Trip Report: Cross Country Mooney Adventure

[AlexLev]

Just thought I'd use this thread to share updates on a cross country flight I'm taking in the Mooney for the next ten days with my wife. Hope to share any useful information and just share the adventure. Follow along if you'd like or don't :).

The ultimate destination is up in the air, initially it was going to be Mt + Rushmore + Yellowstone from Niagara Falls, NY, but with the weather patterns being what they are, I kinda tossed the plan due to Yellowstone being a mix of snow and rain for the next week.

Day 1: 5/16 evening

KIAG > I48 (fuel stop for cheaper CB fuel) > KOSU (Columbus, Ohio) [approx 2hr 30min, some headwind]

The flight started off with a bit of an issue with an electrical smell that came and went.

My strobes weren't working properly on landing (only have about 5% intensity). I talked to maintenance at KOSU when I landed and they think it might be the strobe box. Luckily, I had scheduled an oil change at KOSU (since I plan to fly for about 30-40 hours on this adventure) so they were at least expecting me for something. The bonus is they put me in a hangar and some nasty thunderstorms came through a few hours after landing. They switched out my Whelen power box (they somehow had one in stock) and my strobes were back up working for the next day and leg of flight and no strange electrical smells, so I think I smelled my strobe power box hitting the fan.

Day 2: 5/17 In Columbus, OH - I had a fun day and ate lunch at Brassica (very delicious spot for fast casual food) and spent the evening at the Sonic Temple Music Festival celebrating my birthday and seeing System of a Down live for the first time. Saw Avatar perform too and they were very good live. The festival was lots of fun and my wife experienced mosh pits breaking out around her for the first time. I'm glad she put up with it :D.

Day 3: 5/18 KOSU > KVLA (CB fuel stop) > KCPS (St Louis) [approx 3hr 15m due to 30+kt headwinds)

Cruised over VFR at 10,500 to KVLA since I didn't want to deal with rerouting and let my wife learn to fly a bit in cruise (she did great with holding heading and learning turns on the way). Lots of buildups and a large wall of t-storms in front, but they should pass quite nicely through the night and leave some nice stable air in their path.

KVLA was a nice small airport with avgas at $4.10 and a stocked fridge with a little pilot-accessible door. It was very quaint with rocking chairs up front and had a courtesy car parked, probably with keys somewhere--but since it was a quick fuel stop, we didn't bother looking for them.

I had my wife pretend she was helping fuel the plane as a photo op (hint: she actually wasn't).

KCPS seemed nice when we landed. They waive the ramp fee with 15 gallons of expensive avgas (but they were kind to make an exception and waive ours with a top off and we took about 10). Overnight parking is $15 and they charge a $7.50 security fee on top of it. They had a rental car on the field which we rented for the day. We did a little flyby of the city before we landed (our first time in St Louis):

We got to St. Louis fairly late, but had an awesome day, which we started by eating a well deserved lunch+dinner at Pappy's Smokehouse (full slab of ribs with added brisket + two sides pictured):

After our dinner, we spent about 3 hours playing at the City Museum, which we thought to be one of the most unique places we've ever ventured in. If you've never been, imagine a maze that you can climb through, slide through and even crawl into old airplane cockpits that are housed on the 8th floor. It brought us back to feeling like we were children (in a good playful sort of way) and we both enjoyed our time there.

We capped off the night with an ice cream cone at Jeni's in St. Louis.

Tomorrow, we think we will fly from KCPS>KHOT to check out the Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas for a few hours before continuing on to Austin, TX (maybe the same day). We've been to a few cities in TX before, but never Austin so we are excited to check it out. Recommendations are welcome!

The rest of the days we don't really have a solid plan and truly are winging this adventure, I do know it would be neat to fly the Mooney to Catalina Island on the west coast so ultimately hoping to make it that far west. Any suggestions, comments, etc. are welcome! If any Mooniacs want to meet up along the way, we are totally open to it!

Edited May 19, 2019 by AlexLev

[Stetson20]

This is the kind of adventure that makes me want another Mooney! Enjoy the trip, and keep posting updates and pics!

[The Other Red Baron]

Depending on what you guys are interested in there is a fair amount to do in Hot Springs. Unfortunately the good BBQ is closed on Sunday.

