New adventure tomorrow

[moodychief]

Tomorrow I will be flying to El Paso and Arizona in my C model. These will be the highest elevation airports I have ever flown into. It also will be the farthest west I have flown. I am looking forward to this new adventure.

Does anyone have any tips for departing El Paso airspace, climbing and departing to the west to Arizona? Should I file IFR or VFR?

[201er]

Stay VFR. Bring a can of air if you can. Have fun!

 

[The-sky-captain]

I'd go VFR out of there as well. Beautiful country, have a great trip. The highest I've flown out of was around 7000' fully loaded but leaned correctly it's not an issue. I'm sure you know, but the earlier the better down in that area as it gets bumpy later in the day.

[N201MKTurbo]

Where are you going in Arizona? Where are you landing in El Paso?

[carqwik]

Fly as early as possible in the morning...it gets bumpy by 9AM or so in the desert southwest this time of year due to thermals.  VFR is easy.  Just look out for the aerostat in New Mexico....its location is depicted on the charts and it's easily seen from the air..

 

If you are flying into the Phoenix area, get flight following.  The Class B is kind of tricky with some weird shelfs.

[Jeev]

I just diverted through El Paso due to TStorms on Saturday on my way from Vegas to Tampa in my J. I would recommend a stop just west of El Paso at 5T6 Doña Ana airport. Fuel was 5.50 and the staff and facilities were nice. I would definitely go VFR, transition of the Charlie should be no issue. There is a fire and TFR just south of Flagstaff that you should watch out for, when I flew through the area on Saturday I had to go up to 13,500 to get over the smoke but I drove through the area today and it looked clear. If you have O2 bring it it is nice to get up high to avoid the nasty bumps you get in the afternoon around here. Have fun!!!

[MB65E]

+2 5T6!! Stay over I10 when able. Watch some of the restricted areas. PHX approach has gotten really good with Bravo clearances...

Have a lot of water with you. o2 is nice but not required. Water over o2.

After ELP, the air is usually constant until Blythe. Constantly bumpy or constantly smooth.

Have fun!

-Matt

[mooney389]

Customs and Border Patrol probably won't surprise you if you file IFR.

[RocketAviator]

Late but definitely 5T6 of course that is where I'm based Genes has lower cost fuel but just a hanger and restrooms. .

What brings you to El Paso? Let me know if you need anything while your here my home 5 min from 5T6. Fly high several restricted areas between ELP & PHX, also TFR near border where theathered ball on just south west of Deming NM.

[yvesg]

Tomorrow I will be flying to El Paso and Arizona in my C model. These will be the highest elevation airports I have ever flown into. It also will be the farthest west I have flown. I am looking forward to this new adventure.

Does anyone have any tips for departing El Paso airspace, climbing and departing to the west to Arizona? Should I file IFR or VFR?

I did that flight in my C last winter after a very nice evening with Lacee and Billie. My first leg from El Paso to Phoenix was IFR and I did continue to L.A. with flight following VFR after a fuel stop. Have not seen any difference beyween the two.

Yves

[moodychief]

This is a quick trip. i will be attending a retirement party in El Paso and thought I would buzz over to see my aunt and Uncle in Willcox, AZ since I would be so close. During my initial planning I was going to fly into Horizon since it was closest to my friends house. Much to my surprise, Horizon closed in April. I was told some real estate developer has taken it over to develop after the owner died.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I was reading them on my stops.

Left out of Arkansas early in the morning with misty rain and 600-800 ft ceilings. Climbed to 12,000 feet for the trip to Abilene, Tx. Fort Worth approach gave us a routing change to keep us further north of the approach gates for DFW. The clouds didn't clear out until 25 minutes from Abilene. Abilene to El Paso was noneventful and pretty smooth until we got within 2,000 feet of traffic pattern. Left out of El Paso by myself in the heat of the afternoon. Density altitude was 7,900 feet. Initial climb was pretty anemic but after getting a little altitude, I put my glider skills to work maximizing the energy of the thermals. The ride to Willcox was just that...a real ride!!! A couple of times the thermals were so strong I had a closed throttle, pushing nose down and was still climbing 400 fpm!! My biggest concern was to make sure I didn't cross into Mexican airspace on the initial leg out of El Paso.

Even though I drank a lot of water while flying, I still felt slightly dehydrated upon reaching Arizona.

I file IFR on all of my flights because I enjoy being in the system and having an extra set of eyes to alert me on traffic. I am heading back to El Paso today and on to Arkansas tomorrow. A quick trip with lots of flying!

I have been burning around 9 GPH. Full throttle and 2400 rpms. What would have been a 15-16 hour trip to El Paso in a car we did in 6 1/2 hours (including time on ground for fuel stop) on 54 gallons of fuel.

[RocketAviator]

Good to hear all went well. Let me know if you need anything on your return stop. Sorry I never gave any thought to Horizon, the family that owns it is trying to sell it but I don't think it has sold as yet, could be wrong. My plant is very near and we have a storage lot across the main street.

Take care, fly safe going to be a hot one again today.

I may pop over to Amarillo and back this afternoon. About a 2 15 min flight for me no wind.

[moodychief]

The flight back was good. We left at 6:30 am to get ahead of the heat and arrived home around 1:45 pm with one fuel stop. El Paso was forecasted for 106 yesterday. It was pretty hazy when we took off as the visibility was only 30 miles!

My biggest concern during the whole trip was not to get into Mexico airspace when traveling the victor airway to/from Columbus to/from El Paso.

As a side note, my uncle (lives in Az) used to fly and told me how claustrophobic he felt the first time he flew east and the visibilities were only 10 miles. He said he couldn't see anything until he was right on top of it.

By the way, Cutter Aviation gives a 60 cent per gallon discount on the weekends. That put the fuel at $5.91 per gallon which was a nice surprise.