Flying to Las Vegas in August

Hi guys, I'm seeking a little advice from you Las Vegas locals.
I'm going to be traveling to Las Vegas, from Illinois, this August and want
to fly my Quickie Q-200. I have been there before, but not in the dead of
summer.
What can I expect? We're going to be there about four days. Is it possible
to find shade to park? Any personal density altitude experience? Would we
be better off flying commercial?
Any input would be very helpful, Thanks very much
Sam Hoskins
http://home.mchsi.com/~shoskins/index.htm

On Sat, 05 Jun 2004 14:51:47 GMT, "Sammy" wrote:

Hi guys, I'm seeking a little advice from you Las Vegas locals.
I'm going to be traveling to Las Vegas, from Illinois, this August and want
to fly my Quickie Q-200. I have been there before, but not in the dead of
summer.
What can I expect?

Sammy, I'll step up for this one, since nobody else did. I've not
flown in there private but have flown in commercial in July (end of
the month) and man-o-man, it IS HOTHOTHOT!

Way over 100 during the day and never below till way late in the early
AM (like maybe, if you're lucky, by morning).

I don't know what the DA would be but, comfort level, unless your
Quickie has AC, would be REALLY bad, if not in the melted airplane
realm.

Shade might be very hard to find also, unless you can get hangar space
(unlikely, from what I gather, unless for a stiff fee) Which airport
would you plan on using? Might be a good idea to check with North
Vegas and Henderson, maybe out at Boulder also..

Just a few thoughts from a non-pilot who will try to stay away from
there from July through October..

Wayne Sagar
All Aviation FlightLine OnLine
http://aafo.com/

Thanks. Anyone elese out there? Can I get any shade at North LV?


wrote in message
...
On Sat, 05 Jun 2004 14:51:47 GMT, "Sammy" wrote:

Hi guys, I'm seeking a little advice from you Las Vegas locals.
I'm going to be traveling to Las Vegas, from Illinois, this August and
want
to fly my Quickie Q-200. I have been there before, but not in the dead
of
summer.
What can I expect?

Sammy, I'll step up for this one, since nobody else did. I've not
flown in there private but have flown in commercial in July (end of
the month) and man-o-man, it IS HOTHOTHOT!

Way over 100 during the day and never below till way late in the early
AM (like maybe, if you're lucky, by morning).

I don't know what the DA would be but, comfort level, unless your
Quickie has AC, would be REALLY bad, if not in the melted airplane
realm.

Shade might be very hard to find also, unless you can get hangar space
(unlikely, from what I gather, unless for a stiff fee) Which airport
would you plan on using? Might be a good idea to check with North
Vegas and Henderson, maybe out at Boulder also..

Just a few thoughts from a non-pilot who will try to stay away from
there from July through October..

Wayne Sagar
All Aviation FlightLine OnLine
http://aafo.com/

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 21:55:13 GMT, "Sammy" wrote:

Thanks. Anyone elese out there? Can I get any shade at North LV?



You might be able to park it in Jerry Airola's hangar during the day,
but move it out at night. That's really all you need. He's got all
his helicopters in there at night and needs the whole thing.

He's at North Las Vegas at 702-616-1967. Silver State Helicopters.

Other than that, it got so hot here one time when I left my RV-6 on
the ramp it melted the sagged the canopy. The inside cockpit temps
might get as high as a couple hundred degrees. That's not bull ****
either.

If I were you, I'd fly to Boulder City and call them first to make
hangar arrangements. There's a lot of hangar space there and they are
only 20 miles away from Vegas. Call the FBO there and make prior
arrangements. Rent a car from there and have fun.

Only fly in the mornings. Get your butt out of bed early and take off
at first light. Fly 4 to 6 hours until it gets about 10 o'clock then
quit for the day. Also, depending upon when you come, if there is
humidity the afternoon Thunderstorms form and will kill you.

So, go to bed at 8p.m. and get up at 4 a.m. Fly from about 5 a.m. to
10 a.m. then quit for the day. If that sounds to strenuous to you
then fly commercial.

