Jns_V
Filing Flight Plan
I'm a relatively novice PPL (no IR, trained in C152, also have Arrow checkout and some experience in flying in the Tatra Mountains) from Central Europe. I'll be attending a conference in LA in early March and plan a little flying holiday around California. Most of the trip I'd be alone, but I will have a colleague whom I have to drop off on the evening of Day 1 or the morning of Day 2 at KEDU. I've tried to do my homework and read loads of trip reports, but still have a couple of questions that may be answered by you folks on this board.
The itinerary would be roughly the following:
Day 1: LA area to Davis/Sacramento
I plan to start around midday and fly along the coast up to the Gold Gate, do a brief bay tour and head to KEDU.
Day 2: Sacramento to Death Valley
I am about to cross the Sierras at Lake Tahoe (the Mammoth Pass look a bit too much for this time) and stop en route at Bishop Airport.
Day 3: Death Valley to Las Vegas
Day 4: Las Vegas to Los Angeles area
I'll have to arrive by early afternoon, but will probably aim at an earlier arrival just to not stress it out. If everything goes well, however, I would have time to stop somewhere en route. Any suggestions for this?
I'll be flying an Arrow for the trip, will have ForeFlight w/ Stratus and oxygen. I have already organised my piggyback license and will do BFR / airspace familiarisation / checkout with the FBO before the trip, on a separate day. I will not be pressing anything, the colleague can fly commercial to Sacramento and I will cancel any legs and stay closer to LA should the weather dictate. I'd apreciate answers to any of my questions or any other general suggestion for the flight. Thanks for everything in advance.
The itinerary would be roughly the following:
Day 1: LA area to Davis/Sacramento
I plan to start around midday and fly along the coast up to the Gold Gate, do a brief bay tour and head to KEDU.
- Any problems / suggestions about the routing? Any places of interest?
- I may want to have a brief stop en route to refuel and give a rest to my passenger. Any suggestions for this?
- What is the best airport to overnight in the Sacramento area? I'm mainly looking for a place with accommodation nearby, preferably not needing taxis. I may be a bit interested in visiting the city of Sacramento itself, but it's not a must.
Day 2: Sacramento to Death Valley
I am about to cross the Sierras at Lake Tahoe (the Mammoth Pass look a bit too much for this time) and stop en route at Bishop Airport.
- Any other places worth a stop besides/instead of Bishop? Maybe an airport with some nice natural feature around and easy access to courtesy / rental car.
- Which is the better airport / hotel in the Death Valley? I'm leaning towards Furnace Creek.
- What about MOAs? Will they likely be active? Is it really OK to enter them VFR?
Day 3: Death Valley to Las Vegas
- Which airport to use in Las Vegas? Is KLAS OK in a SEP? Locationwise it seems to be unbeatable.
Day 4: Las Vegas to Los Angeles area
I'll have to arrive by early afternoon, but will probably aim at an earlier arrival just to not stress it out. If everything goes well, however, I would have time to stop somewhere en route. Any suggestions for this?
I'll be flying an Arrow for the trip, will have ForeFlight w/ Stratus and oxygen. I have already organised my piggyback license and will do BFR / airspace familiarisation / checkout with the FBO before the trip, on a separate day. I will not be pressing anything, the colleague can fly commercial to Sacramento and I will cancel any legs and stay closer to LA should the weather dictate. I'd apreciate answers to any of my questions or any other general suggestion for the flight. Thanks for everything in advance.
Last edited: