Bringing the New Plane Home to Washington State

Rex Kwan Do

Rex Kwan Do

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Rex Kwan Do
Hi All,

Next week I'll be flying to bring my new to me Cherokee 180 home from the Memphis area. My restrictions are VFR/VMC. Aircraft is equipped with a modern Garmin navigator, ADSB and I have a portable oxygen bottle. I would intend to skirt any class C and class B airspace. I've done some searching of the forums and internet in general looking for any advice on routing and any recommendations on good gas-and-go and RON recommendations.

Looking at flying the southern route (I-10) to avoid icing, right now my routing looks like

KMEM ->KFYV->KRVS (gas)-> KOJA -> KPVW -> KHOB (RON)
KHOB ->KELP-> KRYN(gas)-> KHND(RON)
KHND-> KSPZ(gas)->KWMC->KREO->KMAN(RON) - short day to visit family
KMAN->KBKE->KLGD->KPSC

No pride in authorship and I gratefully accept any advice or critique.

Thanks for any help in advance.
 
Hi Rex.

Just a quick comment. I am wondering why if you are flying the I-10 route, you are going from Memphis to Fayetteville, AR. Fayetteville, AR is a fair amount north of Memphis (I am in the Memphis area). I would suggest going from Memphis to maybe Texarkana, Arkansas/Texas instead and catch I-10 west of Houston, TX. Just curious where you are picking up your new-to-you Cherokee 180? Sounds like a great airplane.
 
This is a bit shorter, but also a bit more complex….

KMEM ACH RUINS ABQ ZUN INW FLG PGS GFS HEC PMD EHF LINWO SAC KPSC

Max terrain height was below 9000
 
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somorris said:
Hi Rex.

Just a quick comment. I am wondering why if you are flying the I-10 route, you are going from Memphis to Fayetteville, AR. Fayetteville, AR is a fair amount north of Memphis (I am in the Memphis area). I would suggest going from Memphis to maybe Texarkana, Arkansas/Texas instead and catch I-10 west of Houston, TX. Just curious where you are picking up your new-to-you Cherokee 180? Sounds like a great airplane.
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My departure airport is KMXA so its more a straight west shot, I was being too general in my starting location. :)
 
RyanB said:
How come?
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I suppose I meant that I don't want to stop in a class C, the fuel prices tend to be high and not GA friendly, there isn't too much I've got to skirt from an airspace issue.
 
If you’re stopping in Hobbs, contact Jay @ Christian Aero, he goes out of his way to help with transportation, motels, service, even meeting you after hours I’m told. I fly that same route yearly going to Lopez Island, WA
 
I'd have a plan "B" over I-40 or further north as our winds have been extreme these past few weeks ...
 
danhagan said:
I'd have a plan "B" over I-40 or further north as our winds have been extreme these past few weeks ...
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Good point, I’ve plotted out the I-10, I can plot an I-40 that picks up at Roswell. Next week the weather is looking more favorable.
 
If you are in VMC, there is no icing. If the weather allows you, I would recommend mostly following the magenta line, except for a few small deviations to see the Wind River range and Teton mountains.
 
I think the ‘southern route’ includes a beeline towards Farmington. I’d just keep it daylight also, for the most part. If the winds get whipping, find a stop with the runway aligned somewhat. I almost just take off, figure out stops in the air, yes, ideas beforehand. Fuel prices, Notams & weather are available while flying.

If the weather isn’t favorable to flight, don’t launch. On the other hand, most days have hours of flyable weather, even if you have to land short of the plan.
 
As MountainDude suggests, How about heading to KCYS, then along the I 80 corridor, towards Salt Lake, cut the corner to Pocatello, then Nampa for an overnight. KMXA-KCYS-MBW-OCS-KPIH-KMAN (fill in details for fuel, an overnight in Cheyenne, etc.)
Yes, weather could be a factor, but you said this is an all VFR-VMC trip (a wise strategy in the west). The only real "mountain ridge" to cross is between Rock Springs and Pocatello, doable in a 180.
 
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Jim Carpenter said:
As MountainDude suggests, How about heading to KCYS, then along the I 80 corridor, towards Salt Lake, cut the corner to Pocatello, then Nampa for an overnight. KMXA-KCYS-MBW-OCS-KPIH-KMAN (fill in details for fuel, an overnight in Cheyenne, etc.)
Yes, weather could be a factor, but you said this is an all VFR-VMC trip (a wise strategy in the west). The only real "mountain ridge" to cross is between Rock Springs and Pocatello, doable in a 180.
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Thanks for the routing, I dropped it into foreflight and I'm looking at it now. Reading the weather tea leaves now and hoping for something less than 40 knot headwinds on the way home :)

Thanks for all the input and advice folks, I'm very grateful.
 
