Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Beaker
#1866054
I'm a modular student post-PPL enjoying my licence until such a time it feels right to move forward to the next steps. I was thinking perhaps next winter depending on how COVID affects international travel, it could be good to travel abroad both to build some hours and keep my eye in as much as possible.

I'm only at the very early stages of research, but just looking for latest opinions as to which places would be worthwhile considering for flying in the northern hemisphere's winter months. The USA, especially Florida seems to crop up a lot in suggestions. That being said, the winter weather in Southern California seems pretty good; mostly based on my experiences on the ground anyway :)

I've seen Australia and New Zealand suggested in the past as well. Are there any other places worth considering, even if a bit different? I think the main, but perhaps obvious things to consider would be good flying weather, ease of aircraft rental and minimal bureaucracy, especially around visas and license recognition.
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By Iceman
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1866063
Agreed, Florida and the Bahamas are a very good intro to the US and superb for hour building (on my first visit, I did 52 hours in two weeks without even trying), but SoCal offers some superb and more challenging flying. You’d typically do a high-DA checkout to somewhere like Big Bear, and the SoCal area itself is pretty manic in terms of traffic density. But from there, flying around the sights of Arizona and Nevada offers world-class scenery, including Sedona, Meteor Crater, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Lake Powell, Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Golden Gate, Catalina, etc. Perhaps even some time in each, starting in Florida as a good intro.

Iceman 8)
#1866064
Arizona, Utah, Nevada.

I did it in October/November 2010. I based myself in Phoenix and had a whale of a time exploring. Ignore Florida, there’s naff all there, but if you go SW USA you can go to places like Sedona, San Diego, Flagstaff, Meteor Crater, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and so on. You will get a much broader flying experience - mountain flying, interesting conditions, hot and high performance and so on. California can be tricky with the marine layer if you lack an instrument qualification.

Licence verification and paperwork with the local FSDO is fairly straightforward. Your school of choice will probably want to give you a mountain flying checkout as well as your BFR to cover some of the things I mentioned above, and possibly a Sedona specific one. I would also advise renting something with 180hp if the budget stretches to it. Most of all though, you’ll have a whale of a time.
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1866069
Josh wrote:I would also advise renting something with 180hp if the budget stretches to it. Most of all though, you’ll have a whale of a time.


Myself and a friend flew over the mountains from San Diego to Thermal one day (density altitude clue in the name there...) in a fairly tired old 160hp PA28 (N2525Y for those who know it, I know some on here do!) with something like 2300 hours on the engine. It was fairly deserted (in the desert!) with the only other person there being a chap in a Cirrus who arrived around the same time. We got chatting and I said we'd come in from San Diego.

"What have you got in there, a 235?"
"Gosh no. It's a 160. Well, supposedly. I guess it had 160 when it left the factory...now not so much."

He looked astonished that something with so little power had made it over the mountains! :D

I refused to take that aeroplane to Big Bear though! I took a 180hp 172.
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1866085
While not specifically for hour building I’ve done Florida and the West Coast /SoCal .(twice!)

In my opinion and for the dozens of reasons in other posts already on here which I won’t repeat , the West Coast wins hands down .

A trip from LA up to San Francisco then Monterey , past the Golden Gate Bridge to wine country-Napa- will blow yer mind . Followed by return trip down the Valley to Harris Ranch and Van Nuys :

What’s not to like? :wink:
#1866303
Paul_Sengupta wrote:...I refused to take that aeroplane to Big Bear though! I took a 180hp 172....


I took 65 hp in and out of Rock Springs Wyoming once, at approaching 9000' density altitude. I'm not saying I would like to do it every day, but it was fine at the time.
#1866504
I didn't consider Arizona... That would be good :)

With the marine later in SoCal; that's usually lifted by late morning if I remember correctly, right?

The scenery in South Africa looks brilliant as well and I'll definitely look into that for something a little more different.

Thank you :)
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By Iceman
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1866511
The SoCal marine layer can be problematic on occasions. I have crossed the Golden Gate bridge north to south with the top of the towers visible and the fog layer ending just in land, enabling us to land at San Carlos. Equally, I’ve been stopped from getting to Catalina Island by that layer. Renting from SoCal but then routing into Arizona and Nevada usually proves fruitful with days in SoCal picked some as to get the best weather there.

I have flown in the Durban, South Africa area in the past and a full tour is on my list.

Iceman 8)
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By Paul_Sengupta
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1866550
I've flown GA south, back to San Diego, across Los Angeles International, with a third of the runways (the seaward side of all four of them, parallel) obscured by the sea fog. Later the same day I was flying back home from San Diego, changing at LAX, and got to experience it in an airliner, both landing in the clear and disappearing into the fog, and then taking off, starting the take off run in the clear and disappearing into the fog before climbing above it.

I've been at San Francisco International when the fog has been cascading over the hills before disappearing into clear air on the downslope.
#1866630
Thanks for the tips :)

@SteveX Yeah, that's right. I'm booking something like this will be possible during the winter of 2022/2023. Will have to wait and see though. If I start thinking about it but though, it'll give me plenty of time to plan ahead.
#1866652
Very wise. I spent a good few months planning mine and getting paperwork for the FAA 61.75 sorted.

I got some inspiration on destinations from Frank Holbert’s website here