Help: I'm planning a long cross country this summer, mixing vacation with work. I will be flying from Manassas, Virginia to San Francisco, staying for a while, then flying up the coast to Oregon and finally returning to Virginia. I'll be flying a straight leg 182 with the Texas Skyways 280 Hp engine so I've got power, but not a lot of really short, or rough field capability. I'm considering a southern course headed west with a more northerly return track back to the east coast. What suggestions do the members have for airports I should include as stop overs en route? I'll keep BCP posted on my planning and the actual flight when the time comes. This will be a big adventure for me, my wife and our dog!

By the way, I am looking to sell my share in this 182, and buy a Maule MX7-180C as my next plane, so any leads for a good used Maule would be appreciated. I have ~ 180 hrs of taildragger time split between a Citabria KCAB and a Pitts S2A I used to own. I'm ready to come back to the fold

If you're looking for adventure, don't plan anything...fly west-ish and see where the nose takes you!! Of, course I'm oversimplifying a bit, but you get my point. Stop at small airports and talk with the locals, sometimes they have good suggestions on where else to go. try not to have any deadlines and if you have an I-pad or similar, get Foreflight...an invaluable tool for X/C flying. It enables you to plan a little bit in the air, and you don't have to carry a bunch of charts...it will pay for itself on your journey.

When you get to CA, a good place to go is Columbia airport. It's a neat little airport by an historic mining town, also has a nice grass runway where you can camp out if you're doing that. Depending on you're route, another good place to go is Oceano airport just south of San Luis Obispo...neat little place within walking distance to beach and some restaurants, camping too.

Good luck, take lots of pics, and post a trip report here!!

What are your quals and panel like? Need numbers?

My approach is to plan and plan and then continue/go where/when the weather is best; after all I'm sightseeing. I plan for 2 to 3 hour legs which seems to be well within the tolerance of my wife and dog, standard poodle. I like to rest after doing 3 legs in a day but I can do 4 for a couple of days; I have never tried that with wife and/or dog.

I like to have paper on all available airports giving me an idea of hotels, rental cars, FBOs and I like to have paper sectionals and TACs that I spread out all over the room when I am planning. I have the AOPA 2013/2104 airport guide, but I find the Pilots Guide much easier to use (although the information has been out of date more often than I would like).

Since you are travelling with a dog, I suggest you be more rather than less concerned about where you put up for the night.

Bridgeport, Ca is a beautiful area and it's a 1/4 mile walk into town. Walker River Lodge is pet friendly. Lee Vining is just over the hill and Mono Lake is certainly scenic. It's a short hike up the hill to Whoa Nelli Cafe (http://www.whoanelliedeli.com/) but there is no avgas at the Lee Vining.

I second the suggestion of Oceano (L52), Rock and Roll Diner is an easy walk with the walls covered with advertisements from the 1940's and 50's but there is an outside dining and Oceano has so far had no problem with dining outside with pets; Oxford Suites Pismo beach is pet friendly.

The Santa Maria Radisson right on the airport has pet friendly rooms and is a great area to spend a day dining and wining. Unfortunately Santa Barbara county is schizophrenic about pets; it can be hard to find a place (even with outside dining) that allows pets.

If you get headed this way, stop by Centennial (KAPA). The Perfect Landing Restaurant is a good place to eat, and you get good views of the mtns. too!

Since you are flying up the coast from SF to Oregon I would recommend stoping at Shelter Cove, CA. There is a pet friendly hotel 1/4 mile north of the airport right on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. There are a couple restaurants in town and the hotel has a courtesey van for use. Also make sure you check out Half Moon Bay while you are in the SF area, parking is on the south side of the field then walk out the gate to restaurants, shops, and hotels. Half Moon Bay Brewing Company is good, try the smoked salmon fish tacos and a pint of there IPA.

The hotel is the blue building on the left side of the picture

The Great Circle route takes you near: Dayton, OH (Air Force museum); Tantoul, IL (big skydiving boogies occur there); St. Joseph, MO (start of the Oregon Trail, which you can see from overhead and which you could follow all the way to SFO); HUGE abandoned draglines somewhere in KS (can somebody help with the location?); Mankato, KS (near one of the homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of Little House on the Prairie); the Sand Hills of NE (where sandhill cranes nest); Greely, CO (there's a great C185 maintenance facility there but I can't remember it's name); Granby, CO (close to Rocky Mountain National Park and home of the wacko who armored his bulldozer and then smashed up the town); south of The Great Salt Lake and some mighty big salt flats; and Lake Tahoe.

A more northerly route through the plains could take you over the Little Bighorn battlefield (fascinating from the air) and a more southerly route could take you through the Four Corners area (amazing cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, Gouldings was the unofficial HQ for John Ford's westerns featuring John Wayne, amazing buttes and rock formations in the northern parts of NM and AZ, loads of Indian reservations where some amazing pottery, basketry, weaving, and silver work is done).

Lots of history to overfly!

No real need to mess with a shorter grass strip, unless you want to. Do you have on board XM or ADS weather? It's rather handy on a longer flight. I flew to FL last Winter, Garmin 696 with XM wx worked great.

Air-Nav ,100LL , Fltplan.com & some of the other free sites are nice. I'd go one way & come back another. Always be ready to adjust plans as needed, for a multitude of reasons.

My planning just got easier. I bought a Maule MX7-180-C that is located in the Seattle area. Now I'll fly west commercially, and come back in the Maule. Another simplifying change is that our daughter will stay in our house and take care of our dog. The planning is kicking into high gear now. The flight will be in the 1st 2 weeks of June, well before my conference in San Francisco. It just keeps getting better. We will head down the Oregon and northern California coasts before flying across to Tahoe, and then down to Santa Fe. The route east from Santa Fe is where we have the most questions now.

