Hour building Florida to California
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Hour building Florida to California
Hi all,
Instead of going to the States and hour building just around Florida, am planning on flying Florida to California in Nov. A bit vague I know not specifying cities, but as yet still unsure where in Cali to finish, and turn around.
So hoping for some suggestions from anyone that has done this, and / or advice on places to stop on the way. As it will be November sometime, thinking of staying as south as possible to avoid the worse weather.
Also any idea's where I can get US charts from in UK, or are there any websites that cover VFR flight planning Stateside to give ideas of flight times, and airports etc? Have got some info from AirNav.com which has been useful, but just wondering if any others out there.
Any tips or suggestions appreciated.
Cheers
Instead of going to the States and hour building just around Florida, am planning on flying Florida to California in Nov. A bit vague I know not specifying cities, but as yet still unsure where in Cali to finish, and turn around.
So hoping for some suggestions from anyone that has done this, and / or advice on places to stop on the way. As it will be November sometime, thinking of staying as south as possible to avoid the worse weather.
Also any idea's where I can get US charts from in UK, or are there any websites that cover VFR flight planning Stateside to give ideas of flight times, and airports etc? Have got some info from AirNav.com which has been useful, but just wondering if any others out there.
Any tips or suggestions appreciated.
Cheers
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Check out Flight Planning and Aeronautical Charts at SkyVector.com and FltPlan.com Flight Planning & Flight Tracking for General Aviation.. Once you get an FAA issued certificate, you can register with DUAT or DUATS for flight planning and weather briefings.
What are you planning on flying? What are you interested in doing? You just going to fly as much as possible every day, or do you actually want to be able to see some sites.
Have you ever done any flying in high DA/mountainous conditions? If not I'd recommend staying south (maybe El Paso - Pheonix), as you can get into a lot of trouble quick if you are not careful.
What are you planning on flying? What are you interested in doing? You just going to fly as much as possible every day, or do you actually want to be able to see some sites.
Have you ever done any flying in high DA/mountainous conditions? If not I'd recommend staying south (maybe El Paso - Pheonix), as you can get into a lot of trouble quick if you are not careful.
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florida to california
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Thanks hubbs, that is very helpful actually. Especially the web page re charts. At the minute not sure the routing, however have done a bit of flying in high terrain. Its more the weather that would be my concern flying around those mountains!
Current plan would be to do the round trip in approx 6 / 7 days. Would be 2, possibly 3 of us sharing the flying. Once we look at the charts and routes, will have more realistic figure of how long we would need to do it. and think it would be more flying than seeing the sites, however would like to get some sites in too whilst over there. But ultimately all depends on cost really.
Ego, thanks for video link, never seen that - looks like they had a great time, although they seemed to have more time we will have unfortunately
Many thanks
Current plan would be to do the round trip in approx 6 / 7 days. Would be 2, possibly 3 of us sharing the flying. Once we look at the charts and routes, will have more realistic figure of how long we would need to do it. and think it would be more flying than seeing the sites, however would like to get some sites in too whilst over there. But ultimately all depends on cost really.
Ego, thanks for video link, never seen that - looks like they had a great time, although they seemed to have more time we will have unfortunately
Many thanks
Keep in mind that in Nov. you will have the prevailing wind against you.
You can expect 20-30 knot head winds all the way from North Florida to New Mexico. It can get old quick if cars are passing you on the highway but..then again it's time building.
Many moons ago it took us 26 hrs to get to Las Vegas from Florida and 20 hrs back. Keep in mind icing over the mountains and slow moving fronts with icing almost down to the ground. Landing at night in New Orleans the temperature on the ground was 4 Celsius.
Assuming that you are VFR only double the time for the round trip...14 days.
You can expect 20-30 knot head winds all the way from North Florida to New Mexico. It can get old quick if cars are passing you on the highway but..then again it's time building.
Many moons ago it took us 26 hrs to get to Las Vegas from Florida and 20 hrs back. Keep in mind icing over the mountains and slow moving fronts with icing almost down to the ground. Landing at night in New Orleans the temperature on the ground was 4 Celsius.
Assuming that you are VFR only double the time for the round trip...14 days.
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I did my PPL training in Southern California. Great place to fly.
I'd recommend in So Cal:
Big Bear - The airfield is at about 8,500ft, approach over a huge lake with a space telescope. Beware of density altitude, tempurates when I was there in May were as high as 20C up there!
Bishop/Mammouth - In the Sierra Nevada mountains. Not difficult to find, just head north between the two mountain ranges avoiding restricted airspace. Makes for some great pictures. Rent a car in the town and go up the mountains. Density altitude is an issue here again.
Riverside - Has a nice resturant.
Ontario - Land behind a B737 and before an A330. Its a major airfield in Class C thats very busy which makes it a challenge.
Catalina - On an island off the coast from the LA area.
Santa Barbara - Another large airport in Class C. Has a good resturant, but can't remember what its called.
Fly a VFR corridor route over LAX, just for the hell of it.
Have fun, wish I could go with you!
