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azpilot

azpilot

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azpilot
I earned my pilot certificate a year and three days ago. I'm just renting right now, and probably will do that for some time. I've got a monthly budget of what I can spend to go flying, and it doesn't really support much more than short local flights. Well, this fall, my wife's sister is getting married up in Salt Lake City. We live in the Phoenix metro area. As soon as we heard the news about the wedding, I knew I had to fly us there. Today was the warm up.

I know many of you here do flights like this all the time, but this was a real big deal for me. Until today, the farthest I'd ever been from home was 112 nm.

We departed KCHD at 6:04 AM. The tower opens at 6:00 and we were the first to depart after the tower opened. I got an early frequency change and transitioned the Delta airspace at KFFZ (Falcon). After than I called up KSLD (Scottsdale) and transitioned their airspace. Once I was North of Scottsdale and tracking the DRK VOR (Prescott), I took a deep breath and dialed up Phoenix approach.

It's been two years since I have been on flight following, and that was with an instructor. I was so nervous. I don't know why. The towers at the Delta field I fly out of don't bother me at all. I was slightly nervous about punching buttons on the transponder. Really, there was no reason to be nervous. I listed to the frequency for a few minutes, and got to hear two people make "VFR requests" for flight following. Once they were done, I called up, got my squawk code, punched it in and was on my way. The approach controller even cleared me through the bravo airspace (not that I needed it).

The next hour and 30 minutes was rather uneventful. We tracked the VOR into and then out of Prescott all the way to the Tuckup corridor to cross the Grand Canyon. The view was really pretty amazing. Right as we were crossing, LA center was trying to relay a message to a plane that was off frequency. The plane he needed to relay the message through was a student pilot. The student did a really great job. He was confused at first, but he talked to the controller, and the controller walked him through what he needed to do. It took a couple of iterations, but they got it figured out. The student pilot relayed the message to the other pilot and all was well.

After landing in Cedar City, we grabbed a courtesy car, ate some grub, gassed up the plane (somehow, all of that took three hours...) and started back home. The wind was blowing right down the runway at 15 gusting to 25 knots. Density atltitude was abou 8,500'. I performed a full static runup and got moving down the runway. With the massive headwind, we were off the ground rather quickly. We were up to about 600' AGL by the end of the runway (it is 8600' long).

Cedar city doesn't have an approach frequency listed, so I called up Flight Service and they gave me the frequency for LA center (Duh... it was the last frequency I was on before I switched over to KCDC CTAF). About 20 miles south of KCDC I called up LA center and got back on flight following. It was pretty darn bumpy the whole way back home. Coming back into the Phoenix area it was HOT!!!! It was probably about 110F. Coming back home, I flew the VFR transition through the Bravo airspace. That was another thing I was pretty nervous about. In this case, they assigned me 4,500'. It was pretty difficult to keep the airplane at that altitude. With the heat and thermals and winds it was virtually impossible to keep the airplane trimmed. I just had to watch the altimeter like a hawk. Keeping a close eye on it and constantly making adjustments, it wasn't too difficult to keep it +/- 50'. It did take a lot of effort though. Plus I was SUPER sweaty and stinky. My hand was starting to slip on the yoke a bit due to all the sweat.

As soon as I got through the Bravo, they cancelled my flight following, which was perfect. I grabbed the ATIS, dialed up the KCHD tower and came in for landing. On the ground back home, I asked myself why anyone lives in this godforsaken desert. Come October and November I'll be happy to live here again.

Anyway, I know this is a long write up, but it was a really awesome flight today. It was really great to actually be able to get out and fly somewhere far enough from home that I could no longer recognize any landmarks.

flying.jpg
 
Sounds like fun, glad you had a good flight!
 
Heck yeah!!! That is awesome! I am planning to do the same thing, Montgomery Alabama to Dallas, 1100nm round trip. Never done anything like it either. Can't wait to hear how your trip to Utah goes.
 
