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Recommended Route - KSLC to KGAD

Darinh

Well Known Member
My wife and I are planning to fly our F1 from Utah to Alabama to meet my brother and his wife who will be picking up their new F1 from Evoke Aviation after paint. They will be flying down commercial while my wife and I will take a few extra days to work our way down.

She, nor I, have super long legs and prefer to enjoy the time flying and adventuring so I'd like to do the flight down in 2 or 3 legs/days. Wondering if anyone has a recommended route or places along the way that would be good stopping over points. Things like courtesy cars, proximity to town, good/interesting places to stay/eat, interesting places to see, etc. are what I'm after. I don't mind deviating to go somewhere cool... the Rocket is like a time machine. We really enjoy the adventure of finding fun places in all those "fly-over" states that we don't typically get to visit. I should mention I really like to avoid the larger airports. All stops will preferably have fuel, be something less than class B and be friendly to transient GA.

Any and all ideas are appreciated!
 
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Stop in Telluride. Super cool airport and the scenery is amazing. You can fly around Moab / Castle Valley on the way there.
 
I'll be really interested in the responses in this thread as well for my Seattle-Chattanooga trip to visit family (after Covid eases a bit). I've stopped in Ft Collins CO, Garden city KS, Shawnee OK and Texarkana. All nice airports but never stayed overnight so can't really comment.
 
The lowest-stress way is to go east along the I-80 corridor until you get to the plains, then go direct. Lots of landing options, less chance of bumpy weather, especially in the fall when mountain wave can get cranking.
 
I used this route when I flew from Vero Beach FL to Ogden UT.
Day 1 - KVRB to KDUA, Durant Regional where we spent the night in the hotel casino just north of the airport. I made 2 other fuel stops along the way.
Day 2 - KDUA to KSAF to KCNY to KOGD
There were fairly long days with 2 hour legs.
 
I used this route when I flew from Vero Beach FL to Ogden UT.
Day 1 - KVRB to KDUA, Durant Regional where we spent the night in the hotel casino just north of the airport. I made 2 other fuel stops along the way.
Day 2 - KDUA to KSAF to KCNY to KOGD
There were fairly long days with 2 hour legs.

There is a powered parachute school at Durant, maybe take a few lessons....would be fun.
 
The lowest-stress way is to go east along the I-80 corridor until you get to the plains, then go direct. Lots of landing options, less chance of bumpy weather, especially in the fall when mountain wave can get cranking.

Yes, that is a better route than jumping straight over the front range. I guess I should have clarified my request in that I am not looking so much for a good route but rather cool or interesting cities/places to stop at along the way. The routing is the easy part but I want this to be as much about the flying as it is about seeing new places and keeping my wife enjoying the trip... She likes to fly but has her limits.

Really looking for unique, small towns with an airport nearby that have something worth stopping for (i.e. food, culture, history, nature, etc.). Really, anything within a 300 nm width of a direct route from KOGD to KGAD would be doable.

I realize this isn't an easy request but thought I'd throw it out there. I know there are some "hidden gems" all over the country because I've inadvertently found a couple. Thats what I'm looking for... the hidden gems.

Thanks for all the replies so far!
 
Tom Stafford Museum - Weatherford OK

I highly recommend you consider stopping at Weatherford (KOJA) and visit the Tom Stafford Air and Space Museum. It’s right on the airport and is an excellent stop. You will want to allow a day to visit because it’s just a fantastic museum with some really interesting aircraft and space exhibits. A Smithsonian satellite museum.

Weatherford is also a decent rural city with several good restaurants and motels. The FBO is very accommodating with good fuel prices and a crew car.
 
I highly recommend you consider stopping at Weatherford (KOJA) and visit the Tom Stafford Air and Space Museum. It’s right on the airport and is an excellent stop. You will want to allow a day to visit because it’s just a fantastic museum with some really interesting aircraft and space exhibits. A Smithsonian satellite museum.

Weatherford is also a decent rural city with several good restaurants and motels. The FBO is very accommodating with good fuel prices and a crew car.

Awesome! Thanks Jim…exactly the kind of thing I’m looking for.
 
If you haven't landed at Leadville, you could get your certificate for landing at the highest airport in the US on the way.

You could land at Aspen and watch all the people feel sorry for you because your plane has a fan on the front and no lay flat chairs with Champagne........

I want to fly to an airport where I can rent a car to head up to Pikes Peak at some point. Not sure what the best airport is.

My wife really enjoyed Sante Fe as well. We rented a car and drove into town on a weekend when they were having their swap meet downtown.

Both times I flew from Salt Lake to the Bahamas I flew to Grand Junction and then through the passes along that route. Never had to be above 10,500 ft but also had great weather both times. Always a beautiful flight.

Enjoy!
 
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