So I've been planning/dreaming about a trip to southern California and Moab with my wife and 4 year old son around the beginning of May. I was hoping to tie the Caveman fly-in and the Chino air show together, but it looks like there will be too much time in between, if Caveman even happens at all. I do still want to stay at Caveman for a day or two (need to talk to Rod again to make sure there aren't any issues). The plan is to fly down to CA first, then over to UT, and back home through ID. Rough flight plan here:
http://skyvector.com/?ll=39.02942575035443,-119.42358398659256&chart=301&zoom=10&plan=A.K1.S21:A.K1.2S7:A.K2.0O4:A.K2.O08:A.K2.KDWA:A.K2.E45:A.K2.L17:A.K2.KMHV:A.K2.KVNY:A.K2.KCNO:A.K2.F70:A.K2.0CL3:A.K2.KHII:A.K2.AZ50:A.K2.L37:A.K2.40G:A.K2.U96:A.K2.UT68:A.K2.KCNY:A.K2.KPUC:A.K2.KTVY:A.K1.KBYI:A.K1.KMAN:A.K1.KBNO:A.K1.S21

I'm a relatively fresh pilot, but grew up in an aviation family. We'll be flying a 150hp Stinson 108-1, and while I don't expect it to be extra hot, density altitude is certainly on my mind, as well as keeping our baggage light. I'm not planning to bag a bunch of dirt strips, but would certaily like to check some out from the air, as well as the Grand Canyon.

So, any tips, advice, do's or dont's? I'll have 8.00x6's on the plane for the trip. Thanks!

If you're coming from a flying family, I might not have any insight to give that you haven't already thought of, but this might be of some help.

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/news/articles/pilot-technique/family-flying-backcountry-style

Also, yell when you are coming through and maybe we could meet up someplace with our kids!

Best advice I can think of: Have Fun!

We traveled from Idaho to Minnesota last summer in a 150HP Tri-Pacer and a family of 4. We packed pretty lightly and kept the total baggage around 50 pounds, but still had enough clothes for nearly a week. With two kids and my wife we were still a bit under gross. My point is I think you will be just fine, but respect the DA and if performance is needed stick to early mornings. If you are concerned then you are already 95% of the way there, just use your judgement and experience. Love the Stinsons, I still think they are one of the classiest looking planes.

Depending on coastal fog/weather conditions I would try to fly some of the Pacific coast. May can be good. Pretty good scenery. Mike

Kelly,

Sounds like an awesome adventure! I have family in Santa Barbara County and have visited them from just north of you (Redmond) regularly since 1993. About 10 years ago as a new private pilot and after making the fastest trip ever driving with one speeding ticket I vowed to never drive it again! The first time I flew us down my daughter was about three years old and my son was a year and a half. I made some mistakes and learned some lessons that I will share. Even if they don't apply to you maybe someone else can benefit from the information. I wish I had Cory's advice (linked above) before I made my first trip, it would have saved me a lot of hastle. And I wish I new how important the advice "keep it fun" could have helped me!

Our normal plan is from RDM to WLW for breakfast and gas. It's just over two hours in the 180 and I wouldn't want a longer leg than that with my family in the plane. From there we hop over the Monterey in about an hour and a half where I have pre-arranged a courtesy car and we spend half a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. From there, another hour or so and we're in Lompoc with my family. We have a portable DVD player with two screens that hang on the back of the front seats with sound plumbed into the head sets for in-flight entertainment. So all in all, about five hours of flight time total with no more than around two hours max in the plane at a time and enough stops and entertainment in between to make it fun and break up the trip.

Sounds great right! How can I go wrong? Well here are some things I would do different:

1. Be flexible and resilient... As a new pilot there were so many unknowns to me that I was sure I had to stick exactly to my plan or the sky would fall. We were going to be wheels up by 7AM or the plan would fall apart. So when we didn't leave until after 8 my anxiety level went up because I was sure I would get caught in the unforcasted magical thunderstorms and the extra stress I had impacted my wife and kids in a big way. Basically the first leg of that trip was a plane full of crying passengers and a stressed pilot who should have known better. A recipe for disaster and a lesson learned. We now aim for a departure time but recognize and make sure that we can be a little early or late without ruining our plans or our spirits. We also plan two days on either side of our arrival and departure dates (VFR) to help eliminate the "gotta get there" mentality.

2. Have built in "options" to your plan... So now we only had an hour for breakfast and fuel or our trip to the aquarium was going to be impacted and then what!! We make it to KMRY, get a car and go to the aquarium. I doubt it was very fun for my family to watch me walk around checking the weather every thirty minutes making sure that our later that expected arrival wasn't going to get us stuck there! After all the marine layer on the coast can be predictably unpredictable and will get us stuck, right!

We now take as much time as we want at the aquarium and figure that if we need to get a hotel for the night, so be it. It adds to the adventure and we get to go out to another restaurant! My kids love that!

3. Let the family "own" the trip. I start trying to plant the seed early to prepare them for the trip. Small things like talking to my son about trying to catch the lizard again at willows, or if we'll be brave enough to hold the sea anemone at the aquarium, or what movie we're all going to listen to in the airplane, or whether we should change up the plan a little this year by... etc.. They seem to be happier when they feel like it's "their" trip and not mine.

The flight plan you have on skyvector.com looks well thought out and like an amazing trip. It's actually on my list to make a similar trip one of these day with my family with maybe the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone as additional stops! That being said, it would have been a disaster for me and my family on our first trip and would have ended early and not well! That does not mean it will be the case for you. Stay relaxed and enjoy the adventure! I'm already looking forward to the trip report with pictures and advice for when I'm able to make the trip with my family!

