Coast to coast trip suggestions?

[Filip Zawadiak]

Hi,

I'm going in two weeks for fly&tour&camp vacations. I planned to fly
from San Diego to Florida and back, using different routes both ways.

At first I wanted to go counterclockwise, but then after reading
different comments decided to go in other direction, going through
Grand Canyon and surroundings in April, and going back over flatlands
later. It's also suggested in "Americas Weather" to go that way.

I created page with map and planned route on my web site:
http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast

Of course, I plan to adjust it on the way depending on weather and
last minute ideas ;-)

I'll go together with my girlfriend, and we plan to camp near airports
- used AOPA airport directory to find out where they are. Still, I
don't know what should I expect from "camping on field". It would be
probably wise to call all of those airports just after arriving to USA
(I'm from Poland).

I hope to have great time, and see quite a lot of US National Parks.
Still, maybye you have some suggestions what could/should be included
in such trip?

Or general comments, after all I'm quite a "fresh" pilot - one of
outcomes of this trip should be getting enough experience and
crosscountry time to be able to start IFR training, maybye next year.

Thanks,
--
Filip Zawadiak
PP-ASEL 67hr, and counting
http://vyx.net/~philz

[Tom Sixkiller]

What type of equipment? I would have different suggestions if you're flying
a Cub or a 171 than if you're flying a turbonormalized Bonanza.


"Filip Zawadiak" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi,
>
> I'm going in two weeks for fly&tour&camp vacations. I planned to fly
> from San Diego to Florida and back, using different routes both ways.
>
> At first I wanted to go counterclockwise, but then after reading
> different comments decided to go in other direction, going through
> Grand Canyon and surroundings in April, and going back over flatlands
> later. It's also suggested in "Americas Weather" to go that way.
>
> I created page with map and planned route on my web site:
> http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast
>
> Of course, I plan to adjust it on the way depending on weather and
> last minute ideas ;-)
>
> I'll go together with my girlfriend, and we plan to camp near airports
> - used AOPA airport directory to find out where they are. Still, I
> don't know what should I expect from "camping on field". It would be
> probably wise to call all of those airports just after arriving to USA
> (I'm from Poland).
>
> I hope to have great time, and see quite a lot of US National Parks.
> Still, maybye you have some suggestions what could/should be included
> in such trip?
>
> Or general comments, after all I'm quite a "fresh" pilot - one of
> outcomes of this trip should be getting enough experience and
> crosscountry time to be able to start IFR training, maybye next year.
>
> Thanks,
> --
> Filip Zawadiak
> PP-ASEL 67hr, and counting
> http://vyx.net/~philz

[jsmith]

If you are going to camp, stay away from medium/bigcity airports. Call
ahead to check.
If it has airline service, you will not be allowed to camp due to
security issues.

Filip Zawadiak wrote:
> Or general comments, after all I'm quite a "fresh" pilot - one of
> outcomes of this trip should be getting enough experience and
> crosscountry time to be able to start IFR training, maybye next year.

[Hap]

(Filip Zawadiak) wrote in message >...
> Hi,
>
> I'm going in two weeks for fly&tour&camp vacations. I planned to fly
> from San Diego to Florida and back, using different routes both ways.
>
> At first I wanted to go counterclockwise, but then after reading
> different comments decided to go in other direction, going through
> Grand Canyon and surroundings in April, and going back over flatlands
> later. It's also suggested in "Americas Weather" to go that way.
>
> I created page with map and planned route on my web site:
> http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast
>
> Of course, I plan to adjust it on the way depending on weather and
> last minute ideas ;-)
>
> I'll go together with my girlfriend, and we plan to camp near airports
> - used AOPA airport directory to find out where they are. Still, I
> don't know what should I expect from "camping on field". It would be
> probably wise to call all of those airports just after arriving to USA
> (I'm from Poland).
>
> I hope to have great time, and see quite a lot of US National Parks.
> Still, maybye you have some suggestions what could/should be included
> in such trip?
>
> Or general comments, after all I'm quite a "fresh" pilot - one of
> outcomes of this trip should be getting enough experience and
> crosscountry time to be able to start IFR training, maybye next year.
>
> Thanks,

You may want to consider scheduling more time. Consider that even one
weather event that requires IFR could ground you for day(s). You don't
want to feel rushed; good luck!

