sixpacker
Pre-takeoff checklist
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- Dec 20, 2014
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Sixpacker
I just got back from a trip to Vegas to spend a day at the CES show and thought I'd share my experiences getting in and out. There have been a few threads in the past about whether to go VFR or IFR so hopefully my experiences will help others asking that question.
I flew in on Thursday and left Friday. My intention was the arrive on Thursday early afternoon but we decided to detour and stop by the Grand Canyon since one of my passengers had never seen it. It was a stunning day there at GCN with the landing runway 21. I was approaching from the east so was directed to join left base for 21 and the view of the rim was perfect coming in. I enjoy landing at GCN because of the view but their set up for GA parking is a PITA. You have to park a long distance from the FBO then a shuttle van comes to pick you up. Probably because it was such a beautiful day there were a few planes coming in and as we landed an additional two others arrived and the shuttle van waited for all of them. So it was a good 20 minutes before we finally went to the terminal. I wanted to walk but the driver said it was not permitted. As we arrived at the terminal a twin otter was disgorging a large group of asian tourists so we had to follow in at the back of a large pack of people. You definitely don't get the usual FBO experience there! No courtesy cars, no rentals, you have to call a taxi (along with everyone else) to get to the village. So probably an hour after landing we finally made it to the village. It was worth it though. We spent some time at the rim then grabbed a meal at one of the restaurants there. Finally some time at the gift shop and then repeat the process of getting a ride back to the airport.
By the time we got back to the airport the sun was just setting. The sky was still clear and it was that way all the way to Vegas. I have been to KVGT and KHND before but find both of them too far out (with associated cab fare) to justify the lower cost for fuel. I was also only going to Vegas for a day so wanted to maximize my time while there. The plan was to fly into KLAS. I've never flown in there at night by choice over concerns of not the landing itself but the taxiing part since the airport is relatively large with some fairly complex taxi routes to the FBO (I was going to Signature). Oh well there is always a first time for everything! I had filed an IFR plan into KLAS because I reasoned it would be fairly busy and they might even decline VFR traffic coming in. When I called up ground at KGCN to get my clearance they gave me my clearance but told me there were delays at KLAS and to let them know how soon I'd be ready to go. I said I'm ready and requested to taxi. They came me a clearance time that wasn't too bad (only 10 minutes delayed). And off we went!
Coming into KLAS was one of the most incredible night landings I've ever had. It was a perfectly clear night and the view on approach of the strip was nothing less than stunning. I will now always arrive at night at KLAS that view alone is worth any price differential to me! As expected it was very busy. They were landing the 25's and the 1's. I got slotted in between a delta flight and a southwestern and told to pedal as fast as I could
That is always fun but it was smooth so I came in with my airspeed in the yellow arc and even got a "nice job" from the approach controller before going over to the tower. All my concerns about taxiing turned out to not be valid. I've never landed at a Class B airport at night before and I don't know if they're all the same but KLAS has these very bright green lights on the center line of the taxiways that are INCREDIBLY easy to see and looking ahead you know exactly where to go. It is MUCH easier to see compared to night taxiing at a smaller airport. Following along on my iPad with the airport diagram and following the instructions carefully it was a piece of cake. They took me all the way almost to the approach end of 19R before bringing me back along H all the way to Signature. Along that taxiway I cannot think of a better place to get a better view of the the Strip at night. We arrived at Signature and got a complimentary shuttle ride to our hotels. If it is not obvious I HIGHLY recommend coming into KLAS at night for the view and the convenience! The service at Signature was perfect and the service fee was waived with only 19 gallons of 100LL bought.
The next day we left somewhere between noon and 1 pm. Our plan was to go back to the Grand Canyon and fly the VFR corridors which we had not been able to do the previous day since it had got too late. It was an absolute zoo at Signature. I think because of it being a friday at shortly after check out time there was a mad rush to get out. Lots of bizjets loading passengers and starting out. I could also see a long line of airline jets departing. Since I was going to the Grand Canyon and it was another perfect weather day I made the decision I'd depart VFR. My logic too (perhaps faulty) was that I might be able to get out more quickly with it being so busy. We loaded up and started up and I called Clearance to ask for a VFR departure to the east. I was quickly given a squawk code and an initial direction and told to taxi to 1L which is right there by Signature. There were about four planes ahead of me (bizjets) waiting to depart at B intersection. There was a long line of airline jets waiting to depart 1R. They were also landing 1L and 1R. I got told to taxi all to the way to the approach end of 1L and to hold short. A couple of minutes later I got cleared to takeoff 1L. So I jumped the queue! It worked out really well and if the weather permits I will in future consider departing KLAS VFR.
The flight over the Grand Canyon doing the VFR corridor routes was even better than I thought it would be. I was talking with LA Center and they even offered to vector me to the VFR corridors. I had already made custom waypoints so didn't need those vectors but was pretty impressed that the controller was so helpful. I found the paper Grand Canyon sectional to be more useful than the Foreflight one. My problem with using Foreflight is that to get the Grand Canyon sectional you need to zoom in very close and you can't get a big picture view of the routes because when you zoom out a little it reverts back to the standard sectional. So definitely grab a paper GC sectional as well.
