70 days to travel the US by GA

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TazzyTazzy

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Mitch
Ok, kind of a pipe dream, kind of not. Does anyone know of any books, blogs, posts on traveling the USA in ~9-11 weeks...by airplane?

Does this seem even possible????????????

I've wanted to travel the US by car for a while. However, now with my PPL in hand (and lightly studying/reading IFR stuff for now); my buddy and I actively are shopping for a Mooney...I might _have_ to change to do this this by air.

Assumptions:
1) To take place in 2016, any time of year is good - maybe 2017.
2) This will be in a Mooney M20J (maybe an M20K).
3) I will be IFR certified by my CFI II buddy that used to own a Mooney (sold in divorce). He's not charging me, but he gets use of the plane for cost of consumables when he takes the plane out.
4) My better half and I will be on this journey.
5) Packing minimal hiking/camping/survival gear.
6) Hit all contiguous 48 states, Alaska is an option - but should probably be saved for a trip on it's own.
7) Starting and ending in Sacramento.
8) Kid planned for 2017 and want to do this beforehand.

We are fine if we land at some place remote and camp for the night and eating easy to make meals. We would probably alternate camping with motels. We realize in bigger cities, we'll be renting cars and such.

We both enjoy hiking, sightseeing, big cities, and remote areas. We've enjoyed getting lost in the Tokyo subway system (if you haven't been, they are basically underground cities) to hiking Bryce canyon. Everything is fair game.

Soo.. What route would you take? What minimal camping gear would you take? What are your must sees? What states would you just do a "touch and go" in?

To keep the weight to a minimum so we can fly with full fuel. Of our existing camping gear, we would take this:
First aid kit
Two headlamps
Near hiking weight sleeping bag & pad
Near hiking weight tent
Hiking stove (a few ounces and burns nearly any fuel, except leaded fuel :mad:)
Hiking pot and utensils

As you can see, I need some resources to start planning this. I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction or offer suggestions.

If this doesn't seem doable, please let me know why.
 
The Cannibal Queen has a map showing how Coontz flew to all 48 states. He did it as VFR in biplane with a lot of stops to visit historic and other interesting sights. During one summer (maybe).
 
Yeah man, you're going to have a blast. And 9-11 weeks is *tons* of time to explore.

My wife and I have done a couple rocky mountain trips, once clockwise (chicago, stephenville tx, carlsbad nm, grand canyon, bryce/zion/st. george, yellowstone, mt rushmore) and once counter clockwise (badlands, glacier, tetons). We've also flown from Chicago to San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico, most recently I spent a week doing this trip while stopping in St. Louis, Nashville, McKinney, McAllen, Tampico.

In terms of prep, we don't care to do really long legs, so we don't try to optimize weight with backpack weight gear. We instead bring sleeping pads, a slightly larger tent, a proper mess kit, those kinds of things.
 
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In 9-11 weeks? Hell, I could do it in under 3 weeks and not be rushed.
 
We've written about our trips at http://leftbase.com

We basically started the blog for our first trip, so go all the way back to the first entries in 2010 and skim your way forward from there.
 
Did mass to Alaska through OSH in three weeks, with 9-11 weeks you could do the lower 48 with no problem. It's about the flying and sightseeing.
 
If you go North woods earlier in summer, brush up on black fly(or other hungry insects) seasons and mitigation. Pro bum tip, dropzones often have public showers and camping. Have fun.
 
How many hours do you intend to fly? It's easily possible to do in a couple of weeks with a good pattern and lots of 8 hr days flying. 9-11 weeks gives you the option to choose from a lot of overnight stops or the ability to stay a while.

Personally though, I think the 48 state goal in a single trip is a poor way to go about it. There are a lot of very diverse national parks that make for beautiful camping. What I would suggest is you pick 5-6 parks around the country and just make a lap around stopping at parks in various terrain/climate/ecosystem models. That is what is neat about America, the wide variety of natural systems that are here.
 
Katamarino said:
I did a similar thing over 35 days back in 2007. Write-up and map here:

http://www.katamarino.co.uk/usa2007.php

One of the best things I ever did.
Click to expand...

I've taken notes from your site. Great review and summary of places. I live in California and kind of jealous of the places you've been in California that I have yet to get to. I've been holding of on the longer flights until we get our own plane.

Now, i just need to fully convince the other half. :)
 
rwellner98 said:
We've written about our trips at http://leftbase.com

We basically started the blog for our first trip, so go all the way back to the first entries in 2010 and skim your way forward from there.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I started reading this. Good idea on the PLB and mountain training. I'll have to head out there and take a class myself. :)

I made a note of the books you suggested.
 
EdFred said:
In 9-11 weeks? Hell, I could do it in under 3 weeks and not be rushed.
Click to expand...

:wink2: I know it can be done in a couple of weeks, but we'd like to camp and see some sights. Do random activities like kayaking in rivers/lakes, sightsee, etc.
 
Henning said:
How many hours do you intend to fly? It's easily possible to do in a couple of weeks with a good pattern and lots of 8 hr days flying. 9-11 weeks gives you the option to choose from a lot of overnight stops or the ability to stay a while.
Click to expand...