Sounds like you did a good job. My son lives in northern Utah and I have made a couple trips up there, and found the controllers very friendly all the way north of SLC. If you let me know about that car in Cedar City, I will post it in my app. And your a better man than me flying with the heat, thats why I am out of AZ and in Montana right now! 62 degrees! Fly safe.
 
retpd2001 said:
Sounds like you did a good job. My son lives in northern Utah and I have made a couple trips up there, and found the controllers very friendly all the way north of SLC. If you let me know about that car in Cedar City, I will post it in my app. And your a better man than me flying with the heat, thats why I am out of AZ and in Montana right now! 62 degrees! Fly safe.
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retpd2001 - Your website is Fantastic!!! They had several courtesy cars there. We got a Honda CRV. It was about a 2,000 model year, but I am not positive. It had about 250,000 miles. They have you sign a form basically saying you won't abuse it, then let you go. Oh ya, you have to stay local and they want it back in two hours. We ran to Walmart to buy a charging cord for my tablet (I left it at home). Then we ran over to IHOP for food. We put about 25 miles on it, and it took 0.8 gallons. I can't complain at all. It was great.

It appeared that they have several cars there. I don't know how many. There is no restaurant at the airport, so they let people take the cars to go into town for food.
 
Good writeup and congrats! Looks like you did well and had a great time. The view going through the Tuckup corridor is magnificent, isn't it?

My wife and I landed at Cedar City on our first long trip when we bought a Cherokee 140 in 1981. We landed at Cedar City, rented a car, and drove up Cedar Canyon to Cedar Breaks National Monument. When we got there, a park ranger told us there are no cedar trees in Utah. :confused: I stopped for fuel at KCDC on my way to KGYR last year, and was surprised by how much traffic there was! I guess there's a big pilot puppy mill there now pumping out fixed- and rotary-wing pilots.

And no matter what you say, we're still moving to PHX at the end of the year! :) Let's plan to meet up thereafter.
 
Sounds like a great trip! I'm taking my longest flight to date in a week......2,000nm round trip. I'd also recommend bringing your own beer to Utah as whats available there is the equivalent of drinking water
 
Pilawt said:
We landed at Cedar City, rented a car, and drove up Cedar Canyon to Cedar Breaks National Monument. When we got there, a park ranger told us there are no cedar trees in Utah. :confused:
Click to expand...

Apparently the mormons who settled there mistook the juniper trees for cedar trees. But then again, I suppose Juniper City, Juniper Canyon and Juniper Breaks National Monument don't have quite the same ring. :)
 
Pilawt said:
Yeah, that's what the ranger told us. Then you drive south from Cedar City and you come to a town called Hurricane. No hurricanes in Utah.

Then you come to a town called Virgin ...

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

:rofl: Good one.
 
Great writeup! It just so happens that I'm doing my first interstate trip this coming Thursday, from Southern California to Chandler, AZ, so I hung on every word of your post. I'm following I-10 most of the way, then I'll duck down south of Phoenix Raceway and Bondurant's school under the Class B shelves. I'm having a blast studying the charts and planning the flight. I'm just slightly apprehensive about using flight following, but I'm sure it will go fine.

I'm ready for those 110-degree Phoenix bumps!! My Phase 1 practice area was in the high desert (near Barstow, CA) so I'm used to the turbulence. (Used to it, but don't like it!) Gonna get an early-ish start to beat some of the heat.
 
azpilot said:
retpd2001 - Your website is Fantastic!!! They had several courtesy cars there. We got a Honda CRV. It was about a 2,000 model year, but I am not positive. It had about 250,000 miles. They have you sign a form basically saying you won't abuse it, then let you go. Oh ya, you have to stay local and they want it back in two hours. We ran to Walmart to buy a charging cord for my tablet (I left it at home). Then we ran over to IHOP for food. We put about 25 miles on it, and it took 0.8 gallons. I can't complain at all. It was great.

It appeared that they have several cars there. I don't know how many. There is no restaurant at the airport, so they let people take the cars to go into town for food.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I added your comments to the app/website. Glenn
 
Pilawt said:
My wife and I landed at Cedar City on our first long trip when we bought a Cherokee 140 in 1981. We landed at Cedar City, rented a car, and drove up Cedar Canyon to Cedar Breaks National Monument. When we got there, a park ranger told us there are no cedar trees in Utah. :confused:
Click to expand...

