Left Coast Oshkosh Convoy

Current thinking ...

Tooele UT (pronounce Too-willuh) is a good cheap ($2.90) gas stop and
Rawlins WY is a good overnight stop (Day's Inn gives a $60 price to pilots)
but is a little high on fuel. ($3.43). The first on-course reliable autogas
stop between California and IOW is Audubon IA. I can't do Rawlins- Audubon
direct, but I can do Torrington WY (excellent fuel price) direct Audubon.

Morning fog frequently develops over the panhandle and central part of
Nebraska and doesn't dissipate until noonish, although the fog is generally
spotty.

So ...

Friday morning: Grass Valley to Tooele for gas. At Rawlins put enough gas
in to get safely to Torrington (about an hour) in the morning and then RON
Rawlins at the Day's Inn.

Saturday morning: Rawlins to Torrington for fuel, then Audubon for cargas,
Iowa City on Saturday afternoon.

Coming home...

Saturday about noon departure from Oshkosh. Just enough LL fuel in at
Oshkosh to get to Portage for car gas. Then to Audubon again for the last
shot of cargas before the long trek across Nebraska home. WAY too early to
be planning anything this far in advance.

Any thoughts?


Jim

Just enough LL fuel in at Oshkosh to get to Portage for car gas.

Paid $2.52/gallon for autogas on 7/2. I suspect it'll be around the same
price. If no-one has fueled there before, the credit card terminal is east
of the tanks in a 'porta-potty' type shelter! Guess they put that there
cause of previous vandalism to the console when they first got it installed.

--
Ben
C-172 - N13258 @ 87Y

RST Engineering wrote:
Current thinking ...

Tooele UT (pronounce Too-willuh) is a good cheap ($2.90) gas stop
Tooele was my first choice for the gas stop on Friday (thank you
AirNav). Tried stopping there last year but the fuel pump was INOP so
we made an unplanned trip to Ogden and made up for it by having lunch there.

Friday morning: Grass Valley to Tooele for gas. At Rawlins put enough gas
in to get safely to Torrington (about an hour) in the morning and then RON
Rawlins at the Day's Inn.
Sounds like a good plan for Day 1. Let's see who gets there first. We
stayed at the Day's Inn two years ago.

Saturday morning: Rawlins to Torrington for fuel, then Audubon for cargas,
Iowa City on Saturday afternoon.
I'll have to do some more AirNav research and see what the trade off
might be for a single gas stop between RWL and IOW. At the moment,
Creighton, NE (6KY)looks reasonable. The last two years were in rental
birds on a wet rate so it didn't matter where we bought gas. This year,
however, it will pay to shop around for 100LL.


Coming home...

Saturday about noon departure from Oshkosh. Just enough LL fuel in at
Oshkosh to get to Portage for car gas. Then to Audubon again for the last
shot of cargas before the long trek across Nebraska home. WAY too early to
be planning anything this far in advance.

Any thoughts?
Yep, it's pretty early to be planning the return home. We're planning
to leave Saturday morning and try getting back with one overnight stay,
maybe in ScottsBluff. Of course, the afternoon buildups over the
Sierras may force us to stay the night somewhere in Nevada.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-IA Student
Arrow N2104T

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

Tooele was my first choice for the gas stop on Friday (thank you AirNav).
Tried stopping there last year but the fuel pump was INOP so we made an
unplanned trip to Ogden and made up for it by having lunch there.

And as I understand it Tooele is an unstaffed airport with damned little
other than a gas pump and a portapotty. Anybody got a friend in Tooele that
we can call on Thursday to see if the gas pump is working?

The reason I want Tooele instead of Wells is that Wells puts the route
directly over the center of Salt Lake. I generally get a pucker factor when
I'm out of gliding distance from solid earth and Tooele puts you around the
bottom end of the lake.

Sounds like a good plan for Day 1. Let's see who gets there first. We
stayed at the Day's Inn two years ago.

Same price this year as last -- $60 for those who fly in. And the steak
house attached is absolutely excellent. I'm going to make reservations for
Day's Inn (307.324.6615) and cancel them by 6 pm if we can't make it for
some reason.


I'll have to do some more AirNav research and see what the trade off might
be for a single gas stop between RWL and IOW. At the moment, Creighton,
NE (6KY) looks reasonable. The last two years were in rental birds on a
wet rate so it didn't matter where we bought gas. This year, however, it
will pay to shop around for 100LL.

The delta for fuel price between Rawlins and Torrington is about 70 cents a
gallon, so figure how many gallons you will burn between Tooele and Rawlins.
I'll probably have twenty gallons in the tanks when I get to Rawlins, so
I'll put in ten more at Rawlins and 35 or so in Torrington.

