(Peter von Tresckow) wrote in message . com...
Hi, I am in the planning stage for a trip from Kenosha (SE Wisconsin)
to San Diego to visit my brother this summer. This will be my firsrt
time in the mountains, and I was looking for some help picking the
route. So far I have picked up the WACs for the general area for
planning, and I was thinking of a northern route through SD with
perhaps a stop in Yellowstone on the way there and roughly following
route 66 on the way home.

First, I'd second the comment someone has already made about the
southern routes having more reliable weather. I fly a motor glider
out of Hayward (across the bay from SFO) and have had to cancel
several planned summer trips to the Tetons due to bad wx. Flying
across Utah and Nevada is more reliable, and N Mexico and Arizona may
be even more reliable.

Though there is the danger of monsoonal moisture from the Gulf of
Mexico being sucked north and making those routes a mess too. If your
total flight time will be less than 3 days, then I'd watch the long
range wx forecasts and adjust my route based on that.

For example, http://weather.unisys.com/ has an MRF model with 4 panel
plots showing a number of useful products. The ones to watch the most
are the third (precip in inches of rain) and the fourth (moisture, but
also showing areas of thunderstorm activity in dark outline). These
plots go out 2 weeks, with obviously decreasing accuracy at the longer
times, but are still very useful.

Second, I'd recommend that, in addition to the usual mountain flying
training that you've already said you'll get, you consider some time
in glider training for at least three reasons:

1. It's good in general. All dual-rated pilots I know agree that their
glider training made them much better power pilots. Most importantly,
perhaps, should your engine ever fail, you're more likely to not panic
and to have some concept of how far you can glide.

2. Knowing how to recognize and make use of natural forms of lift can
be really helpful, even life saving, in a normally aspirated power
craft. A friend of mine who added a power rating to his already
existing glider rating and then did a mtn checkout at South Tahoe
airport amazed his instructor when he was able to get their 152 out of
there in half the time it normally takes. How? He found a thermal that
added at least several hundred feet per minute to their anemic climb
rate.

3. Glider training, at least in a mtn environment or with an
instructor familiar with the mtns, will teach you a lot about how to
avoid problems in the mountains. For example, most power pilots are
taught to fear mountain wave. In reality, it's the rotor, not the
wave, that's the problem. Wave is one of the sweetest forms of lift
known to man, smooth and going to unbelievable heights.

If you have the time to do the glider training, there are many
possibilities. I trained at Minden (just east of Tahoe) at Soar Minden
(http://www.soarminden.com/) and High Country Soaring
(http://www.highcountrysoaring.com/) also operates out of there. Both
are highly regarded and either one would get you some fantastic
training in the right kind of country. If business takes you to
Denver, Albuquerque, or other high altitude locations, I'm sure you
can also find good training there.

I'd also second the comment about Tahoe being a great place to cross
the Sierras. It is absolutely beautiful. Or, better yet, when you
reach the Sierras, run down the valleys to the east, from Tahoe to
Bishop (which is only about 4,000 feet MSL, and so a good stopping
point should you need it), then cross either at Mammoth (there's an
unplotted 9300' pass that follows V230 from Mammoth Mountain ski
resort to Fresno - once you clear the pass, there's a river canyon
that goes all the way to Fresno, so no terrain clearance issues if you
can make the pass OK) or further south, near Tahachipi and
Bakersfield, where the Sierras start to disappear. The run from Tahoe
to Bishop (and even further south) is amazing, with many 13k+ peaks
and even a number of 14k+

Oh, yeah, that reminds me: You might want to consider a portable O2
system and/or a pulse oxymeter to check the O2 level in your blood to
make sure you're not getting hypoxic. If you have a passenger,
maintaining a conversation while you're at the higher altitudes is
also a good idea. Asking each other "what is 7x9? 3x8? etc" every once
in a while is a good way for one of you to realize the other is
hypoxic before it results in disaster. Remember, the first sign of
hypoxia is a feeling of euphoria! ("Nothing can go wrong.)

Another useful technique, with or wo O2 on board, is a form of
pressure breathing in which you take a deep breath and then purse your
lips to create a slight back pressure while you breathe out. An
anestheseologist who flew with me taught me that trick. I've seen it
take my blood O2 from 79% (lousy) to 92% (excellent) in 30 seconds.
It's work and you can't do it for long periods of time. But, if you
need to be above 10 or 12k without supplemental O2 for 10 minutes or
so, it can really help. According to my doc friend, some of the
alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs are always collapsed and this
procedure reinflates them, increasing your lung capacity.

Another point that kills a few people every year: Be conservative in
estimating your load, climb rate, etc. I've heard that almost every
year some people get killed at Truckee (TRK, elevation almost 6k) due
to inadequate climb ability. They typically have a fully loaded 172 or
similar, start the takeoff roll, get worried that they're not lifting
off. Then, thank God, they lift off. But they only get 25-50' above
the ground before hitting the trees at the end of the runway. Why?
Because they were in ground effect. The plane had enough power to fly
in ground effect, but not enough to fly above it.

One last point to be aware of: GPS vs altimeter readings. On a
summer's day in the Sierras, when my altimeter is reading just under
18k (an altitude glider pilots love), my GPS is often reading 19k or
even a bit higher. For terrain clearance, the GPS is the more accurate
of the two, but be sure to still leave a good safety margin since it
is subject o 3-4x the error vertically that it is horizontally, and
your "precision" or similar reading on the GPS is for horizontal, not
vertical. What happens is that, on a hot day, the air mass expands, so
the 500 mbar point, which is usually around 18k feet is now higher.
ATC goes by the altimeter reading, not the GPS, but for terrain
clearance, you'll want to know both readings. (On a colder than
standard day, it works in the other direction and using your altimeter
to determine terrain clearance can kill you. Fortunately, we don't see
much of that kind of weather where I fly.)

Hope these ideas help and that you have a great, and safe, trip.

Martin