I have always wanted to visit out West. This year we decided to head to Sedona to see the famed Red Rocks.
Sedona is pretty far, 1552 miles direct so it is about 9 hours without headwinds and weather. Our first day goal was to get to Amarillo Texas, this put 1000 miles behind us and made the next days much easier. I could do this in 2 hops but we decided to make it easier by doing 3.
Leaving home we had clear blue skies but we would be flying along a front with multiple lows. This meant we would experience all sorts of weather along the way. We had good VFR weather to begin but it was rather hazy so it was rather a dull flight without much to see along the way. When we left, our final destination was below minimums and depending on which forecast you believed, it would not clear before sunset. You can't worry about everything, so off we went.
Weather was clear from home to Clarke County Mississippi (23M) our first stop. We were about 80 miles out when we got a significant reroute. Since we had clear skies I decided to cancel IFR and continue direct. Our next controller informed us the Military Operation area was in use ahead of us with several F18s maneuvering. I wasn't gonna play Top Gun so we turned to stay just outside the area, as we approached the jets finished up.
I had a hunch this would happen, they don't have that much gas. Once the jets were clear we were able to head directly to the airport. Then came the tricky part, the runway hides behind tall trees, I was literally right at the airport before I saw it. The airport was quite interesting for several reasons. No self serve, Kim pumps for you, challenging runway and to get the best price you needed to pay cash or debit. Gas was $3.65 which is a darn good price for Avgas so I was ready for the challenges.
One more surprise, after Kim came out to fuel us she took our picture. They have walls of planes and pilots. We were also made famous on their Facebook page. A final bonus was the sign in the men's room.
Our next stop was Sherman Texas (KSWI). It was also chosen for the low gas price of $3.65. Leaving home we had clear skies but the direct line to Sherman took us through significant storms over Monroe and Jackson. I had found a fix just South of Monroe that would clear the weather and the Meridian controller was quite accommodating, getting our route updated.
I did one additional thing, rather than filing to the airport I filed to the initial fix on the instrument approach. It was not clear heading out whether we would have good weather upon arrival.
The slight detour worked well, we had storms off to our right but other than a few drops in the windshield we avoided the rain. We were soon tracking inbound on the GPS34 approach and talking to local traffic at Sherman. After 23M I was going to use all the available tools to find the next runway.
Arriving there was a chopper in the pattern who was a potential conflict. He asked our speed and when I told him 130 knots he replied, wow you all are really haulin A--, welcome to Texas. We got the spacing sorted out and were soon on the ground. The cheap fuel had attracted others and we had to wait in line for gas but soon we were topped off, refreshed and ready to go.
All day the weather at Amarillo (KTDW) had been 200 overcast with poor visibility but after fueling, I checked the latest update and it had begun to clear, as I said no need to start worrying early. With clearing skies the last leg was pretty uneventful.
We had been enjoying some tailwinds from the lows but they went away and our friendly headwind returned. Also, the ground started rising.
The local controllers worked us in nicely and we were soon cleaning the bugs off the plane. Then a quick Uber to the Courtyard Marriott in downtown and we had a room for the night, We found a trendy dinner spot and had our first real meal of the day. After that it was back to the room to plan the next day.
About 9:30 the thunder and rain came. Oddly this was a happy event as I had payed a bit extra to have the plane hangared for the night just in case. I slept well knowing the plane was safe.
Sedona is pretty far, 1552 miles direct so it is about 9 hours without headwinds and weather. Our first day goal was to get to Amarillo Texas, this put 1000 miles behind us and made the next days much easier. I could do this in 2 hops but we decided to make it easier by doing 3.
Leaving home we had clear blue skies but we would be flying along a front with multiple lows. This meant we would experience all sorts of weather along the way. We had good VFR weather to begin but it was rather hazy so it was rather a dull flight without much to see along the way. When we left, our final destination was below minimums and depending on which forecast you believed, it would not clear before sunset. You can't worry about everything, so off we went.
Weather was clear from home to Clarke County Mississippi (23M) our first stop. We were about 80 miles out when we got a significant reroute. Since we had clear skies I decided to cancel IFR and continue direct. Our next controller informed us the Military Operation area was in use ahead of us with several F18s maneuvering. I wasn't gonna play Top Gun so we turned to stay just outside the area, as we approached the jets finished up.
I had a hunch this would happen, they don't have that much gas. Once the jets were clear we were able to head directly to the airport. Then came the tricky part, the runway hides behind tall trees, I was literally right at the airport before I saw it. The airport was quite interesting for several reasons. No self serve, Kim pumps for you, challenging runway and to get the best price you needed to pay cash or debit. Gas was $3.65 which is a darn good price for Avgas so I was ready for the challenges.
One more surprise, after Kim came out to fuel us she took our picture. They have walls of planes and pilots. We were also made famous on their Facebook page. A final bonus was the sign in the men's room.
Our next stop was Sherman Texas (KSWI). It was also chosen for the low gas price of $3.65. Leaving home we had clear skies but the direct line to Sherman took us through significant storms over Monroe and Jackson. I had found a fix just South of Monroe that would clear the weather and the Meridian controller was quite accommodating, getting our route updated.
I did one additional thing, rather than filing to the airport I filed to the initial fix on the instrument approach. It was not clear heading out whether we would have good weather upon arrival.
The slight detour worked well, we had storms off to our right but other than a few drops in the windshield we avoided the rain. We were soon tracking inbound on the GPS34 approach and talking to local traffic at Sherman. After 23M I was going to use all the available tools to find the next runway.
Arriving there was a chopper in the pattern who was a potential conflict. He asked our speed and when I told him 130 knots he replied, wow you all are really haulin A--, welcome to Texas. We got the spacing sorted out and were soon on the ground. The cheap fuel had attracted others and we had to wait in line for gas but soon we were topped off, refreshed and ready to go.
All day the weather at Amarillo (KTDW) had been 200 overcast with poor visibility but after fueling, I checked the latest update and it had begun to clear, as I said no need to start worrying early. With clearing skies the last leg was pretty uneventful.
We had been enjoying some tailwinds from the lows but they went away and our friendly headwind returned. Also, the ground started rising.
The local controllers worked us in nicely and we were soon cleaning the bugs off the plane. Then a quick Uber to the Courtyard Marriott in downtown and we had a room for the night, We found a trendy dinner spot and had our first real meal of the day. After that it was back to the room to plan the next day.
About 9:30 the thunder and rain came. Oddly this was a happy event as I had payed a bit extra to have the plane hangared for the night just in case. I slept well knowing the plane was safe.
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