If I absolutely had to make it I would fly I-15 to Barstow, Barstow to Bakersfield (fly over the ridge West of Tehachapi) and Bakersfield to Watsonville Via Pacheco Pass. This way you would have highway under you all the way, and no more that 200 miles between fuel stops.
The tough spot is over the ridge west of Tehachapi, this is a dividing line between desert air and coastal climate and is often severely windy and full of downdrafts. This is a morning crossing. Wayne Woollard ----- Original Message ----- From: Ed Burkhead To: 'r80gseric' ; ety Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 3:12 PM Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Cross Country Help Eric, This is certainly tech related! Great question! Before I went mountain flying the first time, I asked lots of people and picked a good book on mountain flying. Based on my minuscule experience and having read one whole book on the subject, I'd make these observations: 1. Make sure you can climb high enough. I had an extreme climb prop, a 7146 McCauley on my C-85 powered Coupe. If your prop is a 7150, you might have enough climb to be adequate if you keep your gross weight low. If you have a 7152 cruise prop, I'd worry that you might not have enough climb even if your gross weight is low. Go fly high and see how your climb is from, say, 8,000' to 12,500. 2a. The book I read said it was important to fly early in the morning. It's cooler so you have much lower density altitude. The thermals don't get going till around 10:30 or so and that's important when the thermal downdrafts can be well over 1,000'fpm. 2b. After one 10:30 takeoff, the downdraft hit me hard about 100' above the runway and I just concentrated on flying level, keeping my airspeed high and looking around for a hot spot. (My theory was that downdrafts can't go THROUGH the ground.) The hot spot a mile or two away supported an updraft of more than 1,000 fpm and I circled up to near cruising altitude. Don't leave the thermal too soon because then you'll be trying to climb in a downdraft - a non-productive thing to do. 3. The book recommended crossing the ridge lines 2,000' above the peaks. That's how I did it and it was smooth, glassy, easy and pleasant. I had enough altitude to have LOTS of choice on where to glide and land should I have lost power. 4. Never fly UP a valley. Valleys climb faster than airplanes. Before you enter the valley, be sure you are at or above the altitude you need to get through it - as long as the wind is behind you. If the wind is in front of you, it might follow the valley floor downward and give you a downdraft you can't out climb. So, especially if it's a headwind try to be way high. 5. Don't mountain fly if the wind is over ?? mph. I seem to remember the book saying 30 mph. Maybe it said 20. Don't trust my memory - check with experts. Note that at dawn, the wind is usually the lightest of the day. 6. Personally, I felt much safer flying along and over, always within gliding distance of those enormous airports known as Interstate Highways. I had to follow primary highways a few times and stayed extra high to maximize my options. 7. In the desert Southwest, the thermals really get going at 10:30 or so, give or take, depending on local conditions. I found it to be VERY UNpleasant to even be in the air after 10:30 due to the 1,000 fpm updrafts and downdrafts. They were so vigorous, I slowed down to 75-80 mph so there could be no g-load that could possibly damage the plane. That low speed also made the ride a wallowing mush that felt way better than hard bumps and bangs. 8. Get to the airport VERY early and try to take off during morning civil twilight or at dawn. This can give you time for two flight legs of utmost smoothness and beauty before the thermals start. Take a siesta somewhere for mid-day or check into the motel and go touristing. If you need to travel fast, then maybe you can get some more miles in the evening even though it may still be pretty bumpy due to thermals. 9a. Based on my experience, if I were in your part of the country I'd see about getting the prop re-twisted (or swapped) to have a climb prop either the normal C-85 Coupe climb prop of 7148 or an extreme climb prop of 7146. Neither give you amazing climb but at least you CAN climb and get out of airports with decent safety. (Heck, I was very pleased with my 7146 here in the flatlands of the Great Plains!) 9b. I've seen Coupes with C-85 and the 7152 cruise prop that couldn't climb OR cruise decently because the engine couldn't spin the prop well enough at their flying gross weight to get them up to decent cruise speeds. These "cruise prop" planes could barely cruise at 90 mph while with my extreme climb prop plane I cruised easily at 100 mph. (A normal climb prop 7148 often gets 104 mph cruise and a 7150 often gets 108 as long as it's not too heavily loaded.) There are some thoughts to contribute to your research. Be it known that my one long trip to the West Coast from Iowa was the best trip of my flying life. Approach it smartly and it can give you the beautiful images you use to go to sleep by, just like my trip did for me. Ed Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com/Ercoupe/index.htm East Peoria, Illinois ed -at- edbur???khead.??com (remove the ? marks and change -at- to @) > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of r80gseric > Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 12:11 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Cross Country Help > > Hello, > > I am moving from Las Vegas, KVGT, to San Jose, California, and will > probably base at Watsonville, California, KWVI. > > Thinking about crossing the Sierras is causing me to sharpen pencils in > my you-know-where. > > Any advice about routes to fly my 415E, c85, cruise prop, while not > purchasing high elevation real estate would really be great. I am a > new pilot and a new 'coupe flyer. > > Has anyone flown the Sierras in Coupes? Any thoughts on mountain > flying? Any know routes? > > Thanks in advance to all on this excellent group. If this is not a > tech related article, sorry in advance. > > Eric Tarbox > mobile email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
