Flight From Coast To Coast In the USA
A dream about to come true
It all started when I saw a proposal on the AOPA Israel site. Carl Dworman was looking for pilots to fly coast to coast in the USA, and I immediately booked my plane tickets to Jacksonville, Florida where the small airplane was waiting for us. I was excited to begin my journey to the USA, but when I arrived at the Ben Gurion airport, I was told that there was a problem with the airplane that resulted in a 24-hour delay. At least they put me in a 5-star hotel. The next day, we took off on time and I arrived in Florida in the evening of the second day.
The training program, which was supposed to familiarize me with the Mooney, was cancelled and we jumped straight into the “water” the next morning. At the crack of dawn, we drove to the field and met the plane that would take us across the USA.
The Mooney Rocket was painted in an impressive red and white, and was equipped with all necessary equipment and devices, including a temperature control system, a Garmin GPS, a full automatic flight system for all three axes, and a cloud detection screen. After a brief introduction, we took off towards the north with our initial destination being Rhode Island.
Our first stop was at the FIRST FLIGHT (KFFA) airport, where the Wright brothers made their first flight in 1903. The museum there showcases the innovation and fearlessness of the bicycle manufacturers who paved the way for the world of flight. Unfortunately, the weather betrayed us and we had to spend the night in the small town of “Kill Deville Hill” near the landing field.
Next, we headed to Rhode Island, the land of lakes located along the Atlantic coast. We took off with some fear due to the geese flying in the area, but after our departure at 9,000 feet, the autopilot took command and aimed us directly north. The flight took us along the coastline, and we passed New York before landing at KUUU in Newport, Rhode Island. The next three days were spent on training flights, and it was unbelievable to see how many fields and landing strips there were in such a small area. One of the most interesting was the private field at FALMOUTH (5B6), where the runway is located between two rows of houses, each with its own hangar for a private airplane. In the evenings, we visited the town and enjoyed meals at good restaurants.
Journey to the west
We flew to Niagara Falls and arrived at the Niagara Falls – BUFFALO AIRPORT (KIAG). From there, we took a taxi to the falls and were amazed by the tremendous power of the water. It made me wonder how many days it would take to fill all the reservoirs in Israel. Like any good tourist, we boarded a ferry that brought us almost to the bottom of the waterfall, protected only by the plastic suits we were given before the trip. The dense fog and splashing water made it an unforgettable experience. We returned to the field and continued our flight to the biggest event in the world for pilots and aviation enthusiasts in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Oshkosh is not just a clothing brand. Landing at the Wisconsin WITTMAN AIRPORT (KOSH) was amazing, as we used an instrument approach to reveal the huge area full of visitor airplanes. We spent two wonderful days at the site, walking among the huge hangars that offered everything from bolts to airplanes. There were also workshops on how to build airplanes, lectures on aviation, and more. At exactly 2pm, the show began. It was the first time I saw pilot performances that were so amazing, they left the viewer with their mouth open. Aerobatic pilots flew airplanes individually, in pairs, or in larger groups, using aircraft types ranging from World War I planes to today’s fighter jets. One of the great things about this event was the opportunity to meet pilots from all over the world, all united by their common language about the world of pilots and brought closer together. We were satisfied with two days at the event and continued on our way to Dakota.
A lunch break at Marshal
Halfway passed, the nature needs and hunger forced us to land in a small town called Marshall. Here it was the first time I encounter a phenomenon that turned out to be common in many landing fields where hungry pilots get a curtesy car to drive to the nearest town eat something and back to the field with no charge. Dennis from MIDWEST AVIATION was kind enough to lend us the red jeep to drive to the town for lunch, when we returned to the field we were invited to visit a small museum dedicated to the German pilot “The Red Baron” of the First World War Manfred von Reichthofen the champion with more than 80 air combat victories.
Mount of Presidents (Mount Rushmore)
The next site on our way was engraved in the rocks of the Black Hills of Dakota. We landed in the town RAPID CITY (KRAP) at the foot of Mount Rushmore, a mountain where the four presidents heads where sculptured. In the evening was event for contribution to veterans, United States honoring the Americans soldiers that fought in battles. At the end of the speeches a light turned on toward the sculptures it was very impressive.
The big parks
Our next destination was Yellowstone Park. After taking off, we circled low above the mountain to take pictures from above and then continued our flight to Yellowstone. We landed at a 7000-foot field in the Rockies Mountains. As we flew at 10,000 feet, we noticed smoke in the area and had to climb to 12,500 feet, which was a new experience for me. The southern part of the lake was closed due to the fire, but all other attractions were open, including the river, the waterfall, the geysers, and the sulfur lakes bubbling like an impressionist painting in red and yellow. “Old Faithful,” which erupts roughly every hour, was astonishing in its power and rose to dozens of meters. The petrified tree, estimated to be 50 million years old, still stands.
