Coast to Coast XC?

Jon Weiswasser

Jon Weiswasser

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J Weiswasser
Have you ever flown coast to coast? For a flight like that, how many days did it take you? What’s the most flying you have ever done in a one day period?

Here’s a video of a flight I did from Caldwell, NJ to Klamath Falls, OR in one day in July (followed by a return a couple days later). It is the MOST EPIC LIFL episode so far. Enjoy!

 
I went from NY to AZ in a 172 with two VFR pilots. Got stuck in Ohio for some weather. Hand flying all the way.
 
Definitely harder to do that then what I did here. Just all fun though. Hope you like the video and please subscribe and like if you do. New one every two weeks.
 
Jon Weiswasser said:
Have you ever flown coast to coast? For a flight like that, how many days did it take you? What’s the most flying you have ever done in a one day period?

Here’s a video of a flight I did from Caldwell, NJ to Klamath Falls, OR in one day in July (followed by a return a couple days later). It is the MOST EPIC LIFL episode so far. Enjoy!

Click to expand...

I used to ferry PA-28s from Vero Neach, FL to Seattle, and I flew my own Cessna 175 from Seattle to Atlanta and back. As I recall, the ferry trips were about three days, except when the weather intervened (insurance said no IFR, no night flying). Got caught in Lakeland, FL for three days once by a stratus deck that extended well into the southern states. The 175 trip was extended by a stop in northern Indiana to visit relatives, so that doesn't count. Plus I flew a Cessna 402 from Seattle to North Philly and back. All great experiences and what general aviation is all about.

Bob
 
bobmrg said:
I used to ferry PA-28s from Vero Neach, FL to Seattle...
Click to expand...
Perhaps you ferried my 1979 Warrior.

I've flown that Warrior from NOLA back to Seattle. Took 9 days in a June due to weather.
http://www.demonick.com/flying/flying.logs.NEW-S43.html

I've also flown that Warrior from Seattle,WA---Klamath Falls,OR---Visalia-Jean,NV---Sedona,AZ---Norman,OK---Knoxville,TN. Spent 4-5 days in Knoxville. Then, Knoxville,TN--Port St. Lucie,FL. Spent 4-5 days there and like a salmon my Warrior returned to its home stream of Vero Beach. Then, PSL,FL---Lafayette,LA---Port Aransas,TX---Deming,NV for 4 days resting---Visilia,CA---Medford,OR for 2 days waiting for a weather window back into Puget Sound. Total elapsed time 26 days, 6600 NM.
http://www.demonick.com/flying/S43-DKX-SUA-S43/index.html

Hand flown, solo flight. No AP. Learned much--patience, roll with the punches, local reporting points are unknown to transients, free WiFi is invaluable. Cigars taste better after 6-8 hours in the cockpit. Met great folks. Plane performed flawlessly. Said goodbye to two very close friends.

Am planning a flight across the upper tier states for next spring/summer.
 
Never flew coast-to-coast, but my longest single-day trip was Minneapolis (FCM) to Vancouver WA (VUO) in 14.6 tach hours. Average Speed: 87.2 kts; Route distance: 1,273.4 nm; Longest Segment: 330.4 nm. Fuel stops at JMS, GGW, GPI and PSC. Grumman Cheetah, no autopilot. Headwinds much of the way, but otherwise weather was perfect.

Left FCM at 0620 local time, arrived VUO at 2020 local, 16 hours total elapsed time. Going across time zones westbound gave me two extra hours of daylight.

That was when I was young and stupid.

staticmap.png
 
I have flown coast to coast across Canada many times. Flown to many U.S. states, was in Georgia a few months ago. Fly to Mexico every year or two, its a lot easier to fly a long way, than it is to drive it, yet people think nothing about driving thousands of miles. I have owned a variety of planes, and done long trips in them all. A cross country flight in a 172 is a beautiful and relaxing experience, unlike driving it with the terrible drivers, traffic jams, road construction delays, and other BS. I prefer smaller airports, just big enough to have a restaurant and fuel. If you look many small towns have an airport so close to hotels, if those are the last stop of the day, you can walk to your hotel room. At days end the half hour walk or whatever it is feels refreshing. Take good ground screws with you, many places don't have anything to tie down to, but usually have a nice dirt area to push your plane back into and turn your screws in and tie it down...those strong winds can hit suddenly in some places, so I always sleep better if I have my bird tied securely. Keep hydrated, but don't drink too much. It is a terrible feeling to plan a 4 hour leg, and really have to pee 2 hours into it. Keep your flight bag within reach that has extra charts, your backup radio, backup gps, etc in it. Replan mid flight as required for tail winds or head winds, a plan is really just something to start with, before you likely change it.
 
