Mdw-las

[mdreger]

Weather permitting, I am planning a C172 flight to LAS leaving on or about 16 Nov. In general I plan to fly to ABQ then to LAS. I haven't looked too closely at the charts yet, but that looks like it should give me relatively low altitudes, and a southern route. Is there a better route?

Any suggestions for places to stay overnight. As it stands, I will be flying alone and would just as soon camp by the plane. Are there any airports in the DHT or LBL vicinity that have real camping? That is, the airport is meant to camp, not just a place where they will let me set up a tent.

The next question is which LAS airport would be best. My wife will be flying the airlines in and we should be getting a rental car, so I can be picked up within a reasonable distance.

 

[ejensen]

Mike, it will really depend on the wx expecially this time of year. I know that sounds trite. But ice got a Cirrus south of Vegas. I believe the I80 route was open while northern NM and AZ were snow and ice.

A couple years ago we went to Death Valley and made it our pretty much direct accross Colorado. Coming home we had to go north to SLC then across southern Wyoming to get home.

The route you're looking at will be fine unless you hit a front. Bases this time of year are often too low to go under. And they are cold. Be very careful trying to cross the Kaibab plateau in the winter.

I'm not aware of any real camping alone that route. Paysen, AZ but that is south or your route.

 

[4CornerFlyer]

Try to get to just short of the Rockies on the first day. Then do a 3-4 hour leg to Vegas the second day, leaving in the morning. How early will depend on where you make the overnight stop. If it's not a place that does preheating or hangaring easily, you might need to wait until 9 or 10 when the sun heats things up.

Camping mid November in CO or NM? Well, just know it will be COLD at night, probably low 20's wherever you go. Most of the small airports in South Central CO or Northern NM won't care if you pitch a tent. I'll give my customary plug for Raton, NM (RTN). I'm certain they'd let you camp there, and they'll make you breakfast.

As far as where land at Vegas?: Short version: LAS is too expensive and any time you think you're saving is lost just trying to get a clearance out of there. Both Signature and Atlantic at LAS charge high parking fees. Atlantic will waive one night's fees if you buy 15 gallons of their very expensive fuel (currently running at about $3 a gallon MORE than the self-serve at the nearby GA airports). So figure it's a $40 parking fee on top of what you would have paid. Forget Signature.

Both Henderson and N. Las Vegas are excellent GA-friendly facilities. Both offer a free shuttle into the strip area, leaving every 2 hours from 8 am to 6 pm (Double check this by calling). Take advantage of this service, and you won't need to be picked up. Parking is $5 a day at either place. N. Vegas has a decent place to eat on the field. If the plan is for the wife to drop you off on her way back to the big airport, I'd pick Henderson. Otherwise N Vegas. It's a cheaper cab ride. The shuttle is only one way.

Jon

 

[mdreger]

Thanks. I guess I'll pack an extra sleeping bag or two. I'll look up RTN, seems like as good a stop as any, if it's on the way.

 

[mdreger]

I'm back! The trip was a success. I was forced by weather and time to leave a day later than planned, and even then had to hole up at VYS for a few hours 'till the weather moved NE a bit.

Route down was MDW-JOT-VYS-GPH-9K8-PYX, camped here for the night. Then PYX-SAF-INW-HND.
According to the GPS I averaged 85Kt. GS Had headwinds nearly the whole way. I got groundspeeds above my IAS from INW-HND, which felt good, but still the GS was below my TAS.

The return route: HND-INW-LVS. Camped here for the night. Then LVS-DHT-GPH-JOT-MDW.
Averaged 112Kts. GS. Quite a difference. Saw a GS of 143Kts. in level flight between GPH and JOT. That is always nice to see in a C172.

Once I got out of central Illinois I had (nearly) clear skies the rest of the trip. No threat of icing. Yes it was cold at night, but the one sleeping bag did the trick. Got gas for less than $3.00/gal at a few places, more at the rest. Filed flight plans for every leg, and got flight following for most legs.

Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragment. It was a great trip.

 

[CJones]

I'm back! The trip was a success. I was forced by weather and time to leave a day later than planned, and even then had to hole up at VYS for a few hours 'till the weather moved NE a bit.

Route down was MDW-JOT-VYS-GPH-9K8-PYX, camped here for the night. Then PYX-SAF-INW-HND.
According to the GPS I averaged 85Kt. GS Had headwinds nearly the whole way. I got groundspeeds above my IAS from INW-HND, which felt good, but still the GS was below my TAS.

The return route: HND-INW-LVS. Camped here for the night. Then LVS-DHT-GPH-JOT-MDW.
Averaged 112Kts. GS. Quite a difference. Saw a GS of 143Kts. in level flight between GPH and JOT. That is always nice to see in a C172.

Once I got out of central Illinois I had (nearly) clear skies the rest of the trip. No threat of icing. Yes it was cold at night, but the one sleeping bag did the trick. Got gas for less than $3.00/gal at a few places, more at the rest. Filed flight plans for every leg, and got flight following for most legs.

Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragment. It was a great trip.

If you were planning the same trip again, do you think you would use the same route? I'm pondering the idea of flying a RV-7A from central Iowa to LAS in March and it looks like your route would probably work for me as well. Anything you would do differently on a second trip that way?

 

[mdreger]

I would probably use the same route. Nothing stands out that would cause me not to, other than the idea of stopping at different airports. If it was summer I might consider going through Colorado, that was shown as the shortest route. I didn't feel like attempting that route when the potential for show was as high as I felt it was in Nov. IIRC the fuel at LVS was more expensive than it was shown on airnav. I might find a more direct route between SAF and HND. I think I was a little out of the way going to INW. IIRC I think the fuel was cheaper in INW and wasn't sure about the fuel situation on any of the other airports. INW had a little restaurant on the field, although I didn't eat there. LVS allowed camping, there was a picnic table by the terminal building, but no other amenities. The only rest rooms were in the terminal building and that was locked when they left at 1800 or so.

Without going back and looking at the maps, I think my route also let me avoid any consideration of MOA's along the way.

Probably the most significant thing I noticed was how far it was between airports. In the midwest we can usually have two or three different airports available, within about a half hour or so, wherever we might want to refuel. In TX, NM, AZ I was lucky to find one where I "wanted" it.