After taking off from the Yellowstone field, the air had cleared of smoke and we could see a breathtaking view of the park. The snowy Rockies and the deep blue color of the lakes below left us wanting more.
On the way south, we passed over the Snake River towards Grand Junction and Massa Canyon, and flew over Monument Valley, the most recognizable site used by Western film makers. It is a desert area with erect pillars of rock at its heart that overlook all directions, an ancient place that is unimaginable in its beauty and size. We descended almost as low as the pillars and flew among them until we had our fill of the stunning view. Then we continued on our flight southward.
The artificial lakes on the Colorado River
We landed in the town of Page, which was intended to be the house of the workers who built the Glen Dam on the Colorado River. The dam blocked the river and created the Lake Powell. Further down the river was the larger Hoover dam which creates the Lake Mead.
The town is situated in the heart of the Navajo tribe. The main attractions are the museum of the small and poor Hopi tribe, the dinosaur area which was proved by the footprints of the dinosaurs who lived in this area. The beauty of the lake and the blue color of the water almost caused us to jump in. The dam and the hydroelectric power station were very interesting especially the big turbines in the heart of the dam.
The highlight was the amazing Antelope Canyon, a water that carved into the sandy rock and shaped beautiful forms, the light that enters the canyon in the afternoons changes the colors from blue to gold that it hard to describe. The young Navajo Indians took us in his pickup track for $25 to the entrance of the canyon and show us the best point to look at.
Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon
We took off from the field when our aim was the famous national parks Bryce, Zion and Colorado. The flight over Lake Powell and the spectacular colors of water and earth combination of red and blue forced us to stay above a little longer In order to file more of the unique scenery but eventually we continued to fly to Bryce Canyon Airport. The view in the canyon is completely different from what we have seen so far, broken and wounded rock pillars and walking paths for hikers. The observation areas are high above the tops of the rock pillars were you can see small people walking between the rocks.
Zion Canyon, discovered to be very different, a tunnel leads us through to a well-maintained visitors center. A public bus takes the visitors through various stations. At each of the stations you may go down and walk around, and so on. While traveling in the valley within the big stone walls of upright mountains around it you can imagine yourself in ancient time.
Unplanned Landing
We loaded our equipment onto the Rocket and took off. The next stop on our journey was the Colorado canyon, as expected in the USA you need to be aware of the weather, while we were somewhere in the middle of nowhere we noticed the black sky ahead blocking our way. It is not desirable to provoke luck and it is recommended to land soon in such weather. We landed at nearby airport called KANAB. After landing we were welcomed by the local airline owner, very friendly guy who offer us is his car and recommended to drive to the nearest town to eat and maybe the sky would lighten up later, he left us and fly off for commercial activity and said that he will be back soon.
We dined at a local restaurant, with full bally we returned to the office. The owner returned in pouring rain with a group of passengers. The weather was getting worse. The night was falling so we decided to stay for the night, with a list of the hotels we call each of them, to my surprise they all were full booked. The last one on the list had one room available. The owner of the flying company was very helpful and took us to the hotel. The hotel turned to be a cute boutique hotel with pictures of John Wayne on the walls. When we asked why the hotels are full booked the manager of the hotel explained that we were in the heart of the area to most of Utah’s big parks and people love to do star journey while staying in KANAB, John Wayne stayed at this hotel every time he made a western film. Behind the hotel was a barn which played a John Wayne movie every evening. We closed the evening in the barn watching a movie from the 1940s starring the big man.
The surprising airport – Valle
The next day, we flew to the Grand Canyon, landing at the Valle airport about 40 kilometers south of the canyon, for reasons of convenience because the main field of the Grand Canyon is very busy place, which is mainly used by airline companies flying tourists over the canyon. Valle is a private air airport but the owner allows free landing to the public, we found out that the place is a museum. As we landed we sow a 1928 aircraft and a few old aircrafts, as we entered to the big office we sow dozen of antique cars looks like if they had just left the production line. A door leaded us to very nice museum (small entrance fee $3) with amazing aviation old aircrafts and the flagship was the President Hoover’s Constellation Air Force One. In a rented car we went to visit the Grand Canyon, needless to say the view is breathtaking and amazing in its beauty.
The next stop was Palm Springs, after departure we flew over the Hoover Dam, the dam that create Lake Mead through a dessert to Palm Springs. We rented a car and drove to visit Joshua Park with the peculiar trees and climb in a cable train to Mount San Jacinto national park. The last day of the journey ends when we landed in little airport in the lovely San Diego.
