Salt Lake City

Terry

Terry

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Terry
Hi All!

I am planning on flying from Hays, Kansas in October to Salt Lake City, Utah. I want to go in a 182 but may have to go in a 172 or an Archer II.

I need route suggestions. It will be my wife and I. I am IR pilot with around 250 hours.

Any suggestions or comments?

Thanks;

Terry
:dunno:
 
Well Terry
My Comment is Have a Great Flight . Wish i could do something like that.
Dave G
 
Terry said:
Hi All!

I am planning on flying from Hays, Kansas in October to Salt Lake City, Utah. I want to go in a 182 but may have to go in a 172 or an Archer II.

I need route suggestions. It will be my wife and I. I am IR pilot with around 250 hours.

Any suggestions or comments?

Thanks;

Terry
:dunno:
Click to expand...

Terry, I've not made that flight, but have driven the terrain several times. If I had to make that trip in a normally aspirated plane, like a 172, I'd do it early in the morning on a cool, clear day, and I'd follow I80 from Cheyenne (roughly, V4 on the airways). Keeps you in the lowest passes into the south end of the SLC valley, and you've got I-80 to land on or near if you have a problem.

I'll be interested to see what others who have actual experience say... I reserve the right to change my mind! :)
 
I live in Vernal, UT about half way between Denver and Salt Lake City. Having flown this area a lot if you are into seeing a lot of beautiful country I would suggest Denver, Corona Pass to Kremmling then more or less streight to SLC. Plan to stop about Craig or Hayden, CO that is a nice small airport for fuel, that would be about 400 NM. Pass over DEN in the cool of the morning with a stop in Craig area you will not have a heavy craft crossing over the Rockies. Craig or Hayden will give you plenty of time to cruise climb to cross the Uintah and Wasatch ranges. Or if you stop in Vernal I will buy you lunch. :) If you travel the I-80 route you will get to enjoy a lot of Wyoming desert, I guess that is ok, I just perfer the mountains. If you would like to talk over the route give me a call 435-789-1578 wk or 435-789-3594 hm. Look over a mountian flying book or two if you have not been this way before.
Welcome to the Rocky Mountains.
 
Hey Clark, I've not seen ya post before. Welcome!

Terry, ya might contact the Colorado Pilot's Association. There are a group of folks there who will be a wealth of information to help ya out. You might even consider a day's stop in Denver for some training with an experienced CFI in mountain flying.

When ya do this, be sure the wife/co-pilot is dang busy on the camera with all the pictures you're gonna have to post for us. :)
 
Hey Terry,
You can even stop by Ogden, UT (OGD) about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City and have breakfast or lunch with some of us up here. Welcome to mountain country!:hairraise:
 
HYS-GLD-AKO-(8,500)-CYS (10,600)-MBW (10,000)-CKW-(10,000)-RKS-(10,000)-FBR-(12,000 for 67 nm) SLC yields the lowest MEAs of any route possible. In either of the two latter aircraft, this will be critical.

What time of year?
 
First I recommend you go with the 182, a 172 even with just two people on board is pretty wimpy above 10,000 MSL. That said, on a VFR flight you can make the whole trip at 8000-9000 by flying up to Medicine Bow and following I80 all the way into the Salt Lake Valley. The terrain isn't particularly intimidating either with the possible exception of the Wasatch Range just east of SLC. The freeway cuts through a fairly low pass there but this involves flying towards tall mountains with no obvious visual path because I80 and the canyon it's in twist and turn a lot. This route is easy in good day VMC but don't even thing about trying that at night or if the vis is less than 10 miles.

IFR you'll want to head to Ogden since you'll end up very high (14,000 MSL is what I seem to get) and need most of the valley to get down without nosebleeds.

There's a nice reliever airport called "Salt Lake Muni 2" (U42) or just "Muni 2" for short. It's under the SLC Class B and you can't go straight from where I80 spills into the valley without busting the airspace. Study the Class B chart carefully before going there. The boundaries are aligned with freeways but there are lots of freeways to keep straight.

One other note, if you're adventurous enough to try this under IFR keep in mind that departures from U42 in IMC are problematic, I was stuck there for several hours because SLC approach wouldn't let me into the system.
 
lancefisher said:
. That said, on a VFR flight you can make the whole trip at 8000-9000 by flying up to Medicine Bow and following I80 all the way into the Salt Lake Valley. The terrain isn't particularly intimidating either with the possible exception of the Wasatch Range just east of SLC.
IFR you'll want to head to Ogden since you'll end up very high (14,000 MSL is what I seem to get) and need most of the valley to get down without nosebleeds.
Click to expand...

The Wasatch Range has several canyons that pass through it. The local "normal" GA flying altitude through many of those passes is 7,000msl. This provides plenty of gliding distance to get out of the canyons should you have trouble.:yes:
 
Based on several trips across that route in light plane, I concur with Troy's recommendation of going VFR along I-80, especially this time of year. Due to the combination of high MEA's and icing potential, flying IFR through that area requires more capability than the planes you mentioned unless the weather is good enough for VFR, in which case the I-80 route is both feasible and less demanding.
 
Terry,
Your original post mentioned your trip would be in October. Usually the first half of October is warm, like 60 to 70 F. The last half of October can change rapidly from warm to freezing and back again several times.:dunno:
 
Thanks everyone!

I will post again when I know specific dates.

Terry :)
 
I flew to ID in a Grumman Tiger (180hp) back in October of '04, basically following the I-80 route to near Ft. Bridger, WY where I then turned northwest to Malad VOR to cross the Divide. I could have turned southwest and flown on in to SLC if I had stayed with the interstate into UT. I was following the Victor airways the entire route.

Not much to see west of Cheyenne if you take that route, but I found it still impressive terrain.
 

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