East Coaster looking for MTN flying tips

[J0nathan225]

Looking for help, tips, tricks, and recommendations to tackle a Washington state to L.A (Lower Alabama) flight in a M20E.  I've only flown MTs in Afghanistan and for HAATS in Eagle CO a few years ago, all rotary though and certainly not in a mooney. 

Right now my route planning is to fly nearly due East from KBLI (50 NM south of the Canadian border) until KGPI then KLWT - KBYG - 82V - KCOS.  This is my day one tentative trip "best case plan" with the possibility to remain over night in KBYG if needed or really anywhere else, if needed.  The plane is Stec 30, GTN650, adsb in/out, and O2 equipped. 

Looking to execute 28Aug-2Sep. Please let me know if anyone has some thoughts on getting over the Rockies. I'm planning to stay VFR as much as possible, going through a small layer to be higher is just about all the IMC I want with this new to me plane. 

Obligatory photos of my "new" bird coming tomorrow!

[flight2000]

This is a great place to start:

 

I flew my 67E out of Reno for about 15 months and had a blast doing it.  My routes back east involved going Reno to Salt Lake City then through Wyoming basically following I-80.  Fly early in the morning to avoid the thermals and bumps until you are clear into Nebraska or heading across eastern Colorado.  Furthest north I ever got was Yellowstone, so not familiar with flying up there unfortunately. 

The M20E did fine, all the way up to 14,500 which is where I stopped.  Didn't have a reason to go any higher, but I'm sure she'd have climbed all the way up to the service ceiling if I asked her to...

Cheers,

Brian

[McMooney]

personally, i'd fly to khnd have a beer or 6 then the next day fly over phoenix, kelp to alabama.

quick look at the map  terrain isn't over 9k,  looks like you can fly directly to kbil then direct to alabama; E has no problems getting up there when necessary.

maybe stop for fuel in Helena.

I might take just that route in my E at the end of sept.

[KSMooniac]

I'm too lazy to decode your route but going due east to start will make it simple/easy as you'll avoid the really tall stuff.

I've flown to/over/thru CO in my J numerous times, up to 17.5k on oxygen. It takes a while to get there. Your E will be similar, and you won't need to get that high staying north until you're east of the Rockies. Go high if there is a nice tailwind to catch. Last summer we flew to the Olympic Peninsula west of Seattle more or less direct from Wichita without issue. I think we went up to 14.5 for a while going west.

If you fly passes thru anything tall, look for wind reports in the passes, winds aloft, PIREPS, etc and reconsider if they're 15-20+ knots as you might find downdrafts that exceed the climb capability of your E. Flying earlier in the day is likely smoother than afternoon heat, but I usually just keep flying unless there is active convective weather. This time of year there will almost always be cumulus building and wicked turbulence near Denver and COS in the afternoon, so you might try to time it to arrive in the evening. We flew into Denver in May about 4:00 PM and it experienced awfully violent turbulence. Had to reduce speed, wife asked if we were gonna die, etc. (Reply was no, but this is why I wanted to leave 2 hours earlier!)

Enjoy! It is beautiful and a fun trip. Don't forget some survival gear/water/food. You'll be a long way from anyone over much of the route.

Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

[carusoam]

See if this helps...

Denver always seemed pretty far west. Until today... 

Best regards,

-a-

 

[KSMooniac]

Doesn't look like mountain flying. . Should be a stunning experience though! I'd still try to time it to arrive KCOS in the evening instead of afternoon.

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[Bob_Belville]

Hi Jon, welcome back to Mooney ownership! I just returned from a tour of the West post AirVenture. From WA I guess I'd recommend staying north until you're east of the Rockies. Either across ID, MT or as I did slide down to South Idaho and Logan UT and then east through southern WY to Scottsbluff Nebraska (Interstate 80) then direct. On that route you won't need O2 with only a brief need to go to 11,500. 

Here's what I did (though I flew up to Yellowstone for a couple of days between the Rockies crossing and the leg to Walla Walla.) 

   

[skydvrboy]

14 hours ago, J0nathan225 said:

Right now my route planning is to fly nearly due East from KBLI (50 NM south of the Canadian border) until KGPI then KLWT - KBYG - 82V - KCOS.

Is there a reason you picked this route other than staying over lower terrain?  Sightseeing, stay friends & family, etc.?  If not, by the time you're much past Glacier, you're out of the mountains.  Fly home direct after that.  Spend the night at KCUT, it's beautiful.

