Lake Tahoe or bust

[DanB]

Will be flying from Phoenix to south Lake Tahoe airport in a couple weeks. Just checking to see if there are any suggestions for best route when it comes to the Sierra Nevada's?

[Pilot4Life]

Dan,
I usually climb to FL240 and don't have any issues....it's really boring though! That's a cool place to visit. Drove in....We've flown over it a lot, but never flown into the airport. Should be beautiful when you arrive! Enjoy the trip.

[HighWing]

Dan,
Being in Cameron Park about 45 minutes West of Lake Tahoe we always flew the Highway 50 route through the mountains crossing the mountains at Echo Summit. We then flew across Lake Tahoe and flew North a bit to continue following 50 to Carson City and beyond. This route eliminated a lot of climbing and provided a certain level of comfort.

Since you will remain on the Eastern Slope of the Sierras the high mountain crossing won't be an issue. I would suggest essentially flying up Highway 395 and then crossing the one range between the flatlands on the Eastern side and Tahoe when you feel comfortable. Flying to Carson City and across at 50 then back down to Tahoe would likely add a half hour or so to your flight. It would also provide a great view of the lake though.

[DanB]

Lowell,
Thanks, That is just what I was looking for. Should be a fun trip... meeting up with my son and doing some fly fishing on the Truckee. Looking forward to it.

[TahoeTim]

I am based at TVL which is South Lake Tahoe. You can fly up 395 to Minden as a waypoint, turn west and shoot the gap over Kingsbury into TVL. I fly it every flight! You can also come up to Yerington and turn west.

Our airport is "unusual" in that most of us fly out on 36 over the lake and we usually land on a long final on 18 in from the lake if traffic permits. When you cross over at Kingsbury you will immediately see why...be careful on carb ice as you will be dropping from 10k to 7500 pattern pretty fast. The displaced area on 36 is your friend.

Also, be VERY careful around Minden. It's a glider mecca, with no gliders using radios. Even the tow plane pilot is crazy. I was shooting touch and gos with two other planes last Saturday, when one of the other planes called out that a glider had just landed under us! They love to grab thermals east of Minden and along the ridge at the lake. Expect at least one in the air without a radio.

If you are heading to Truckee, your best bet is Carson City and over Spooner to Truckee as mentioned above. Minimize your time over the lake, at 32 miles long it is like flying over the ocean. We have had two crashes this week. The mountains are not very forgiving. Please proceed with caution up here. You will love it, we still have snow on the peaks. Take a spin into Emerald Bay and bank around the island. Don't worry, there's plenty of room to do a nice turn inside the bay.

It's going to be quite a switch from Cactus to forest and mountains so be prepared to be wow'd. The lake clarity is so good you will be amazed at how far off shore you can see the bottom. Welcome to our paradise.

[DanB]

Tim,
Great info that is highly appreciated! Looking forward to the flight. Would be great to meet up at some point and maybe do some flying. My son has an apartment just west of S Tahoe airport. send me a message with your phone # and I'll give a call when I'm there. I will either be coming in Sunday or Monday (26th or 27th) depending on weather and leaving near the end of the week.
Cheers

[DanB]

Update...
I'm sad to say it went bust. :(
Somewhere en-route this morning to Lake Havasu the small spinner on the front of the 3 blade Ivo Prop came off (yes, it was loc-tighted). I never felt or heard a thing. Got on the ground to re-fuel and noticed it missing followed by finding a 1/4" chunk out of the leading edge of one blade. Was able to do a field repair using super glue, baking soda and a file. Worked good enough to fill it in, build it up and profile the blade. Chose to terminate trip and limped back to FFZ as I didn't know how extensive the blade could be...one of those better safe than sorry calls. Big thanks to Desert Fox IV for the super glue trick.
Some other time Tahoe Tim...sure was looking forward to it.
Dan

[SkySteve]

Dan, sorry to hear you didn't make it. Tell us more about the super glue and baking soda trick (with photos). And, good piloting decision. That's what keeps us alive. :confused:

[DesertFox4]

Glad you're home safe Dan. Happy you made the no-go decision and stuck to it.
Your tracking unit worked great. I was at the computer the whole return leg watching speeds, altitudes and progress. Knew you were OK when I saw your last report and it had you located on the ground , on the ramp abeam Falcon Field Tower and taxiing at 17 mph.
Sorry your trip didn't work out. I know you were looking forward to spending time with Jason but he still has his father to spend time with another day hopefully real soon.
You did venture further today than ever before with your new Kitfox.

Let me know if you need help with the prop.

[HighWing]

Dan,
Sorry about the spinner issue. Having flown pretty much your route a month ago, I sure understanding the decision. Definitely not a place to risk getting stuck.

[TahoeTim]

Sorry to hear about the prop but at least you got it home OK. The forecast for tomorrow is rain and possibly rain/snow on Tuesday. I flew a 4 hour cross country flight this morning (working on my PP license and burning off phase 1 time on my Zodiac). It was a miserable day. Turbulence, high winds +20kts and gusty. I was glad to touch down after fighting the plane all morning.

I was hoping to do another 4 hours tomorrow...send me a text when you come up. Our big air show is the last week of August. Come up and display your plane. I will get you a fly by with announcer time.

[DanB]

Appreciate the support guys...it's always a hard thing to call off a trip.
Sky Steve, I will get some shots of the repair in a day or two. I was amazed at how strong and hard the super glue and baking soda reaction worked. Using the liquid (not the gel) glue was the right choice allowing the exposed composite fibers to soak it in. As soon as the baking soda hit, it froze the liquid. Found that I needed to give it a few minutes before filing...needed a little more and was able to build it up...I will always carry super glue and a little container of baking soda from now on. Lucky there was a Walmart close by.
Desert Fox IV, Always nice to have your wingman watching the tracker...even nicer to call and get some valuable suggestions. Thanks again!
Tim, Sounds like the weather turned a bit sooner than what the forecast was letting on. I will make that trip at some point, will certainly give a shout out when ready.
Dan