Long flight plan

I'm planning to fly from Boston to Key West next month
with a stop near Bethesda on the way down and in Charlotte on
the way back. I'll need/want to make some additional stops along
the way, of course. This is a longer flight than I have made before
and much of it will be through states I have not flown in before.
So, I have a bunch of questions:

1) What do people like to use for flight planning for something
like this? Laying multiple sectionals on the floor next to each
other seems a bit painful. Is Aeroplanner a good choice? If so,
is the basic Aeroplanner the right level for this kind of thing?

2) I'm thinking of flying to Tipton (FME) to get near Bethesda.
Anyone have opinions on this airport? GAI seems to have gotten
a lot of negative comments on AirNav, though if the weather is
bad I'll probably go there instead. (I miss being able to fly
into College Park!)

3) If I fly into the Washington ADIZ IFR, can I cancel in the air
when I have the airport, or do I need to cancel on the ground? How
does switching over to the CTAF work if I'm supposed to be maintaining
communications with ATC while in the ADIZ?

4) I'm thinking about stopping at North Myrtle Beach (CRE) for
a fuel stop in at least one direction (nice comments on AirNav).
Anyone else have comments?

5) Is there an airport about 300 miles north of Key West that
would make a good place to stop for fuel/food? (I'm trying to
keep legs to about 300 nm each so that I'm only flying about 2 hours
before stopping, since my wife won't tolerate being in the plane
much longer than that -- plane cruises at about 155 knots).

Any additional comments/suggestions will be appreciated!

-- David

--
David Rind

"David Rind" wrote in message
...
1) What do people like to use for flight planning for something
like this? Laying multiple sectionals on the floor next to each
other seems a bit painful.

When a sectional doesn't include enough real estate, get yourself a World
Aeronautical Chart.

IMHO the question of paper vs. software is different from the question of
"how much can I see on this chart?" They are both valid questions, but
answers to one don't necessarily imply answers to the other. If you like
software planning, use software. If you like paper planning, there are
charts available that are just fine for the longer trips.

I'm not familiar enough with the route to be able to answer your other
questions, sorry.

Pete

I use both paper and software for planning though I've grown more and more
to rely on the software as the primary means.
Don't know anything about your route but perhaps the method I use will help.
I use Flight Star at home and Aeroplanner on the road since I don't have a
laptop. Let the software pick the routes first then compare with the
sectionals particularly for the terminal phases. If you've got long
stretches over mountains during the enroute, I'll work the sectional to get
a better at_a_glance feel for safety issues. Then I plot the route on the
sectional, print the plan from the s/w and let it file with FSS.


"David Rind" wrote in message
...
I'm planning to fly from Boston to Key West next month
with a stop near Bethesda on the way down and in Charlotte on
the way back. I'll need/want to make some additional stops along
the way, of course. This is a longer flight than I have made before
and much of it will be through states I have not flown in before.
So, I have a bunch of questions:

1) What do people like to use for flight planning for something
like this? Laying multiple sectionals on the floor next to each
other seems a bit painful. Is Aeroplanner a good choice? If so,
is the basic Aeroplanner the right level for this kind of thing?

2) I'm thinking of flying to Tipton (FME) to get near Bethesda.
Anyone have opinions on this airport? GAI seems to have gotten
a lot of negative comments on AirNav, though if the weather is
bad I'll probably go there instead. (I miss being able to fly
into College Park!)

3) If I fly into the Washington ADIZ IFR, can I cancel in the air
when I have the airport, or do I need to cancel on the ground? How
does switching over to the CTAF work if I'm supposed to be maintaining
communications with ATC while in the ADIZ?

4) I'm thinking about stopping at North Myrtle Beach (CRE) for
a fuel stop in at least one direction (nice comments on AirNav).
Anyone else have comments?

5) Is there an airport about 300 miles north of Key West that
would make a good place to stop for fuel/food? (I'm trying to
keep legs to about 300 nm each so that I'm only flying about 2 hours
before stopping, since my wife won't tolerate being in the plane
much longer than that -- plane cruises at about 155 knots).

Any additional comments/suggestions will be appreciated!

