The Grand Canyon in an RV

Yesterday afternoon I took a couple of friends down to St. George UT.
I had an open seat so I called another friend who hasn't flown in small planes much. I surprised them by flying over Fish Lake for fall colors, Bryce Canyon and finally the Grand Canyon. We all were blown away by the flight.

I have flown over the Grand Canyon many times before but the light and sky was the best I have ever seen it. This was also the first time I had flown through the west corridor called Tuckup. This is near Tuweep and the Bar Ten ranch.

This is not much of a write-up, just some beautiful country.
Enjoy!

Fall colors starting to change near Fish Lake


Flying near Bryce Canyon




Rainbow over Kanab, UT

Flying into the Grand Canyon

SPOT Tracking of flight

I'm jealous...

....of anyone living in the great, open West. When is retirement?????

Thanks for sharing the photos. I sure miss spending time at the Canyon.

Excellent

Those are some excellent photos, Scott. Thank's for sharing. You mentioned that this was not your first time overflying the canyon - I wonder what your first experience was like. Kelly and I overflew it last month for the first time and it was awe-inspriring on one hand and mega-scary on the other ! Seems the closer we got to the canyon rim (from the south) the quieter we both became as we were filled with the "are we really going to do this" line of thoughts. 25 miles across on the Dragon Corridor with nothing but steep canyon walls everywhere - no room for mistakes or hiccups of any kind - adds to the adventure ;o)

It is called Grandcanyonitis

N520TX said:

You mentioned that this was not your first time overflying the canyon - I wonder what your first experience was like. Kelly and I overflew it last month for the first time and it was awe-inspriring on one hand and mega-scary on the other ! Seems the closer we got to the canyon rim (from the south) the quieter we both became as we were filled with the "are we really going to do this" line of thoughts. 25 miles across on the Dragon Corridor with nothing but steep canyon walls everywhere - no room for mistakes or hiccups of any kind - adds to the adventure ;o)

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I remember being a little nervous as well which is actually a disease. It is called Grandcanyonitis. The only known cure is to go fly all four corridors with your favorite music playing in the background.

My wife and I were the same way the first time. I flew over Marble Canyon and always felt I had a way out to the east on the bluff. But once you commit to Dragon, Tuckup or Fossil corridors you are committed.

I don't think about it much anymore and just enjoy taking pictures and trying to identify different areas from the air.

You better get started on the cure!

I still have not flown Fossil corridor.

Procedures

I believe there use to be procedures for the flying the canyon. Some radio calls or something. Can't remember. Are they still in effect? I know, I could look it up but...

Grand Canyon Procedures

N282S said:

I believe there use to be procedures for the flying the canyon. Some radio calls or something. Can't remember. Are they still in effect? I know, I could look it up but...

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From what I know there are no defined procedures but pilots will typically announce which corridor they are entering, altitude and direction.
"RV104XP at the north end of Tuckup at 10,500 southbound."

There is no one monitoring the traffic as far as I know.

Now, here is my soapbox speech about the Grand Canyon.
As private pilots we have all these minimum altitudes we have to maintain and areas we cannot even enter below 14,500 ft. Now the tour groups can fly much much lower and in areas we cannot go.
If I were president it would be the opposite.

You can put lipstick on a tour plane and it is still a loud, slow tour plane.

I would like to see the same rights for us, the taxpayers, as the tour groups have at least.

Even at the minimum of 10,000 ft. over Marble Canyon, it is still amazing. It just bugs me when I see the tour planes cruising around a couple thousand feet below me.

Vote for me and I'll make sure RV's are required by law to stay below the rim of the canyon. Flying under the bridge at Phantom Ranch gets you a 10% tax break.

ScottSchmidt said:

...Now, here is my soapbox speech about the Grand Canyon.
As private pilots we have all these minimum altitudes we have to maintain and areas we cannot even enter below 14,500 ft. Now the tour groups can fly much much lower and in areas we cannot go.
If I were president it would be the opposite.

You can put lipstick on a tour plane and it is still a loud, slow tour plane...

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Amen brother! A few of my comments at the bottom of this page and a few more here.

If you want to fly over Grand Canyon get the map. The VFR routes are defined as well as the frequencies. All I did was announce once or twice. Never heard anyone else except tour flights.

While in the Phoenix area I decided it was time to check another item off my bucket list and fly the Grand Canyon. I flight planned from Chandler (KCHD) under the class "B" to Sedona area to take some pictures. Sedona is unbelievably beautiful, and I high recommend the Sedona Airport for the adventurous pilots, but I digress.

If you are planning to fly the Grand Canyon you will need to buy or borrow the chart below (Thanks Scott!) Do not be intimidated by the restrictions. This is a flight well worth the effort. A little air traffic control is not a bad thing, and it is now the regs.

ScottSchmidt said:

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I added the GPS coordinates from the charts to my Garmin 496. I decided to start on the east side and work my way west flying the corridors at the prescribed altitudes of 11,500 northbound and 10,500 southbound. I was the only one flying the VFR route at the time I was there, but the charter flights were busy below me. This is for reference only, you still had to fly wide of a few of the restricted areas so beware.


For reference, the blue dot airport is the Grand Canyon Airport (KGCN)

IMHO, the Grand Canyon trip is well worth the time as a destination flight. There are several nice, inexpensive places to stay if you do a little home work. Others have posted great pictures. If you are interested in seeing mine here is the link.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104592539075472798431/GrandCanyon?authkey=Gv1sRgCLn7wujCs9is8gE#

The chick with the beer in the pics is my bride of 21 years. I bought the bracelet in Sedona when I stopped for fuel and lunch. I gave it to her that night for Valentines Day 2011. Smooth huh?

Sedona, is an EXCELLENT place to fly beautiful rock formations with no restrictions, but there are MANY helos giving tours so monitor the CTAF and report your position. The airports presents an interesting landing and take off if you are not prepared for up draft and down drafts. Caution should be exercised.

photos

Magnificent photos. Can we get high resolution copies of some of them.
When I finish my RV 6A, I see a trip I want to take (starting in Seattle)
Thanks for sharing.

i found the eastern corridor........

the best to fly. it is the longest and starts near grand canyon airport and ends near marble canyon airport which is the place to be for breakfast to see the sun hitting the canyon walls. get the chart and go for it. wish it was a bit closer to florida. hmmm. nice photos!!!!! hard to take a bad pic.

A must do for the full Grand Canyon experience is the Bar 10 ranch in Whitmore Wash. The strip is very busy with river traffic during peak season, but they will accommodate private aircraft who pre-arrange.

http://www.bar10.com/

jay.pearlman said:

Magnificent photos. Can we get high resolution copies of some of them.
When I finish my RV 6A, I see a trip I want to take (starting in Seattle)
Thanks for sharing.

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You bet. Send me an e-mail and I'll send you the big pictures.

Thanks for the Inspiration

ScottSchmidt said:

Vote for me and I'll make sure RV's are required by law to stay below the rim of the canyon. Flying under the bridge at Phantom Ranch gets you a 10% tax break.

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Sure, I'll vote for you. In fact, I'll vote twice!

ScottSchmidt said:

Now, here is my soapbox speech about the Grand Canyon.
As private pilots we have all these minimum altitudes we have to maintain and areas we cannot even enter below 14,500 ft. Now the tour groups can fly much much lower and in areas we cannot go.
If I were president it would be the opposite.

Click to expand...

I don't know if I believe him, but I met a pilot out west who claims he flies below the canyon minimums all the time and that there is little to no surveillance. Who does the policing of this airspace anyway, the park service?

ajay