[Ben Jackson]

In article >,
Filip Zawadiak > wrote:
>I created page with map and planned route on my web site:
>http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast

I'm no Texas expert, but you sure are flying across a lot of nothing
there. You might see how it affects the trip length to angle south
and pick up the coast sooner (assuming counterclockwise). Plus then
you can visit the Johnson Space Center in Houston!

--
Ben Jackson
>
http://www.ben.com/

[MikeM]

Filip Zawadiak wrote about his impending trip:

What are you flying?

Become familiar with www.airnav.com

I live in Utah, and have some suggestions about BCE/HVE/CNY

No camping allowed at BCE, expensive gas. Bryce Canyon is
spectactular. Maintain 2000' agl. Land only if you have
to pee. Better gas prices at SGU or CDC

No camping allowed at PGA, expensive gas. If you want to spend
the night, go down to Marble Canyon, about 25 mi down-river from PGA.
You need a Grand Canyon SFR chart to navigate to Marble Canyon
via the cutout. No fuel, but you can camp.

No gas at HVE, you can camp, but why would you want to? (nothing there).
Substitute U96 for HVE. You can camp, use a flush toilet. Inexpensive
gas, close proximity to Lake Powell and Monument Valley. The flight from
CNY to U96 is spectactular.

CNY, likely no camping (commercial air service), expensive gas. Use
U43 Monticello instead, self-serv gas. CanyonLands N.P. scenery is
along the Colorado river, more or less along the line from U96 to U43.

If you want more, write back.

MikeM
Salt Lake City, UT
Skylane '1MM
Pacer '00Z

[Dan Luke]

"Ben Jackson" wrote:
> I'm no Texas expert,

Truly.

[Filip Zawadiak]

"Tom Sixkiller" > wrote in message >...
> What type of equipment? I would have different suggestions if you're flying
> a Cub or a 171 than if you're flying a turbonormalized Bonanza.

Right, kind of important... :-)

I plan to fly in Cessna 172, and have 4 weeks for whole trip. At least
before rebooking return flight to home...

Thanks,
--
Filip Zawadiak
PP-ASEL 67hr, and counting
http://vyx.net/~philz

[G.R. Patterson III]

Filip Zawadiak wrote:
>
> I hope to have great time, and see quite a lot of US National Parks.
> Still, maybye you have some suggestions what could/should be included
> in such trip?

I would recommend that you stop at GKT instead of MMI, rent a car, and head into the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park. If you decide to do so, I can send you a list of
very nice scenics in the area. Further along, if you intend to stay in a hotel
overnight in Charleston, CHZ might be a better choice than JZI. St. Simon's Island
(SSI) is very nice - I've stopped there for fuel several times and always wished I
could stay for a while. St. Augustine is another city that has lots of attractions -
it's the oldest city in the U.S.. I've never stopped at the airport at Ormond Beach
(OMN), but I *have* visited the area by car, and the town itself is nothing special.

George Patterson
Treason is ne'er successful, Sir; what then be the reason? Why, if treason
be successful, Sir, then none dare call it treason.

[Toks Desalu]

Can he make this trip in two weeks under VFR?


"Filip Zawadiak" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi,
>
> I'm going in two weeks for fly&tour&camp vacations. I planned to fly
> from San Diego to Florida and back, using different routes both ways.
>
> At first I wanted to go counterclockwise, but then after reading
> different comments decided to go in other direction, going through
> Grand Canyon and surroundings in April, and going back over flatlands
> later. It's also suggested in "Americas Weather" to go that way.
>
> I created page with map and planned route on my web site:
> http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast
>
> Of course, I plan to adjust it on the way depending on weather and
> last minute ideas ;-)
>
> I'll go together with my girlfriend, and we plan to camp near airports
> - used AOPA airport directory to find out where they are. Still, I
> don't know what should I expect from "camping on field". It would be
> probably wise to call all of those airports just after arriving to USA
> (I'm from Poland).
>
> I hope to have great time, and see quite a lot of US National Parks.
> Still, maybye you have some suggestions what could/should be included
> in such trip?
>
> Or general comments, after all I'm quite a "fresh" pilot - one of
> outcomes of this trip should be getting enough experience and
> crosscountry time to be able to start IFR training, maybye next year.
>
> Thanks,
> --
> Filip Zawadiak
> PP-ASEL 67hr, and counting
> http://vyx.net/~philz