I just read about that actually. It appears that the early Mormon settlers in the area mistook the Juniper trees for Cedar trees and misnamed the town. Oops!!!

EDIT

Maybe I should read the other comments before I post. It looks like someone beat me to the answer.
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
Great writeup! It just so happens that I'm doing my first interstate trip this coming Thursday, from Southern California to Chandler, AZ, so I hung on every word of your post. I'm following I-10 most of the way, then I'll duck down south of Phoenix Raceway and Bondurant's school under the Class B shelves. I'm having a blast studying the charts and planning the flight. I'm just slightly apprehensive about using flight following, but I'm sure it will go fine.

I'm ready for those 110-degree Phoenix bumps!! My Phase 1 practice area was in the high desert (near Barstow, CA) so I'm used to the turbulence. (Used to it, but don't like it!) Gonna get an early-ish start to beat some of the heat.
Click to expand...

Sounds like it will be a fun flight! I fly primarily out of KCHD. I am sure you've already noticed this, but be aware of the Luke Airspace. It extends all over the place, especially down around the town of Buckeye. I used to live in Buckeye and we'd have fighters overfly our house all the time. IF you are going to fly over PIR, just be aware that the bravo ducks down to 3000' (which you already know). The chart has a visual reporting point called "Gila Crossing". This point is not really visible from the air. There is a dry river bed with no single distinguishing characteristics.

When calling up Chandler Tower from the West, popular reporting points are Firebird Lake and Gile Memorial airport. Firebird lake really sticks out like a sore thumb. It is a man made lake used for drag racing boats. Gila Memorial is a closed airport, but it also makes a great reporting point. If you have any other questions for someone that flies at this airport all the time, please let me know.

Regarding flight following, I was super nervous about it as well. It helped to dial up the approach frequency and listen for a few minutes before I called. I got to listen to the controller and several other pilots that were asking for flight following. I waited for a few seconds of dead air, and then called. The controllers were really great. When I was approaching from the North to do the transition over KPHX, I was very eager to let them know I wanted to do the Bravo transition. I was 100 miles out and I told the controller what I wanted to do. He calmly let me know that I needed to communicate that request to the next controller, and that he would hand me off as soon as he could.

After than hand off, I let the approach know I wanted to do the VFR transition. He came back with:
"N6366D, cleared through class Bravo airspace through East Transition".
Me - "Cleared through Bravo airspace through the East Transition, was there an altitude restriction on that clearance?"
Controller - "Altitude at your discretion until you get to the Bravo, then 4,500' "

Because I was so eager and called so soon, and because I didn't write it down, my mind started playing trick on me, and I couldn't remember if he cleared me through the East or West transition. Again, I waited for some quiet on the radio then asked, "Phoenix Approach, 6366D, Just to confirm, you cleared me through the EAST transition?" He responded, "N6366D, afirmative".
 
evapilotaz said:
How much time did you put in the Hobbs for that flight? I won't fly nothing but early mornings this time of the year
Click to expand...
6.3 hours on the Hobbs. Tach time was 6.0 hours. Actual time in the air was 5.5 hours That'll put a dent in my credit card. The whole flight was about $730.

Also, you have the right idea about flying in the mornings. The flight North was really fantastic. The air was smooth as silk. Besides the noise, you couldn't tell the difference between flying and sitting in the plane on the ground. The flight home? Now that's a different story.
 
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SoCal RV Flyer said:
I'm ready for those 110-degree Phoenix bumps!! My Phase 1 practice area was in the high desert (near Barstow, CA) so I'm used to the turbulence. (Used to it, but don't like it!) Gonna get an early-ish start to beat some of the heat.
Click to expand...

It was just the last 30 minutes or so that was really hot. Most of the flight, I was up at 10,500 or 11,500. Up at that altitude it was quite comfortable. Just past the DRK VOR I started to descend into the Valley of the Sun. It was probably about 5,000' when I really noticed it was heating up. The transition over PHX was at 4,500' and I was sweating like a pig.

