Grand Canyon

[Charlie]

Despite the current quarantine, our youngest daughter & her husband, who live in Illinois, are in Albuquerque for a visit. Took the two of them on a scenic tour in 94J yesterday. We left home base in Albuquerque at 0730 & had a smooth as glass flight to Page, AZ, getting there at 0900 local. On the way, my son-in-law snapped some shots of the Shiprock formation in NM and Monument Valley in UT. After a short stop for break & adding a few gallons, we headed off for a flight over the Grand Canyon. The plan was to fly through three of the GA Corridors. Before leaving I spoke with the FBO at KGCN, who said there was only one commercial flight set for the day, so to not expect anywhere near the normal amount of tour traffic. The radio was pretty silent - only two other planes calling out locations. We flew south through the "Fossil Corridor" and then headed east to "Dragon Corridor." The plan was to go north through Dragon and then back south through "Zuni Point Corridor" - then on to Winslow AZ for lunch and a trip to "The Corner." (Hint - Eagles Song). Well, my passengers didn't like the turbulence we were encountering (minimal but I'd also told them to expect worse on the way home due to normal convective activity in SW this time of year). As we turned north to go through Dragon, we hit a few bumps & my son in law (first time in 4-passenger plane), asked if we could cut the tour at that point. So, the decision was made to head home & plan for Winslow another day. Couldn't climb above the clouds coming back; base was around 14k, so we had a bit of a bumpy ride for part of the way returning. After we got home, they both expressed to my wife how great a trip it was.

 

[janderson]

Beautiful Charlie, thanks for sharing.

 

[Jaybird]

Wow, if you fly the GNd Canyon pretty regularly and are knowledgeable about it then our annual meeting planners should take note and put you on the schedule to speak at French Lick, assuming you plan to attend. I am sure a lot of people would be interested in how to best plan a trip, including myself. Great pictures!

 

[Charlie]

Judi - thanks for saying so.

Jay, I appreciate your vote of confidence! However, I'm far from an expert about flight planning over the Grand Canyon. This was my first venture there! All I learned & IMHO the minimum of what one needs to know to plan a flight can be ascertained from the Grand Canyon SFRA VFR Chart. The chart I have is a pdf file too large to upload. You can download it from the FAA. I can't insert a working link for some reason; ignore the imbedded link below. Try faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/vfr/ & look for the "Grand Canyon" tab. Or try aeronav.faa.gov/content/aeronav/grand_canyon_files/Grand_Canyon_6_P.pdf.

What I found important to note are the minimum altitudes. Through the flight corridors the altitudes are 11.5 or 13.5 northbound, and 12.5 or 14.5 southbound. We were at 12.5 southbound in Fossil Canyon Corridor when the pictures were taken. The Grand Canyon airport is at 6,609 MSL. So, we were about 6,000 feet above ground.

This is part of the flight I planned on ForeFlight:


This was leaving from Page, AZ (KPGA) & heading to the north end of the Fossil Canyon Corridor. Page sits at 4,317 MSL; leaving Page around 9:30 the DA was at 6,750.

This shows a longer trip I'd like to take to see much more of the Canyon:



I think doing so will be best when it's not as hot - maybe after a nice winter snowstorm has passed would make for some great pics!

 

[Bob7]

Thanks for posting Charlie, great pictures.

 

[Jaybird]

I think I could do those altitudes in my NA 112a (not Turbo), at least the lower ones but would be slow and right at the altitude limit without supplemental oxygen. Would want a severe clear viz day though. Must be neat maneuvering through the corridors.

 

[wiguy]

I enjoyed flying through the area just over a year ago. It was likely cooler, then I only had one passenger, still a bit slow in the climb, 10.5 & 11.5 for the corridors as I recall.

Monument valley was a treat too.

 

[mcgrathm]

I think I could do those altitudes in my NA 112a (not Turbo), at least the lower ones but would be slow and right at the altitude limit without supplemental oxygen. Would want a severe clear viz day though. Must be neat maneuvering through the corridors.

Jay,
I get up to 13500 every time I fly to Oregon going across the Rockies in Wy. The 112A flys very well at that altitude.

 

[Jaybird]

Well that is good to know. Being on the east coast and very little mountain terrain, I've only been to 10,500 MSL and that was only for kicks and giggles.

 

[Codeeno]

Charlie - great pictures. I've covered that ground on a motorcycle and am looking forward to covering it in the air in the future.

Dean