First Leg: from Palo Alto (KPAO) to Sedona (KSEZ)

(Sorry for the delay in posting; the internet connection is not very good)

Hello again!

First of all, Thank You to all for a very warm welcome to this adventure/blog. This is very encouraging. You guys are great!

Today was the first leg. It started early in the morning in Palo Alto (KPAO). Maite and Julia had to wake up earlier than usual to bring me from Belmont to the airport. The day started nice and sunny.
Here is a picture of the airplane that I had already loaded and prepared the night before.

Some pictures along the way

Ponds with water-ski jumps and a circular field in the middle of the desert.

Typical geometrical perfectly aligned roads.

I refueled about mid way at the General Fox airport (KWJF) and then continued to Sedona, AZ (KSEZ).

The second part from Fox to Sedona happened at higher altitude and it was also more bumpy. At some moments I was flying at 10,000 ft. Very nice high desert scenary.  Flight following lost track of me on couple of occasions, probably because for their standards Cessnas 172's still fly too low.

Beautiful Canyon views in Arizona.

This is leaving California and entering Arizona. The Colorado river is the border between the two. Much more tamed at this stage.

Identifying the red stone and dirt country typical of Sedona. Almost there!

The airplane at Sedona after landing on runway 21. This one is not preferred since it is donwnhill, but the strong wind aligned with runway 21 was convincing enough. Spectacular airport on top of a mesa.

Overall it was a very good start with minor issues with the iPad power supply, which I use for navigation. The airplane GPS was my backup. Also the day that started sunny ended covered and windy in Sedona, but was not terrible. See the tracks I flew today:

First part from Palo Alto to Fox

 The second part, between Fox and Sedona is truncated in 2 tracks due to solar power supply problems with the iPad.

That's all for today! It was not bad at all for a Thursday.

Totals for this leg:

• ~580 nm
• ~5h 44min

(Keeping and updating blogs is more work than I thought!) :-)

Planning & Preparation I

Hi there!

This is me; Eduair. Ready for my next adventure.

Preparing all you need when you plan to fly coast to coast with a small airplane is no easy task. I decided to start by getting a full US aeronautical map and began tracing my routes, seizing the magnitude of the trip, letting my imagination fly and most importantly start owning the new adventure.

• Starting Airport: KPAO, Palo Alto, California

Together with San Carlos (KSQL) my home airports in the Bay Area at West Valley Flying Club

• Destination Airport: KFFA, First Flight Airport, North Carolina

Airport right next to where the Wright brothers did their first flights in the sand dunes of the Outer Banks

...and then back to Palo Alto!

Let's start with some facts and numbers:

Airplane: a Cessna 172SP with tail number N669TW from the WVFC.

-Has a 180 HP engine

-Weights about 1700 LBS (~772 Kg)

-About 36 feet wingspan (~11 meters)

-Max speed 126 knots (1 knot = 1 nautical mile per hour) (233 Km/h)

-Average cruising speed of 100-110 knots

-Can take up to 53 usable gallons of aviation fuel

-Range of about 500-600 nautical miles / 4-6 hours

-Coast to coast distance (KPAO-KFFA): About 2,503 nautical miles (~2,878 miles or 4,632 Km)

-Flying time: Around 25 hours each way at about 100 knots (Not counting detours for weather or flying closer to land routes, or other distractions...)

Planned Routes:

A southern route for the trip East and a more northerly route for the return trip. As usual these are only intended planned routes. Depending on weather conditions and other factors these will surely change...

It will be interesting to see what will the actual legs be. Foreflight can record tracks as you fly so I should be able to compare at the end.

The Wright brothers gliding over the sand dunes at Kitty Hawk, 1902

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