Hi,
I spend all of last December/January flying around that area.
The weather will be good, if not perfect. In two months, I had to cancel three times. Once because I'd planned a mountain flight and the clouds covered the mountain tops, although the weather was good enough to fly locally. Once because the crosswinds at my destination were above the aircraft's limits, although again I could have flown locally. And once because I'd planned an aerobatic flight, but the cloud base was too low to aerobat comfortably, although I could have flown without aerobating. The only possible problem will be the California fog, which can cause problems near the coast in the mornings. I didn't fly out to the coast, so I don't have much personal experience of that.
As for schools, it sounds like you want to base yourself in California, in which case I can't help. I can recommend a superb school in Phoenix, AZ, though - let me know if that's any use.
Destinations, hmm, ok.
Las Vegas, definitely. Fly to Las Vegas North airport - very cheap parking, close to the city centre, and they'll provide transport to/from your hotel. (You
must get a hotel - no point going and not staying overnight!.)
Grand Canyon. As long as your budget will cover it, fly to Grand Canyon airport, then walk to the other side of the airport for a helicoptor tour over the canyon (book the tour in advance). If your budget won't stretch that far, a fixed-wing tour will cost about half the price of the helicoptor. If you want to fly over it yourself, you'll be restricted to a couple of high-altitude corridors - you need a special tour-operators permit to fly over the canyon except in these corridors. I didn't fly over the canyon myself, but I gather the views are good - although the corridors are up around 12,000', ground level is about 8000' so you can still see well enough.
Tucson - an absolute must if you want to be get the chance to share the runway with F16s! Once you're there, get a cab to the Pima Air and Space Museum. And make sure you do the tour of the aircraft graveyard, sorry, storage facility - the bus starts at the museum, and returns you to the museum after the tour.
Sedona is an absolutely beautiful place. Pink Jeep Tours will take you in a tour (in a pink jeep!) - and if you pick the right tour, you'll get to experience some genuine off-road driving with a professional driver at the wheel. The tour company will pick you up from the airport if you ask them.
Feel free to contact me if I can help any more. And I'm sure you'll have a great time there!
FFF
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