1. Lake Tahoe: I would not recommend a flight to either South Lake
Tahoe or Truckee in a Warrior II without good mountain experience. The
plane can certainly clear the terrain if you have patience (I've
crossed in both a 172 and a 7ECA Citabria without any problems) but
you really need to know what you are doing around the mountains, and
around high altitude airports in the summer heat and convective
turbulence. The Trinity Center recommendation of another poster sound
more reasonable, though I haven't been there and can't comment on it
specifically.

2. You can call flight service to get info on the MOAs before your
flight.

-chuck


"Marty Ross" wrote in message et...
I've also been looking into possible scenic flights to take from Chico (once
I'm up there, to take my brother for a spin).

Two questions have come to me so far:

(1) Lake Tahoe. Is there a good, relatively low altitude and safe route to
Lake Tahoe from Chico (e.g., from the central valley on the west) fitting
for a Piper Warrior II and my lack of recent mountain flying experience?
Judging only from the WAC, all of the surrounding terrain seems rough and
that I'd need to climb/fly over 11,000', and I'm not comfortable with that.

(2) All of the MOAs east of Chico (E.g., "China MOA") -- are they often
active and of concern? For instance, a flight up to and around Susanville
and/or Westwood (E.g.., past Butte Meadows to "Rogers" O05) could be scenic
fun.

Any other comments or ideas about where might be nice to fly to from Chico
for the day (radius = 100NM)?

"Marty Ross" wrote in message
...
I'm looking to gain information about preferred routes, interesting/cheap
refueling stops or siteseeing opportunities, or any other pertinent
information (weather/notams/etc.) for my round-trip flight at the end of
this month (July 2003) from the Los Angeles area to Chico (northern
California). I'll be staying in Chico about 4-5 days.

Looking at the WAC, it looks like it could be a pretty monotonous flight
(e.g., lost in the gigantic central valley). The only stop I'm currently
thinking of is at Columbia (O22) because I've heard it's a cute spot to
stretch one's legs (in the old mining town nearby).

Again, any other ideas or suggestions for this flight (and the return
several days later) will be appreciated!

-- Marty