[Ben Jackson]

In article >,
Dan Luke > wrote:
>"Ben Jackson" wrote:
>> I'm no Texas expert,
>
>Truly.

So are you saying that there's more in west Texas than Dairy Queens?

--
Ben Jackson
>
http://www.ben.com/

[Michael]

(Filip Zawadiak) wrote
> I'll go together with my girlfriend, and we plan to camp near airports
> - used AOPA airport directory to find out where they are. Still, I
> don't know what should I expect from "camping on field". It would be
> probably wise to call all of those airports just after arriving to USA
> (I'm from Poland).

Camping on field is very variable. At places like T27 (great choice -
don't miss the WWII bomber converted to a museum) it's no problem.
You can forget about it at a place like NEW. Just FYI, NEW is
actually more expensive than MSY (the international).

> Or general comments, after all I'm quite a "fresh" pilot - one of
> outcomes of this trip should be getting enough experience and
> crosscountry time to be able to start IFR training, maybye next year.

No problem - after a trip like that, you will have more than enough
experience no matter how you do it. 4 weeks is a little tight, but
you can always turn back early if you start running out of time.

Michael

[Dan Luke]

"Ben Jackson" wrote:
> So are you saying that there's more in west Texas than Dairy Queens?

Big Bend, the Davis Mountains.

I grant you, there are long stretches of long stretches in west Texas,
but you said "Texas," not "west Texas."
--
Dan
(Texas ex-pat.)

[SeeAndAvoid]

You'll have the best luck weatherwise flying early in the morning.
I've used PGA a few times for refuels and they've always been
cheaper than Airnav shows, especially from the Terminal, not
Classic. Although Classic has come out in the wee hours and
waived callout fees. DRO (Starbase)is also a reasonable
place to buy gas in that part of the world.

Your route skips Monument Valley, east of PGA, worth flying
through. Four Corners is just a slab with people standing on
it and lots of cars parked nearby. Mesa Verde is worth the
trip. Looks like you picked a fairly low route through the
Continental Divide, good idea, especially in a C172.
DO NOT forget to get a Grand Canyon SFAR chart.
As far as camping on field, I've been to a few airports that
claimed 'camping on field', and I'll be darned if I could
find the area they were talking about. Don't base your camping
on those airports with that description.
Personally I'd recommend Lake Powell/Monument Valley over
Bryce Canyon and even Grand Canyon, mainly because of the
restrictions. Also I hear Dauphin(e?) Island on the gulf in
Alabama is pretty cool.
Sounds like quite a trip, have a good time.
Chris

[John Galban]

jsmith > wrote in message >...
> If you are going to camp, stay away from medium/bigcity airports. Call
> ahead to check.
> If it has airline service, you will not be allowed to camp due to
> security issues.
>
I agree that larger airports would probably not be desirable for
camping, but I don't think there is a general ban on camping at
airports with airline service. Some smaller airports with airline
service do allow camping.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

[mikem]

John Galban wrote:

> I agree that larger airports would probably not be desirable for
> camping, but I don't think there is a general ban on camping at
> airports with airline service. Some smaller airports with airline
> service do allow camping.

The County dickheads at Bryce Canyon BCE used the fact that they
have one commercial flight per day to justify imposing a general
ban on camping at airport. The real reason is that Ruby's Inn
wants to rent you a motel room and is in cahoots with the County.
You cant have the County "competing" with private enterprize, thus
saith the Republicans...

MikeM

[Jim Weir]

It is a pity that you will only get to see about a tenth of what the USA is all
about.

Come next year in late July early August and we'll caravan you from San
Francisco to Oshkosh and back. Now THAT will let you see a lot of the
countryside.