Shuswap BC said:
I have flown coast to coast across Canada many times. Flown to many U.S. states, was in Georgia a few months ago. Fly to Mexico every year or two, its a lot easier to fly a long way, than it is to drive it, yet people think nothing about driving thousands of miles. I have owned a variety of planes, and done long trips in them all. A cross country flight in a 172 is a beautiful and relaxing experience, unlike driving it with the terrible drivers, traffic jams, road construction delays, and other BS. I prefer smaller airports, just big enough to have a restaurant and fuel. If you look many small towns have an airport so close to hotels, if those are the last stop of the day, you can walk to your hotel room. At days end the half hour walk or whatever it is feels refreshing.
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SO TRUE!!!! If only the rest of the world could understand the zen of flying...
 
From Livermore, CA (KLVK) to Eatonton, GA (32GA) in December in my new-to-me RV-6A. Not quite coast to coast, but pretty close. Went via El Paso, TX and Monroe, LA for overnight stops and fuel stops at Blythe, CA (KBLH) and Granbury, TX (KGDJ). 14 hrs on the hobbs meter.
 
Florida to CA in a 182. 2.5 days, 21.5 hours.

Could have done it in two days had the weather of the final leg been more favorable...and we wanted to spend a night in Vegas!
 
Jon Weiswasser said:
SO TRUE!!!! If only the rest of the world could understand the zen of flying...
Click to expand...

Flying is very weather dependent. Longest XC I did was from Shawnee, OK to Gainesville, GA, about 700 nm. It was a glorious fall day, I got to 9500 feet and rode the tailwinds east, made one stop for fuel. Other times the air is rough and the winds are against you and you'd rather be driving, because it would be more comfortable and the point to point time would be the same. You have to be motivated to fly, to fly GA. For most people it doesn't make practical sense.
 
FormerHangie said:
Flying is very weather dependent. Longest XC I did was from Shawnee, OK to Gainesville, GA, about 700 nm. It was a glorious fall day, I got to 9500 feet and rode the tailwinds east, made one stop for fuel. Other times the air is rough and the winds are against you and you'd rather be driving, because it would be more comfortable and the point to point time would be the same. You have to be motivated to fly, to fly GA. For most people it doesn't make practical sense.
Click to expand...

Edit: Oh, yeah, no magenta line, all pilotage.
 
FormerHangie said:
Flying is very weather dependent. Longest XC I did was from Shawnee, OK to Gainesville, GA, about 700 nm. It was a glorious fall day, I got to 9500 feet and rode the tailwinds east, made one stop for fuel. Other times the air is rough and the winds are against you and you'd rather be driving, because it would be more comfortable and the point to point time would be the same. You have to be motivated to fly, to fly GA. For most people it doesn't make practical sense.
Click to expand...
FormerHangie said:
Edit: Oh, yeah, no magenta line, all pilotage.
Click to expand...
Practicality, schmakticality!
Flying is the process, is the thing.

Now, no magenta line? No charts? Pencil line on a chart? Pick a heading and go?

How does one "pilotage" without reference checkpoints on a map.?. Following roads doesn't qualify..
 
CharlieD3 said:
Practicality, schmakticality!
Flying is the process, is the thing.

Now, no magenta line? No charts? Pencil line on a chart? Pick a heading and go?

How does one "pilotage" without reference checkpoints on a map.?. Following roads doesn't qualify..
Click to expand...

Charts were a must, and like you said, a pencil line on your sectional with landmarks noted in pencil. The airplane had a VOR, but we didn't use those for VFR flying.
 
Just make sure you draw the line very lightly in pencil, so it can easily be changed.
Plans are just to make us feel good about everything at the beginning of our day...then they get changed frequently as this little thing called "Life" happens. Being too ridid about sticking to your plans, is how crashes occur. That sudden thunder storm to fly around, unexpected head wind, or whatever it is, those just happen to us all...they don't care what your plan is.
 
I’ve never done a coast to coast trip since I live in the Midwest. I’ve been to both coasts multiple times however.

Ironically, up until very recently my longest journeys have been in a Super Cub. Ive done southern US border to northern border in a day, have been up near the arctic circle a few times and have spent some time in eastern Canada in one. Cubs really are one of the best all around airplanes you can get.
 