All in all it was yet another great flying trip and a reminder of how lucky we are to be able to do these kinds of trips as part of this aviation hobby.
I flew in on Thursday and left Friday. My intention was the arrive on Thursday early afternoon but we decided to detour and stop by the Grand Canyon since one of my passengers had never seen it. It was a stunning day there at GCN with the landing runway 21. I was approaching from the east so was directed to join left base for 21 and the view of the rim was perfect coming in. I enjoy landing at GCN because of the view but their set up for GA parking is a PITA. You have to park a long distance from the FBO then a shuttle van comes to pick you up. Probably because it was such a beautiful day there were a few planes coming in and as we landed an additional two others arrived and the shuttle van waited for all of them. So it was a good 20 minutes before we finally went to the terminal. I wanted to walk but the driver said it was not permitted. As we arrived at the terminal a twin otter was disgorging a large group of asian tourists so we had to follow in at the back of a large pack of people. You definitely don't get the usual FBO experience there! No courtesy cars, no rentals, you have to call a taxi (along with everyone else) to get to the village. So probably an hour after landing we finally made it to the village. It was worth it though. We spent some time at the rim then grabbed a meal at one of the restaurants there. Finally some time at the gift shop and then repeat the process of getting a ride back to the airport.
By the time we got back to the airport the sun was just setting. The sky was still clear and it was that way all the way to Vegas. I have been to KVGT and KHND before but find both of them too far out (with associated cab fare) to justify the lower cost for fuel. I was also only going to Vegas for a day so wanted to maximize my time while there. The plan was to fly into KLAS. I've never flown in there at night by choice over concerns of not the landing itself but the taxiing part since the airport is relatively large with some fairly complex taxi routes to the FBO (I was going to Signature). Oh well there is always a first time for everything! I had filed an IFR plan into KLAS because I reasoned it would be fairly busy and they might even decline VFR traffic coming in. When I called up ground at KGCN to get my clearance they gave me my clearance but told me there were delays at KLAS and to let them know how soon I'd be ready to go. I said I'm ready and requested to taxi. They came me a clearance time that wasn't too bad (only 10 minutes delayed). And off we went!
Coming into KLAS was one of the most incredible night landings I've ever had. It was a perfectly clear night and the view on approach of the strip was nothing less than stunning. I will now always arrive at night at KLAS that view alone is worth any price differential to me! As expected it was very busy. They were landing the 25's and the 1's. I got slotted in between a delta flight and a southwestern and told to pedal as fast as I could
That is always fun but it was smooth so I came in with my airspeed in the yellow arc and even got a "nice job" from the approach controller before going over to the tower. All my concerns about taxiing turned out to not be valid. I've never landed at a Class B airport at night before and I don't know if they're all the same but KLAS has these very bright green lights on the center line of the taxiways that are INCREDIBLY easy to see and looking ahead you know exactly where to go. It is MUCH easier to see compared to night taxiing at a smaller airport. Following along on my iPad with the airport diagram and following the instructions carefully it was a piece of cake. They took me all the way almost to the approach end of 19R before bringing me back along H all the way to Signature. Along that taxiway I cannot think of a better place to get a better view of the the Strip at night. We arrived at Signature and got a complimentary shuttle ride to our hotels. If it is not obvious I HIGHLY recommend coming into KLAS at night for the view and the convenience! The service at Signature was perfect and the service fee was waived with only 19 gallons of 100LL bought.The next day we left somewhere between noon and 1 pm. Our plan was to go back to the Grand Canyon and fly the VFR corridors which we had not been able to do the previous day since it had got too late. It was an absolute zoo at Signature. I think because of it being a friday at shortly after check out time there was a mad rush to get out. Lots of bizjets loading passengers and starting out. I could also see a long line of airline jets departing. Since I was going to the Grand Canyon and it was another perfect weather day I made the decision I'd depart VFR. My logic too (perhaps faulty) was that I might be able to get out more quickly with it being so busy. We loaded up and started up and I called Clearance to ask for a VFR departure to the east. I was quickly given a squawk code and an initial direction and told to taxi to 1L which is right there by Signature. There were about four planes ahead of me (bizjets) waiting to depart at B intersection. There was a long line of airline jets waiting to depart 1R. They were also landing 1L and 1R. I got told to taxi all to the way to the approach end of 1L and to hold short. A couple of minutes later I got cleared to takeoff 1L. So I jumped the queue! It worked out really well and if the weather permits I will in future consider departing KLAS VFR.
The flight over the Grand Canyon doing the VFR corridor routes was even better than I thought it would be. I was talking with LA Center and they even offered to vector me to the VFR corridors. I had already made custom waypoints so didn't need those vectors but was pretty impressed that the controller was so helpful. I found the paper Grand Canyon sectional to be more useful than the Foreflight one. My problem with using Foreflight is that to get the Grand Canyon sectional you need to zoom in very close and you can't get a big picture view of the routes because when you zoom out a little it reverts back to the standard sectional. So definitely grab a paper GC sectional as well.
All in all it was yet another great flying trip and a reminder of how lucky we are to be able to do these kinds of trips as part of this aviation hobby.
