So Cal to NC Best Route of Flight

Rob58

Rob58

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Planning a trip from the LA area in So Cal to North Carolina in mid-May. Not too familiar with the typical weather which might be encountered during this time of year. Any suggestions for the best route? Any areas to stay clear of? Thanks!
 
Which EFB are you using?
 
What are you flying? IFR or VFR?

Generally speaking, from LA you want to have two initial routes planned: one via ABQ and another via ELP. Weather systems at the time of your trip will dictate which route you take. If you go the ABQ route, you can further adjust to go via OKC or down toward DFW and then further east.

As for typical weather, just need to watch for fronts passing through. Start your trip early in the morning on day 1 to get past the afternoon turbulence of the southwest.
 
Thanks for the feedback... this is strictly a VFR trip. Using FlyQ.
 
Tobago TB-10, no speed demon so I am figuring 115 knots. Probably want to stop every 3 hours. There is no time pressure on this trip.
 
Rob58 said:
Tobago TB-10, no speed demon so I am figuring 115 knots. Probably want to stop every 3 hours. There is no time pressure on this trip.
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If it were me (I usually do this trip at least once a year) I'd launch early in the morning and make Sedona my first stop and have breakfast. Then on to Santa Fe for the next stop. From SAF, depending on weather, I'd either head toward the OKC area or down toward Fort Worth and stop there overnight. Where you go from there depends a lot on weather and how far you want to try and get on day 2. Scenery is a lot more boring heading east until you get to the Appalachians.
 
Depends on lots of factors - the HP of your airplane being the primary one. Less than 180 - take the southern route over ELP - then once east of Midland - pick your route.

If you have more than that then the northern route becomes possible - meaning ABQ - DHT then pick one -

Southern route 1st stop is Tucson - northern route you might want to stop at Prescott or St Johns. or Glendale / Goodyear. then ABQ then DHT = be on the ground by 1300 at the latest.
 
I did this on a 150. I did Bakersfield-Tehachapi-Las Vegas-Page-Santa Fe-Lubbock-Little Rock-Memphis-Atlanta. Weather dictated the slight north/south deviations from a direct route.
 
comanchepilot said:
less than 180 - take the southern route over ELP
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How did you derive this piece of wisdom?

When I flew my 170 (145 hp) from San Diego to Virginia, I took the northern route via ABQ. Even crossed the Rockies south of ABQ instead of following I-40. Airplane handled it just fine.
 
Fearless Tower said:
How did you derive this piece of wisdom?

When I flew my 170 (145 hp) from San Diego to Virginia, I took the northern route via ABQ. Even crossed the Rockies south of ABQ instead of following I-40. Airplane handled it just fine.
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Then you did it wrong! :D:):p
 
Be prepared to go southern route V66/V94 if winds are up there are turbulence airmets. It all depends on weather, you can have big storms come up from the south, go north, south if possible or be prepared to fly up the western edge and stop short. It's all about the weather, be flexible.
 
For the OP, as you can see lots of folks have their favorite routes, but the biggest takeaway I hope you get is that you need to have more than one route planned. I do this trip (Virginia to AZ/CA) at least once or twice a year. Every time I prep for the trip, I have 3 routes planned. The route via ABQ is generally my favorite, but I honestly don't know which route I'll go until a day or two before I depart and that is due to weather…..so first rule of coast to coast GA travel is to be flexible.

Another thing to keep in mind is that while lots of folks like to put emphasis on crossing the Rockies, in my experience the biggest driving factor in this trip is what the weather is doing on the east side of the Rockies. That is where the fronts start to get nasty, so always monitor the big picture and not just the weather on the leg immediately ahead of you.
 
Fearless Tower said:
For the OP, as you can see lots of folks have their favorite routes, but the biggest takeaway I hope you get is that you need to have more than one route planned. I do this trip (Virginia to AZ/CA) at least once or twice a year. Every time I prep for the trip, I have 3 routes planned. The route via ABQ is generally my favorite, but I honestly don't know which route I'll go until a day or two before I depart and that is due to weather…..so first rule of coast to coast GA travel is to be flexible.

Another thing to keep in mind is that while lots of folks like to put emphasis on crossing the Rockies, in my experience the biggest driving factor in this trip is what the weather is doing on the east side of the Rockies. That is where the fronts start to get nasty, so always monitor the big picture and not just the weather on the leg immediately ahead of you.
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Interesting perspective. I think folks really talk about how to avoid the Rockies rather than cross them directly. Avoiding central Colorado is a really good idea. Avoiding weather in central Colorado is mandatory for us spam can drivers. Sometimes storm cells can be avoided but terrain and/or equipment and oxygen can make it difficult. On one trip I had the choice of traveling to Denver via Alamosa or parking it...I was in Wyoming so I parked it.
 
Clark1961 said:
Interesting perspective. I think folks really talk about how to avoid the Rockies rather than cross them directly. Avoiding central Colorado is a really good idea. Avoiding weather in central Colorado is mandatory for us spam can drivers. Sometimes storm cells can be avoided but terrain and/or equipment and oxygen can make it difficult. On one trip I had the choice of traveling to Denver via Alamosa or parking it...I was in Wyoming so I parked it.
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To be clear, I'm not trying to trivialize crossing the Rockies. You still need to treat them with respect, and I do agree that there really aren't any routes across central CO in a non-turbo airplane that you can count on.

But most VFR non-turbo pistons can safely make the I-40 route between ABQ and SAF and very rarely have I found weather in that area to be a major deciding factor. At least 80% of the time, it is usually pretty pleasant.

Just saying that in my experience, what happens with the weather between the east side of the Rockies and the Mississippi River seems to be a bigger factor in deciding whether I go via ABQ or ELP.
 
Only premium EFB's like ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot can make the northern ABQ route.

Lesser EFB's will need to go south via ELP.


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Fearless Tower said:
How did you derive this piece of wisdom?

When I flew my 170 (145 hp) from San Diego to Virginia, I took the northern route via ABQ. Even crossed the Rockies south of ABQ instead of following I-40. Airplane handled it just fine.
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Average pilot proficiency in high and hot = we're not all to your level of skill obviously. :D
 
comanchepilot said:
Average pilot proficiency in high and hot = we're not all to your level of skill obviously. :D
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He had ForeFlight and an iPad plus the latest Stratus 2 with AHRS. Worth at least 40HP right there.


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dell30rb said:
He had ForeFlight and an iPad plus the latest Stratus 2 with AHRS. Worth at least 40HP right there.


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And I had a Garmin Aera with XM.....so I guess I was actually over 200 horse!
 
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