I like to joke about the heat here, but I grew up here and have basically lived here my whole life. I honestly don't think it's that bad.
 
azpilot said:
I earned my pilot certificate a year and three days ago. I'm just renting right now, and probably will do that for some time. I've got a monthly budget of what I can spend to go flying, and it doesn't really support much more than short local flights. Well, this fall, my wife's sister is getting married up in Salt Lake City. We live in the Phoenix metro area. As soon as we heard the news about the wedding, I knew I had to fly us there. Today was the warm up.

I know many of you here do flights like this all the time, but this was a real big deal for me. Until today, the farthest I'd ever been from home was 112 nm.

We departed KCHD at 6:04 AM. The tower opens at 6:00 and we were the first to depart after the tower opened. I got an early frequency change and transitioned the Delta airspace at KFFZ (Falcon). After than I called up KSLD (Scottsdale) and transitioned their airspace. Once I was North of Scottsdale and tracking the DRK VOR (Prescott), I took a deep breath and dialed up Phoenix approach.

It's been two years since I have been on flight following, and that was with an instructor. I was so nervous. I don't know why. The towers at the Delta field I fly out of don't bother me at all. I was slightly nervous about punching buttons on the transponder. Really, there was no reason to be nervous. I listed to the frequency for a few minutes, and got to hear two people make "VFR requests" for flight following. Once they were done, I called up, got my squawk code, punched it in and was on my way. The approach controller even cleared me through the bravo airspace (not that I needed it).

The next hour and 30 minutes was rather uneventful. We tracked the VOR into and then out of Prescott all the way to the Tuckup corridor to cross the Grand Canyon. The view was really pretty amazing. Right as we were crossing, LA center was trying to relay a message to a plane that was off frequency. The plane he needed to relay the message through was a student pilot. The student did a really great job. He was confused at first, but he talked to the controller, and the controller walked him through what he needed to do. It took a couple of iterations, but they got it figured out. The student pilot relayed the message to the other pilot and all was well.

After landing in Cedar City, we grabbed a courtesy car, ate some grub, gassed up the plane (somehow, all of that took three hours...) and started back home. The wind was blowing right down the runway at 15 gusting to 25 knots. Density atltitude was abou 8,500'. I performed a full static runup and got moving down the runway. With the massive headwind, we were off the ground rather quickly. We were up to about 600' AGL by the end of the runway (it is 8600' long).

Cedar city doesn't have an approach frequency listed, so I called up Flight Service and they gave me the frequency for LA center (Duh... it was the last frequency I was on before I switched over to KCDC CTAF). About 20 miles south of KCDC I called up LA center and got back on flight following. It was pretty darn bumpy the whole way back home. Coming back into the Phoenix area it was HOT!!!! It was probably about 110F. Coming back home, I flew the VFR transition through the Bravo airspace. That was another thing I was pretty nervous about. In this case, they assigned me 4,500'. It was pretty difficult to keep the airplane at that altitude. With the heat and thermals and winds it was virtually impossible to keep the airplane trimmed. I just had to watch the altimeter like a hawk. Keeping a close eye on it and constantly making adjustments, it wasn't too difficult to keep it +/- 50'. It did take a lot of effort though. Plus I was SUPER sweaty and stinky. My hand was starting to slip on the yoke a bit due to all the sweat.

As soon as I got through the Bravo, they cancelled my flight following, which was perfect. I grabbed the ATIS, dialed up the KCHD tower and came in for landing. On the ground back home, I asked myself why anyone lives in this godforsaken desert. Come October and November I'll be happy to live here again.

Anyway, I know this is a long write up, but it was a really awesome flight today. It was really great to actually be able to get out and fly somewhere far enough from home that I could no longer recognize any landmarks.

View attachment 46315
Click to expand...

Plan to do something similar in Nov and visit Zion and Bryce Canyon, was going to use Cedar city as the base.
 
Scrabo said:
Plan to do something similar in Nov and visit Zion and Bryce Canyon, was going to use Cedar city as the base.
Click to expand...

You know, Bryce Canyon does have its own airpot (KBCE). But if you do insist on using Cedar City then you might want to consider adding Great Basin NP to your list. Or you can go to Kanab (KKNB) and be equidistant from Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon North Rim.
 
