RE: [COUPERS-FLYIN] X-country

[Ed Burkhead]

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Scott asked:

> How many of you have taken trips of 1000-1500 miles in

> your 'coupes? How many hours a day did you fly and are

> there any words of wisdom or anecdotes that you might

> share?

 

 

I flew my Coupe from Iowa City to Chester, Connecticut, 971 miles, in one day by flying high to get the tailwind, leaning the engine and only making two fuel stops.  Left early and arrived about 5 p.m.  Flying home took two days due to the prevailing headwinds.

 

Flying from Iowa City, the 818 miles to Lock Haven was easier except for the haze.  The return trip was just one day.

 

From Peoria, IL, to Lakeland, FL, I took two days going, stopping half way at relatives breaking the trip into two 450 mile segments.  Arrived by 5 p.m. on each leg.  Going home took two days because I left Lakeland very late due to magneto repair.  After overnighting in Georgia, I arrived just before sunset in Peoria.

 

My long trip was from Iowa City to Minden, Nevada, then to the coast west of Albany, Oregon then to Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana and than back home.  About 4,000 miles for that trip.  

 

From Iowa City to western Nebraska, it took a convoluted route of about 660 miles and a long day.  From Minden, NV, through Oregon, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to Kalispell, Montana and back to Iowa City, I flew long days when I wanted so I could spend more time at my preferred locations.

 

In the dry, Intermountain West, where the thermals are amazing, I flew from sunrise at 5 a.m. to about noon.  Next time, I’ll stop at 10:30 a.m. and rest and tour the rest of the day.  Those mid-day thermals are impressive – I slowed down to 75 mph to prevent structural damage on the 10:30-12:00 segment both days.

 

Except for a small part of the flight northwest of Crater Lake, I was always within gliding distance of a highway.  If I couldn’t land on the highway without damage, at least I’d be found quickly.  I’d bet on a successful or minor damage emergency landing probability of 97+%.

 

The 1250 miles from Kalispell, MT, to Iowa City I took in two days.  There was enough mid-day thermal activity in the northern great plains that the mid-day travel was less pleasant but I was able to travel through it at cruising speed.

 

Overall, I’d advise starting very, very early each morning to enjoy the cool, smooth air.  I’ve flown 10 hours or so in a day but it is tiring – OK for transportation but not so good for enjoying the flight and sight-seeing.

 

As you fly from San Diego to Seattle, be sure to fly over Crater Lake, in Oregon.  That is worth adjusting your flight path to see.  The mountains in the area are also beautiful in spite of the patch-work appearance of clear-cutting and new planting.

 

Also, if the weather cooperates, flying up or down the Columbia River Gorge is fantastic.  I went through about 7,500’ so the mountains were well up above me.  The highway makes a possible emergency landing strip.  This might be a bad place to be on a windy day due to turbulence.  I flew through early in the morning with light winds and had smooth air.

 

Most importantly – here’s my prime safety advice.

 

1. You can get almost anywhere in a small plane if you’re willing to detour a state sideways to go around bad weather.

 

2. Long-distance, cross-country flying is plenty safe if you don’t have get-there-itis or get-home-itis.  Make your work arrangements so you can take longer getting home without losing your job.  Often, you can schedule your vacation longer than you need and arrange with the boss that you might come back a few days early (your real, intended return day). It might be that you need to arrange those extra days (which you don’t intend to use) as unpaid.  But one way or another, make sure you remove that pressure to get home.  Avoiding pressure to do something stupid is the best safety factor you can have.

 

Have fun on that trip!

 

Ed Burkhead

http://edburkhead.com

ed -at- edburkhead???.com          (change -at- to @ and remove "???")

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