I live here and flew today. I took off at 8 a.m. and landed at 9
a.m. The bumps were busting ass by then, the cockpit was hot and I had
"Had it."

Good luck.

BWB

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 02:21:02 GMT,
(Badwater Bill) wrote:


Other than that, it got so hot here one time when I left my RV-6 on
the ramp it melted the sagged the canopy. The inside cockpit temps
might get as high as a couple hundred degrees. That's not bull ****
either.



It wouldn't have happened if you'd removed your "shade"
stickon's from the top of the canopy...

Most heat rays will simply pass through the plexiglass but,
if you've got dark colored stickons on the top of the canopy
you WILL have a problem... it concentrates the heat right
on the plastic and you end up with an "inny" rather than an
"outy".

John

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 02:21:02 GMT, (Badwater
Bill) wrote:
I live here and flew today. I took off at 8 a.m. and landed at 9
a.m. The bumps were busting ass by then, the cockpit was hot and I had
"Had it."

Bill, I flew in commercial on the evening of 11 may this year.. don't
know if you remember that evening but apparantly, a pretty nasty wind
had kicked up. We were a United 737 following an RJ that center kept
telling us we were overtaking and to slow down... (listening on
United's neat earphone thing) long story short, there were some dry
mouths on the freq that evening. I can't remember exactly what the
wind was but in excess of 45 kts directly across the runway coming
from around the hotels on the strip.. we were plenty fast and used a
lot of runway stopping.. One of those times that I was glad for the
double Tequla that I'd had while on layover in LA just prior.. neat
flight and I loved the landing... not so the RJ pilots I was listening
to tho...

Wayne Sagar
All Aviation FlightLine OnLine
http://aafo.com/

Thanks, BWB, that's the kind of advice I'm looking for. Why my daughter
decided to get married in August in LV, I dunno. Why the preference for
Boulder City?
I know lots about T-stms, I live in southern Illinois.
Good tip aboput the saggy canopy. That must have raised your blood
pressure. I often use one of those space blankets and lay it out in the
cockpit. Really reflects the sun out nicely and keeps the cockpit amazingly
cool.
Any other tips?

Sammy
http://home.mchsi.com/~shoskins/index.htm


"Badwater Bill" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 21:55:13 GMT, "Sammy" wrote:

Thanks. Anyone elese out there? Can I get any shade at North LV?



You might be able to park it in Jerry Airola's hangar during the day,
but move it out at night. That's really all you need. He's got all
his helicopters in there at night and needs the whole thing.

He's at North Las Vegas at 702-616-1967. Silver State Helicopters.

Other than that, it got so hot here one time when I left my RV-6 on
the ramp it melted the sagged the canopy. The inside cockpit temps
might get as high as a couple hundred degrees. That's not bull ****
either.

If I were you, I'd fly to Boulder City and call them first to make
hangar arrangements. There's a lot of hangar space there and they are
only 20 miles away from Vegas. Call the FBO there and make prior
arrangements. Rent a car from there and have fun.

Only fly in the mornings. Get your butt out of bed early and take off
at first light. Fly 4 to 6 hours until it gets about 10 o'clock then
quit for the day. Also, depending upon when you come, if there is
humidity the afternoon Thunderstorms form and will kill you.

So, go to bed at 8p.m. and get up at 4 a.m. Fly from about 5 a.m. to
10 a.m. then quit for the day. If that sounds to strenuous to you
then fly commercial.

I live here and flew today. I took off at 8 a.m. and landed at 9
a.m. The bumps were busting ass by then, the cockpit was hot and I had
"Had it."

Good luck.

BWB

Most heat rays will simply pass through the plexiglass but,
if you've got dark colored stickons on the top of the canopy
you WILL have a problem... it concentrates the heat right
on the plastic and you end up with an "inny" rather than an
"outy".

John

Yep. I forgot. That's exactly what happened. I bought that thing
and the builder had those on the top of the canopy. They concentrated
the heat on the plexiglass and melted my canopy. It sagged a bit.
But, I've been flying it for years that way and it's still just fine
as far as performance and no crazing. Interesting thing actually.

