..or maybe Pipers.

During a visit to my old glider club, I made the acquaintance of a flight instructor working at the airport in Stuttgart, Germany. She is trying to put togeter a trip for about 12-14 pilots and non-pilot spouses in September of this year. Target area is west coast, southwest. Depending on what type of aircraft (182 vs 172) and the terrain, she'll need about 4-5 planes, ideally from the same rental outfit. She has done this before out of Phoenix and is aware of the formalities involved with the FAA to get the temporary certificates etc.

Anyone know of a well run rental outfit that could potentially provide that number of planes (180hp 172s, 182s, Archers, Dakotas) for about 2 weeks ? Base could be anywhere in Cali, AZ, NV or thereabouts.

This sounds like a fun planning exercise.

I would look for the requisite number of 172s in the same city, not necessarily the same flight school. I would look for steam gauge 172s, as the checkouts, insurance and rental rates will all likely be better than 182s and/or G1000 a/c.

While it is not my area, I would guess Phoenix would likely have the best concentration of flight schools for this, with San Diego maybe being a good second choice? Having one or more local pilots to help coordinate this, give you/the group intel on the good places (and the not so good) to rent, and then be a friendly face when the group actually arrives would be a good thing.

I know some guys who did this in the 80s, one now flies for Daimler Benz, the other for a helicopter outfit. It is fun and allows you to build hours on the cheap.



The issue with 172s is that you can only put 2 adults plus luggage into them if you are in the mountains. A 182 will take 3 and still give enough reserves. So if you need to rent one plane less, the math may work out better.



I suggested that and it was her base for the first trip a couple of years ago.



That is the contact I am sort of looking for.

Van Nuys Flight Center is the Cessna dealer/flight school at KVNY in Los Angeles. I believe that they have the airplanes or could certainly get them, but I am not sure if the price is the lowest you could find. Their website is www.vnfc.com and Greg Lewis is their Chief Pilot.

Van Nuys is a great starting place... moderate temps and good weather, tour the Hollywood hills, Malibu and the like before heading north along the coast... Santa Barbara, Morro Bay & Hearst Castle (awesome from the air). Paso Robles is a great place to overnight with excellent wine tasting and touring (see aforementioned Hearst Castle, Cambria, etc.) Then north to view the Monterrey peninsula, Carmel-by-the-Sea and San Francisco. Overnight at Santa Rosa or Napa... more wine tasting, amazing restaurants and beautiful coastline and redwoods. Then head east... Lake Tahoe and the Sierras! I could say that a detour over Yosemite would be nice, but in a normally aspirated airplane without oxygen, crossing over the Sierras is best done at Truckee and the tour of Yosemite is done at least 12,000' due to the 2000' clearance over the 11,000' terrain. It is certainly spectacular from the air on a clear September day, though.

Perhaps the overnight is in Reno or South Lake Tahoe, a little gambling and the mountain scenery. Then up to Salt Lake City or over to parks of Utah, Bryce Canyon and the badlands. If they want, go further across to Sedona, then back over Lake Powell to Las Vegas. Again, absolutely beautiful from the air... then down to Grand Canyon and overnight in Las Vegas. If you go to Vegas, use Henderson (KHND) to avoid the hassle and a lot less money for excellent facilities.

This is an excellent itinerary that covers the best the West has to offer. September is an excellent month here in California, and the desert Southwest is only moderately hot and windy. Don't forget that desert flying is best done high and in the morning to avoid the turbulence. Of course, this same route could be flown from KDVT in Phoenix or the like.

Let us know if you are in town and the BT community will welcome our European friends!

Thanks for the pointers. That was sort of the tour they would be looking for.

Great tour Kelly, maybe I'll do that one in a couple of years !

Florian - Fly Corona has done this before for European clients and you know Mike would give them an honest good deal.


Alejandro

The first person I thought about was Mike, can you PM me his email address ?