PilotEdge Forums

I’ve been trying to dream up some fun and engaging ways to fly in the PE area, and I’ve embarked on a tour that takes me clockwise around both coverage areas, starting and ending with Amarillo (actually I started further east).

A fun challenge other GA VFR enthusiasts might enjoy is flying the published Grand Canyon corridors. Today, I flew KFMN-KGCN, took a look at Shiprock, and then on to the Canyon (I should probably do this again with upgraded scenery). The corridors are more challenging to navigate than some paths because there are no ‘official’ waypoints. A real Garmin G1000 is supposed to let you set them with the cursor, but that isn’t implemented in the Laminar simulation. So more traditional methods were required to get through the Dragon Corridor without bringing on the wrath of the Park Service or FAA. And then on to land at KGCN. Fun stuff.

Yeah it's a little cruel that the waypoints which make up the routes don't have any names!

Another fun way to explore the Grand Canyon, while also simulating real world tour operations, is to use the Grand Canyon Tour Ops chart. You can view it on SkyVector. Black/blue routes are for fixed wing, and green/orange for rotorcraft. Last october, the wife and I took Scenic Airways on route 1/1A in a Twin Otter. The view was incredible!

Well, I stayed out of trouble, but .... B A R E L Y !