FormerHangie said:
Flying is very weather dependent. Longest XC I did was from Shawnee, OK to Gainesville, GA, about 700 nm. It was a glorious fall day, I got to 9500 feet and rode the tailwinds east, made one stop for fuel. Other times the air is rough and the winds are against you and you'd rather be driving, because it would be more comfortable and the point to point time would be the same. You have to be motivated to fly, to fly GA. For most people it doesn't make practical sense.
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Depends. :D

In May a year and a half ago we went to a niece's graduation. We were planning on going for the weekend, but the main grad event had a limited number of tickets, so we just went for the day for the second grad event. We live in Atlanta, she was at the University of Illinois and we stopped in Lexington to pick up our daughter living there. Direct line between those is 459 nm. We went up and back in the day. Actual was probably more in the 940-950 nm round trip. That was in a Baron 58.

Most of my traveling has been in a SR22, then in a Baron, and then an Arrow; by number of hours. When I was flying home into headwinds on Monday I was only doing ~160 mph across the ground. Speed matters. :cool::D

I figured out that speed matters early on when flying a 172 into strong headwinds. After that I was in search of more speed. There was no way I was going to convince the family to travel much via general aviation like that.

That said, I'd only fly across the whole country for the adventure of it. If we were going on a trip to the west coast I'd hop on the airlines. Far cheaper and faster. I am thinking of taking a trip to visit a friend near Boise next year, now that I have a share of a plane. But I'll fly private for the adventure, not because it's the best option for that trip.
 
Not coast to coast, but I flew a company turbo C-182 with a co-worker from Kentucky back to the California coast. It took 2 days but we could have done it in one easily, had we cared to push it. Made it to Utah where we stopped for the night. Next day it was only 3 hours to our destination on the coast.
 
Shawn said:
Florida to CA in a 182. 2.5 days, 21.5 hours.

Could have done it in two days had the weather of the final leg been more favorable...and we wanted to spend a night in Vegas!
Click to expand...

I would not try to do too much, this is suppose to be fun, not work.
Given good weather, I try for 2.5 days, the last day being short so I arrive fresh. Also, since I’m landing at strange airports, usually without a tower, I like to land during the day. Days are short this time of year, going west you gain time, but usually fight the winds and vice versa.


Tom
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
I would not try to do too much, this is suppose to be fun, not work.
Given good weather, I try for 2.5 days, the last day being short so I arrive fresh. Also, since I’m landing at strange airports, usually without a tower, I like to land during the day. Days are short this time of year, going west you gain time, but usually fight the winds and vice versa.
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It was a blast, not work.

While we are on a mission to get back home not a sightseeing tour I had a few days of buffer and we were always wheels up at the crack of dawn and wheels down at dusk. We took our time at fuel stops and meal breaks and that timeline was even with a 2 hour weather delay in Podunk Georgia where we grabbed the crew car and found some local BBQ. Landing at all the Podunk airports was half the fun of the trip!

Every leg was flexible, rarely did we land at any of the destinations that we flight planned to and constantly adjusted to how we were feeling and real time conditions. Foreflight gave us the real time information and data tat our fingertips to easily do that.

Bag of snacks and PB&J fixins kept us fueled the whole way!

While I get that is not everyone's cup of tea and more flying than most wanna do in a day, it was not at all a grind for us.
 
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Used to fly coast to coast quite a bit when I lived in Philly and DC. I'd fly out to Tuscon to visit my sister. I would take 2 shorter days out and one long day back. Since moving to Sedona, I've made a few trips back to the East coast but mostly stay in the West when possible.

Now that we have a young one, we might have to split up a trip like that into another day each way. It's a big ask for a 4 year old to sit in a plane for a long period of time!
 
Done it many times in the work airplane, but never in my personal airplane. It's definitely on the bucket list to do, though.

Looking forward to watching the video, Jon.
 
Never gone coast to coast, but bought a Champ in Fl this spring and flew it from Sebring to Northern NY with a friend. Took almost two months. The carb Sh**t the bed in SC and it stayed there for a month+ while we sent it out to get re-built. I erased my track from FL to SC by mistake, but we made 14 fuel stops from SC to NY. 13 Gal tank, no electrical system in the plane. Total of five days flying. Other than that, round trip from Northern NY to MD in a day with a 150 to check out a 172 for a friend. Roughly 750 miles.Pete's Track.jpg
 
Jon Weiswasser said:
Have you ever flown coast to coast? For a flight like that, how many days did it take you? What’s the most flying you have ever done in a one day period?
Click to expand...
Flown coast to coast several times. How long depended on what airplane obviously:

Baron: 2 days
Beech 18: 2 days
T6: 2 days
Cherokee 140: 3 days
Cessna 170: took two years (had an engine problem enroute that resulted in complete teardown).

