Easy hotel stop between PHX and Chicago.

dans2992

dans2992

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Dans2992
Looking for something mid-way with easy access to hotel and something to eat. On-field hotel, or overnight crew car would be best.

Any suggestions? Just an overnight rest stop enroute.
 
APA has a Ramada at the airport. BJC has a bnb about a half mile away or hotels about a mile away. The country airports can be amazingly helpful if you give them a call ahead of time...or they can blow you off.
 
I should add that Santa Fe will get you a great rate for a room but transport might be a taxi. COS also has a hotel adjacent to the airport but never stayed there. A call to Cutter will give you their options.
 
There is a Hilton Double Tree right on the airport property at Wichita (ICT) which is roughly halfway between Chicago and Phoenix.

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Fearless Tower said:
There is a Hilton Double Tree right on the airport property at Wichita (ICT) which is roughly halfway between Chicago and Phoenix.

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ICT was going to be my suggestion as well. Go to YingLing which has a Subway in the building and they will give a quick 45 second car ride over to the Double Tree. Or you can stretch your legs and walk the few minutes over to it. If Subway isn't your thing there are plenty of places to eat within a five minute drive. The Double Tree also has a restaurant.

AAO on the NW side may be cheaper and has a couple hotels and restaurants not too terribly far away. 3AU would be my next suggestion but the closest hotel is a Days Inn in Andover and your best bets are Applebee's, or Billy Sim's. Tim Buk Tu is up the road a couple of miles and has good burgers but that is cash only.
 
Clark1961 said:
APA has a Ramada at the airport.
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I can personally give that Ramada 3 out of 5 stars. If I have a very early morning thing to do at APA I'll usually crash there. It's not great, and it's not bad.

Recommend not trying out the "sausage" at the free breakfast buffet. It's kinda mystery meat. The eggs are ok. The potatoes are good. Hard to screw those up.

Sticking to the pastries and some coffee is probably the best bet. ;)

That said, some of the airport businesses have arranged discounts there. Worth asking around the FBOs or a friendly business who'll let you use their name as a customer. Saves about $30.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into these!

Per the flight planning software, it will be 8-9 hours in the air (but I'll be alone). My wife thinks it's "not safe" to fly that much in one day, alone.

Whether I do it all in one day, or make it 4 hours one evening and 4 hours the next morning is still TBD...
 
dans2992 said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into these!

Per the flight planning software, it will be 8-9 hours in the air (but I'll be alone). My wife thinks it's "not safe" to fly that much in one day, alone.

Whether I do it all in one day, or make it 4 hours one evening and 4 hours the next morning is still TBD...
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Eight hours is a butt kicker. And you will likely be landing at night at an airport you're unfamiliar with when tired.

You also have fuel stop(s) in there so it can easily turn into a 12 hour day start to finish.

BTDT got the t-shirt. Not highly recommended.

At the very least be prepared to really slap yourself awake mentally an hour out from landing and get your brain seriously back into the game.

One of the pilots on YT jokes that one hour out is always "coffee time".

If you do it in really hot or really cold weather, expect even more fatigue than usual.

About all I really enjoy is a couple of three hour hops with an hour fuel stop and some food or snacks or whatever at that stop. That is seven hours plus preflight before that and putting the aircraft away or dealing with the FBO counter and arranging ground transport at the end, etc...

That is plenty of "fun" for me if it's a non-paid "enjoyable" flight somewhere.

If I have to plan a longer leg than three hours I'll plan it up front, so the last leg is the short one and the long cruise portion or as much of it as possible is in daylight. In winter, may not work out. In summer it's easy.
 
denverpilot said:
Eight hours is a butt kicker. And you will likely be landing at night at an airport you're unfamiliar with when tired.
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Depends a bit on the airplane, how it's rigged and or if the is a working A/P.

8 hours in a biplane will render you almost useless.

8 hours in a typical Cessna or Piper is not real pleasant.

8 hours a Beech it's not as bad.
 
It's a Comanche with 2-axis autopilot, satellite weather, etc.

If I were to do it all in one day, I'd plan one fuel stop. Probably more efficient that way. (And certainly quicker).
 
Fearless Tower said:
Depends a bit on the airplane, how it's rigged and or if the is a working A/P.

8 hours in a biplane will render you almost useless.

