Thinking about a trip

bagarre · Post by **bagarre** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:08 am

Dani and I have been talking about taking a big trip in our 170 ever since we bought it.
Well, I'VE been talking about a big trip at least.

So, we're thinking about making this year's convention the first leg of a coast to coast trip. We talked about last year's convention but it never got past talk. This year, it's close enough to use it as an excuse to get out of town and then keep going. The longest trip I've ever made was Pittsburgh and back in a day (4 hours flying).

Any advice on how to do a coast to coast trip and really enjoy it? I don't want to make it a cannon ball run. I want to see as much of the country as I can but don't even know what route to take.

The good part is, my company has an office South of San Francisco so I can work remotely once I hit the big ocean.
Just not sure where to stop along the way.

I'm thinking of a Southern route out and a Norther route back but for no particular reason.

bigrenna · Post by **bigrenna** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:13 am

delete

bagarre · Post by **bagarre** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:15 am

I keep thinking of it like crossing the Atlantic in my old 28 footer. (which I also talked about at length and never did...maybe for the better there)

3958v · Post by **3958v** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:03 am

That trip sound fantastic. I have done about 8 trips to the Rocky Mountain area of the west in 58V. The toughest part of those trips was always the Pennsylvania mountains so you have aready done that. Once past them most aiports have coutesey cars. Check airnav coments to find the nicest airports. It dosen hurt to brush up on class C rules as those airports can be a pretty sure bet late in the day if you need a place to spend the night. If you don't already have it beg barrow or steal to get XM weather so you can check weather enroute. Diverting works better the sooner you realize that you need to do it. Go to a store that sells backpacking equiment as they are a great place to pick up light camping gear for regular use or emergency use. Plan to change your plans because mother nature never seems to cooperate, but thats half the fun. Enjoy there is nothing like seeing the US from 1000ft agl or less in remote areas. Bill K

crwrpmr · Post by **crwrpmr** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 2:08 pm

For me cross countries are the joy of aviating. Don't ask me what I did yesterday because I won't remember but ask me about any cross country I flew in the last twenty years and I'll vividly tell who, what and where.
Picked up our new 170B on a farm in Manitoba this past Aug and made new friends of the previous owners. The weather, farm, harvest and dining outside in absolute quite was surreal for this couple from Hong Kong.
Crossing at Pembina into the USA was a non event, just do as they ask. Flew to Serine, Wisconsin to spend time at a cabin on a lake. Wrote the owner months in advance explaining that I could not commit to an exact arrival date due to flying an old aircraft and being dependent on cooperative weather. He said his daughter was a pilot and he understood, the cabin would be available when I arrived.
Landed at the airport after closing but there was a local pilot who helped us get into the office and sign for the airport car. The resort owner said our cabin would be the one with all the lights on near the lake, the door would be open. The next day we returned to the airport to introduce ourselves to the manager and he said we could keep the car the three days we were to be there.
All our stops were wonderful.
I'm currently planning next years cross country when I have August holiday. You meet the nicest people and see the most interesting things.
Get in her and discover!

PaddyM · Post by **PaddyM** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:30 pm

Good advise previously-- just a bunch of short hops one after another.
This summer I traded my Archer to get my old 170B back and did the cross country from Ontario out to Calgary and returned in the B. Give or take about 5,000 miles total.
Weather was the biggest issue, so just don't have any pre determined deadlines and you guys will love it.
Flying across the Prairies at 500 ft. and visibility thats goes on forever is something every pilot should witness, with
landing spots in every direction!
crwrpmr-- I wonder if we were flying in the same area at the same time. about August 6th or 7th.
I returned via just south of Winnipeg and overnighted at Morden Mn. due to the low pressure system with poor vis and big winds flying on the back side of it.
Lots of planning, new charts/ updates, check fuel prices in advance, and I planned for airports with intersecting runways to make my trip a bit more relaxing.
Met new friends, got help from fellow aviators-- a special time in my flying life!
Sure recommend it to all at least once.
Pat

hilltop170 · Post by **hilltop170** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 3:56 pm

I have found when making long distance flights it is most enjoyable to fly no more than two legs a day. One tank of gas in the morning, stop for a nice lunch, another tank of gas in the afternoon, make a stop for the night early enough to do some exploring, have a nice meal, then go for some entertainment or an early bedtime. Ina and I can go for days like that without getting beat down tired. Three legs a day will wear you out. Two legs will cover 500-800 miles a day depending on weather.

Fly the route with the best weather, look out two days ahead and pick the route with the best possibility of not getting stuck somewhere. Even if you have to go out of the way, it is better than sitting somewhere when you want to be flying. Try to plan your stops at places you've never been before. A big part of the appeal of long distance trips for us is visiting new places. Some of the best memories will be from unplanned discoveries. Just get on the internet and google a bunch of places and you'll come up with more cool places to see than you will possibly have time for.

In flying thru the mountains, especially the Rockies, most folks get on the ground when winds aloft forecast hit 30kt or more. I use 20kt as my upper limit, especially flying into the wind. Mechanical turbulence gets extreme with high winds and the 170 does not have enough power to deal with it under those conditions, even with a big engine. Turbulence generally increases thru the day due to heating and flying early in the morning is generally smoother unless the winds are high.