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azpilot said:
Sounds like it will be a fun flight! I fly primarily out of KCHD. I am sure you've already noticed this, but be aware of the Luke Airspace. It extends all over the place, especially down around the town of Buckeye. I used to live in Buckeye and we'd have fighters overfly our house all the time. IF you are going to fly over PIR, just be aware that the bravo ducks down to 3000' (which you already know). The chart has a visual reporting point called "Gila Crossing". This point is not really visible from the air. There is a dry river bed with no single distinguishing characteristics.

When calling up Chandler Tower from the West, popular reporting points are Firebird Lake and Gile Memorial airport. Firebird lake really sticks out like a sore thumb. It is a man made lake used for drag racing boats. Gila Memorial is a closed airport, but it also makes a great reporting point. If you have any other questions for someone that flies at this airport all the time, please let me know.

Regarding flight following, I was super nervous about it as well. It helped to dial up the approach frequency and listen for a few minutes before I called. I got to listen to the controller and several other pilots that were asking for flight following. I waited for a few seconds of dead air, and then called. The controllers were really great. When I was approaching from the North to do the transition over KPHX, I was very eager to let them know I wanted to do the Bravo transition. I was 100 miles out and I told the controller what I wanted to do. He calmly let me know that I needed to communicate that request to the next controller, and that he would hand me off as soon as he could.

After than hand off, I let the approach know I wanted to do the VFR transition. He came back with:
"N6366D, cleared through class Bravo airspace through East Transition".
Me - "Cleared through Bravo airspace through the East Transition, was there an altitude restriction on that clearance?"
Controller - "Altitude at your discretion until you get to the Bravo, then 4,500' "

Because I was so eager and called so soon, and because I didn't write it down, my mind started playing trick on me, and I couldn't remember if he cleared me through the East or West transition. Again, I waited for some quiet on the radio then asked, "Phoenix Approach, 6366D, Just to confirm, you cleared me through the EAST transition?" He responded, "N6366D, afirmative".
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info. I figure once I get near the outskirts of Phoenix, I'll angle southeast pretty dramatically south of Buckeye, cross Sierra Estrella at about the midpoint, then stay just south of the long horizontal border of Class B, under the semicircular shelf. I had never seen the white markings that they use for Luke AFB on a chart before.

I've done a few driving schools out at Bondurant's, so it'll be cool to see Firebird Lake, the road courses, etc. from the air.

Good that you confirmed your transition route. Your brain was probably 98 percent convinced you requested East, but that nagging 2 percent is annoying. I'm bringing lots of kneeboard paper to write things down!!
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
Thanks for all the info. I figure once I get near the outskirts of Phoenix, I'll angle southeast pretty dramatically south of Buckeye, cross Sierra Estrella at about the midpoint, then stay just south of the long horizontal border of Class B, under the semicircular shelf. I had never seen the white markings that they use for Luke AFB on a chart before.
Click to expand...

OK, you've got the right idea then. I've flown KCHD to KBXK, and this was basically the route I took in reverse. For some reason, I thought you wanted to transition the KGYR airspace, and then fly over Phoenix International Raceway (VPPIR). The way you've got it planned now will be much easier. Be aware of the sail plane activity and the aerobatic activity which takes place on the South end of the Estrella's. The AF/D / Chart supplement should have full details on that.

If you get dumped off flight following too soon, you might consider dialing up the local practice area frequency before you call up KCHD tower. Check out the link below for details. On my very first solo flight out of the pattern I went out the practice area. I was about 15 miles West South West of KCHD. I made my radio calls and then did a power off stall. During the stall recovery I had a plane fly right below me. There was probably less than 200' vertical separation. That scared the snot out of me. There is quite a bit of training in that area.

http://aftw.org/Phoenix-Area_Practice_Areas.html
 
Great write up.

My first interstate cross-country is coming up later this month. 1K2 (Lindsay, OK) to Oshkosh! A little over 700nm each way. Furthest I've ever flown my plane is about 110nm from home. Shameful, I know :(
 
Thanks for the link of the practice areas. I'll definitely have those frequencies at hand, and go just north of the aerobatic box west of Sierra Estrella as I cut southeast.