-- David

--
David Rind

5) Is there an airport about 300 miles north of Key West that
would make a good place to stop for fuel/food? (I'm trying to
keep legs to about 300 nm each so that I'm only flying about 2 hours
before stopping, since my wife won't tolerate being in the plane
much longer than that -- plane cruises at about 155 knots).

David Rind


David,
I would have to say that depending on your route through the state of
Florida you may find some of the following airports to have positive
comments on Airnav.

SGJ - Scenic flight path along the ocean along with great restaurant.
ORL - Great stopover and rest stop. (No food on field available.)
DAB - Seaside with plenty to see and do while on rest stop.
TIX - Nice cozy little hamburger joint if you get there before 3pm (closing
time).

Once past central Florida you will be dealing with air traffic for PBI / FLL
/ MIA
on one side of the state and Everglades swampland on the other.

P.S. CDK on the westcoast of Florida is a must on your way back up.

David
KORL

) Is there an airport about 300 miles north of Key West that
would make a good place to stop for fuel/food? (I'm trying to
keep legs to about 300 nm each so that I'm only flying about 2 hours
before stopping, since my wife won't tolerate being in the plane
much longer than that -- plane cruises at about 155 knots).


St Augustine SGJ
But is more than 300 miles from there to the keys.
Make sure you talk to Bocatiquica, just before yo get to Key West. It is listed
as key West, but it is a military installation with lots of F16's
Hank

(Hankal) wrote
Make sure you talk to Bocatiquica, just before yo get to Key
West. It is listed as key West, but it is a military
installation with lots of F16's Hank

Are you sure about that? When I was based there, the Naval Air
Station was named Boca Chica and "Key West Approach Control"
handled all traffic for the Naval Air Station and Key West I'ntl.

Bob Moore
NQX 1964

On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 11:48:21 -0500, David Rind
wrote:

2) I'm thinking of flying to Tipton (FME) to get near Bethesda.
Anyone have opinions on this airport? GAI seems to have gotten
a lot of negative comments on AirNav, though if the weather is
bad I'll probably go there instead. (I miss being able to fly
into College Park!)

I fly out of FME (as a renter) and it seems pretty good to me. I
haven't had the chance to land at GAI, so I don't really know how to
compare.

3) If I fly into the Washington ADIZ IFR, can I cancel in the air
when I have the airport, or do I need to cancel on the ground? How
does switching over to the CTAF work if I'm supposed to be maintaining
communications with ATC while in the ADIZ?

I don't have my IFR rating, so I'm not entirely sure how the IFR part
works, but...

Basically, for us VFR pilots, as soon as we depart the pattern
(leaving the ADIZ) you check in with potomac approach. I assume that
this is exactly analogous to how IFR pilots would do it. As for
coming in, basically, call out to the controller that you have the
'field in sight'. He will then release you from his frequency and
then you are free to communicate on the CTAF. DO NOT SQUAWK 1200. He
will say 'maintain beacon code till you're on the ground' probably,
but if you squawk 1200, you will, be, um, in a bad place.

I assume that if he sees you doing anything else besides going
directly into the pattern and dropping off radar, you will, once
again, be in a bad place.

I *assume* for the IFR guys that if you choose to proceed VFR in VFR
conditions, you would cancel in the air. If it is IFR conditions all
the way down, then I guess you would do what you normally do...

aw

In article , David Rind
wrote:
1) What do people like to use for flight planning for something
like this? Laying multiple sectionals on the floor next to each
other seems a bit painful. Is Aeroplanner a good choice? If so,
is the basic Aeroplanner the right level for this kind of thing?

Get a set of WAC charts or IFR charts.
Use DUATs and flightplan your IFR route for the entire route.
Let DUATs perform the headwind/tailwind calculation and print the
flight times for each waypoint. Once you know the time to each fix you
can determine where your two-hour stops will be.

"David Rind" wrote in message
1) What do people like to use for flight planning for something
like this? Laying multiple sectionals on the floor next to each
other seems a bit painful. Is Aeroplanner a good choice? If so,
is the basic Aeroplanner the right level for this kind of thing?

