PLovett

Simple question.

If one was to fly a non-pressurised GA aircraft from the east to the west coast of the USA, under IFR, what route(s) would you take to cross the Rockies and other assorted bits of granite that stand in ones way?

zerozero

It's been many years since I made a flight from Texas to southern California but as I remember the MEAs are around 10,000' in New Mexico but Colorado and Wyoming will be pushing twelve to fourteen thousand.

Not only that but you may consider following a highway as a good source of emergency landing fields.

And this time of year, unless you're equipped and have experience in mountain flying I'd stay out of the clouds and remain VMC. Too much ice.

File IFR yes. But stay out of the clouds if you're not on O2 and turbo-charged.

Best.

PLovett

Thanks for the reply zerozero .

Not planning to fly it at present. Just a little bit of prior knowledge gathering for now.

typhoonpilot

Personally I prefer the northern route, but not IFR. I would only go VFR in a single. I would use Sectional Charts to plan the routing and plan to stay over highways, specifically I-80. It roughly mirrors the old Oregon Trail that wagons used to take to cross the country on the way to the west coast. For the Rockies part it takes you north of the worst part and keeps you over relatively flat terrain ( high, but flat ). Plan a re-fueling stop somewhere in western Nebraska ( Scottsbluff, perhaps ) and then make it non-stop to Logan, Utah or another field on the western side of the Wasatch range. That way you won't have to deal with a very high density altitude takeoff from Wyoming. It will still be high, but not terribly high.

You haven't really said what part of the west coast though so it is difficult to make a suggestion from there. If you are going to the Bay Area just follow I-80 across Utah and Nevada. The last tricky part is from Reno over the Sierra Nevada to Sacramento, but again just follow I-80 and you'll be okay. If you are heading for Southern California then you can follow I-15 down towards Vegas and across the Mojave desert. The Cajon Pass and Banning Pass going into the L.A. Basin can be tricky in a light single. Go through with enough altitide that you can withstand a 1000 FPM downdraft for awhile. I can't tell you how many wrecks I've seen oon both sides of those passes. Preferably it is VFR and the winds are light then they aren't a problem.

If you are going further north of that, say Oregon or Washington then the routing would take you from Logan towards Boise, from Boise almost due west for awhile then north towards the Tri-Cities area and through the Columbia river valley to the coast. I haven't down that one in a single so it may be a little off, again just check a Sectional and you'll see a good routing that may be a little different.

Hope that helps,


Typhoonpilot

George Semel

Its been a while, I use to fly a lot in that region. I use to fly a Cessna 210 turbo most of the time. Icing is a problem, along with not being able to get high enough for some of the routes. I would not fly with out supplemental Oxygen. I had a provideded tank, it dried me out all the time. Its a must for night. You can do with out pressurization, I would like at least a turbo charged engine. Non- turbo charging is doable. Just plan on flying at less than Gross Weight. You just look at the performance charts for your aircraft and plan accordingly.

2R

Plan for early morning going through the rockies ,can be uncomfortable in the afternoon.CHECK the winds as the valleys can speed the winds up due to the venturi effect .
do not forget to take a camera as it is beautiful .
The FAA has an advisory circular called' mountain flying 'if you have no mountain experience ,read it twice as it is very helpful .

dispatchdoug

Head to El Paso, and make the continental divide crossing over ELP.

When I dispatched at a major US airline, we had special routes built when we had to ferry a non-pressurized aircraft from the non-terrain critical portion of the US to the west - where MX was.

We didnt mess with going over CO at all, when operating unpressurized.

PLovett

Thank you to those who responded. Your information has given me a lot of assistance and a lot to think about.

noflow

I'd fly I-10 direct.

The southern route is the safest for single engine aircraft. I ferried a few aircraft back when I was building time and following Interstate 10 served me well.