If I had a hammer (AvWeb story link)
Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 1:20 pm
Not too different from a 172, the standard 170 can be a challenge in the mountains. I recall flying to Kelowna convention, Jamie and I spent the night in a B&B at Trinidad, CO and departed in the AM for fuel at Montrose, CO, requiring us to climb thru Alamosa Pass.
We were following a railroad track as it wound up thru the mountains. This was because trains can't climb very well either, and the tracks would provide us a nice navigational tool at a gradient the airplane could manage.... Until we came around a bend and found ourselves looking at the entrance to a tunnel.
We circled for about 20 minutes to gain sufficient altitude to climb over the pass. We had a way out. The following story is about pilots who didn't keep an alternate available.
http://www.avweb.com/news/probablecause ... 978-1.html
PS: This is not an attempt to discuss horsepower mods. I disagree with the author's opinion that the 170/172 is not suitable for long cross country flights. The point made best is, that pre-flight planning is important regardless of the equipment used.
We were following a railroad track as it wound up thru the mountains. This was because trains can't climb very well either, and the tracks would provide us a nice navigational tool at a gradient the airplane could manage.... Until we came around a bend and found ourselves looking at the entrance to a tunnel.
We circled for about 20 minutes to gain sufficient altitude to climb over the pass. We had a way out. The following story is about pilots who didn't keep an alternate available.
http://www.avweb.com/news/probablecause ... 978-1.html
PS: This is not an attempt to discuss horsepower mods. I disagree with the author's opinion that the 170/172 is not suitable for long cross country flights. The point made best is, that pre-flight planning is important regardless of the equipment used.