![\"\"](\"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/EagleRock.jpg\" "\\"EagleRock\\"")
<\/a>Eagle Rock, of the Grand Canyon \/ Traveling12feet.com via Wikipedia<\/p><\/div>\n
I don\u2019t know how many times I have flown across the United States and looked down from the cockpit to see the Grand Canyon.\u00a0 From flight levels, it is not too impressive; it looks like a depression on the face of the earth.<\/p>\n
The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, is more than 18 miles wide at the widest, and some 6000 feet deep.\u00a0 Another way to say it, it is one very large honking hole!<\/p>\n
Still, from FL 330 or higher, it is not all that impressive.<\/p>\n
Then the time came to move all my stuff back to Florida.\u00a0 One of the things I had to move was my Cessna 170B.\u00a0 I could not think of a better route than along the Canyon rim on the way to Florida.<\/p>\n
For as long as I live, I will never forget the sight of the Grand Canyon from the windscreen of the \u201cB.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every time I flew over the Canyon in a jet, be it my own or as a passenger on a Boeing, I was not very impressed.\u00a0 From the windscreen of a Cessna, however, a Cessna that was scratching for altitude over the Canyon rim, the hole in the earth was the most impressive thing I have seen in my life.<\/p>\n
The airport on the southern rim, Grand Canyon National Park, is 6609 feet MSL and has a 9000-foot long runway.\u00a0 When I was there, it was January and cool, so performance issues were not as critical as I imagined them to be in the summer.<\/p>\n
In the \u201cold days,\u201d before my time, there were very little rules and regulations concerning flight in the Grand Canyon.\u00a0 Following several accidents inside the Canyon, the FAA changed the way everyone does business in the Canyon.\u00a0 I remember my first skipper, who was a member of VA-192, telling the story of one of his first missions as a section lead.\u00a0 He took a new guy over to the Canyon on a low-lever that took them into the Canyon only a couple of hundred feet above the surface.<\/p>\n
He briefed the new guy about minimum speeds and altitudes on the route.\u00a0 He pitched off as appropriate, but the inexperienced A-7B pilot got his jet both low and slow.\u00a0 My skipper, \u201cDuke,\u201d was orbiting overhead fearful that he was going to lose his wingman.\u00a0 For as much as the ensign was sweating in his jet, Duke suffered as much.\u00a0 And then he, and the ensign, breathed sighs of relief when the ensign cleared the rim by six feet.<\/p>\n
For as beautiful as the Grand Canyon is, it can also be a dangerous place to fly.\u00a0 It does not matter what kind of airplane you are piloting, a light plane, an attack jet, or a medevac or touring helicopter, there are rules you have to follow to be safe.<\/p>\n
Just in case you are unaware, there are special air traffic rules in place to help you navigate the area safely.\u00a0 If you go, be careful.<\/p>\n
And enjoy the scenery!<\/p>\n
-30-<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2011 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is the first day of class and as with all first days of class, some things can be unpredictable.\u00a0 Like what I may use to illustrate my lessons and where my mind might go in the process.\u00a0 Today, it … Continue reading