blais@dcdwest.UUCP (Phil Blais) (06/20/85)
*** for the line eater *** I'm in the initial planning stages for a round robin cross country from San Diego to Michigan sometime in late spring '86 in a C177RG. Would greatly appreciate mail from anyone who has crossed the rocky mountains in a light plane as regards the best places to cross (read lowest MEA's), where the safest (read widest) VFR passes are etc. I'm very flexible as to routing etc. (thats why I'm planning this far in advance) and am primarily concerned with getting there in one piece. The west coast OSHKOSH fans do it every year so I'm sure there must be some places to cross with MEA's less than 16000 feet! Any and all info will be welcome including good FBO's, cautions, advice (not too many "don't do its") I hope. mail addresses : west coast ucbvax!sdcsvax!dcdwest!blais east coast decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!blais Thanks in advance, Phil Blais
ths@lanl.ARPA (06/20/85)
> > I'm in the initial planning stages for a round robin cross country > from San Diego to Michigan sometime in late spring '86 in a C177RG. > Would greatly appreciate mail from anyone who has crossed the > rocky mountains in a light plane as regards the best places to > cross (read lowest MEA's), where the safest (read widest) VFR > passes are etc. > > Phil Blais You are in luck Phil! There are a number of routes, particularly from San Diego to the midwest that have very reasonable MEAs. Comming out of SAN you could go directly east via PHX and never have to climb more than 8,000. A more scenic route would be to head northeast to Prescott and try some of their home made biscuits for breakfast. Then head out via V-12 across Sedona and Meteror Crater. Drop low (but not too low) over the painted desert and fly down US 40 thru Gallup. The cliffs there are quite orange in the early morning. At this point you could go into ABQ or angle northeast and stop in Santa Fe. Spend a night or two there. Much to see and Jim Hayes of Santa Fe Aviation is always a soft touch for transportation (tell him I sent you). Departing southeast for about 20 miles before heading northeast again you do not have to climb to more than 9,500 to clear the southern edge of the Sangre DeCristo range and then it is all down hill to Michigan. You can complete the entire flight without going above 11,000 MSL. Take a good 35 mm camera and remember to fly "very" early in the morning. Of course you could work your way more north into the Grand Canyon and monument valley. But then you would either have to drop back south again to have good terrain clearance or go up to 13,000 to cross Cumbres Pass (10,500) and La Veta Pass (10,000). I haven't had much experience east of Kansas so I'll leave that route of the flight to our net.flatlander pilots. Remember, if you are traveling during the months of March, April and May, the winds can get very challenging in the afternoons. Plan on being on the ground by noon until you clear the rockies. Don't tempt the spring storms either! One more thing, remember that you engine is going to loose 25% to 40% of it's rated power at 7,500 MSL. Make sure you understand density altitude and preferrably have a high altitude check out by a qualified CFI. Ted Spitzmiller Los Alamos NM
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (06/21/85)
> You are in luck Phil! There are a number of routes, particularly from > San Diego to the midwest that have very reasonable MEAs. Comming out of > SAN you could go directly east via PHX and never have to climb more than > 8,000. > > Remember, if you are traveling during the months of March, April and May, > the winds can get very challenging in the afternoons. Plan on being on > the ground by noon until you clear the rockies. Don't tempt the spring > storms either! > > One more thing, remember that you engine is going to loose 25% to 40% of it's > rated power at 7,500 MSL. Make sure you understand density altitude and > preferrably have a high altitude check out by a qualified CFI. > > Ted Spitzmiller > Los Alamos NM Good advice. You may want to fly up north along the front range (in front of the mountains) once you cross them. Under no conditions should someone attempt to cross the Rockies near Denver at altitudes less than 16000 MSL unless you've had an mountain flying course (including flight time in the mountains). I can recommend a good CFI/FBO in Denver for this if you like. If you do decide to fly north a bit after you cross, Flower Aviation in Pueblo Colorado is reputed to be one of the nicest in the countries. Goodland Kansas had good pecan pie and were selling ashtrays made of aircraft engine pistons for five dollars (I wished I'd bought more, people keep trying to get mine away from me). -Ron
doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (06/24/85)
> You are in luck Phil! There are a number of routes, particularly from > San Diego to the midwest that have very reasonable MEAs. Comming out of > SAN you could go directly east via PHX and never have to climb more than > 8,000. Perhaps you mean "to" PHX? Except to SAN, all routes out of Arizona have MEAs of 10,000 feet or above, most are above 12,500'. -- Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug ^^^^^--- soon to be CalComp
ths@lanl.ARPA (06/26/85)
> > You are in luck Phil! There are a number of routes, particularly from > > San Diego to the midwest that have very reasonable MEAs. Comming out of > > SAN you could go directly east via PHX and never have to climb more than > > 8,000. > > Perhaps you mean "to" PHX? Except to SAN, all routes out of Arizona > have MEAs of 10,000 feet or above, most are above 12,500'. > -- > Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{ihnp4,seismo,decvax}!noao!terak!doug I should have been a bit more explicite....you can fly east "VFR" via the PHX "area" and never have to fly at more than 8000' MSL. You can chart a number of courses to the east of PHX that will give you reasonable terrain clearance. As Doug pointed out, the IFR MEAs are still quite high being 10,000 or more. Some of these routes get you up there primarily for VOR reception however. If you go the southern route you have a decision to make when you get into New Mexico, how to avoid restricted area R-5111 et al. It is probably just a quick to proceed east southeast to El Paso and then northeast. But that sure is some barren landscape in southeast New Mexico. You might consider stopping at Carlsbad Caverns though. Ted Spitzmiller