I hate those "surprises" in the air. On the second-ever flight of my RV-9A, I was spending way too much time buried in the glass panel, and not enough time scanning for traffic. Got a close-up look at an Aircoupe maybe 300 ft away, at my altitude, passing in the opposite direction. It was in the middle of the high desert at 5500' with pretty low traffic density, but another airplane can appear at any time. Valuable lesson learned!!!

My closest call ever, curiously, was when in contact with SoCal Approach en route to landing at John Wayne. A V-tail Bonanza just beneath me, climbing like mad at my 3 o'clock, and no hint of an advisory from ATC. That one required evasive action....I could see the pilot's eyes. Ultimately it's up to me to see and avoid.

Andrew, good luck on your flight! I'm working my way up to an Oshkosh trip....maybe next year.
 
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SoCal RV Flyer said:
Thanks for the link of the practice areas. I'll definitely have those frequencies at hand, and go just north of the aerobatic box west of Sierra Estrella as I cut southeast.
Click to expand...

Turns out at some point this year I'm planning on heading out to Chandler to visit a buddy out there... so when you knock out your trek, make sure to document it for the rest of the class. ;)
 
ircphoenix said:
Turns out at some point this year I'm planning on heading out to Chandler to visit a buddy out there... so when you knock out your trek, make sure to document it for the rest of the class. ;)
Click to expand...

You got it. I'll start a separate thread here. The weather outlook is great so far.
 
Nice write up. I just did my student long XC, I think my cfi set up a longer than usual one, it was interstate if two states counts. 314nm triangular route, flight following with lots of handoffs and frequency juggling and VOR tracking. I guess it was good real-world training then. Regarding flight following, I suppose its just what you're used to. Most all of my training flights have been with flight following. I'd probably be more apprehensive if I was going without it.
 
Fun isn't it? It gets addicting and then you're looking for places to go...
 
exncsurfer said:
Regarding flight following, I suppose its just what you're used to. Most all of my training flights have been with flight following. I'd probably be more apprehensive if I was going without it.
Click to expand...

I'll probably feel the same way once I use FF a few times.
 
asicer said:
You know, Bryce Canyon does have its own airpot (KBCE). But if you do insist on using Cedar City then you might want to consider adding Great Basin NP to your list. Or you can go to Kanab (KKNB) and be equidistant from Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon North Rim.
Click to expand...

CDC has more accommodation and food choices, unlike the monopoly at BCE.
 
Pilawt said:
Yeah, that's what the ranger told us. Then you drive south from Cedar City and you come to a town called Hurricane. No hurricanes in Utah.

Then you come to a town called Virgin ...

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

My dad grew up in Southern UT. He always told us the reason the named the river the Virgin River was "because she was was always so muddy nobody had ever seen her bottom..." :D
 
Mike Smith said:
Its funny, I have used FF quite a bit, it doesn't make me at all nervous. However, I still don't like to fly into controlled airports, I am always in fear of screwing it up.
Click to expand...
That's interesting. I had tons of experience at a class Delta tower/airspace. That was no big deal to me at all, but I was 'scared' of asking for flight following. It seems that people are just a bit apprehensive about doing something they don't have experience with.
 
Mike Smith said:
Its funny, I have used FF quite a bit, it doesn't make me at all nervous. However, I still don't like to fly into controlled airports, I am always in fear of screwing it up.
Click to expand...

I'm just the opposite. I learned at a Class C airport, and it was the nontowered airport (Cable in Upland, CA) where I'm at now that made me nervous! Now I try to fly into a mix of both to keep the radio skillls sharp.
 
I am learning at Chino and enjoy talking to the tower. The only time I got really nervous was when we were flying from Riverside to Ontario and my CFI dialed up the radio for KONT, handed me his iPad, and said "figure out where you are and call the tower to ask for touch-n-go's." But, the folks in the tower there were really great.

Went on my first cross country from KCNO to KRNM, about 70nm and we used flight following. It was easy enough and I don't understand why someone wouldn't want that extra set of eyes looking out for you. Another cool side benefit is that you can look up your tail number on flightaware and see the flight you took.
 
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