I think the most I’ve done in a single day was 10-11 hrs
 
Shawn said:
Florida to CA in a 182. 2.5 days, 21.5 hours.

Could have done it in two days had the weather of the final leg been more favorable...and we wanted to spend a night in Vegas!
Click to expand...

I did a similar flight in my 182 NC to CA, with overnight stops in Paris, TN and Belem, NM. Got a late afternoon start the first day, and arrived by lunchtime on the third day - so really
two full days of flying. The full day was probably my longest ever - 3 flights, probably about 10 Hrs total.

Dave
 
So. Dak. to AK (Fairbanks) 3 times (Daughter there). SD to Prince Edward Island 3 times (daughter there too). So that's farther than from coast to coast but not close in time frame. Ak was 4 days with a weather stopover every time. PEI was usually 2 days.
 
eb87f said:
So. Dak. to AK (Fairbanks) 3 times (Daughter there). SD to Prince Edward Island 3 times (daughter there too). So that's farther than from coast to coast but not close in time frame. Ak was 4 days with a weather stopover every time. PEI was usually 2 days.
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Where in SD? I grew up in Custer, went to SDSU in Brookings, worked all over the state.
 
Pete7AC said:
Never gone coast to coast, but bought a Champ in Fl this spring and flew it from Sebring to Northern NY with a friend. Took almost two months. The carb Sh**t the bed in SC and it stayed there for a month+ while we sent it out to get re-built. I erased my track from FL to SC by mistake, but we made 14 fuel stops from SC to NY. 13 Gal tank, no electrical system in the plane. Total of five days flying. Other than that, round trip from Northern NY to MD in a day with a 150 to check out a 172 for a friend. Roughly 750 miles.View attachment 79701
Click to expand...

You’re a better man than me. 14 fuel stops??...oh hell naaww...lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jon Weiswasser said:
Have you ever flown coast to coast? For a flight like that, how many days did it take you? What’s the most flying you have ever done in a one day period?
Click to expand...

My longest one day flight was KHUT (Hutinson, KS) - KDUX (Dumas, TX) - KPGA (Page, AZ) - KRNO (Reno, NV). It was 11 hours fighting headwinds in my Dakota. I am based in Reno and we had gone as far as Portland, ME and this was the trip home.
 
Three days, Tacoma, WA to Savannah, GA. Flight of four. RON in Boise and Chattanooga.

I ferried a brand new Saratoga and later an Arrow from Opa-Locka, FL to San Jose, CA and a Tomahawk from St. Louis to San Jose... I don't remember where I stopped enroute, but I slept in the plane...
 
I'm amazed at the variety of experiences here. Truly. It is part of what makes this endeavor so great; the breadth and variety of experiences and possibilities. Seems like the general consensus is that 12h in one day is about the limit, which is what I hit in the video. I was TIRED. Also, yes - by then, it wasn't as much Type I 'fun' as it had been at the outset, and had transitioned to Type II fun (it was fun when it was over).

Looking back, my only critiques of myself were that I underestimated the potential for convection East of the Rockies during the summer. I think that that is so common that it is to be expected routinely and downplayed somewhat in the briefing. I went to Utah two days after I returned to NJ with the fam (!!) and, armed with that experience, was much more prepared.

Also, I think on the return flight I was too conservative with the TS avoidance. I probably could have saved a bunch of time if I had been willing to cut it a little closer. Better to be safe in my mind and stay way far away from that stuff, especially since I was IMC for a lot of that. Others may have been a little more cavalier about it, but I tend to really err on the side of caution with that.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed that video. More to come.
 
Spruce Creek FL 7FL6
Tallahassee FL KTLH, gas
Picayune MS KMJD, gas
Baton Rouge LA, KBTR, overnight
Brownwood TX, gas
El Paso TX, overnight
Tucson AZ KRYN, gas
Thermal CA KTRM, gas, no convient lodging, so onto
Palm Springs CA KPSP, overnight,
departed next morning, moderate to extreme turblence pirep, so
Bermuda Dunes CA KUDD, called wife in Palmdale said ya come hang out in Palm Springs for the night? She drove down and spent the night, then onto
Lancaster CA KWJF

C177B Cardinal. Not quite Coast to Coast but flew to Santa Barbara KSBA a couple days later for lunch
 
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