[Yetti]

austin exec is the place to land.  Tower freq used to be in the notams if not on the AFD.

we did not have a good meal at Stubbs in Austin

There are lots of bbq places.   Depending on timing Hard 8 BBq in Stephenville is still on my list of places to get to.   small towns in texas sometimes don't open on Sunday.

[gsxrpilot]

Let us know when you get to Austin. I can definitely recommend the good BBQ, actually the best Texas BBQ anywhere. And there are lots of other things to do as well.

[Skates97]

Would love to have lunch or dinner if you end up here in Southern California. 

[AlexLev]

3 minutes ago, Skates97 said:

Would love to have lunch or dinner if you end up here in Southern California. 

I'll keep ya posted, not sure what city to fly to after Austin at the moment. Suggestions welcome.

[gsxrpilot]

7 hours ago, AlexLev said:

I'll keep ya posted, not sure what city to fly to after Austin at the moment. Suggestions welcome.

The correct answer here is Lockhart, TX. It's a 10 min flight from Austin and the Capital of Texas BBQ. We'll talk later when you get to Austin.

[carusoam]

Some tough weather crossing the country this week... so keep your eyes open.

Ls and fronts, cause some nasty thunderstorms...

Bryce canyon, Grand Canyon, and that other Canyon look like some interesting places to flight see... stuff I learned about on MS....

 

Now back to the BBQ...   

-a-

[Candy man]

I can’t believe you were in Columbus and didn’t reach out. What’s the point of the map. I would have picked you up at kosu. I might have even bought dinner. Next time don’t hesitate because when I get to Austin or Burning man you better believe I’m calling. 

[skydvrboy]

If I were on this trip, my next stop after Austin would be Carlsbad, NM and tour the caverns there.  If my wife weren't so adventurous, I'd probably stop at Truth or Consequences, NM for a stay at one of their hot springs spas.  Then on to all the big desert sights and Catalina!

[ArtVandelay]

Looks like you could have a tough slog, expect some turbulence.



Tom

[BKlott]

While you’re at Cahokia (KCPS), why not make the short hop to Creve Coeur (1HO) and check out the vintage aircraft in their museum displays? You can get up close and personal with a number of special, old airplanes there. Was there attending the Swift fly-in with my Dad some years ago and it was a great place to visit.

Edited May 20, 2019 by BKlott

[AlexLev]

5 hours ago, Candy man said:

I can’t believe you were in Columbus and didn’t reach out. What’s the point of the map. I would have picked you up at kosu. I might have even bought dinner. Next time don’t hesitate because when I get to Austin or Burning man you better believe I’m calling. 

That's awesome and please do call if you're ever visiting Buffalo, NY or Niagara Falls, NY which is where I am based. Always happy to help out with whatever.

Today was a long day of flying.

Day 4 5/19:
KCPS (St Louis) > KHOT (Hot Springs, Arkansas) (2.55hrs) - Pretty turbulent flight with lots of headwinds. Although, given the weather coming, esp with the 55knot winds over the Rockies, I guess we probably shouldn't even call the bumpiness we experienced turbulence. We started at 4,000 and 40 minutes in couldn't take much more of it and went up to 6,000 to trade comfort for headwinds. Fairly smooth at 6 and a nice flight over.

KHOT was a nice little airport with a crew car and it's only 10 minutes to the National Park from the field.

We took the crew car into town and walked around the bathhouse museum part of the National Park. After the museum, we walked over to touch the hot springs on display and had a quick lunch at the brewery inside the National Park (apparently the only brewery inside a National Park). They brew their beers + root beer with the water from the hot springs, which was pretty cool. I don't drink, so I didn't try the beer, but the root beer was tasty and the sandwich and salad were both good.

We were able to accomplish this all in 2 hours and then run back to the airport to fly our next leg:

KHOT > KEDC (Austin, TX) (2.75hrs): Landed right as the sun set. Didn't have reservations for anything. Oops. Decided to try Turo for the first time (it's like Airbnb for cars) and found a Porsche Boxster for about $80 for a day. Decided to give it a try. Never driven a Porsche before. The logistics were a little messy. Took the crewcar to the guys house (about a 15 minute drive from the airport) to pick up the car and wife then drove the crew car back. Get to drive a cool car though so it's worth it. It's fast and sits low just like the Mooney. Wife even commented that it feels similar to a Mooney.