Use Airnav for planning fuel stops but always call ahead to be sure things are as advertised and will be available when you arrive. There are some really great off-the-beaten-path airports out there but you just have to sniff them out.

For hotels, use the http://www.kayak.com website (not the app) to find the best deals wherever you stop. The app does not necessarily have the best prices. When you find the right hotel on Kayak.com, get the phone number of that hotel and call them directly. The price will be the same or they will honor the Kayak price and you are dealing with a real person at the hotel instead of a website. Some FBOs will have crew rates at local hotels and those usually work out very well, just ask when you land. Some FBOs will have courtesy cars for crews and may let you keep it overnight. Some others are just to get a meal and return in an hour or so. Be sure and find out how the courtesy car works before you get there in case you need to rent a car. Unless rent cars are available at the FBO, advance notice will be required, especially outside of normal hours. Enterprise works almost anywhere, even small towns.

bagarre · Post by **bagarre** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:41 pm

Half Moon Bay would definitely be a destination. There is a restaurant over there that Dani and I go to every time we get close to California.

The office is in Redwoood City, walking distance from San Carlos Airport.

Crossing PA mountains was the hard part?? What about the Rockies? That's what I'm worried about. I have no mountain experience except for the Blue Ridge at 500 AGL.

XM Weather is a good idea for a trip like this.

I plan to pull the back seat out for the trip to fit the folding bicycles and camping gear.

Are there any books worth reading in the mean time about mountain flying or long trips in little airplanes?

blueldr · Post by **blueldr** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:02 pm

Some years ago a couple of teen age brothers did it in a Cub with sectionals and wrote a book about it. It should be a cinch for such an intrepid aviator in a sophisticated airplane like a 170 with a GPS.
Richard Pulley provides a lot of excellent advice from his extensive experience.

Post by **Bruce Fenstermacher** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:26 pm

Dave I don't know if you've flown over it but the area of the Appalachian Mountains at the PA border and into Virginia down to Harrisonburg and west are pretty inhospitable for a long way if you have trouble. I never gave it much thought till I flew over it the first time and realized if we went down we were not likely to be found. An eye opener you just don't think of. The Rockies are obviously an inhospitable place.

blueldr · Post by **blueldr** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 9:48 pm

For the ones reluctant to fly over relatively inhospitable two hour stretches of the continental USA, take a deep breath, hitch up your jeans, and think of that petite little Jerrie Mock strapping her giant "C-180 gastank" to her delicate derrier and departing Honolulu at sundown for a 2400 mile night flight over the Pacific Ocean to Oakland. Talk about some unhospitable territory!

bagarre · Post by **bagarre** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:17 pm

My route to Pittsburgh takes me over some of the area you're talking about. There are a few places with no cell signal or even a flat spot to wreck a plane in but, the only real way to get in trouble over there (other than IMC) is an engine failure. Which can certainly happen.
My concern of the Rockies is, they are higher than I can fly and you can fly into spots that you can't get out of.
A different kind of lack of hospitality.

Learning about Jerrie Mock last month is what actually kicked me in the pants about the trip (Thank you BlueLDR).
A trip across the country today is no where near the challenge of flying around the world before GPS and XM Weather existed tho.

3958v · Post by **3958v** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 11:14 pm

Dave The IFR weather in central Pennsylvania can last for days while in the rest of the country it just seems to lasts for a day or so. I believe you will find that your 170 will slowly climb to its service ceiling and probably get you to 14,000 ft which is more than high enough to fly around mountains tops as long as they are not obscured. You need to bone up on mountain flying guidelines now so you have them down when you get out there. Its best probably to get a mountain flying checkout but that never seemed to work out for me. Some basic rules I have followed as a novice in the mountains are. 1 Don"t fly any where close to IFR weather. 2. Keep your weight at least 10% below your maximum. 3 Stay 2000 ft above and away from terain if at all possible. 4 Don"t fly if the winds around the peaks are exceding 25knts. 5 Approach all ridge lines at a 45 degree angle in case of severe downdrafts you can run with only a 90 degree turn. 6 Fly in the morning while its cool and before convective activity picks up. 7 Stay out of canyons they can be some of the most beautiful death traps out there. 8 Until you have plenty of experience stick with long runways and good aproaches. Those are most of my basic rules that have seved me well. I am sure some of the others can add some more but it sounds like you are approching this trip with more experience than I did on my first trip. I had about 150 hrs total time when I took off for the Kalispell convention and that was a trip of a life time. I look at each of these trips as great adventures. Bill K PS A lot of the western states have state charts available for free and they can be a great resource for planning.

buzzlatka · Post by **buzzlatka** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:30 am

Once you get out here you won't want to leave. We could schedule a couple of impromptu 170 fly ins/outs when you get out here. I can offer you free tie downs and plenty of maintenance support in Sacramento. Got a hangar full of 170 parts and tools for oil changes or whatever.

I'm going to do the opposite in 2014. My son will be able to hack a trip to my hometown of STL for the 2014 convention. Then I would like to fly to PA the Atlantic coast.
Should be fun.

pojawis · Post by **pojawis** » Wed Jan 09, 2013 7:27 pm

a couple of teen age brothers did it in a Cub with sectionals and wrote a book

Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck. Good book. They did it in the 60s, if memory serves.

The International Cessna 170 Association