Flyhound wrote:My planning just got easier. I bought a Maule MX7-180-C that is located in the Seattle area. Now I'll fly west commercially, and come back in the Maule. Another simplifying change is that our daughter will stay in our house and take care of our dog. The planning is kicking into high gear now. The flight will be in the 1st 2 weeks of June, well before my conference in San Francisco. It just keeps getting better. We will head down the Oregon and northern California coasts before flying across to Tahoe, and then down to Santa Fe. The route east from Santa Fe is where we have the most questions now.

So you'll be flying a Maule East from Seattle and your not stopping in Idaho? - sacrilege.

Consider hitting some Idaho Stops: Cavanaugh Bay, Johnson Creek, Smiley Creek, and others depending on your sense of adventure and comfort level. It might take you a few extra days, but when will you be out west again in the Maule? There are lots of backcountry strips you'll be missing out on. This is just a heads up in case you're not aware of what your passing by.

If you're interested, you can start planning by ordering the Fly Idaho book and map here:

http://www.flyidaho.com/catalog/index.php

Flyhound wrote:By the way, I am looking to sell my share in this 182, and buy a Maule MX7-180C as my next plane, so any leads for a good used Maule would be appreciated. I have ~ 180 hrs of taildragger time split between a Citabria KCAB and a Pitts S2A I used to own. I'm ready to come back to the fold

That looks like John Kennedy Jr.'s old 182.. you could be selling a piece of history

When you leave Sante Fe for Manassas, the Great Circle route has you paralleling the Cimarron Route of the Sante Fe Trail for a while. Parts of the trail are visible from the air. There are lots of interesting historical places along the GC route in the parts of NM, OK, and KS, although admittedly some are quite small. You will pass south of a volcanic crater, too.

The route passes just south of Wichita and goes directly over Fort Scott, KS, where the NPS has preserved an Army post from the early days of westward expansion. Continuing to the East, the route passes over Rolla National (Vichy, MO) where Baron Air has/had four DC-3 freighters mouldering in the weeds. I also remember several warbirds in the hangar - seems like there was a P-51, a T-6, and possibly a Corsair.

Continuing East, the route takes you over French Lick, IN. Birthplace of Larry Bird, and site of the French Lick Springs resort (gets high marks from my old man). The West Baden Springs hotel is nearby: it was recently restored and I'm told it's really beautiful.

A little farther East is Lee Bottom Flying Field, a grass strip on the Ohio River. They host a tail dragger fly-in in the Fall, and Sinful Sundays once a month during the summer. Good folks there.

PA12_Pilot wrote:The Great Circle route takes you near: Tantoul, IL (big skydiving boogies occur there);

Probably a typo, Rantoul is in Illinois and has skydiving.

These days though, I would recommend KRPJ, Rochelle, IL instead. Great skydiving community and, more to the point of this thread, tons of camping and a months-old full service restaurant on the field. Great option for a place to spend the night.

I'll be back in the states for a few weeks this summer, so be sure to put me on the emergency list in case you run into trouble. I could pretty easily be convinced to run out to Rochelle for a night.

PM me for contact info.

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I am with Bart. Take your credit card, and keep your compass somewhere near 270 degrees and it will be fun.

I once flew a super cub with a bad generator (hand prop) and the compass was "welded" on 030 degrees the whole time from eastern Ohio to Lancaster, CA then to Yakama, WA without a GPS. One of my most fun trips ever. After crossing the Mountains in CA I kept the ocean on my left and mountains on my right until I hit the big river and turned right.

Six Two Leemer: You're right, the 182 I am a partner in was owned by JFK Jr. We often display the plane at local aviation events in the DC area with a sandwich board showing the plane's history. The history of the plane leads to some interesting conversations. I flew the plane to Newport, Rhode Island to watch some sailboat races (AC-45 catamarans) last summer and the FBO remembered the plane and had some good stories to share.

Blackrock: I know skipping Idaho I'd a sacrilege, but my wife is calling the shots this time. She isn't big on long flights in small planes, but agreed to come this time if I take her to see the redwoods and Napa Valley en route to visit old friends in Santa Fe. My mom lives in Portland, OR and I'm within 2 years of retiring. We're seriously looking at retirement option in eastern Washington state, so there are likely to be many more opportunities to visit the Idaho back country. Don't give up on me yet!

Wiwarrior: I don't have XM weather, but I am going to buy a Dual WAAS GPS receiver that also offers ADS-B in and will communicate with the Avilution app I run on my Android tablet for my EFB, flight planning, check lists and flight tracking. I know most of the flying world has migrated to one iPad app or another, but I've been impressed with both the Avilution software and the excellent support the company has provided any time I've had challenges. They've turned me into a loyal customer.

PA-12 Pilot: thanks for the historical background. I used to live in Albuquerque, and I did a bunch of motorcycle tripod to Taos. One trip took me from Taos out to Ration, following the Cimarron trail. Great advice, and I'll probably take you up on some of it, including a stop at Lee Bottom.

Bart: My most memorable motorcycle tripod involved looking out of the tent each morning and deciding which way to ride based on current weather combined with whatever great stories we heard around the camp the night before. I'll try some of that on my return trip, but the constraints of limited vacation time will creative to much of my planning and the route we take.

Going through Portland, OR stop by Twin oaks Airpark (7S3). Least expensive gas around and a good atmosphere with lots of taildragger types.