Since it's a personal trip you'll have the luxury (for the most part) of picking which airports you'll want to transit.

On my trip, I generally picked airports I knew would have a decent FBO with fuel, services + facilities. 100% of them had tie downs, etc. Most of them had courtesy cars / vans, some had rentals. These days with the Internet and sites like SkyVector.com, 100LL.com, AirNav, etc., it's pretty easy see what services will be available at any given airport or FBO.

Insurance: you'll need out-of-province travel medical insurance plus aircraft rental / liability insurance (assuming you'll be renting). Unfortunately most out-of-province medical insurance specifically exclude coverage on flights other than as a passenger on common carriers. The best bet for insurance is to contact COPA or AOPA depending on where you'll be renting from.

Watchyourspeed, I've deleted your last post simply because the photo was too large. Would you please resize it to 600 x 800 at most, and repost it. That said, though a convenient shape, and route you have shown will take you needlessly over some very unwelcoming territory for a 172. The center of Northern Ontario is not at all welcoming to single engine landplanes. I would strongly advise against the route through the north of Ontario, as there would be very little benefit for a large risk. I've flown hundreds of hours through there, and as a result would recommend following the north shore of the Great Lakes, then to Winnipeg following the highway. Understand that in most of Canada away from the US boarder, it is possible to fly [a 172] for several hours, and not see or cross a single sign of humanity if you don't follow a highway, or other established route. Your really do not want to be there in poor weather/night/problem with the plane. Pilots have crashed within 5 miles of the highway, and their remains not found for years.

And, the mountains of western United States demand great respect. Routes in that part of the continent should be planned with the aid of people with local knowledge. A 172 might be very challenged by high density altitudes. A lot of the area you showed would require serious desert survival capability.

I have been fortunate to have flown VFR every province, territory and state in North America, and they all have their charms, but serious caution is required for regional topography, and local weather phenomenon.

As silly as it sounds, for what you are proposing, before using the aviation chart, plan with a highway map! Perhaps you'd like to repost your desired route, adjusted with some thought to "locale", and there will probably be some helpful comments about segments.

Lots of good advice in these posts, now let me tell you how my wife and I did when we delivered aircraft for a couple of years.Full tanks, use flight following if available, fly for three hours, hit "Nearest", pick the one with a crew car and a place to eat! If you use this method you will never spoil nice maps with drift lines and all that other stuff so sacred to TC! Have Fun!!!!

Is it even possible to plan trips and map read without drift lines on your map?

Sounds real scare y to me.

No, you will not be flying over the rockies, you'll be flying through them! There is a big difference.

Hello Pilot DAR
I've resized the image and hoping to get some feedback on the chosen route. Obviously i've mapped out the route on pupose, but what challenges/advice can some of you provide me. is it a good idea to do this or bad? DAR has already given me some extremely valid points to think about.


http://i66.tinypic.com/28savfb.jpg