Lots of 8 hour days in a row doesn't sound particularly fun. We'd like to get some camping and hiking in...at places worthwhile. Visiting corn fields isn't our thing. :) A Mooney at 75% should be about 170mph, or 1300 miles in 8 hours - that's nearly halfway across the US in a straight line. Or am I completely wrong?

Henning said:
Personally though, I think the 48 state goal in a single trip is a poor way to go about it.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, I should refine my goal then: eventually hit 48 states, but not all of them on this trip. I think that's more doable and relaxing. :yesnod: I only get the extra 8 weeks paid of vacation every 7 years.

For example, we can skip the northwest (Washing, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, etc) and the beautiful parks and countryside in those states for another trip. So, maybe this longer trip will focus on eastern states with some nice stops getting there and back. For example, stopping at Grand Canyon for a couple nights.
 
TazzyTazzy said:
Lots of 8 hour days in a row doesn't sound particularly fun. We'd like to get some camping and hiking in...at places worthwhile. Visiting corn fields isn't our thing. :) A Mooney at 75% should be about 170mph, or 1300 miles in 8 hours - that's nearly halfway across the US in a straight line. Or am I completely wrong?







Perhaps, I should refine my goal then: eventually hit 48 states, but not all of them on this trip. I think that's more doable and relaxing. :yesnod: I only get the extra 8 weeks paid of vacation every 7 years.



For example, we can skip the northwest (Washing, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, etc) and the beautiful parks and countryside in those states for another trip. So, maybe this longer trip will focus on eastern states with some nice stops getting there and back. For example, stopping at Grand Canyon for a couple nights.
Click to expand...


You're going to skip the 4 most beautiful states for the other 44?
 
JoseCuervo said:
You're going to skip the 4 most beautiful states for the other 44?
Click to expand...

No, I'm going to dedicate an entire 4 weeks to those 4 states in a separate trip. :) I don't want to rush over them like I would for Nebraska or Oklahoma. :lol:

Sides, California is the best. :rofl:
 
TazzyTazzy said:
Lots of 8 hour days in a row doesn't sound particularly fun. We'd like to get some camping and hiking in...at places worthwhile. Visiting corn fields isn't our thing. :) A Mooney at 75% should be about 170mph, or 1300 miles in 8 hours - that's nearly halfway across the US in a straight line. Or am I completely wrong?



Perhaps, I should refine my goal then: eventually hit 48 states, but not all of them on this trip. I think that's more doable and relaxing. :yesnod: I only get the extra 8 weeks paid of vacation every 7 years.

For example, we can skip the northwest (Washing, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, etc) and the beautiful parks and countryside in those states for another trip. So, maybe this longer trip will focus on eastern states with some nice stops getting there and back. For example, stopping at Grand Canyon for a couple nights.
Click to expand...


You don't have to avoid that sector, it spans several states, each region does, just as each state will have have a place worth camping a week. Just keep doing laps of all the regions each trip and choose a different state each time. You can also focus on different regions over a shorter subsequent trip, selected by climate and time of year.
 
If you can google better than I can, we rented 3 planes to 5 english pilots in March 2010, and it had a luxurious write-up in the March 2010 issue of Flyer UK magazine, who spend a month flying around the US to build time for their eventual airline careers.
 
Thanks everyone for the input, blogs, and such.

EdFred said:
Here was a trip I did in 2005. Covered the Midwest and west. Wow, it's been 10 years. I need to do another one.
Click to expand...

WOW! That's a very fast tour! We may do the same to get to the east side quickly allowing us to relax and spend the bulk of our time in the eastern time zone. Of course, a few stops along the way are required...such as New Orleans, Boston, Chicago, etc in the central time zone.

Then...
Henning said:
Just keep doing laps of all the regions each trip and choose a different state each time. You can also focus on different regions over a shorter subsequent trip, selected by climate and time of year.
Click to expand...

...on later laps, we don't have to travel so far east to get to other places. I know there lots of fly over states in central but i'm sure we'll find some nice places to go camping, kayaking, hiking, and other such pleasures. If nothing else - some more gumbo in New Orleans. Don't worry, we won't pass up Cafe Du Monde.
 
TazzyTazzy said:
Thanks everyone for the input, blogs, and such.



WOW! That's a very fast tour! We may do the same to get to the east side quickly allowing us to relax and spend the bulk of our time in the eastern time zone. Of course, a few stops along the way are required...such as New Orleans, Boston, Chicago, etc in the central time zone.

Then...


...on later laps, we don't have to travel so far east to get to other places. I know there lots of fly over states in central but i'm sure we'll find some nice places to go camping, kayaking, hiking, and other such pleasures. If nothing else - some more gumbo in New Orleans. Don't worry, we won't pass up Cafe Du Monde.
Click to expand...


There are a few states where a fuel/lunch stop is sufficient.:rofl: It only takes a day trip to cross the 'flyovers.'
 
EdFred said:
Here was a trip I did in 2005. Covered the Midwest and west. Wow, it's been 10 years. I need to do another one.

www.sidnaw.org/trip/
Click to expand...


In guessing this is not what one is supposed to see, but it was 2005 and coding for mobile browsers wasn't too common then... Heh.

770808ef64379d54ddc3b01a4056c95f.jpg
 
I don't code for mobile. Get a browser that's at least 1000px wide. 800x600 resolution went away with EGA.
 
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