Utah College Tour Flight

[bruceh]

I took Thursday and Friday off from work to fly my youngest daughter out to Logan, UT to visit Utah State, and then down to Salt Lake to visit Univ. of Utah for tours of potential Grad schools. She wants to pursue a Doctorate of Audiology, and there are only a few schools out west that offer this program.

We flew out non-stop from Ramona to Logan. It was exactly 4 hours and I landed with 1.5 hours of fuel left. Burning 6.5 gallons per hour at LOP and getting around 147-150 Kts TAS. We had a good tailwind most of the way.

This was my longest ever single leg flight. We got airborne at 5:15am just as it was getting light out. We lost an hour going east. Wheels down in Logan at about 10:15am. We had prearranged for the use of the courtesy car. Got the red carpet treatment and they brought the car out to the airplane for us. We had some food, then did the tour and straight back to the airport. From there we flew down to Bountiful Skypark and picked up a rental car for the night. We stayed in Salt Lake and did some sightseeing, then had the next college tour at noon the next day.

The flight back took another 4 hours. We hit the afternoon hot and bumpy air (it was 97 degrees in SLC). I hand flew most of the way back since the autopilot was struggling with all of the up and down drafts. We didn't get any smooth air until we passed Saint George, UT. On the way back we hit some rain in the mountains south of Palm Springs. Landed at 5:15pm and then went out with the rest of the family for a nice dinner.

It is great to finally be doing what I had always imagined doing with this airplane. Getting out and flying places. Tomorrow the wife and I are heading for Santa Fe, NM for a mini-vacation, with a stop at Monument Valley on the way back. I'm hoping for good flying weather!

Trip photos are here.

[Mike S]

Originally Posted by bruceh

Tomorrow the wife and I are heading for Santa Fe, NM for a mini-vacation, with a stop at Monument Valley on the way back. I'm hoping for good flying weather!

Good trip, fun place to fly to.

Be sure you get it right the first time----------no last second go arounds.

The runway is slopped uphill a lot---------flatten out your final a bit so you dont hit too hard----------BTDT.

[Steve]

Both are fine schools. My daughter graduated from Utah State in '14 and my son will attend U of U engineering school in the fall.

[erikpmort]

I'm a Logan guy, saw your plane. Great details.

I have been slow to report a fantastic trip as well- went to day 1 of the U.S. Open last week near Seattle. It was a great trip. I went non stop home in 3:50 seriously can't beat this machine.

[Vlad]

That's a cool picture Bruce.

[Dbro172]

Wow, LOP is serving you well! 4hrs with 1.5 reserve is impressive! Most I've done is about 3.5 hours with only 7 or 8 gallons left. Way to use that plane!

[ArVeeNiner]

Nice pictures Bruce. I can't imagine how long of a drive that is.

What a low fuel burn. There is no way I can get that low with my set up.

[BSwayze]

Bruce, I enjoyed every single picture. Thanks for posting the story! Having lived in Salt Lake City for 4 years during my childhood, it really brought back some nostalgic feelings. The mountains and the scenery there in Utah is so beautiful.

It's so good to see you out using your RV for a trip like this, after dreaming about it for so long and working so hard to get here. Hopefully, I'm not far behind.

[SilverEagle2]

Very cool Bruce! Glad you were able to enjoy the place before it really warmed up. We've hit 103 now.

[woxofswa]

A nice stop on that route is St. George. We flew up there last week to catch a show at the Tuacahn theater. It was wonderful, and the best part was that wifey loved it and really got to enjoy the benefits and utility of the airplane.

https://www.tuacahn.org/online/