US Coast to Coast 2005 Trip Planning

I'm a VFR airplane pilot. I earned my Private Pilot certificate in April 2004. I trained and eventually obtained my FAA licence in the Naples Air Center in Florida. I'm also holder of a JAA (European) Private Pilot Licence.

In March 2005 I plan to rent a non-turbocharged Cessna 172 from Anglo-American Aviation in California, fly to Florida and then back. My wife Marta will be accompaning me. The first part of the trip (West to East) we plan to fly along the southern border of the US, while the return part (East to West) we will fly more northerly route.

I always wanted to do this, however this trip is directly inspired by a friend of mine Filip Zawadiak who actually flew similar route in April 2004.

I estimate that the entire trip will take approximately 20-25 days.

During the flight I plan to use Lowrance Airmap 1000 GPS that I bought last year.

My planned start of the journey (if weather permits) is on the March the 10th.

This is link to the day to day report from this trip.

Route

Below is my initial route plan. I used Jeppesen FliteStar VFR to prepare it. Unfortunately FliteStar does not generate HTML, this part I had to do manually :-(.

It is still preliminary and I expect that it will still change while I fine-tune the planning. On top of that the weather can of course change it completely...

Changes (previous version) that I have applied:

  • Skipped Big Bend National Park
  • Added stop in Houston (Space Center Houston) on the way from Corpus Christi to New Orleans
  • Stop in Pensacola instead of Appalachia
  • Changed airport in Las Vegas from KVGT to KHND

 San Diego,CA to Tucson,AZ (Saguarno National Park)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KSEE KAVQ 304.9 2:53
 Tucson,AZ to Carlsbad,NM (Carlsbad Caverns)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KAVQ KDMN 178.9 1:42
2 KDMN KCNM 197.0 1:51
 Carlsbad,NM to Corpus Christi,TX (Padre Island National Seashore and Kite surfing)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KCNM 27R 206.7 1:55
2 27R KCRP 255.3 2:23
 Corpus Christi,TX to New Orleans,LA (Space Center Houston on the way and New Orleans Jazz)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KCRP T00 200.1 1:52
2 T00 KNEW 290.7 2:42
 New Orleans,LA to Pensacola,FL (National Museum of Naval Aviation)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KNEW 82J 143.4 1:20
 Pensacola,FL to DeLand,FL (visiting relatives)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 82J KCTY 225.2 2:08
2 KCTY KDED 111.4 1:02
 DeLand,FL to Key West,FL
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KDED X51 227.6 2:07
2 X51 KEYW 101.9 0:57
 Key West,FL to Titusville,FL (Kennedy Space Center)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KEYW X21 278.5 2:36
 Titusville,FL to Charleston,SC with stop-over in St.Augustine,FL
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 X21 KSGJ 84.4 0:48
2 KSGJ KJZI 198.0 1:51
 Charleston,SC to Fort Payne,AL (Little River Canyon)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KJZI 4A9 309.1 2:55
 Fort Payne,AL to Hot Springs,AR (Hot Springs)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 4A9 M41 193.0 1:49
2 M41 KHOT 178.4 1:40
 Hot Springs,AR to Clinton,OK
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KHOT KCSM 310.4 2:54
 Clinton,OK to Alamosa,CO (Great Sand Dunes)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KCSM X54 177.1 1:41
2 X54 KALS 290.1 2:48
 Alamosa,CO to Arches (Grand Junction),UT (Arches)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KALS KCNY 311.5 2:58
 Arches (Grand Junction),UT to Bryce Canyon,UT (Bryce Canyon)
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KCNY KBCE 150.3 1:28
 Bryce Canyon,UT to Las Vegas,NV
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KBCE KHND 185.9 1:43
 Las Vegas,NV to San Diego,CA
Leg From To Distance (nm) Duration
1 KHND KSEE 230.5 2:10