Santa Fe was an add on, our real destination was always Sedona. Today the weather was mostly cooperating. I say mostly because the computer promised me no more than 12 knot headwinds but the reality was closer to 25. Not too big a deal for a 284 nm hop.
I usually file IFR even in good weather but in the Mountains I prefer to fly VFR. This allows me more flexibility in choosing altitudes and our exact route, I can stay over flatter safer terrain and deviate to take in the scenery.
Taking off from Santa Fe is different because of the altitude. The higher we go the less engine power we have due to thinning air. Our takeoff run was about 50% longer which matched our performance tables. Even though we had only 75% power we still had pretty good performance with initial climb rates better than 800 fpm. Everything happens in slow motion though, you just need to be patient and let the speed build.
We flew South to Albuquerque. This was for two reasons, first was that the direct route would have taken us through high mountains. The second was that this week was Balloon Fest. There are flight restrictions to keep planes away from balloons but they end at 8000 feet. We had climbed to 10,500 so with the blessing of the controller we headed over the balloons for a quick look.
After this we followed the highways across the dessert to our next sight. Highways mean people and help if you have any issues. There is a huge meteor crater just East of Flagstaff, we really enjoyed the birds eye view of this big hole and were glad that it happened long ago.
Bob, you'll meet Bob in a minute, told of flying people over the crater. Upon returning, he asked what they thought, they said it was lucky that the meteor had missed the parking lot. Go figure, these people walk among us...
After the Crater we were just 17 minutes from Sedona. Landing in Sedona is challenging. The airport resides on a butte with steep drop offs at both ends. This makes judging the approach angle challenging and the terrain creates some interesting wind currents.
I brought my "A" game and we made a stable approach to a smooth landing. It turns out sorting out where to park, was the hardest part, they had had an airport day the day before and there were cones in confusing places but eventually after wandering the ramp a bit we found a spot..
We were met by Bob. Bob does many things but one of them is acting as a buyers agent for aircraft purchases. I was in Singapore when I was looking for this plane and had engaged Bob to help me find and purchase the plane. He did a great job helping me seal the deal. When I picked up the plane in California I flew by Sedona (33 miles away) but had no time to stop and meet him in person. So after knowing each other for three plus years we finally met. Bob helped us tie down and check in. Then we headed over to see his impressive hangar to hear some stories and get some local advice.
Sedona has no air carrier operations. This means no big car rental companies, luckily they have a local outfit and we soon were headed out in a old (125,497 mile) but serviceable Hyundai. Our first stop was the airport overlook. From this vantage point you can get some incredible views of the Red Rock formations.
Our next stop was downtown where we stopped at the chamber of commerce tourist info. It is staffed by local volunteers who in my experience at other locations are usually very good. In this case we got the not so good person that gave us marginally bad advice. Let's just say that she made sure we got lots of exercise. Also she basically told us everything would be too crowded to do and to expect long delays. Luckily this was also wrong and while busy, crowds were nothing like the summer peak.
We walked down to an arts market area where we stopped for lunch and ate too much. Then it was a bit of shopping until I was shopped out. To be fair I just walked, CC shopped. We should have moved our car because we walked quite a bit and quite far down but due to the above advice we had not. So we got to hiked back up to it. We were hot and tired so we decided to head for our hotel. Another Courtyard, in all we stayed at 4. I had requested early check in and we had good timing. As we were driving there I got the message that our room was ready.
The Courtyard Sedona is quite nice. The rooms are fresh and the best feature is a third floor observation deck. The hotel has some nice views. We headed up to relax in the warm 86 degrees. It was very pleasant in the shade, Arizona 86 is much nicer than Florida 86, must be the dry heat. After chilling for an hour we decided to go for a short hike.
There is a trail that starts a 5 minute walk from the hotel. It runs along a small hill and was and easy. It also had great views. We walked for a more than an hour and then returned to the observation deck to watch the sun set on the rocks.
We headed out for some Pizza which was just dinner but we got lucky here. When we arrived the wait was 40 minutes. I asked about the bar and he said it was open seating but currently full. Then he suggested 2 seats at a counter in front of the pizza maker and wood fired oven.