Aeroplanner is an excellent choice. However, if you print out only the
triptiks along your route, you will have to stay along that route. In other
words, printing out triptiks may preclude you from flying up the west coast
instead of the east coast should weather dictate that you do so (been there,
done that).

However, you should not need but three charts. Perhaps four. Having a good
set of charts gives me a warm, squishy feeling on a trip of that magnitude.

5) Is there an airport about 300 miles north of Key West that
would make a good place to stop for fuel/food?

I made it form EYW to Daytona with plenty of fuel to spare. Jacksonville
folks were about as nice as controllers and FBO's can get if your route
brings you close to them.

Any additional comments/suggestions will be appreciated!

Don't forget about the surveillance balloon near EYW. It's on a cable that
can be up to 14,000 feet high. Hitting it would suck. It's marked very
well on the charts.

The taxi from the airport to wherever you are going is damn expensive. I
think it was forty bucks to get one to take me two miles to my hotel.

Scooters are the best way to get around the place. Don't even think of
renting a car.

Use sunscreen.

Wear a rubber.

--
Jim Fisher

David Rind wrote in message ...

I'm planning to fly from Boston to Key West next month
with a stop near Bethesda on the way down and in Charlotte on
the way back. I'll need/want to make some additional stops along
the way, of course. This is a longer flight than I have made before
and much of it will be through states I have not flown in before.
So, I have a bunch of questions:

1) What do people like to use for flight planning for something
like this? Laying multiple sectionals on the floor next to each
other seems a bit painful. Is Aeroplanner a good choice? If so,
is the basic Aeroplanner the right level for this kind of thing?

I normally fly IFR on cross countries like this. I do fly VFR when
crossing the Southwest, and find WAC charts helpful. The GTE DUATS
flight planner works well and is free. The www.airnav.com site is
very helpful for choosing fuel stops.

2) I'm thinking of flying to Tipton (FME) to get near Bethesda.
Anyone have opinions on this airport? GAI seems to have gotten
a lot of negative comments on AirNav, though if the weather is
bad I'll probably go there instead. (I miss being able to fly
into College Park!)

(Shudder) In my limited experience, FME was the Roach Motel -- you can
check in, but you can't check out. It brings back memories of
listening to busy signals from Potomac Tracon until my flight plan
timed out or cell phone batteries gave out.

In all fairness, these experiences all happened during last summer's
Code Orange, when aircraft bound for the inner DC area airports all
had to stop there first for TSA inspection. As this thread shows,
some people actually do manage to fly from there, and even like it.
Possibly, things have improved since last summer, or maybe, everything
just fell apart during Code Orange. Even if the airport is now
actually practical to use, some severe problems remain. FME is located
in a large patch of suburban wasteland half way to Baltimore and is in
the midst of one of the most congested metropolitan areas in the
world. It is not remotely near Bethesda.

GAI, on the other hand, has a direct radio relay to Potomac Tracon,
allowing you to get your IFR clearance or ADIZ squack quickly and
efficiently. The Metro, which runs to Bethesda, is a short cab ride
away. I-270 is one of the most usable roads in the area and makes
driving to Bethesda from GAI quite practical. Off rush hour, it might
take 20 minutes. I would say that there is no rational alternative to
GAI.


3) If I fly into the Washington ADIZ IFR, can I cancel in the air
when I have the airport, or do I need to cancel on the ground? How
does switching over to the CTAF work if I'm supposed to be maintaining
communications with ATC while in the ADIZ?

Coming in IFR, you cancel IFR in the air, but retain your squack until
on the ground. You do not have to cancel anything once you have
landed.

4) I'm thinking about stopping at North Myrtle Beach (CRE) for
a fuel stop in at least one direction (nice comments on AirNav).
Anyone else have comments?

Never been there

5) Is there an airport about 300 miles north of Key West that
would make a good place to stop for fuel/food? (I'm trying to
keep legs to about 300 nm each so that I'm only flying about 2 hours
before stopping, since my wife won't tolerate being in the plane
much longer than that -- plane cruises at about 155 knots).

Ditto, but Key West sounds very appealing to me won a grey November
day. Have fun!

Paul

Any additional comments/suggestions will be appreciated!

-- David