How many hours will you fly the new plane before heading home? I recently picked up a plane fresh out of annual and had some issues (mostly normal stuff in a ~60 year old plane)
 
Randomskylane said:
How many hours will you fly the new plane before heading home? I recently picked up a plane fresh out of annual and had some issues (mostly normal stuff in a ~60 year old plane)
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I’ll probably get about 5 hours on it before I head for home.
 
Stick to your original plan, I-20 to I-10 then up thru California. Interstates are your friend going thru mountains, and having towns and airports along the way, keeping options open. Now if I was flying my old turbo twin Comanche with 1100nm range @180kts with 12,000 SE ceiling, I’d go direct at 17,000 like I use to. In “my new to me”, archer with 500nm range, give me airports every 60 miles(where I can be on the ground in 15”), whether it be for weather, mechanical, or just fatigue. In my PA 30, it was 8 hrs flying with 60” break for gas and food. In my 172, it’s 3 days enjoying the journey, taking in the detours that comes with a safe, stress free, enjoy the sites and people along the way.
 
Eldorado said:
Stick to your original plan, I-20 to I-10 then up thru California. Interstates are your friend going thru mountains, and having towns and airports along the way, keeping options open. Now if I was flying my old turbo twin Comanche with 1100nm range @180kts with 12,000 SE ceiling, I’d go direct at 17,000 like I use to. In “my new to me”, archer with 500nm range, give me airports every 60 miles(where I can be on the ground in 15”), whether it be for weather, mechanical, or just fatigue. In my PA 30, it was 8 hrs flying with 60” break for gas and food. In my 172, it’s 3 days enjoying the journey, taking in the detours that comes with a safe, stress free, enjoy the sites and people along the way.
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At this point I've got three routes planned and we'll see which one has the most favorable weather. I like the density of air fields on the route for precisely the same reason you mentioned. Thanks again for the feedback.
 
Rex Kwan Do said:
Good point, I’ve plotted out the I-10, I can plot an I-40 that picks up at Roswell. Next week the weather is looking more favorable.
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I-10 route is "do-able" but you have to keep in mind to get rolling IMMEDIATELY at dawn and be prepared to call it a day at lunch time. Most of our nasty winds occur after lunch. Also plot out multi-runway fields like Las Cruces (KLRU), Carlsbad (KCNM), Deming KDMN, Pecos Tx KPEQ in case you have to deal with a big cross wind ...
 
Is the planned date the 25-26th or so? There’s some crud near WY, SD & so forth Sat-Sunday last I looked. It seemed better early next week.
 
sourdough44 said:
Is the planned date the 25-26th or so? There’s some crud near WY, SD & so forth Sat-Sunday last I looked. It seemed better early next week.
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I’m looking at a Thursday (4/28) departure from KMXA, that’d put me crossing at medicine bow on Friday morning. Figuring a near dawn crossing to get over the hump before the winds pick up. If winds don’t cooperate I may spend the weekend in Cheyenne.

edit: planes got a bad voltmeter. Pushing trip back to Saturday 4/30
 
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Figured I owed an update…

Flew out commercial to Arkansas last Thursday. after closing out the annual inspection and getting my orientation flight it was a weather waiting game.

Sunday May 1 was a beautiful day in NE Arkansas. Got a first light take off and flew on glass for the first leg to KTYR.

Once at KTYR Got gas and a complimentary O2 bottle fill from Johnson Aviation While I got updated weather.

Wx was due to decline but it looked like I had a window and the briefer figured it would hold and I had several airports I was overflying that I could divert to if I needed to so I decided to go with that plan.

This second leg was pretty bumpy and I would have preferred a higher cruising altitude but the ceiling didn’t allow. Landing at KMAF the folks at Signature were great and got me a hangar for the night.

Last night was tornados and hail and I’m waiting on the next TAF to see if there is a window to make it to Tucson today, otherwise it may be a remote work day while I wait for things to blow over.
 
Go as far as you can each leg, land reevaluate, take what you can get, be flexible. Don’t look for a clear window all the way to Tucson. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. You’ll meet wonderful people along the way, especially at smaller airports. A couple times I’ve been taken to dinner and given a place to stay. Airport bums are pearls, might have to listen to their flying stories.
 
As it happens I got a couple days (Tues/Wed) worth of good weather and was able to make it home. Over the course of three flying days I logged 26.8 hours. I learned a lot about my airplane and got exposed to a lot of different terrain, weather and airspace. I got to meet a lot of different people at a lot of different fields. It was a grand adventure. That said I probably won’t fly the rest of the week, I’m ready for a break :)

thanks to all who gave advice and wisdom.
 
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