How low can you fly to Phoenix?
Right now everyone west of the Rocky Mountains are looking at the title and wondering “What’s the big deal about flying to and from Phoenix below 5,000′?” I understand your confusion, but for everyone west of the Rockies, it is difficult to fly anywhere (except maybe along the coast) and stay under 5,000′ for the entire flight. I have made the flight from Southern California to Phoenix over 30 times in the past seven years and it never even crossed my mind that I could do it that low. The lowest I’ve ever flown it was at 7,500′ to avoid brutal headwinds up higher.
Quite a few months ago my friends had the engine in their plane overhauled. Knowing I fly to Phoenix frequently they asked my thoughts on flying there under 5,000′. They were looking for places to fly during the break-in process and have friends in AZ. I took a look at the charts and was surprised to see that it could be done as low as 3,500′ eastbound if you followed the highway thorough the passes.
Fast forward to my engine break-in and a trip to AZ to see my parents was looking like a good opportunity to put 4+ hours on the engine. The only downside to it would be staying low in the heat instead of climbing up to cooler altitudes.
Fullerton (KFUL) to Mesa-Gateway (KIWA)
With almost 10 hours on the new engine I had done the first oil change and was ready to go. I wanted to fly in the morning when the temp at 3,500′ would only be about 95°. As luck would have it, although it was going to be a hot day even in Southern California, the marine layer hung on until late morning. I could have asked for an IFR climb to VFR on top, but still in the break-in phase wanted to stay VFR.
I did stop on the way to the airport to pick up some ice for my A/C. The forecast said at 3,500′ it would be about 90°F.
The layer finally broke up and I took off heading eastbound for the shortest climb to altitude I have ever made going to Arizona. Past Palm Springs I had to head southeast past Indio to follow the interstate through the Chiriaco Summit. It was a few extra miles compared to my typical route over Joshua Tree National Park and its surrounding 5,000+ foot mountains.
The views of the desert down low are much different than up high. If there was a guarantee that the plane would never have engine problems I would opt to fly low, it’s more scenic and you get a better sensation of speed. But, there are no guarantees and altitude provides options.
I continued more or less along the interstate breaking off to the southeast near the Estrella Mountains to hook around the southern end of them. From there it was a straight shot east to Mesa-Gateway airport and right traffic landing on 12R.
I had a great time visiting my parents and was able to see a couple of my sisters while I was there before heading back west Sunday morning. We usually stay and leave late in the afternoon, arriving back in CA as the sun is setting. However, staying low for higher power settings with an air cooled engine I wanted to leave before the temps climbed into the triple digits.
Mesa-Gateway (KIWA) to Fullerton (KFUL)
I brought my AC and we stopped at a gas station on the way to the airport where I picked up 21 lbs of ice. It kept me comfortable for the first hour of the flight, after that it wasn’t blowing cool air, but it was giving me a nice breeze on the back of my neck and head which still helped.
At 4,500′ it was a nice (relatively speaking) 80°F outside and with the engine making 87% power cylinders #3 and #4 were at 404°F, 20° cooler than they had been the previous flight. The temps coming down would indicate the break-in process is moving along nicely. I still want to get some more low level, high power time in before logging time at altitude. I also want to see the oil consumption stabilize and the only way to measure that is more hours of flying.
I was surprised when I landed back in Fullerton to see that the difference in flight time between the flight there and the flight back was only two minutes. The route there was seven miles longer, but the winds were just different enough to make the flight times almost identical. Ironically it was the shorter (distance) flight back that took the extra two minutes.
