I agree with Ed's comments and would add a couple of thoughts. Learn
what a
lenticular cloud looks like and avoid them...it is rough enough to
destroy your
plane under some of them.
Agree with following the highways as highways usually follow lower
altitude
routes and don't underestimate how easy it is to get lost (many of
the valleys
look the same til you get to the end of the wrong one!)
Thermals can be your best friend getting up to cruising altitude.
I've not flown
my coupe in the mountains; but since the thermals would carry my
Cherokee
6, I suspect they will do a good job with a coupe.
Cross the ridges at 45 degrees.
Dan Caliendo
Ercoupe Mach 0.14
3658H
On Aug 8, 2008, at 5:12 PM, Ed Burkhead wrote:
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:ercoupe-
[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]
>
>
> ------------------------------------
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>
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