Cross country flight in our FireStars
El Paso, Tejas to Lakeside, Oregon
and back

Click on the hyperlink to see the picture then click back to return to this page, enjoy.

Day 1:
El Paso to T or C 125 mi, 1:47 hours
T or C to Grants 155 mi, 2:17 hours
Grants to Gallup 70 mi, 1 hour
Gallup to Chinlee 72 mi, 1:04 hours
Flew over Prominent Canyon.
Due of the thermals I was so tired of controlling the airplane that as soon as we landed I crashed.
We tried flying to Monument valley that day but the head winds were so strong we decided to spend the night at Chinle.
We needed fuel for the flight to Monument Valley so we walked about 5 mile to a gas station.

Day 2:
Chinlee to Monument Valley 79.5 mi, 1:13 hours.  Monument Valley has a gas station and restaurant across the street from the airport.
Monument Valley to Page 74 mi, 1:14 hours
We were going to try and make it to Clark Meml but the thunderstorms made us deviate to Grand Canyon Valle.
Page to Grand Canyon Valle 120 mi, 2:20 hours

Day 3:
Grand Canyon Valle to Kingman via Needles 111 mi, 1:53 hours
Kingman to Apple Valley 217 mi, 3:38 hour (Stopped at Barstow Dagget for fuel) The winds were so strong at Apple Valley, as we were taxing the tail came up on my FireStar.

Day 4:
Apple Valley to Bakersfield, 111 mi, 1:53 hours (stopped at Rosamond)
I was in such a hurry to take off at Rosamond because Chuck Scrivner was going to take Aerial pictures of both our FireStars from his KR2 that when we got to Bakersfield I noticed I didn't take off the fueling hose or  put the gas caps back on. Luckily they were still with the plane when we got to Bakersfield, I was a very relived camper :-).  Last time I forget to do a preflight.
Bakersfield to Davis 219 mi, 3:42 hours (stopped at Visalia for fuel) This was the start of our trip North over the San Joaquin valley

Day 5:
Davis to Red Bluff 115 mi, 1:43 hours.  
Red Bluff to Siskiyou? 135 mi, 1:51 hours  Passed by Mt. Shasta
Siskiyou to Grants Pass 221 mi, 3:16 hours, Everything went wrong here, I landed with a flat tire and after take off about 30 min out my prop's leading edge tape came off and we had to turn back to Grants Pass for repairs.  We had to wait for the in rout overcast to burn off.

Day 6:
Grants Pass to Lakeside (Dave did not record info., to excited to have made it)

The return trip home

Day 7:
Lakeside to Gold Beach, 111 mi, 1:37 hours
Gold Beach to Illinois Valley 70 mi, 1:15 (where we camped with Cessna 140 pilots)

Day 8:
Illinois Valley to Montegue 76 mi, !:13 hours
Montegue to Benton 90 mi, 1:23 hours
Benton to Watts Woodland 144 mi, 2:01 hours
Watts Woodland to Merced 137 mi, 1:51 hours
Merced to Visalia 96 mi, 1:15 hours

Day 9:
Visalia to Camarillo 152 mi, 2:13 hours (Dave flew into the Camarillo controlled airport to visit sister and made the local news)    I headed to Bakerfield.
While at Bakersfield I was doing a preflight when I noticed a prop strike.  The culprit was the sheet metal screw that came off the engine shroud, where there was one missing. I took off the prop and had IVO repair it at Long Beach.  The FBO employees at Bakersfield were more then helpful in getting me on my way.  They let me borrow tools and work on my FireStar inside their hanger, even let me keep it inside over night.

Day 10:
Camarillo to Bakersfield 131 mi, 1:50 hours

Day 11:
Bakersfield to A-Valley 145 mi, 2:15 hours (Stopped at Rosamond for fuel)
Apple Valley to Yucca Valley 58 mi, 1:25 hours

Day 12:
Yucca Valley to Buckeye 255 mi, 4:20 hours (Stopped at Blythe and a Diamond Shamrock on hwy)  

Day 13:
Buckeye to Lordsburg 294 mi, 4:43 hours (stopped at that airport with the airliners for fuel) As we were landing at Pinnal I thought we were in a Control towered airport with all the 747s.  I kept looking at my sectional and my GPS thinking I was reading something wrong. (also landed at a dirt strip for prop repair, again the prop's leading edge tape came off my FireStar)

Day 14:
Lordsburg to EP 294 mi, 4:33 hours (stopped at Demming for fuel)  At Lordsburg As I was doing my preflight, before departing the Lordsburg airport, I noticed the crack. We didn't want to be stuck there, on our last leg into El Paso, so we did an emergency repair with safety wire.