Creighton would have been a WONDERFUL stop for me but they stopped carrying
autogas. Talked to the owner of the tank farm yesterday and he said he put
in 800 gallons of cargas and hadn't sold half of it in 11 months. He used
to use it on the tractor on the farm next door but got a new diesel tractor
and has no use for cargas any more.


Yep, it's pretty early to be planning the return home. We're planning to
leave Saturday morning and try getting back with one overnight stay, maybe
in ScottsBluff. Of course, the afternoon buildups over the Sierras may
force us to stay the night somewhere in Nevada.

I've got that EAA annual meeting on Saturday morning or I'd be launching
early with you. Trust me, you don't want to stay in Scottsbluff. No
courtesy car and no motel pickups last time I was there, and it is a LOOOOng
cab ride to town. The only WORSE places for getting to town are Rock
Springs and Rapid City.

More better Ainsworth, Alliance or Torrington if you can. If you get to
Torrington, there is a Chinese takeout place (only Chinese in town) that
makes the best Crab Rangoon I've ever had. Torrington for another reason.
The Nebraska panhandle is famous for morning low clouds and fog. I can't
count the hours I've wasted sitting on the ground waiting for the morning
scud to burn off. Torrington is generally west enough to be out of it.

Jim

Jim

RST Engineering wrote:

And as I understand it Tooele is an unstaffed airport with damned little
other than a gas pump and a portapotty. Anybody got a friend in Tooele that
we can call on Thursday to see if the gas pump is working?

According to Airnav.com KTVY lists $2.90 a gallon for 100LL and has the
following as a contact: Salt Lake City Dept. of Airports 801-575-2401

They said to call he 801-647-5532 He said the pump was working as of
midnight last night and the price is still the same and all major credit
cards are accepted 24 hours per day...

Jim,

I learned to fly at Audubon, Iowa. The FBO owner is Charlie Goeken. He
still lives on the field and is a great guy. Tell him Bryan from
Minnesota says HI!

Have fun,

Bryan

RST Engineering wrote:

Current thinking ...

Tooele UT (pronounce Too-willuh) is a good cheap ($2.90) gas stop and
Rawlins WY is a good overnight stop (Day's Inn gives a $60 price to pilots)
but is a little high on fuel. ($3.43). The first on-course reliable autogas
stop between California and IOW is Audubon IA. I can't do Rawlins- Audubon
direct, but I can do Torrington WY (excellent fuel price) direct Audubon.

Morning fog frequently develops over the panhandle and central part of
Nebraska and doesn't dissipate until noonish, although the fog is generally
spotty.

So ...

Friday morning: Grass Valley to Tooele for gas. At Rawlins put enough gas
in to get safely to Torrington (about an hour) in the morning and then RON
Rawlins at the Day's Inn.

Saturday morning: Rawlins to Torrington for fuel, then Audubon for cargas,
Iowa City on Saturday afternoon.

Coming home...

Saturday about noon departure from Oshkosh. Just enough LL fuel in at
Oshkosh to get to Portage for car gas. Then to Audubon again for the last
shot of cargas before the long trek across Nebraska home. WAY too early to
be planning anything this far in advance.

Any thoughts?


Jim

Thanks, Darryl. I used airnav yesterday to get the SLCDA number yesterday,
but they didn't share that other 647 number with me. I put it in the trip
book and will call them Thursday afternoon.

Jim



According to Airnav.com KTVY lists $2.90 a gallon for 100LL and has the
following as a contact: Salt Lake City Dept. of Airports 801-575-2401

They said to call he 801-647-5532 He said the pump was working as of
midnight last night and the price is still the same and all major credit
cards are accepted 24 hours per day...

Will do.

Jim


"B. Jensen" wrote in message
...
Jim,

I learned to fly at Audubon, Iowa. The FBO owner is Charlie Goeken. He
still lives on the field and is a great guy. Tell him Bryan from
Minnesota says HI!

RST Engineering wrote:

Thanks, Darryl. I used airnav yesterday to get the SLCDA number yesterday,
but they didn't share that other 647 number with me. I put it in the trip
book and will call them Thursday afternoon.

I got transferred twice, the last one gave the other number...

I just don't remember if the local guys name was Jack or Steve...

RST Engineering wrote:
Same price this year as last -- $60 for those who fly in. And the steak
house attached is absolutely excellent. I'm going to make reservations for
Day's Inn (307.324.6615) and cancel them by 6 pm if we can't make it for
some reason.
Another thing on the OSH to-do list, thanks for the phone #.

Trust me, you don't want to stay in Scottsbluff. No
courtesy car and no motel pickups last time I was there, and it is a LOOOOng
cab ride to town.
When was this Jim? In 2003, we stopped there on our way back. The
little Mom & Pop motel kept two cars out at the FBO, was about $60 for
the night, and there was a great steakhouse next door. Maybe things
have changed since them...or...improved since your last experience (?)


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-IA Student
Arrow N2104T

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)