Flying from the Mid-Atlantic to the PNW, California, and back again

[Boatguy]

Assume that you can't determine your routing and fuel stops until the "very last minute." And expect to gain knowledge of some new places you wouldn't have visited otherwise.

Where do we draw the line between:

Case #1: getting from A to E, and planning to route ourselves via B, C and D, and

Case #2: Departing from A and ultimately arriving at E, needing (wanting) to stop at B, C and D?

I guess the difference is that in #1, we don't care where we stop. In #2, we implicitly will be flexible on when we arrive at E because we will delay each leg as needed for weather.

When "cruising" in a sailboat, the saying was the the most dangerous thing on the boat was the calendar. We would tell someone that they could pick one of "where and when", but never both.

The practical issue in an airplane rather than a boat, beyond the schedule, for either Case #1 or #2, is hotel reservations. Generally speaking, the nicest hotels have the worst cancellation policies.

How do people address Case #2 and hotel/restaurant reservations?

[mhoran]

That's always been my concern, and as someone who likes to be overly prepared, I always try to book pretty far ahead. But everyone has recommend I not do that for this trip and optimize for flexibility. It seems the compromise then is aiming for places that likely have ample hotels in the vicinity, like major cities or suburbs -- and not making reservations. I suppose worst case I sleep in the plane (though Rachel probably won't like that!)

[waynemcc999]

/boatguy... Russ, my rule of thumb is to only pre-book lodging for 2-night or longer stays (i.e. the most interesting) and expect to now and again forfeit the first night. For 1-nighters (in transit) play it by ear.
Wayne

[Colin]

Our very first trip across the country with the boys (9 and 7) we stopped in St. Louis for lunch and then turned north to Chicago for the night. Looked like an easy flight. The weather forecast was very mild. Might be a few clouds.

Before we arrived there was a Cat 5 storm warning, tornado sirens in the city of Chicago (the friend we were stopping to see had grown up in Chicago and NEVER heard them), they evacuated Wrigley field and, as we were about half an hour, evacuated the tower at Midway, where we were planning to land.

We switched to Gary, Indiana, which a lot of airliners were doing, and then they closed that field. I wasn't even aware they COULD close a field. We landed at Pontiac to sort it out, then headed to Champaign-Urbana. Lovely stir-fry for dinner. B

But part of the adventure was that my wife made hotel reservations and cancelling them and getting any money back was an adventure I would not like to report. Most FBOs have a hotel list and deals at a few, and that has always worked out. I think there have been *two* stops where we couldn't get hotel rooms in nearly twenty years of flying. (One was the state fair in Custer, SD, so who can blame them?)

[dant]

no waiting for IFR release.

KBFI is completely random - I had a 10 minute wait for IFR release on my IFR checkride, and once had a 12 minute wait for a VFR takeoff on the small runway. Other times it's in and out without an issue.

[mhoran]

Hello from Seattle! After three days of travel (23.5 hours logged) we touched down at Boeing Field this afternoon. Today's legs, specifically Great Falls to Spokane and Spokane to Seattle, were incredible. I was definitely anxious crossing the Rockies, and while my plane got us over them there were some times I definitely wished I had an NG (or the Supercharger!)

The first day was mostly uneventful. We flew from Linden, NJ (my home field) to Port Clinton, OH. There's a great airport right on the lake with an excellent diner. Then we made our way to Madison, WI for fuel. This leg was a bit exciting as thunderstorms were rolling in. My filed route would have kept me clear of them, but approach tried to vector me right into them to keep me out of Chicago airspace. Fortunately it all worked out and we made it to Madison without incident. The FBO at Madison, Wisconsin Aviation, was excellent. We ventured on after fuel to spend the night in Minneapolis. We flew into Crystal Field which is North of the city. Cheap fuel and free (?) parking, plus an opposite commute made this an easy choice.

Yesterday we left from Minneapolis with the intent of landing at Billings, MT to cross the Rockies today. We made a stop in Mobridge, SD for fuel and lunch. Things got interesting here as Minneapolis Center radio coverage wasn't great and I had to get someone else to relay cancellation to the controller. Turns out that would be a trend for the next few fights. From Mobridge we started heading towards Billings, but when we got there the winds were gusting to 50kt as a thunderstorm was rolling in. On the way to Billings I kept an eye out for diversion options which turned out to be a good idea. I turned back just before an airliner went missed, so that turned out to be a good idea. We reversed course back to Miles City, MT. Nice little airport with a courtesy car that got us to a decent hotel. This diversion ended with my first 7600 squawk as I couldn't hear center (turns out their antenna at Miles City VOR was out.)

This morning we woke up bright and early to cross the Rockies. It was a beautiful VFR day and with all the radio issues yesterday I opted for VFR with flight following from Miles City to Great Falls. We made a quick turn in Great Falls (great FBO and staff) and started the Rockies crossing at 10:30. Again given my radio issues I opted for flight following instead of going IFR , but I did file an IFR flight plan with VFR in the remarks so they'd know where to look for me. (Of course this meant I had no radio issues on this leg. Go figure.) I circled to 9k above the airport before heading on course. I'm glad I did because the plane did not climb well above 10k feet. I had to fiddle with all the engine controls to get up to 12.5k. We eventually got there and made the crossing uneventfully. The mountain wave turbulence wasn't too bad but was definitely noticeable, and keeping altitude did require trading some significant airspeed (which I didn't have much of!)

