grand Canyon. It has always been on my pilot's bucket list and was far better than I had dreamed.
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dmloftus
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Re: Reflections on a true cross-country

Post by dmloftus »

Something to look forward to on your next trip west. Five passes over the Grand Canyon, east to west:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSdNfIC ... avidLoftus
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Colin
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Re: Reflections on a true cross-country

Post by Colin »

Sounds like an awesome trip, Dan. And some excellent piloting.
Colin Summers, PP Multi-Engine IFR, ~3,000hrs
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http://www.flyingsummers.com
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smoss
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Re: Reflections on a true cross-country

Post by smoss »

You didn't miss anything at the Sedona restaurant! Overpriced mediocre food. Been there twice and disappointed both times.
Steve
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jashsmash
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Re: Reflections on a true cross-country

Post by jashsmash »

Very cool route. I can't imagine the weather was so bad once you got to KMQI, which I flew to last year. We landed there on the way to Aeshville, NC for lunch from KFRG and then made a hop to KFFA before continuing west. I hope to do something like this one day.
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mhoran
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Re: Reflections on a true cross-country

Post by mhoran »

Thanks for the great writeup! Sounds like a lot of fun. I'm planning to do something similar this summer, flying from NYC to San Diego along the southern route and up to Seattle before coming home along the northern route.
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