We got to our hotel (we booked all of our lodging on credit card points for this trip. when that runs out, we will start airbnbing/couchsurfing/hosteling/staying with friends) pretty late and neither of us really felt too up for experiencing Austin music nightlife after a full day of traveling. Just taking it easy to catch up on a few things in A/C comfort (it's hot!). We will adventure around Austin a bit tomorrow. Not sure yet what the plan will be moving forward. Looks like weather might be challenging with some of the lows and fronts.

Not sure if continuing on to cross the rockies will make the most sense given some of the time constraints and need to be back by Memorial Day, but will dig deeper into some of the systems and think about what may work.

(lot of hot sun beating down on the flight to Texas at 4,500ft)

Edited May 20, 2019 by AlexLev

[Stetson20]

We crossed paths! I overnighted in Buffalo Friday night. 

[steingar]

Glad you liked the concert.  I didn't, all that traffic.  That said, I could hear some of it from my house.  

[Bryan]

On 5/19/2019 at 12:29 AM, revwatch said:

Depending on what you guys are interested in there is a fair amount to do in Hot Springs. Unfortunately the good BBQ is closed on Sunday.

McClard's!  Need to make a quick trip down there for lunch one day.

[AlexLev]

Day 5: 5/20 Austin

We stayed put in Austin for the entire day. Unfortunately, we didn't get to experience a whole heck of a lot of the city, its people or its culture--we spent some time walking around downtown in the afternoon and toured the State Capitol. Afterward, we had a very nice filling lunch at Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill. We thought we'd take a short nap after lunch, but dozed off for like 3 hours. Woke up at 8:30pm and didn't feel like going out, so just stayed in. Neither of us drink so we weren't super motivated to go check out the music scene and ultimately just spent some time recuperating.

Day 6: 5/21 - Wiiindy flight!

Lot of flying done today. Had a 40 knot headwind pretty much the entire way. Majority of the flight had at least moderate turbulence with some parts being moderate turbulence with a +/- 1,500ft mountain wave aspect to it. I was on an IFR flight plan, but completely VFR and asked ATC for a block altitude of 9-12,000 ft for the last leg. 

Departed Austin 10:30am:
KEDC > 27R (Eldorado, TX) (1.75hr): Fuel/bathroom stop. Very nice little small town airport. Huge cross wind on landing, pretty much at all the 3 stops I pulled off today had a 25+ kt cross wind, but Mooney handled it well. Didn't venture into town, but the airport had a courtesy car and $3.95 per gallon avgas. Not attended when we landed around noon.

27R > KPEQ (Pecos, TX) (1.5hr): This was another little rest stop and lunch break. The flightaware description for the FBO entices you with "world famous burritos," and the best burritos ever. I'll tell you - it wasn't what we were expecting. Frozen burritos to be microwaved and you donate whatever $$ you want. Guess what though? They were AMAZING! The most incredible frozen burritos I've eaten :). A King Air came in front of me and I had a nice chat with the fellow pilot, who was a retired airline captain. Just trying to learn all I can about mountain flying before crossing into higher elevation. Even though winds were gusting to over 30, I decided to continue to destination (at my home airport I often have to contend with high winds and G30/G35, because hey it's Buffalo). I thought to be a little more cautious with the mountains around and was ready to turn back and had a few alternates in mind if need be.

KPEQ > KTCS (Truth or Consequences, Mexico): 2.55hrs
Oh boy. Had a block altitude of 9-12,000 and needed it for some of the flight. Very bumpy. Airspeed all over the place. All in all, the Mooney did well though.

Was happy to finally land:

Another 30knot cross wind landing with wind 230-250 25G32, landing runway 31. I chose it since it was the longest and the other were gravel (although in retrospect, that gravel looked fine, I just never landed the Mooney on it before so I wanted to keep what was comfortable). Touch down was fairly smooth but required tons of control input and throttle jockying on short final. 

So now we are here, but sort of stranded. No airport manager, crew car isn't allowed to be taken overnight...and we didn't make too many arrangements. I called one of the resorts and they thought they would send a ride, but they didn't when I called them after we arrived.

About 45 minutes in, the airport manager gives us the phone number of an awesome woman who has a ride service and took us into town for like 6 bucks. We booked a fantastic Airbnb where we really got to relax. Rather than the hot springs resorts, this Airbnb also has an outside hot springs and is just very quaint and unique:

Had a really nice and relaxing evening soaking in the mineral baths and enjoying the quiet town. Highly recommend checking it out. Definitely worth a trip out to KTCS!

