School me on, seeing the country

ridininmd · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 1231

So as some of you know I'm living in Florida working on pilot ratings. I've them all finished except for one of the instructor ratings now. I was planning on sitting around putting in my hours instructing and then moving on to a real job. Well things have changed for me some and I have the opportunity skip the instructing part of the plan, buy a plane and spend the next 9 months to a year burning up the country in it building my hours. Which is going to be a hell of a lot more fun than spending it teaching kids instrument approaches into Daytona over and over and over again.

So since I'm fortunate enough to have this opportunity I figure I should hit as many states as possible,see as much of the country, and do as many things as I can along the way. So with that said, school me. Where would you go, what would you see? Wanna throw in on gas and go somewhere? Must attend events? Restaurants or local food that I have to try? The flying part is not cheap so the less expensive activities are along the way the better.

htownbdr · Posted: Jul 08, 2011 4:39 pm Post subject:

Watch man versus food and go where they went.

Seeing the country sounds like a good plan. Have fun with it.

tball · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 3953

Definitely hit Killdevil Hills (Kittyhawk); gorgeous flight up & down OBX and neat little airstrip.

As far as touring the whole country, if I had the freedom and resources to cruise around unabated, I'd go on a College Football tour. Just pick your favorite venue or game for each Saturday and ROCK OUT. I'd work my way from northeast to southwest to compensate for weather through the season. After the bowls, pick up the rest of the NFL playoffs.

buckthis · Posted: Jul 08, 2011 5:02 pm Post subject:

Ridin' How much would the gas cost to go from Kelleys Island Land Field in Ohio to Niagara Falls in New York and back? 300mi each way. You gotta see Niagara Falls.

chavez · RIP MHL 04/25/1958 - 01/11/2006

If you make Cali, check out Oceano airport (pismo beach). Way cool approach and/or departure over the pacific.

ridininmd · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 1231

htownbdr, lol small planes have weight limits man, if I did that I would to fat to get into the plane by the end. But there are a few BBQ place that have been on some of those shows that I'd like to check out.

tball, Kitty Hawk for sure, I haven't been there since I was a kid but I don't think you can do a tour like this and skip going there. The football thing would be fun, but man it would get pricy, I am going to try and make a bowl game though.

buckthis, Haven't settled on a plane yet so I can't say exactly, but the one I'm looking at most seriously right now has a 185mph cruise and burns about 14gph, so it would be around 23 gallons each way. Let me know if you want to go, you don't have to cover all of it, just chip in. I'm burning the fuel one way or the other, so if I can reduce my cost a little and have some company it's cool with me.

chavez, Right on, I'll check it out. Looks like depending on the conditions it might be just a little on the short side for me.

Keep the suggestions coming guys, Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone are for sure on my list too.

Mike Isler · Moderator Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 718 City: New York

Ridinmd, I've spent some time flying in the Northeast and also in SoCal.

A few days ago I rented a plane on Long Island NY and flew up to Bar Harbor Maine for the night. Beautiful flight, distances work out well (2-2.5h at 120kt). Fun things to do when you get there. I definitely miss flying out in California though, and I wish I could do hour building out there. Few things are more than one hop away. Check out:

L09 - Stovepipe Wells airstrip in the middle of Death Valley
MMH - Mammoth Yosemite Airport (located at 7200msl)
L52 - Oceano Airport, next to the sand dunes in Pismo (mentioned by Chavez)
PGA - Page Airport, next to Lake Powell

You mentioned 185mph @ 14gph... flying a SR-22?

If you head up to the northeast, give me a shout. I've done some flying around NYC as well and can give you some pointers about this (very busy) area.

ridininmd · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 1231

Mike Isler, I'll give you a shout for sure I do want to fly Hudson corridor. Man I wish it was a Cirrus, I'm Looking at a pa30 with some speed mods although even the stock ones are coming pretty close to those numbers @10,000 feet. I'm having a pre buy done on one on the 20th, if it checks out I'll be flying it out of AZ the following day.

Mike Isler · Moderator Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 718 City: New York

Right on. The Hudson Corridor is cool here, but I prefer to fly it in the Class B at 1500 or 2000. Plus, flying in the Bravo lets you fly the East River or cross Central Park if you like (or fly over the tower cab at LGA). Good luck with your PA30 purchase!! I haven't headed down the multi route yet...some day.

If you're in AZ with the plane, then you have to spend some time flying around the area. Definitely go up to Page, and if you have a chance check out Davis-Monthan in Tucson (the ultimate boneyard), as well as Marana Pinal Air Park.

RampageWake · Posted: Jul 09, 2011 7:33 pm Post subject:

How Cool! I'm jealous. Forgive my ignorance as I do not have a lot to add, but my uncle flies a vans RV6 from San Antiono to Houston to work 3 days a week. (i.e. I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night) He flies to OshKosh every year and says its a blast, so you might make that a stop on your list... If you end up near Houston we are more than happy to put you up for a few days, holla!

ridininmd · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 1231

Mike Isler, sounds fun man, I'll be looking you up when I'm up there. We'll get you started on that multi rating, once you fly with two you won't want to go back. I do plan on doing some touring out in AZ but it won't be this trip, I need to be in MD by Friday. So I'll be checking the plane out, handing over the money and getting heading East right away. But I'll be heading back out that way again, one of the goals on this thing is to land in 49 states.

RampageWake, Those RVs are sick, my uncle who just retired from the EAA a couple years ago had a 6A for a few years. I actually looked at them for a little bit but for the kind of heavy cross country flying I want to do they just weren't that practical. I'm going to try and make Oshkosh this year, I haven't been since I was 13-14. But, it's getting awful close so I'm not sure if I'll make it.

ridininmd · Wakeboarder.Commie Joined: 16 Feb 2006 Posts: 1231

Well I pulled the trigger, picked up my PA-30 out in AZ last Wednesday. We went from there to Austin, then over to Louisiana, then Maryland, and finally back to Florida today. Couple little bugs to work out in the plane but all in all things are pretty good.

Here's a time lapse from the go-pro coming out of AZ heading for Texas, that's El Paso at :27. I wish it had run a little longer to catch the landing but the 16GB card was full, anyone know where to get huge SD cards cheap?

http://vimeo.com/26896201