KY to CA in an Archer II... how insane am I?

Cool, thanks for posting these as you go so we can follow along!
 
Arrived KTRM which is in CA so it counts right?

Flights were pretty rough across the mountains. Did a lot of it at 12,500.... or as close as I could maintain with the anemic performance at that altitude and the downdrafts. For a while just out of Roswell I was only getting 88kts ground speed.

Managed a few pics, the descent into KTRM was something( go look at a sectional, note the field elevation and surrounding terrain). My wife said she got some pics, I was too busy.
 

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That last one is crazy, I can't believe the trees that close to the runway! ;)
 
Pretty sure these were all from the descent in...
 

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Skyrys62 said:
Congrats! That's great.
I'm still in KY.... so the real question is, how insane am I?
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when i hear KY the only thing i can think of is....
 
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Now that you made it to Thermal, take the plane and fly to Catalina Island! :)

Nice pictures!
 
This will be our last night in CA, headed out to the Phoenix area tomorrow, then we’ll check out El Paso the day after that... then it’s hell bent for home with a layover somewhere around Fayetteville, AR if all works out.
 
Great pictures, quick trip. Yes, we’ve had some serious wind the last few days.
 
Well we’re in Yuma with a bad alternator. Guess we’re checking out Yuma for a couple days
 

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Clark1961 said:
Raton was great with the old owners. Home cooked burgers for lunch, no notice needed. Haven't been back since they sold so need to check out the new owners some day.
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I didn’t know they sold. Bummer.

cowman said:
Well we’re in Yuma with a bad alternator. Guess we’re checking out Yuma for a couple days
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Time to spare, go by air!

Here’s hoping FedEx or UPS brings your repair toys in quickly. At least it’s just an alternator.

And it’s not Nebraska. Where I broke down. In the airplane. And the truck. And the airplane again.

Nebraska hates my equipment and tries to kill it every time I pass through.
 
It's the Nebraska Rectangle.

Sort of like Bermuda. Only your plane doesn't actually disappear, it just gets completely replaced..... eventually.

Or it may just be mad at Colorado for having that little sharp corner stuck up it's ass o_O
 
cowman said:
Well we’re in Yuma with a bad alternator. Guess we’re checking out Yuma for a couple days
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If you need to leave in a hurry you could ask a mechanic if a car alternator might work.
 
Scott@KTYR said:
If you need to leave in a hurry you could ask a mechanic if a car alternator might work.
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We might have explored that option and found the car ones didn’t have compatable pulleys and since they were press fit we had no way of swapping them... you know... hypothetically.

We’re not even totally positive it’s the alternator, there’s an external regulator and an overvoltage relay that could in theory be the problem too. Whatever it is, it was intermittent. Lost all power then turned the alternator switch off and on again and it came back for a while, then failed again...and again at shorter and shorter intervals.

We tested the alternator on a pep boys testing machine and couldn’t get it to pass and these guys are pretty confident that’s the issue. I really hope they’re right because if they are I should be on my way again tomorrow. I’d not we have to order stuff and wait on that.
 
This morning the A&P informed me they’d had the alternator shop test my alternator and it passed. With no other parts available I limped into to KCHD with all the radios shut off until the last minute.

I now have a new voltage regulator which, after a quick test flight seems to have fixed the problem. Of course naturally there are really nasty winds forecast for our entire route tomorrow. I think we’re going on a desert buggy tour instead.
 
cowman said:
Sky Harbor from a nearby mountain. Also random cactus because cactus. View attachment 62028View attachment 62029
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That mountain directly central in the photo is Camelback Mountain, the one just to the left is Squaw Peak, but has been renamed because it was found to be offensive. Photo take from the SW of Phoenix looking N-NE.

Were you drive up South Mountain?
 
cowman said:
So my wife and I wanted to do something huge this year, it's possible we might have a kid in the next year and that would make a trip like this exponentially more difficult. Also we've always taken our other big trips south and east.

Really we're starting out at KUIN just N of St louis but for logistical reasons our trip starts out at 2I0 in KY and will end in Santa Barbara with a day's rest about halfway in Roswell.

Here's the general very subject to alteration based on winds/weather route. Planned departure date is the 1st week of Apr.

Day1:
2I0 KFYV KHBR KROW

Day2: Take a day off, explore Roswell area, look for aliens.

Day3:
KROW E80 KSJN KEED KSBA

Hopefully, if all goes well next week I'll have a shiny new instrument rating for this trip. I've taken some long cross countries in the past... not quite this long but still pretty long VFR only. So aside from the usual suggestions of bringing snacks, money, and expecting weather related delays anyone got any route specific notes/suggestions? Being that the outbound trip is mostly west, I am somewhat concerned about headwinds making it grueling but it will do what it will do. Not above putting in early somewhere if it gets too long but the number of places that are near the route and look like fun aren't too long.

We have 2 weeks available to us and we're not completely committed to staying in Santa Barbara, there's been some talk of staying a day in Albuquerque on the way back. I'd also thought about stopping in the Vegas area or Grand Canyon but we've been to both of those before so IDK. Usually our pattern is spending 2-3 days in one town before getting bored with it and onto the next place.

Anyway, comments/suggestions/concerns?
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I used to deliver all kinds of PA-28s from Vero Beach to the Pacific Northwest...at least a half dozen were Archers. Depending on the time of year I took either a southern route via Midland and Bishop or a northern route via Gary, IN (home town), Billings.....

Choose your weather, don't push your limits, enjoy the trip.

Bob
 
Progress was made. I took off and made about 3 passes through the pattern to climb high enough for my comfort at KDNA. Flew most of the route at 11,500.... a little rough starting out but once we got past the last mountain range it was pretty smooth with a decent tailwind. We decided to overnight in Plainview, TX (KPVW). Nobody at the FBO by called the number on the door and someone came out and set us up with a courtesy car!

I love the hospitality at small airports.

If all goes well we should be reunited with our dogs tomorrow.
 
I bet you are! Sounds like you had a great trip though and made some good experiences. How much IMC did you get for the trip?
 
simtech said:
I bet you are! Sounds like you had a great trip though and made some good experiences. How much IMC did you get for the trip?
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Essentially none. A couple climbs/descents through scattered layers and that was it.

Lots of light and occasional moderate turbulence though.
 
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