8 hours in a typical Cessna or Piper is not real pleasant.

8 hours a Beech it's not as bad.
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Damn. I forgot the standard answer on PoA is Bonanza with all the excitement of @SixPapaCharlie buying a Grumman! ;)
 
The longest haul I've done is KSCK to KSAN and back, all in the same day. (I was delivering my daughter to San Diego for the week.) On the way down, we stopped at Bakersfield Muni and had lunch at the Rocket Shop Cafe. So the day was 1.5 hrs in the air, a 1 hr meal break, 1.8 hrs in the air. On the way back, (after an hour break at KSAN) I flew it direct at 12k. I wore a nose hose running 2 lpm the entire way back, and was remarkably fresh upon arrival. When I went down to bring her home, I didn't wear the nose hose, just to see, and was a lot more tired than before. This was in my Archer, and when I was solo, I just moved the seat all the way back, reclined slightly, and put my right leg on the copilot's side to stretch out, and let the AP fly the plane. Quite comfortable.

Someday, I want to try two 4-hr legs in the same day, with an hour break between them, just to see.
 
I did KBAZ to KLPC in one day in the Mooney, hitting 20-30kt headwinds the whole way and about 3 hours of continuous light-moderate turbulence across NM/AZ and some actual in So. Cal, had to follow the approach at KLPC due to the marine layer but had the airport in sight. It ended up being 9.2 flight hours with fuel and stretching in KELP and KBLH. It was brutal. The autopilot helped, the long days meant I had plenty of daylight on arrival and I've been into KLPC and KBLH before. I'm not planning to repeat it. Oxygen would have helped a ton so I could have topped the weather in NM/AZ with tops that were reported to be about 12-13k, probably would have been slower but at least less bumpy.
 
dans2992 said:
It's a Comanche with 2-axis autopilot, satellite weather, etc.

If I were to do it all in one day, I'd plan one fuel stop. Probably more efficient that way. (And certainly quicker).
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then you got no problems - if you go up to 11,500 and lean the heck out if it, with 86 gals you can almost make it nonstop.

My recommendation? First day - go to Kansas City. land downtown. 9500 or 11500 puts you above the haze layer - prob in smooth air - flight plans out to about 5:15 or about 72 gallons.

The reason for KC is good food [Arthur Bryants BBQ] and a decent rest - then you take off after a good nights sleep - and then you only have a short 2.5 hours to Chicago the next day - only 1 leg per day.

If you wanted to do it same day - thats doable also this time of year- remember - you take off at 6am from PHX you're on the ground in Chicago with 1 hour stop for fuel / food by 5p same day. . .

You're in a Comanche - its 7.5hrs flight time - 1.5 hours of cycle on the ground - 9 hours elapsed - plus 2 time change - is only 11 hours . . .its a long day - but its almost daylight landing even in December. . . . if its just me - I'm doing it same day - plan two days for the flight -= and spend the day after landing relaxing - touring the sights.

Flight home will be about 1-2 hours longer - and prob should be done in two days-
 
dans2992 said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I will look into these!

Per the flight planning software, it will be 8-9 hours in the air (but I'll be alone). My wife thinks it's "not safe" to fly that much in one day, alone.

Whether I do it all in one day, or make it 4 hours one evening and 4 hours the next morning is still TBD...
Click to expand...

I would break it up. I think it could be done safely but that much flying in one day takes all the fun out of it.
 
Just did my longest flight, AAO to KSNA (Wichita to John Wayne). Pretty easy at 16k with oxygen, about 6.5 hours in the air, stopped at Albuquerque for fuel. About 6 hours in the air on the way back, with a stop in Farmington NM for lunch/fuel. More worn out going into the la airspace, very busy compared to what this middle of the country flyer is used to. Several amendments to my clearance including a star.

Stop in Wichita for the night and maybe we can have dinner. AAO is a little stingy with the courtesy car (2 hour limit I think), lots of restaurants and hotels nearby. I assume they will give you a ride if needed. Uber is active here also.

Got to see two Ospreys come into Farmington for fuel, waited for them to depart as well, pretty cool


Jim
 
Nice.

Plan right now is to stop in Witchita on the way and overnight there. I'll fly afternoon one day, and morning the next.
 
Well, after all this planning, the trip is now cancelled due to a death in the family of the colleague I was meeting.... :(
 
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