Bill

Bill, I flew in commercial on the evening of 11 may this year.. don't
know if you remember that evening but apparantly, a pretty nasty wind
had kicked up. We were a United 737 following an RJ that center kept
telling us we were overtaking and to slow down... (listening on
United's neat earphone thing) long story short, there were some dry
mouths on the freq that evening. I can't remember exactly what the
wind was but in excess of 45 kts directly across the runway coming
from around the hotels on the strip.. we were plenty fast and used a
lot of runway stopping.. One of those times that I was glad for the
double Tequla that I'd had while on layover in LA just prior.. neat
flight and I loved the landing... not so the RJ pilots I was listening
to tho...

Wayne Sagar
All Aviation FlightLine OnLine
http://aafo.com/


Yes, that night I recorded gusts up to 65 mph at my house. I'm behind
a little mountain and a vortex forms here that is nowhere else but
behind BIG HOTELS near McCarran. I know the drill. It gets goofy out
there.

I flew an RV-6 today. When I took off the winds were calm. When I
cam back I had to land on runway 12R at North Town with a damn wind
out of 180 at 25, gusting to 40. It's a typical thing here.

I got up at 06-hundred and launched at 07-hundred. I was back at
08:30 and had that problem. Now that's sort of unusual unless there
is some disturbance rolling through. Today there was.

Most of the time you can get away with flying until about noon. I
mean the bumps start and go all the way up to 10,000 msl by about 10
a.m., but you can stand it if you have to... until about noon.

I was going to fly down and see Pac today (one hour). But I wouldn't
have tried to get back home until about sundown. My friend who was
going with me had other things to do this afternoon, so I aborted
rather than fly past noon. I'd have been hot, ****ed, dehydrated,
beat to **** and ready to scream when I got back here at 14 hundred.
So, I aborted.

I wrote this to just give you a taste of how you have to evaluate it.

If I fly the P-210 in the summer, I file IFR and go to 20,000 (Flight
Level 200). In that thing it doesn't matter because you are above the
thermals all the way and you are cool. In the little stuff I fly,
it's just not worth going at all. But, then that's the way I look at
it. Everybody is different. Some people don't fly as much as I do
and the aren't worn out by turbulence. I'm just up for a smooth ride
anymore. Summer flying is ****ty unless you go early. You fight
thunderstorms or severe bumps if you go late.

In the winter, you fight the storms and the ice. There ain't no free
lunch.

BWB

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 05:06:34 GMT, (Badwater
Bill) wrote:

I flew an RV-6 today. When I took off the winds were calm. When I
cam back I had to land on runway 12R at North Town with a damn wind
out of 180 at 25, gusting to 40. It's a typical thing here.

Bill, the flight in last month caught the United guys (at least) off
guard I think.. In LA, they were saying that it was fairly nice in
Vegas, as we came over the mountains and could actually see the city,
I could tell from the dust in the air, it wasn't gonna be smooth..
Shortly after that, they came on and said.. "well, it looks like a
little windstorm has blown up" yea.. little.. ;-)

I grew up in Reno, similar there though maybe not as severe, except
sometimes, it REALLY blows nuts in Reno..

I've actually managed to be there during both their record winds..
once in the 60's when I was a teenager, and by fluke, a couple years
ago when I went down for a party near Christmas with the Rare Bear
guys..

Strange state.. how long have you been in the area... and... the
$20,000. question... do you know where we could land the use of some
tow bars suitable for Mustangs and Sea Furys come next November for
Aviation Nation out at Nellis??

Sorry for taking the thread off topic but, I work with one of the
organizers and *if* we get the turnout that is expected... meaning if
they stay healthy through Reno and the weather cooperates, we're going
to be short towbars..

Anyway... dunno if that's a very common commodity down your way,
there's a few in Reno, every team has their own but only one or two
bring their trailers to Nellis for the demo races..

Wayne Sagar
All Aviation FlightLine OnLine
http://aafo.com

PS.. a link to what I got to do while down there last month...
http://www.aafo.com/hangartalk/showthread.php?t=1615