Grand Canyon Finale, and one amazing FBO!!!

Yet another eventful day!

The goal was to get from the Grand Canyon (which is more than warm enough!) to an even warmer location which is Palm Springs!

As you will soon see, today's adventures included a most unexpected surprise!

Anyone who flies can tell you that high-altitude airport operations are completely different from operations at an airport nearer to sea level. Like people, smaller airplanes (like the ones that we are flying!) don't particularly like high altitudes. The air is thinner, and this results in significant decreases in engine performance. Airplanes don't climb so well at high altitudes, so getting to the cruising altitude you have planned for takes a lot longer.

To offset this, we can use a couple of tricks, but only up to a point. One of them is to take off before the heat of the afternoon kicks in. Hot air is much thinner than dense air! By taking off early in the morning, we make sure that the air is as dense as it can possibly be, and that the plane will have a little bit of an advantage.

The second trick that you can employ is to do your best to keep the plane as light as possible! A light plane is not bound to the earth in the same way that a heavy one will be. If one remembers the four basic forces of flight, they will note that weight is opposed by lift. If we generate more lift than weight, then the plane will fly. If weight is more than lift... well... I am sure that you get the picture!

So then, what can we do to keep our planes light?

Well, one of the most obvious items is that we can carry less baggage! Long before we embarked on this trip, we carefully calculated the baggage that we could carry (incidentally there is a reason those airline guys ask you to limit the weight that you carry as well!) and committed to carrying less than the maximum that our planes could carry. However, now that we are actually executing this trip we can't really reduce our weight any further. We are all now pretty well committed in terms of the baggage that we are carrying. We all need our socks and underwear, so ditching them is not really not an option! (A few of us, however, will confess that there are a few pairs that are yet to be laundered that we may wish were ditched!)

So then, what to do?

Well, for our part, one of the only things that we can do is carry less fuel. Fuel weighs about 6 lbs per gallon, so shedding a few gallons of fuel can lead to significant savings in terms of weight. This means the plane will be less sluggish on the takeoff roll, and that it will hop heavenward with a greater rate of climb.

Reducing the amount of fuel, however, comes with a serious and potentially dangerous trade off.

Less fuel means less endurance and range! We cannot stay in the air as long now, nor can we fly as far! Less fuel in your car might not be a big deal. If it quits, you pull over. If your airplane quits, then you are in trouble. We all agreed that carrying less fuel was the way to go, but we also made a very conscious decision to fuel up further at an airport halfway to Palm Springs, and very nearly at sea level! The town that we agreed on was one that none of us had ever heard of before... but it was perfectly on our route. Further investigation also reveled that they were advertising fuel at the cheapest rate we have ever seen... Bonus!!!

Without a doubt, however, none of us were aware of the surprise that was awaiting us!

We took off early morning towards the rim of the Canyon, and then headed roughly west so that we could skirt some high terrain that was in the way for our journey to Palm Springs. In a short while, the full magnificence of the Canyon stretched out below us. We overflew the Western sector, soaking in the amazing width, depth, and breadth of the creation below us.

After overflying the Peach Springs VOR, (and watching our flags flop!) we headed nearly due south for Lake Havasu, our fuel stop.
Coming from the east, you literally "drop in" on Lake Havasu. Initially, you are at an altitude of 8500 feet or higher as you clear the mountains to the east. After doing this, you have to descend to nearly sea level for the airport! Talk about ear popping! After two days of being at altitudes above 6,000 feet, our bodies told us a0ll the way down that the pressure was increasing. Our water bottles that we had drunk from became "raisins" as the difference in pressure compressed and squeezed them. Now we know how our pressure instruments work!

The approach into Lake Havusu is absolutely breathtaking. As was mentioned before, it is surrounded by mountains to the east, and north. To the south, there is a lake filled with pleasure goers and boaters, fed by the clear waters of the Colorado River. Amazing!

Shortly after touchdown, it was what happened next that was a surprise to all of us. As we taxied to the apron, we saw two golf carts with different colours and logos racing towards us at breakneck speed. The two of them were obviosly vying for our attention, with bright flashing lights and waving arms! However, each golf cart seemed to try and pull us in a different direction. Who to follow? They both wanted our business, and it showed! In the end, we followed the cart with the price posted on the back... $2.75 a gallon! Desert Skies FBO. Wow! Can't miss!

Desert Skies is definitely not a run of the mill FBO. They have a Monster Truck and a souped up V8 Hot Rod Lawnmower. They have a couple of restored classic trucks, low fuel prices, and an "I love my job attitude." What's more, they have a low fuel prices! They handled our aircraft with speed, precision, and a great deal of friendliness. They welcomed us to have a look at all of thier neat "toys," firing up the lawnmower, and letting us pose with the monster tuck. Whats more, we were able to slug back some free slurpees... (Does a Canadian run this place?)

We highly recommend Desert Skies to anyone in the area looking for fuel!

You never really know when an "ordinary" stop is going to turn into something extraordinary. Funny how there are so many things in life like this little stop. Just another boring fuel stop, and whamo! Something neat comes out of the woodwork. As one of the employees at Desert Skies said... "this is all about having fun! If we can't have fun at what we are doing then we might as well be working!"

Life is full of little surprises, and they often turn out to be good ones!

Our day finished with the journey to Palm Springs. Tonight, we'll review some shared learning experiences, reflect on a few of our adventures, and then move forward and onward!

Next up, we hope to reach Van Nuys, the coast, and Six Flags!!!

Stay tuned!

"O Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever." Psalm 131:3