[carusoam]

Alex,

it looks like you got a good work out!

won’t need to use the gym for another week.

be safe,

-a-

[nels]

Looks like you’re making lots of memories! Is that wind typical in that area?

[kpaul]

1 hour ago, nels said:

Looks like you’re making lots of memories! Is that wind typical in that area?

Yes!  I lived in NE New Mexico for 4 years.  If the wind was less than 15kts we all considered it "calm."

[AlexLev]

Short update:

Day 7: 5/22 KTCS > KDVT (Phoenix, AZ) (3.5hours)

Finally got a 6am departure in and flew to Phoenix. Climbing out of TCS was smooth, but I hit a downdraft of a 500fpm near some high terrain and had to fly south. That was a little disconcerting, my CHTs just kept going up and I couldn't climb. Aside from that short part in the beginning, the flight to Phoenix was fairly smooth, although the headwinds were still strong. Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix is a busy-busy-busy GA/student training center. I've never quite experienced something like that. The airport is also a bit confusing if you don't know what to do, like myself. I chose the self-serve pump which has fuel at more than a dollar cheaper than Cutler, the FBO. It's all self-serve. I figured I'd just park it at the ramp next to the self-serve pumps, but it turns out that's for hangar tenants. After you fill up, you're supposed to call ground and taxi back next to terminal building. The yellow tie down spots right across from the Terminal building are free overnight transient parking provided by the city of Phoenix (sweet!).

Getting the aircraft secured took some time because of the confusion. There's a neat little breakfast diner on site. We had some friends meet us there who were coincidentally in town from work and afterward went to the Dessert Botanical Gardens and had a nice time walking around. In the evening, I checked out Scottsdale with these friends and had a nice evening/dinner.


At this point in the trip, my wife was getting a little worn down from all the travel. She chose to ride in the Mooney backseat, rather than front for the next leg and I think it definitely eased it up a bit.

Day 8: 5/23 KDVT > KUDD (Palm Springs, CA - or Bermuda Dunes, CA Airport more GA friendly) (2hr)
A nice short IFR flight, no crazy headwinds and just generally pleasant and relaxed. We had a car waiting for us on the field and they met us on the ramp. Everyone at the airport was super nice. Our first stop was at one of the top rated spots on Yelp to eat in the entire country. It's only a ten minute drive from the airport. Their sandwich did not disappoint at all: 

It's called TKB. I highly recommend it. Pictured above half(!) of their hot "Sadda-Mizer" sandwich. It is delicious.
 
We are staying at a nice little resort inside Palm Springs, CA and just lounging it before starting our journey back east tomorrow (not going to go to Catalina/further west due to time constraints). It's definitely a beautiful little town and we're glad we are here.

The plan tomorrow is to fly North, transit over the grand canyon following the special rules procedures and through Colorado up to North Dakota, basically doing something like this: KUDD VPGCF VPGCG KPGA HVE KRAP

If anyone has experience/advice with this route - do advise. I have never flown over Colorado before, but this route seems to keep all the terrain below 10,000ft. I plan to stay at 11.5-12, maybe up to 13 at times. The winds seem to be around 30knots at 12,000ft tomorrow, unless further northwest, which they then do peak up to about 40knots at 12K.

If you've followed along so far on the journey - thank you!

Edited May 24, 2019 by AlexLev

[gsxrpilot]

I might make one small change in your route and that is instead of HVE over fly OAB instead or maybe even land at KCNY. You're going right by it, you might as well overfly Canyonlands, Moab, and Arches National Parks.

Back at Christmas time we flew KFLG to KCNY via the Grand Canyon corridor as well. That, plus Glen Canyon dam, Horseshoe Bend, Canyonlands, are spectacular from the air. All of it!

 

[AlexLev]

1 hour ago, gsxrpilot said:

I might make one small change in your route and that is instead of HVE over fly OAB instead or maybe even land at KCNY. You're going right by it, you might as well overfly Canyonlands, Moab, and Arches National Parks.

Back at Christmas time we flew KFLG to KCNY via the Grand Canyon corridor as well. That, plus Glen Canyon dam, Horseshoe Bend, Canyonlands, are spectacular from the air. All of it!

 

Thanks for the suggestion! Will consider it. I'll see if weather lets me fly north tomorrow or if I'm going to be going way south again for the way back.

[ArtVandelay]

I did GC in relatively light winds and by the end of my flight (11:00am), it started to get bumpy. I hope you’re going early.


Tom