First Interstate Cross Country

I live in SLC, got my PPL out of KSLC. Message me if you want any tips when flying up here. The main tip I guess is that you will want to request Bravo as you pass over the "Point of the Mountain". Basically north of Provo you will pass over a smaller mountain obtrusion. I usually get ATIS while passing over, and then request bravo clearance right after that. They will assign an altitude and follow I-15 north. It's easy to spot. Check google maps beforehand, but that is the route they will have you follow. And from that it depends on your landing site. You have three good options. South Valley Regional, SLC Intl., or Bountiful Skypark. I would avoid South Valley (SLC #2). Super busy and lots of flight training out of there. I had a club plane out of Skypark for a year. Good airport, self serve only.

Keep an eye on weather and use ff. You will want to keep as many airports as possible under your route. Utah can be wonderful flying, but sometimes the weather can be hell. While flying from Vegas to home got stuck avoiding isolated storms. Did some zig-zagging, but still got caught in an updraft that sent me from cruise of around 8-9K up to around 14-15K. With hail. Let me just say it wasn't all that fun. On that same trip southbound got stuck for most of the day when rain closed in. I knew I had just passed an airport, and then came zero visibility. Turned around and landed. Was stuck there for about 6 hours waiting for a window in the weather. Don't underestimate the weather here. Usually it is great, but when it's not.... well..... it sucks. Or blows.
 
Is South Valley as busy now that the city forced the closure of the FBO, Leading Edge Aviation?
 
Haven't been out there in a while so I'm not sure, but it's a time-saver to go there as opposed Tooele or Ogden for primary training.
 
Got back from Chandler....great flight! I flew at 7500' out, and 8500' back, with a TAS of 148 kts at about 2500 rpm. Took a couple of tries to get FF (they were pretty busy), but it went quite smoothly after that. After a couple of SoCal frequency changes, be prepared for Albuquerque Center, L.A. Center, and Phoenix Approach. I had wanted to sneak under Sky Harbor's Class B "ramps" in a more direct route to Chandler, but ATC preferred I go to the south tip of the Sierra Estrella range, then angle northeast toward Chandler. Phoenix approach gave me ATIS info, which was really handy, and the KCHD tower gave me a straight-in approach to 4L. A beautiful runway, just recently repaved. And as mentioned, Firebird Lake sticks out in bold relief and is a great reporting point.

I flew along Interstate 10 until about Quartzite, then flew a heading of roughly 110 degrees, which intercepted Sierra Estrella nicely.

I went back the same way... a little longer, but if ATC wants me there, I'm more than happy to comply.

A couple of pics. Flying over Blythe, with a nice view of the Colorado River; and Palm Springs on the way out.IMG_2653.jpg
IMG_2605 (2).jpg
 
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