Weekend Off at Nevada

The hardest part of the trip was over we had made it to Las Vegas on time and with both aircraft working properly. No failures or unpleasant surprises took place and the Westbound leg of the journey had just gone perfect. After such an arrival to the "Sin City" (please refer to the previous post) we were of to a car rental to get a transportation for the next 2 days. It was a well deserved stop on the flying trip and we had a full agenda.

As we got to Hertz and since we were 5 guys with lots of bags we decided to get a big vehicle to cope with the requirements and after a long talk with the lady on the counter we settled on the Cadillac Escalade, the top american SUV. We jumped inside the Escalade and once aboard we set sail to the Cesar's Palace where we had a room waiting for us. As we drove up the Las Vegas Strip we were dazzled by all the light and glitz. We arrived on a Thursday and on Thanksgiving so our expectations were quite low, but we soon understood that the city never sleeps and there really is no difference between day and night, weekdays or weekends.

Once on the Ceasars Palace, our hotel for the nice we were given a suite instead of two separate rooms. So you have an idea, the suite they gave us had 4 bathrooms, 4 entrances, a piano, 1 roman statue, a bar and 2 floors! How nice is that?!

Ceasars Palace Casino & Hotel.

To enjoy the most of Las Vegas we had a quick snack decided to go out and stroll around "The Strip" going to the main casinos and points of interest. The most relevant places were the Bellagio (where we saw the well known water display) and the New York-New York Hotel & Casino where we rode the amazing Roller Coaster which is right outside and around the casino, with the city as scenery. To make things even nicer, this was done by night, which made the ride much more interesting.

After the nice tour it was time to hit the Ceasars' gambling rooms and do what one goes to Vegas for. We got back to the room at 4 in the morning after playing roulette, video poker, etc. and in fact we all made a few shy dollars.

On the next day we moved to the MGM Grand to know another hotel and experience a different atmosphere. Once we checked in we hit the streets once again and went straight to the Stratosphere and its well known attractions and views. We got over to the top and rode the 4 great rides they have there, at 350 meters above Las Vegas. To know more about the rides check out this link.

As the night came we went to The Venetian for dinner and then again back to gambling and night fun, this time at the MGM. I might had that the MGM is not as nice as the Ceasars Palace or the Bellagio but one can still have lots of fun and the next morning's breakfast was quite nice and really worth the money! En route to the airport we were still able to visit the famous "Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

MGM Grand Casino & Hotel.

The Team at Las Vegas Sign.

We got our things together and started our planning for the next leg of the trip, this time we would start moving East back to our home in Florida but first would spend a night in Mesa, close to Phoenix, where we had plans to visit a friend.

Planes loaded, refueled and planning done we decided to get on our way as we had a few hours ahead and the weather during the flight was not all CAVOK (Ceiling and Visibility OK) and Sky Clear. As the Cessnas departed Southbound leaving Las Vegas behind the rain and high terrain came to increase the pilots' workload. Although the departure was under the hood (using the planes' instruments) after an hour or so under moderate rain and across high terrain we got past the clouds and bad weather into a nice, clear sky over Arizona. The team made a nice landing in Falcon Field right at dinner time and after leaving all our bags at the hotel there was only time to have dinner and go grab a beer (or two) at a nice local bar, full of nice young people, music and with a great atmosphere.

This would close the Las Vegas chapter but would certainly bring much more adventures on what we thought would be an easy ride back home.

Falcon Executive Aviation FBO on the day of our departure.

Arriving in Las Vegas

I know I've been failing on the blog and on you my dead readers but I must tell you I've been pretty busy since I've arrived in Portugal around a month ago. Only now things are getting on tracks and I'm getting back to my regular day by day routine and I shall now continue where I've stopped!

Since I've not yet posted my video regarding the arrival to Las Vegas I've decided to do it now on this shorter post, while I prepare the photos to include on the next posts.

Hope you all enjoy it, this is a video of a visual approach and landing at Las Vegas' runway 19R, for a better description please refer to the previous post.

Soaring over the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas

The guys together for a group picture at Sedona.

This was the day! We were at Sedona during a beautiful fall morning with clear skies and that warm sun radiating with a cold morning breeze. We loaded the planes and made the general checks and once again studied the route for the day! The flight was to be full of eye candies, 100% scenic, starting with arizona's Mesas and valleys transitioning to the overwhelming views of the Grand Canyon and ending with Las Vegas' lights and glitz.

We did a quick review of the route to be flown and settled on a place for a pit stop to refuel. That place selected was H. A. Clark Memorial Field (KCMR), just 45 minutes away from Sedona at an elevation of 6680 feet (2000 meters) above mean sea level. We decided to take it low and slow, flying together from take-off to landing and without controllers nagging us with route constraints and altitude limitations. In a matter of minutes the run up was made, mixture was adjusted for the high altitude take-off and we lined up at the right side of the runway, followed the the other Cessna lining up behind to the left. A static take-off was done and as we lifted off we kept our rate of climb to a minimum gaining speed while still flying relatively low and enjoying one last view of the airport's Mesa. With maximum elevation figures higher than 9000 feet we decided to maintain 8500 feet and dodge the terrain enjoying the views and the great colours at a low altitude. As we got close to the pit stop we overflew the airport checking the wind conditions at 1500 feet above the field and joining the pattern for the runway in use while our "wingman" followed us behind.

Flying low at the leader's 4 o'clock.

