In article ,
Peter Gibbons wrote:
So I'm considering making a flight from my home base in Ft. Worth
(KFTW) out to San Diego.

First bit of advice:

DO IT!

Sure it'll cost you money. Sure, it'll take time. But it's one hell of a
fun trip.

I flew my 1946 Cessna 140, complete with 85hp engine and cruise prop
from coast to coast, Houston to California, back across via Utah, then
back to Houston to do my 50 hr maintenance, then out east all the way to
Kill Devil Hills, and back up through Ohio. I logged 100 hours or so on
the trip, and spent two months crossing the US.

On a trip this long, flexibility is the key. I often didn't plan my next
leg until right before the flight - I looked to see where the weather
was good, and flew there. I had no particular schedule except cover the
US in two months.

It was friggin' cool, and you can read part of my writeup on my website
(I *still* haven't finished the writeup :/). I must have taken dozens of
rolls of film, and I shot several hours of video (I hooked the camera up
to the intercom, and made a glareshield camera stand by sculpting some
polystyrene to fit the curve of the instrument panel, and Velcroing it
and the camera down).

You don't need to be a high-time pilot to do this kind of trip. Just be
flexible, and thoughtful and you'll have a trip of a lifetime.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"