I'd recommend in So Cal:
Big Bear - The airfield is at about 8,500ft, approach over a huge lake with a space telescope. Beware of density altitude, tempurates when I was there in May were as high as 20C up there!
Bishop/Mammouth - In the Sierra Nevada mountains. Not difficult to find, just head north between the two mountain ranges avoiding restricted airspace. Makes for some great pictures. Rent a car in the town and go up the mountains. Density altitude is an issue here again.
Riverside - Has a nice resturant.
Ontario - Land behind a B737 and before an A330. Its a major airfield in Class C thats very busy which makes it a challenge.
Catalina - On an island off the coast from the LA area.
Santa Barbara - Another large airport in Class C. Has a good resturant, but can't remember what its called.
Fly a VFR corridor route over LAX, just for the hell of it.
Have fun, wish I could go with you!
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Hiya
I've just got back last week from doing an entire circuit around the States for hour building and i'd recommend the following websites:
skyvector.com for a quick nav plog
aopa.org (sign up for a free trial) to print out the runway charts and taxiway diagrams. These are invaluable at the larger airports to save you having ATC screaming on the radio. (the iphone and blackberry have apps for this to download)
airnav.com to find the cheapest fuel (we were averaging about 4.20 usd a gallon)
and just to brighten your day.... fbo-hotties.com ! ;-)
Try to get as much planning organised the night before so you're ready to get going as soon as you can the next day. Ask the FBO's if they have crew cars or courtesy cars for free - most will ! And also find out if they are affiliated to any local hotels. We found that we would get about anywhere from 30% - 50% discount on a room rate.
Flying up the West coast was an amazing experience, only just beaten by Niagara Falls and Statue of Liberty & into JFK.
Again, remember density altitude. I always thought it was a mysterious and wonderful experience that only happened to old ATPL tutors...until I took off from Castle Merced AFB in 44 degrees...we were only managing a 50fpm climb!
Call 1-800-wx-brief before you deaprt to check for NOTAMs and a more intuitive info on the weather.
If your phone has wifi then you'll be able to logon to the FBO networks as they all give free access and you'll find that the planning rooms can get busy.
Finding FBO's that sell charts is actually harder than you would think and will again require calling multiple airfields on your route.
Re places to go - def land on the Grand Canyon - the approach and departure over a 4000ft drop will test your nerves!! Then it's a short hop to Las Vegas.
I missed out on the VFR corridor around LA but the route it takes is amazing, and is something I'll be back to do one day.
Flying around the Rockies was an experience that you'll be unlikely to forget and the only advice worth giving is to talk to the locals. They know the best routes to take and what time of day also. In fact, best to do this for every route - we had planned to flyover Camp David when President Obama was residing there and only found out because of the FBO owner!! Apparently, the Americans don't want us flying over at a 1000ft....
Try Burbank in LA and grab the black cadillac from Atlantic FBO then cruise into Hollywood and see Rodeo Drive!
have fun!
I've just got back last week from doing an entire circuit around the States for hour building and i'd recommend the following websites:
skyvector.com for a quick nav plog
aopa.org (sign up for a free trial) to print out the runway charts and taxiway diagrams. These are invaluable at the larger airports to save you having ATC screaming on the radio. (the iphone and blackberry have apps for this to download)
airnav.com to find the cheapest fuel (we were averaging about 4.20 usd a gallon)
and just to brighten your day.... fbo-hotties.com ! ;-)
Try to get as much planning organised the night before so you're ready to get going as soon as you can the next day. Ask the FBO's if they have crew cars or courtesy cars for free - most will ! And also find out if they are affiliated to any local hotels. We found that we would get about anywhere from 30% - 50% discount on a room rate.
Flying up the West coast was an amazing experience, only just beaten by Niagara Falls and Statue of Liberty & into JFK.
Again, remember density altitude. I always thought it was a mysterious and wonderful experience that only happened to old ATPL tutors...until I took off from Castle Merced AFB in 44 degrees...we were only managing a 50fpm climb!
Call 1-800-wx-brief before you deaprt to check for NOTAMs and a more intuitive info on the weather.
If your phone has wifi then you'll be able to logon to the FBO networks as they all give free access and you'll find that the planning rooms can get busy.
Finding FBO's that sell charts is actually harder than you would think and will again require calling multiple airfields on your route.
Re places to go - def land on the Grand Canyon - the approach and departure over a 4000ft drop will test your nerves!! Then it's a short hop to Las Vegas.
I missed out on the VFR corridor around LA but the route it takes is amazing, and is something I'll be back to do one day.
Flying around the Rockies was an experience that you'll be unlikely to forget and the only advice worth giving is to talk to the locals. They know the best routes to take and what time of day also. In fact, best to do this for every route - we had planned to flyover Camp David when President Obama was residing there and only found out because of the FBO owner!! Apparently, the Americans don't want us flying over at a 1000ft....
Try Burbank in LA and grab the black cadillac from Atlantic FBO then cruise into Hollywood and see Rodeo Drive!
have fun!