After doing a landing together we refueled and got on the phone with Las Vegas to prepare our arrival to the airport and transportation to the hotel.

In less than an hour we were once again soaring, now at 10500 feet which would be the minimum altitude available to cross the Grand Canyon on a scenic flight.

One of those perfect pictures that just make the day!

Pit Stop for some fuel and planing to Vegas.

Billy doing some planning on his improvised navigation table.

In order for you guys to understand it let me put it this way, nowadays due to the excessive traffic flying over and along the Grand Canyon in Air Tours or just for fun the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has decided to lay out some rules and create some preferential flying routes around the place. This has allowed to keep traffic organized and protect all the wildlife and nature around the park, which suffered due to the low level aircraft. So you readers have an idea, the Canyon is one of the busiest places to fly in the USA during the high season. Lucky us, we flew there during the low season and on Thanksgiving, so guess what, no one was flying there!

The view from our right window, while flying across the Canyon.

There are a few corridors going across the Canyon in different directions and altitudes. The Air Tour guys can always go lower, the general aviation goes higher. We decided to fly the corridors, first heading from South to North and then, proceeding North to South, while moving West. For those who know the place and the rules we flew first the "Dragon Corridor" and then the "Fossil Canyon Corridor". All the journey was done at 10500 feet and 11500 feet (3500 meters), with the scenery 3000 feet (915 meters) below. After crossing the designated routes we flew West descending inbound Las Vegas while the sun was fading ahead of us.

The routing we did.(This does not accurately depicts the corridors, it is simplified for better understanding)

The Canyon tour is better describer by photos, other than words. Please enjoy and bear in mind this is only a selection of a much wider, much bigger, collection!

Patches of snow could already be seen in higher terrain.

Westbound to Vegas down the Canyon.

Big ridges and Mesas all around.

Close up on a big crack inside a valley.

Nature at its best, with the nicest light one could ask for.

The sun setting on the West, leaving the Canyon for Las Vegas.

After crossing such an overwhelming scenery from a bigger, higher and different point of view you get the feeling you are being spoiled because you're flying your own small aircraft with your best mates across one of natures' biggest achievements and you have the opportunity much people can only dream of. So once I left the mountains, valleys and canyons behind I was still stunned, amazed, to say the least and I was surely not asking for anything else other than a simple landing at Las Vegas. But then again, I was wrong. This was to become one of those flights one could never imagine of when he first flew for the first time.

Let me tell you, approaching Las Vegas on a clear fall evening with the sunset on the horizon has got to be one of the nicest things one might experience while flying. The controller took us from the West right over the big Hoover Dam and told us to proceed visual to the runway. So you guys have an idea, we were assigned a runway that makes you fly an approach path which is parallel to the Las Vegas Strip which is the main street in the city and the place where all the casinos and big hotels seat. So, as the video below might show, we had the best possible view over the city without paying a dime for a helicopter tour or something like that!

The arrival at Las Vegas came with a feeling of accomplishment and happiness since we had made it all work out just right. 5 guys, 2 aeroplanes, 2000 nautical miles (3700 km) and 22 hours of flying made us reach our destination and the most fantastic thing was that all worked out according to plan. But this was by no means the end of the journey, we were on ground to enjoy 2 full days of "sinful" party in Las Vegas. And then one would have to make the nice journey back! So there was still plenty to come but that is to be told on some other posts.

Trip to The West - Destination Las Vegas

Dear readers, today a new adventure began, I’m currently on a Cessna 172 at 10500’ flying inbound Stephenville, Texas. Last Friday the 20th of November my long time friend Francisco arrived at Orlando to spend a few days with us. We got there and picked him up at the airport on 2 convertible Ford Mustangs which we drove back to the terminal where our Cessnas were parked for our flight back to Daytona. While on the move back to Daytona we got into a conversation about where we should fly to so that Francisco could experience the most of is trip. The route we decided upon after Francisco’s insistance shall take us to the West into the great american Desert and Mountains flying over Georgia, Alabama, Mississipi, Louisiana and stopping at Texas, Arizona and Nevada. The great landmarks to visit include the Grand Canyon, The Death Valley, Hoover Dam and Las Vegas.

Planed stops along the route to Las Vegas (click HERE to follow to google maps).

The planed route will give us approximately 50 hours flying roundtrip time and more than 5000 nautical miles (nm) of ground distance, all that to be done in around 6 days. Regarding the stops depicted above, there might still be a few changes, mainly on the Grand Canyon Area, where we want to do a few touch and goes and landings on peculiar strips which have not yet been chosen.

After doing all the planing and since the weather was not in its best conditions we decided to set sail Monday, the 23rd of November. And now here we are, the first leg of our journey was about 480nm long and took us from Daytona to Laurel Field in the Mississipi in 4h55min. After a pit stop to refuel and stretch our legs we are now on our second leg of today’s trip which is taking us to Stephenville in Texas. Curently Francisco is the Captain, flying left hand seat on the Cessna, taking care of all the flying and navigation. It will take us about 4h and 30min to go along the 450nm that set both places apart and we are estimating Stephenville at 10pm, local time. By the time we arrive we shall have a car with keys on the ignition that we’ll use to go to the hotel to grab something to eat and have a good night´s sleep because tomorrow we will have another long day.

I’ll keep you all posted and photos shall follow in a near future and as the guys have been saying, this might whell be the journey of a lifetime.