If I were flying it, I'd want to do some flight seeing along the way and would definitely fly over Yellowstone on my way to KCOS (I have family to stay with there).  I'd also recommend when you are in the mountains to ignore the magenta line and fly the route IFRR.  As in, I Follow Rivers and Roads.  Going just a bit out of your way to stay over rivers and roads keeps you over lower terrain and ensures emergency landing options.  Also, when you are over a valley, be mindful of the wind direction.  You want to fly on the downwind side of the valley, not over the center.  This keeps you in the updrafts and shortens your turning radius if you find yourself boxed in.

Finally, make sure you check out Bob's thread referenced above, there are a lot of great information and resources linked in that thread.

[Hank]

I can't help you get over the mountains east of where you are, but I can verify there's no trouble reaching here from KBIL, even in a C. When I went there, I was based in WV, but just went ~20nm east of BIL then turned direct on course. I've seen northern routes described that will dump you out near BIL. Or go south and cross through ABQ and ELP.

It seems to me that KCOS is quite a detour, and besides the additional flying time it will bring some rocky challenges. Just avoid the cumulogranite and you'll be OK.

[PaulM]

About 20 years ago my family flew eastbound from KBLI  - KSFF -KLWT in a M20J.. the cascades and the rockies south-east of Klamath falls are no problem. 

We went from KSFF to the south of flathead lake.. and from there followed the valley to Rodger's pass.  10K cruise is well above the terrain, no oxygen required. 

Two  years ago we came straight over glacier to KGPI at 12K in the bravo.  From there to KFHR right over the top. 

Edited August 13, 2019 by PaulM

[gsxrpilot]

I've done this route in an M20C.  It was easy, all under 12,500. No O2.

Full disclosure by KCOE I was thinking of selling the C and upgrading. By KWYS I'd convinced my wife that we should sell the C. And by KOMA it was sold. Then we went and bought a 252.

 

[thinwing]

On 8/12/2019 at 5:10 PM, J0nathan225 said:

Looking for help, tips, tricks, and recommendations to tackle a Washington state to L.A (Lower Alabama) flight in a M20E.  I've only flown MTs in Afghanistan and for HAATS in Eagle CO a few years ago, all rotary though and certainly not in a mooney. 

Right now my route planning is to fly nearly due East from KBLI (50 NM south of the Canadian border) until KGPI then KLWT - KBYG - 82V - KCOS.  This is my day one tentative trip "best case plan" with the possibility to remain over night in KBYG if needed or really anywhere else, if needed.  The plane is Stec 30, GTN650, adsb in/out, and O2 equipped. 

Looking to execute 28Aug-2Sep. Please let me know if anyone has some thoughts on getting over the Rockies. I'm planning to stay VFR as much as possible, going through a small layer to be higher is just about all the IMC I want with this new to me plane. 

Obligatory photos of my "new" bird coming tomorrow!

Hi I’ve flown the reverse of that route...direct to glacier intl is fine...but I would head due east to be out of the Rockies sooner...the rest of your way points are not in a direct route to Mobile ??...and takes you South thru t storm alley...

[J0nathan225]

1 hour ago, thinwing said:

Hi I’ve flown the reverse of that route...direct to glacier intl is fine...but I would head due east to be out of the Rockies sooner...the rest of your way points are not in a direct route to Mobile ??...and takes you South thru t storm alley...

Was planning to visit my sister in Colorado Springs. If weather is GREAT I wouldn't mins going to Yellowstone and get some better MT views. 

[flight2000]

Shoot, fly over the Great Salt Lake to get some really weird views and colors coming off the lake.  Lot's of cool stuff to see out west.  

Cheers,

Brian

 

 

[tgardnerh]

It's worth spending the $12.95 for a pulse oximeter (amazon link).  Many people find that they feel cognitive effects of hypoxia well before the FAA required level, and a pulse-ox is a cheap way to monitor yourself. I never let myself get below 93% saturation while flying, which means I'm on oxygen usually at about 5k, and always by 7k.  

Maybe this is a conservative way of flying, but oxygen is cheap, there's no really good way to judge how impaired you are, and we have no clue what fraction of bone headed accidents at elevation would have been avoided if the pilot was thinking a bit more clearly because they had oxygen on.

[chrisk]

I recently did some of your proposed route.  https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N9821P/history/20190817/1701Z/KGPI/KIDA 

Given good weather, I would have preferred to go east right out of KGPI, crossed the Rockies, and headed south to KCOS.   My route was weather based, and was way more  work than it should have been.   Ice predictions at MEAs to the east, storms to the east, storms at KCOS, crazy turbulence in western WY.

Of worthy note,  KCOS is a good night time airport. Its quite long and there are not terrain issues to the east.    The  FBOs are very good and I believe the Jet Center is open all night (but you should double check).