What was your longest one day flight in a general aviation single engine aircraft?

I flew my 4 kids from our home in Ogden Utah to Grandma's house in California one summer.  Hinkley Field to Gnoss Field in Novato just north of San Francisco.

A tad over 600 miles in a Cherokee 180.

I made a refueling and rest stop in Reno.  Then took off to south and circled until I had enough altitude to crest the Sierras.  Turned west over Lake Tahoe.  Reduced power for the slide down the west slope to about Sacramento where I added cruise power for the short hop to Novato.  

On the return trip I was about abeam Sacramento when a pair of F-101 Wonders  were climbing out at a steep angle right in front of me.  I refueled in Elko NV.

 

Noel

 

I'd say flying from Farmingdale up to Oxford with a friend, having lunch, and then flying back to Farmingdale. Plot twist: That is the ONLY flight I have ever flown in a general aviation aircraft.

On 5/22/2018 at 10:43 AM, birdguy said:

What was your longest one day flight in a general aviation single engine aircraft?

I flew my 4 kids from our home in Ogden Utah to Grandma's house in California one summer.  Hinkley Field to Gnoss Field in Novato just north of San Francisco.

A tad over 600 miles in a Cherokee 180.

I made a refueling and rest stop in Reno.  Then took off to south and circled until I had enough altitude to crest the Sierras.  Turned west over Lake Tahoe.  Reduced power for the slide down the west slope to about Sacramento where I added cruise power for the short hop to Novato.  

On the return trip I was about abeam Sacramento when a pair of F-101 Wonders  were climbing out at a steep angle right in front of me.  I refueled in Elko NV.

 

Noel

 

Mine was a flight out of Napa, then West to Pt. Reyes at 5000 feet, then south towards Sausalito, then east to Concord Buchanan where we landed for lunch.  After lunch we flew back to Napa.  A friend named Tim Hurley flew our rented Cessna 182, I paid for the rental, had the controls for a bit, it was a lovely day flight and a very memorable one way back in the 80's

John

Ferried a cessna 140 from oakland to ft wayne when i was young. 2 and a half days. the second day was the long one, from fox field in lancaster ca, to wichita ks.

We did KBJJ (NE Ohio) to KEMT (El Monte, CA...LA suburb), and return of course, in a 182RG a couple years ago.

Jim

Edit...Oops. not 1 day.  2 days each way.  That would make KAPA > KBJJ on the way home the longest.

Edited May 24, 20188 yr by shazam

My old stomping grounds in high school John.  Point Reyes, Stinson Beach, Muir Woods, Sausalito.  We lived in Mill Valley.

Noel

From N07 (Lincoln Park NJ) to KBID (followed Connecticut shore line then over).  We then flew to get a hamburger in  New London and then back to N07.  It was like landing in a black hole.  My friend had to go back to Danbury and couldn't get the airport lights to come up.  He landed at another airport finally at 2-3  a.m. and had to wake up his brother to pick him up.  Later the day he had to fly the plane back to DXR.

Also did  Prescott to Las Vegas and Prescott to Tuscon in little Grumman Tiger.

19 hours ago, birdguy said:

My old stomping grounds in high school John.  Point Reyes, Stinson Beach, Muir Woods, Sausalito.  We lived in Mill Valley.

Noel

Been to all of them, first place I took my fiance was to Stinson Beach and Muir Woods, then Mt. Tamalpais with its gorgeous view of the Bay, the City, the Golden Gate, and the Coast, like a perpetual motion flight on terra firma.  We just held each other to warm from the brisk fall winds with the fog sneaking in from the coast, it was and still is a heaven on earth memory for me.  I also took my nephews to the same places on earlier trips.  No hugs though, lol.  Just the appreciation of two 5 and 6 year old boys.

John

Colin Fletcher, a hiker originally from Wales I believe, wrote several hiking books including The Thousand Mile Summer and The Complete Hiker.  He woe a later book about his secret places.  One of them was a place in Marin Country where he could see the bridge and the city and the bay.  I was never able to figure out where exactly it was.  But I suspect somewhere on Mt. Tamalpais.

I graduated from Tamalpais High School where I spent my senior year.  I'm glad to see you spelled it right John.  The high school year book is called The Pai.

Noel

The longest I remember was back  many years ago in a 1956 Cessna 172 we just bought from somewhere in Virginia (forget the name or ICAO) to our home in Delray Beach, Florida, FD08.  One stop for gas and to pick up a friend I think.  It was able to get as high as 8500 feet I think, but that was before we got an annual inspection and the mechanic said the timing on the cylinders were messed up and he "fixed it" and now it barely makes it up to 4,500!

That wouldn't work here Caleb.  Out field elevation is 3600ft.  Flying west you wouldn't get far before hitting the ground.  Better stay back east.

Noel

 

14 hours ago, birdguy said:

That wouldn't work here Caleb.  Out field elevation is 3600ft.  Flying west you wouldn't get far before hitting the ground.  Better stay back east.

Noel

 

Yes!

We live in Florida so elevations aren't a problem.   There's a Comanche 400 in the hanger for trips that require a high altitude.  I've heard people get those up to 15,000 to 20,000, even though that's far above the service ceiling!