Grand Canyon Flying

I will be flying over the Grand Canyon SFRA later this week on a trip out West. I have the VFR Grand Canyon chart. Any tips or things to watch out for from RVers who have done this in the past?

I will be Westbound, planning on crossing GCN VOR then heading 265.

Thanks.

Recommend flying the Canyon early in the morning or late in the day so you avoid turbulence, and have better lighting for your photography.

Canyon flights

Lots of way to fly it but here are my 2 favorites in the early morning in good weather:

#1 10,500 at "little Colorado" point from Tuba City (T03)- about 270 heading with the little and mighty Colorado confluence on your left. Then direct "Saddle mount" and avoid North of "Point Imperial" into Dragon Bravo Corridor. Fly Dragon direct to "the ranch" then right approx 290 to South boundary "NO FLY Toroweap/Shinumo" zone edge- to the "TOPOCOBA Hilltop", all at 10.5K. (This edge of the flight free zone is as good as any Corridor.) Avoid the shaded "Flight free zone" edge.

#2 same entry as above to little Colo. but turn South to fly Zuni at 10.5, then right to KGCN climb to 11.5. Start at "The ranch" and fly DRAGON NE corridor. Then Down to 10.5 as you hit the highway- turn and follow the highway for 6 miles N. Then Left turn to Fossil Canyon corridor.

Think about stopping at Bar Ten if you are up to a high, narrow and challenging runway for a break and snack. Most of the freq.s printed will be tours below you. But if I hear a private flight near my location I start calling positions...Plan to the detail and have fun.

40G, Valle airport

is 18 nm south of GCN, they are very friendly and have a very nice small museum with cars and planes. Worth a stop. FBO provides a car if you need it. We took it to the south rim. GCN dislikes small planes, 40G likes them. GCN is setup for commercial tour planes and has no time for RVs. 100LL is listed today at $5.99 at 40G.

Are you not stopping at KGCN? Flying the VFR corridors is fantastic but nothing like being able to stand on the edge of the rim and gaze for a while. Was just there three weeks ago.

Go back to Dale's post. KGCN is expensive, poor service. A few years ago you had to hop the fence to leave after hours! OTOH Valle is great. Just call ahead to reserve their van. If you are staying overnight there's a motel and restaurant within walking distance of the Valle airport.

The fuel at KGCN is crazy expensive but the service there was great. They even gave us a ride to the hotel. I worked it out so I only needed to be topped off there with just a few gallons. Could be because its the off season.

rocketbob said:

The fuel at KGCN is crazy expensive but the service there was great. They even gave us a ride to the hotel. I worked it out so I only needed to be topped off there with just a few gallons. Could be because its the off season.

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My experience exactly. Expensive gas, but friendly people.

grand canyon flying

my experience gcn was poor service and high priced fuel. as i wanted to stay overnight,had to pay in advance before my aircraft was refueled. also,1.5 hour wait for the fuel truck.
i believe the fbo had some experience with pilots leaving early in the morning (before they opened) with out paying their fuel bill.

i recommend Valle airport if you plan to land. avoid the hassle.

Thanks for the responses. I don't plan on landing, just heading to Vegas for the weekend, was I was close to the Canyon, and bought the VFR map. Wanted to see if anyone had any particular things to watch out for in order to not get in a hassle with the commercial traffic, or break an airspace restriction.

Pete

You'll be well above the commercial traffic and I did not see any traffic in the Zuni South corridor. It really isn't a big deal procedurally. Enjoy the view!

rocketbob said:

You'll be well above the commercial traffic and I did not see any traffic in the Zuni South corridor. It really isn't a big deal procedurally. Enjoy the view!

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Just curious, what altitudes are the commercial tours flying?

jtrusso said:

Just curious, what altitudes are the commercial tours flying?

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Thousands of feet below you. Every time I go through I hear plenty of position reports: never actually seen another aircraft.

One other point though, is be aware of the airliners approaching Vegas. The area between Grand Canyon West airport and the Peach Springs VOR will sometimes get you a vector instruction from ATC if you're at 7500 or above. (just a fuzzy memory, so don't take my location/altitude too literally)

River level is one of the real good ways

I was grossly negligent to never get a picture of Martin Litton flying his Cessna 195 downstream at 20 feet over the Colorado. That is the way to fly Grand Canyon. Mostly sorta legal in those days.

Somewhere around here (work) we have a nice clip of a couple of F-15's flying below the rim. Late 70's or early 80's I believe. Camera was in the rear cockpit of a two seater taking pictures of the other. If I remember right there was a good shot of lead going into AB while still below the rim. Would have loved to have heard the echo of that light off!

Many of my college hikes to the bottom were interspersed with a thrill when Luke Air Base graduates would take their run through the canyon. Sierra Club not happy but I liked it.
As mentioned, catch some early light for photos. Enjoy!