We took them up on the offer and enjoyed watching the pizzas being made. The place was hopping and they had a skilled crew making about a pie a minute. We could see into the oven and watched the pizzas quickly cook. The food was quite good and the bartender covering us did a great job.
Also for those doing the countdown. Arizona is #30, 29 states to go.
I usually file IFR even in good weather but in the Mountains I prefer to fly VFR. This allows me more flexibility in choosing altitudes and our exact route, I can stay over flatter safer terrain and deviate to take in the scenery.
Taking off from Santa Fe is different because of the altitude. The higher we go the less engine power we have due to thinning air. Our takeoff run was about 50% longer which matched our performance tables. Even though we had only 75% power we still had pretty good performance with initial climb rates better than 800 fpm. Everything happens in slow motion though, you just need to be patient and let the speed build.
We flew South to Albuquerque. This was for two reasons, first was that the direct route would have taken us through high mountains. The second was that this week was Balloon Fest. There are flight restrictions to keep planes away from balloons but they end at 8000 feet. We had climbed to 10,500 so with the blessing of the controller we headed over the balloons for a quick look.
After this we followed the highways across the dessert to our next sight. Highways mean people and help if you have any issues. There is a huge meteor crater just East of Flagstaff, we really enjoyed the birds eye view of this big hole and were glad that it happened long ago.
Bob, you'll meet Bob in a minute, told of flying people over the crater. Upon returning, he asked what they thought, they said it was lucky that the meteor had missed the parking lot. Go figure, these people walk among us...
After the Crater we were just 17 minutes from Sedona. Landing in Sedona is challenging. The airport resides on a butte with steep drop offs at both ends. This makes judging the approach angle challenging and the terrain creates some interesting wind currents.
I brought my "A" game and we made a stable approach to a smooth landing. It turns out sorting out where to park, was the hardest part, they had had an airport day the day before and there were cones in confusing places but eventually after wandering the ramp a bit we found a spot..
We were met by Bob. Bob does many things but one of them is acting as a buyers agent for aircraft purchases. I was in Singapore when I was looking for this plane and had engaged Bob to help me find and purchase the plane. He did a great job helping me seal the deal. When I picked up the plane in California I flew by Sedona (33 miles away) but had no time to stop and meet him in person. So after knowing each other for three plus years we finally met. Bob helped us tie down and check in. Then we headed over to see his impressive hangar to hear some stories and get some local advice.
Sedona has no air carrier operations. This means no big car rental companies, luckily they have a local outfit and we soon were headed out in a old (125,497 mile) but serviceable Hyundai. Our first stop was the airport overlook. From this vantage point you can get some incredible views of the Red Rock formations.
Our next stop was downtown where we stopped at the chamber of commerce tourist info. It is staffed by local volunteers who in my experience at other locations are usually very good. In this case we got the not so good person that gave us marginally bad advice. Let's just say that she made sure we got lots of exercise. Also she basically told us everything would be too crowded to do and to expect long delays. Luckily this was also wrong and while busy, crowds were nothing like the summer peak.
We walked down to an arts market area where we stopped for lunch and ate too much. Then it was a bit of shopping until I was shopped out. To be fair I just walked, CC shopped. We should have moved our car because we walked quite a bit and quite far down but due to the above advice we had not. So we got to hiked back up to it. We were hot and tired so we decided to head for our hotel. Another Courtyard, in all we stayed at 4. I had requested early check in and we had good timing. As we were driving there I got the message that our room was ready.
The Courtyard Sedona is quite nice. The rooms are fresh and the best feature is a third floor observation deck. The hotel has some nice views. We headed up to relax in the warm 86 degrees. It was very pleasant in the shade, Arizona 86 is much nicer than Florida 86, must be the dry heat. After chilling for an hour we decided to go for a short hike.
There is a trail that starts a 5 minute walk from the hotel. It runs along a small hill and was and easy. It also had great views. We walked for a more than an hour and then returned to the observation deck to watch the sun set on the rocks.
We took them up on the offer and enjoyed watching the pizzas being made. The place was hopping and they had a skilled crew making about a pie a minute. We could see into the oven and watched the pizzas quickly cook. The food was quite good and the bartender covering us did a great job.
Also for those doing the countdown. Arizona is #30, 29 states to go.
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