The Rockies and all of Washington State are absolutely stunning. There were a few other light singles making the crossing at the same time as us. We got through the mountains around noon and stopped at Felts Field in Spokane for fuel and lunch. There's a great little diner on the field, highly recommended. At this point in the day it was getting pretty hot and the climb out of Felts was pretty miserable. I filed IFR for this route to avoid any headaches getting into Boeing Field. This leg was pretty easy and we got into BFI without issue. We were asked to keep our speed up on final as there was a big fast jet behind us! I was asked to make a fast taxi of the runway and parked at Modern Aviation. Everyone there was incredibly nice. The line guy is an aspiring pilot and was amazed that I flew across the country.

Of note: my Inogen unit didn't do great for two people at 12.5. I was feeling pretty tired about halfway though the Great Falls to Spokane leg, as was Rachel. So I would probably recommend against buddy breathing above 10k or so. It's been fine for us there.

We'll spend the next few nights in the Seattle area before moving South. Thanks again to everyone for your thoughts and encouragement! This has been an awesome trip so far and I couldn't have done it without you. I'll keep everyone posted as we continue South and East!

[michael.g.miller]

Of note: my Inogen unit didn't do great for two people at 12.5. I was feeling pretty tired about halfway though the Great Falls to Spokane leg, as was Rachel. So I would probably recommend against buddy breathing above 10k or so. It's been fine for us there.

Glad you're having a great trip, thanks for the PIREP! For the Inogen, did you have a pulse-Ox monitor? I'd be curious to know what your O2 level was. I've found with any cannula, you really have to force yourself to breath through your nose. Also.. did you have the Inogen turned up to the highest setting, 5?

[mhoran]

Glad you're having a great trip, thanks for the PIREP! For the Inogen, did you have a pulse-Ox monitor? I'd be curious to know what your O2 level was. I've found with any cannula, you really have to force yourself to breath through your nose. Also.. did you have the Inogen turned up to the highest setting, 5?

My watch said 95% but a finger reader showed 88. 88 seems a bit more in line with how I was feeling. My heart rate was also a little high. Interestingly, Rachel says she felt fine, and her O2 was higher. The puffs of air at lower altitudes with the dual cannula are noticeable, but I didn't notice much coming through at 12.5. And this is even more noticeable with the single vs. dual cannula, as you'd expect.

I did have the unit on the highest setting. I was trying to control my breathing and was definitely breathing only through my nose. It just didn't seem like much oxygen was coming through.

[Soareyes]

My watch said 95% but a finger reader showed 88. 88 seems a bit more in line with how I was feeling. My heart rate was also a little high. Interestingly, Rachel says she felt fine, and her O2 was higher. The puffs of air at lower altitudes with the dual cannula are noticeable, but I didn't notice much coming through at 12.5. And this is even more noticeable with the single vs. dual cannula, as you'd expect.

I did have the unit on the highest setting. I was trying to control my breathing and was definitely breathing only through my nose. It just didn't seem like much oxygen was coming through.

It is good to read a PIREP about using a Y-cannula with an oxygen concentrator.

Thinking about the use of a Y-cannula. The unit is supposed to sense an inhalation and deliver a bolus of oxygen at the beginning of taking a breath. If two people are sharing one cannula it is like having a cannula with a leak. Maybe not every breath causes enough of a pressure gradient to signal a shot of O2. Or when one of you takes a breath, the oxygen squirts into both noses but if your partner is not taking a breath at the same moment, half the oxygen is wasted.

Maybe not this trip but when convenient, you may want to test and see how the Inogen works for one person vs. two. Perhaps on the next flight when your wife is sleeping you can reach over and pinch her tube shut and see if it raises your oxygen saturation.

[mhoran]

Maybe not this trip but when convenient, you may want to test and see how the Inogen works for one person vs. two. Perhaps on the next flight when your wife is sleeping you can reach over and pinch her tube shut and see if it raises your oxygen saturation.

I used the oxygen concentrator by myself for the first three flights of this trip with noticeably different results. I was feeling much more refreshed at the end of the day, and my oxygen levels were much higher. While the flights were lower (only 8k), I could feel the bolus being delivered. On the second day Rachel asked to have oxygen, so we used the dual cannula. The flights on the second day were only at 10k, and while the bolus was less detectable with the dual cannula, there was a clear difference between that and my experience at 12.5.

It would seem the performance of the oxygen concentrator, especially with the dual cannula, rapidly drops off above 10k feet (or perhaps a bit higher, since it's density altitude that matters here). I suspect the DA at 12.5 was likely 14k or more, so perhaps we were slightly above the limit for the dual cannula.

My takeaway is that I will use the dual cannula up to around 10k feet to provide extra comfort for Rachel. But for a flight where oxygen is required for the pilot (but not the passengers), I think it's probably safer to stick with the single cannula above 12.5k, and tell your passengers to take a nap.