Arizona Trip Planning Suggestions

[Lndwarrior]

I'm planning a trip for (hopefully) this summer to see Arizona for the first time. My wife and I will be flying our light sport plane from central California.

We have no desire to visit urban areas. We are outdoors people and neither of us have any desire to visit any cities, no matter the attractions.

Ideally we would land at a small airport with a motel/Airbnb/Bed & Breakfast/Glamping nearby. Location in a remote area would be ideal. This would be our base for 3 or 4 days while we explored Az from the air. Also hiking and swimming nearby would be ideal.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Sedona has a very nice motel on top of the mesa within walking distance of the airport. You can get a room with a view out over the city and to rock formations. Monument Valley is technically in Utah but has the lodge within walking distance. The Grand Canyon Bar 10 ranch on the north side has its own strip and is challenging for landing. I understand the lodge accommodations are quite nice.

For all of this in Arizona in the summer, density altitude will be a key consideration. At Flagstaff, Springerville, and other high fields the DA will often be over 10k during the day. Early flights are key. Also the summer monsoon storms will build by early afternoon so again early flight and some days will just not be good for flying because of these.

There is this article - https://airfactsjournal.com/2019/10/eight-things-i-know-about-flying-in-arizona/

My son flew a Skycatcher out of Prescott for a while. Definitely needed to be mindful of performance and load.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Do let us know when you are out this way. Perhaps time for another Arizona PoA meetup.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

If you are up for adventure and your plane meets the performance, I recommend Bar 10 ranch. It is a private working ranch on the north edge of the grand canyon that has a little airstrip. It can be a little tricky getting in and out so do some research and call them up for their advice. They offer day trips there, overnights, and many activities including ATV'ing to the canyon edge. It is beautiful there and obviously totally uncrowded. We had a great time visiting for a few hours last spring. In the summer I would definitely leave a large margin of error off that strip for performance calcs. You can really only depart to the south I think....

Yes, I consider the Grand Canyon Bar 10 the most challenging paved public use airport in AZ. It is normally land to the north and depart to the south. There is basically no go around on landing to the north once you are just a few hundred above the threshold due to rising terrain to the north.