CW

clippwagon wrote:
We now take as much time as we want at the aquarium and figure that if we need to get a hotel for the night, so be it. It adds to the adventure and we get to go out to another restaurant! My kids love that!

3. Let the family "own" the trip. I start trying to plant the seed early to prepare them for the trip. Small things like talking to my son about trying to catch the lizard again at willows, or if we'll be brave enough to hold the sea anemone at the aquarium, or what movie we're all going to listen to in the airplane, or whether we should change up the plan a little this year by... etc.. They seem to be happier when they feel like it's "their" trip and not mine.

Excellent additional comments CW. We have learned to roll with the punches and, if you get stuck somewhere, it adds to the adventure.

#3 I never thought of as a step but it is. Leading up to Caveman they start talking about playing Fooseball in the lodge and for JC they start talking about throwing rocks in the creek. The only downside is breaking the news to them if the trip doesn't happen!

For years we carried around DVD players. Now with iPads, we don't spend nearly as much time looking for a place to recharge and can carry the whole movie library, as well as games on them. They also have their nintendos and leap pads to play. Also, some headsets for kids have the audio jack built right in, which is nice for everyone involved!

Thanks for the tips, guys, this is exactly what I'm looking for! I am planning a loose schedule- about the only firm plan is to make it to the Chino air show, but that could be either Saturday or Sunday, so hopefully we're covered there. I need to make a room reservation at Grand Canyon Caverns, but I don't know what day we'll be there yet, so hopefully they have vacancies

My son and I got weathered for a couple of days flying home from SHN after the Super Bowl this year. Spent one night in a hotel in Troutdale, then, after seeing that the gorge was a mess, parked the plane at a friend's grass strip and borrowed a truck to finish the trip. All part of the adventure! He didn't complain a bit

My initial plan was to fly the Grand Canyon corridor north of GCN, then fly over the north rim, but the plane doesn't seem to like being above 9000' too much, especially loaded down, so that's one of my "unknowns". I'll probably stick to the south rim. I've heard mixed reviews about GCN being GA friendly vs. serving the commercial operations, any opinions on that? The wife would love to visit the rim on foot, and I have DA concerns about getting off the ground at GCN anytime other than first thing in the morning (it'll be my highest airport so far).

Cory, it's entirely possible that we'll stop at Ogden. The more drop zones I stop by, the more of a business expense the trip becomes, so I'll certainly give you a shout when we're in the Caveman/Moab area

Yeah, definitely let me know. If you're looking to get the tires dirty, Grand Gulch Mine is pretty cool and the strip is in good shape. I camped there with my 6 year old in January. I posted a trip report with pics. I want to go check out the caverns too. Let me know how they are. The strip looked in good condition when I flew over it in January.

Dang... That looks like a fun trip and well planned. I wish I could get my wife to do one of those... Kids fly with me all the time, my wife get sick...

My wife gets sick on the drive to the airport (mostly because she hasn't figured out how to put a book down yet), but thus far has done OK in the plane. Will definitely be packing Dramamine!

Cory, I suck at searching for posts at the moment, and I did see your post about Grand Gulch. Will have to look into it!

I see you're stopping at Pine Mountain Lake. I hope you have something to do there because there isn't much there anymore. Columbia- O22 is a better stop. Especially for kids. Old California gold mining town with lots for kids to do. Be sure to wave when you fly past O27.

Slight side track: I notice a couple comments about motion sickness. One of the best solutions is the ReliefBand, an electronic watch-like device, which sends a light shock up the medial nerve and effectively stops nausea. Here's their website: http://www.relief-band-watch.com/ I bought "Mah Woman's" from Aeromedix.com.

Brent Blue, the owner of Aeromedix, has an interesting article on the website about how it works. I can say without a doubt, it does. Marilyn has a very queasy stomach. She doesn't like to fly anyway, but we do like boating, and she can get motion sickness walking on a dock. With the ReliefBand, she doesn't get sick at all.

Cary

Scott, we have firends that live at Pine Mountain, so we were planning on staying at least one night there. If they're not home, we'll hop over to O27 and knock on your door.... I never was able to take you up on your offer for the RV-4 ride, but I haven't forgotten Guess I'll have to settle for the Rans now, lol!

Cary, thanks for the ReliefBand suggestion, I'll have to look into it! One thing about my wife that drives me crazy is how one minute everything is fine, then the next she's on her deathbed.... If we can minimize the near death experiences, life will surely be more grand!

1:1 Scale wrote:Scott, we have firends that live at Pine Mountain, so we were planning on staying at least one night there. If they're not home, we'll hop over to O27 and knock on your door.... I never was able to take you up on your offer for the RV-4 ride, but I haven't forgotten Guess I'll have to settle for the Rans now, lol!

Cary, thanks for the ReliefBand suggestion, I'll have to look into it! One thing about my wife that drives me crazy is how one minute everything is fine, then the next she's on her deathbed.... If we can minimize the near death experiences, life will surely be more grand!

Settle? Settle?! Why I oughtta...!

Let me know if you have time to go out and play.

Hahaha!! I'll certainly let you know if we can drop in! I'm starting to think this trip could take a month if we stopped by every point of interest along the way...

Looks like this trip isn't happening. At least not for a few months. Had an employee break herself, so I'll be filling in for a while Ohe well, good things come to those who wait, everything happens for a reason, etc., right?