Jim
Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

[Filip Zawadiak]

Thank you all for your suggestions :-)

It's just hard to squeeze so much things to see into four weeks ;-)
Especially in Utah part, as route there starts to look like... hmmm...
well, complicated. I'll try to post "final" route on website next
week, before leaving.

After returning, I'll prepare some maps with planned routes and actual
GPS track to compare how much went as expected. Of course, photos will
be there too.

Thanks again!
--
Filip Zawadiak
PP-ASEL 67hr, and counting
http://vyx.net/~philz

[Jay Beckman]

"Filip Zawadiak" > wrote in message
om...
> Thank you all for your suggestions :-)
>
> It's just hard to squeeze so much things to see into four weeks ;-)
> Especially in Utah part, as route there starts to look like... hmmm...
> well, complicated. I'll try to post "final" route on website next
> week, before leaving.
>
> After returning, I'll prepare some maps with planned routes and actual
> GPS track to compare how much went as expected. Of course, photos will
> be there too.
>
> Thanks again!
> --
> Filip Zawadiak
> PP-ASEL 67hr, and counting
> http://vyx.net/~philz

Looking forward to it Filip,

Jay

[Tina Marie]

In article >, Dan Luke wrote:
> I grant you, there are long stretches of long stretches in west Texas,
> but you said "Texas," not "west Texas."

But, you know, I enjoyed flying over those long stretches of nothing-ness.
It's amazing to see so much emptyness...

Tina Marie
--
http://www.tripacerdriver.com "...One of the main causes
of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way
to indicate successful termination of their C programs." (Robert Firth)

[Dan Luke]

Hey there, T. M.!

Where ya been?

[Tina Marie]

In article >, Dan Luke wrote:
> Where ya been?

Flying. :)

Actually, work's been hectic, and I've had to spend my days working
instead of reading news.

Tina Marie
--
http://www.tripacerdriver.com "...One of the main causes
of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way
to indicate successful termination of their C programs." (Robert Firth)

[Filip Zawadiak]

(Filip Zawadiak) wrote in message >...
> Hi,
>
> I'm going in two weeks for fly&tour&camp vacations. I planned to fly
> from San Diego to Florida and back, using different routes both ways.
>
> At first I wanted to go counterclockwise, but then after reading
> different comments decided to go in other direction, going through
> Grand Canyon and surroundings in April, and going back over flatlands
> later. It's also suggested in "Americas Weather" to go that way.
>
> I created page with map and planned route on my web site:
> http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast
>
> Of course, I plan to adjust it on the way depending on weather and
> last minute ideas ;-)
>
> I'll go together with my girlfriend, and we plan to camp near airports
> - used AOPA airport directory to find out where they are. Still, I
> don't know what should I expect from "camping on field". It would be
> probably wise to call all of those airports just after arriving to USA
> (I'm from Poland).
>
> I hope to have great time, and see quite a lot of US National Parks.
> Still, maybye you have some suggestions what could/should be included
> in such trip?
>
> Or general comments, after all I'm quite a "fresh" pilot - one of
> outcomes of this trip should be getting enough experience and
> crosscountry time to be able to start IFR training, maybye next year.

Hey! I did it one way, from San Diego to Charleston :-))

I must say, that is really great kind of vacation, even camping is not that bad.

Bye,
--
Filip Zawadiak
PP-ASEL 100.7hr and counting

[Filip Zawadiak]

And of course I update webpage (http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast)
every time I have internet access (usually during stays in motels).

Enjoy!
--
Filip Zawadiak
PP-ASEL 10.7hr and counting

[Jay Beckman]

"Filip Zawadiak" > wrote in message
om...
> And of course I update webpage (http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast)
> every time I have internet access (usually during stays in motels).
>
> Enjoy!
> --
> Filip Zawadiak
> PP-ASEL 10.7hr and counting

Waay Coool Pics!!

Thanks for sharing them.

Jay

[Rosspilot]

>
>And of course I update webpage (http://vyx.net/~philz/coast2coast)
>every time I have internet access (usually during stays in motels).


The site isn't working for me.
www.Rosspilot.com