Las Vegas to San Francisco and MOA's?
 

I would like to fly from Houston (KDWH) to the San Francisco area (KSQL). But this time I would like to fly over the Grand Canyon and stop near Las Vegas. but there is a lot in the way between Las Vegas and The San Francisco area. MOA's and high terrain. So being VFR only, how would I do this?

Will the MOA's be an issue? If they are it is a long way around them.

Can a 150hp RV-6a make this trip given the terrain height? I have been to 13K feet before and could still climb, but the mountains are 10K feet.

Any advice is welcome. And of course, I will be PIC and take the responsibility that comes with that.

Guess I am looking for a route suggestion, and some education on planing a flight that will be going through a MOA on a weekday.

Have done it several times. Lowest route is to come around the corner at Mojave and up the valley. Vegas-Palmdale-SFO

Last month I wanted to see the East side of the Sierras and Death Valley so went Henderson-Furnace Creek-Bishop-Lee Vining then over the mountains at the lowest point just north of Lee Vining to the valley and home to Sac. Kind of routed around the higher areas in between to stay below O2 country and then only a half hour at most over 13,000' over to the valley. Much more interesting than the Palmdale route unless you have not seen it before.

Just my 2 cents. Have Fun!

As for MOA's, no problem; get flight following from the controlling agency and keep your eyes peeled.

Restricted areas are a problem, and if you take the Las Vegas -> Palmdale route you will have to find your way around them. The Furnace Creek -> Bishop -> Lee Vining route avoids this.

Weather is potentially more of an issue, especially if you are going in winter, and especially if you take that northern route. West winds over the Sierras can be serious.

--Paul

Looks like the area west of Mammoth might be ok. However, as mentioned, with high (over 20-25 knots or so) winds at altitude I would take the southern route...even if it adds an hour or more to the trip.

Do get the Grand Canyon chart.

Try to stop at Death Valley:

http://www.airnav.com/airport/L06

Get hold of Seb Trost. PM or email should work.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/member.php?u=1855

He lives in the Vegas area, and knows the routes to the bay area well, plus he can give you suggestions about where to stay in Vegas.

Good luck.

MOA-Shmoa
 

Having flown through the Central Valley MOAs a few times, they really are nothing to be concerned about. The advice is right, get to Mojave, turn right up through Tehachapi pass, and on your way. Get Flight Following and ask if the MOAs are active, and you'll be fine. From LAS go Southwest to Barstow to get under the Restricted Areas, turn North toward Tehachapi, and the you should be good. I work across the street from SQL, so it is my "home" airport. Nice little greasy spoon diner, rental cars available, etc.

Thanks for the info!

I have flown the southern route before. Not bad but it is the long way around. The north route looks good. But this will mean flying over some bad areas to have a plane problem. Got to trust your plane.

I always use flight following on long trips. I love the ATC guys and gals. Huge comfort.

2 things; flight following may have a hard time following you at low altitudes going the eastern route. And, though it looks ugly on a chart, there are dirt roads all over the place out there and not as scary as you might think. Many long straight runs and not many power lines........!

True statement... lots of long straight dirt roads out there to set down on in an emergency. If you take nothing else in terms of survival gear though, take 2-3 days of water. Flight following too so that you're already talking to someone... cell phone coverage can be hit or miss. I've been places out there you'd never think would have coverage, and towns that didn't.

http://sua.faa.gov/sua/siteFrame.app

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLVtstYAZLY

A controller's comments wrt the youtube link above...

"I work at Vance AFB. We protect the MOAs from IFR traffic, via altitude separation by having the civilian traffic at a specific alt. or by caping the pilot in the MOA at a certain alt. VFR traffic we could care less about we have alot else going on, we advise you that your entering a MOA and give you the working Alt's if you want to go in it your choice. We?re not going to provide any separation or even try."

Have a safe trip!