LONG cross country planning advice?

[airguy]

It's been a while since I've planned and flown a truly LONG cross-country (beyond a few hundred miles), but I'm going to be flying a 2001 model 172R from Sanford, Maine to west Texas over about 3 days next weekend.

The plane is IFR day/night in good condition but the pitot/static is expired so it's effectively VFR at this time, with panel GPS and 2-axis autopilot. My basic idea was to come out of Maine and go more or less west by southwest, staying well south of the Canadian border and headed towards Cleveland/Indy area, to stay out of the mountainous territory to the south and east, then head more southward after crossing the Mississippi.

I've done all the obvious stuff, like having a good competent A&P do the prebuy, checked the airplane out thoroughly, got all the charts, reviewing the airspace and high traffic areas etc. but I guess what I'm asking is if anyone has any other thoughts about the basic route? I won't have XM weather on board for this flight, which means we will only be making about 2-hour legs to be able to keep an eye on developing weather and plan the next leg. If everything goes perfect and no issues pop up, this would be a solid 2-day flight, so I'm giving myself 4 days to get it done. Two pilots, VFR rated, and we'll use flight following for the entire trip (assuming ATC has time for us).

The length of the total flight gives us quite a bit of freedom for route deviations for weather, so I'm not terribly concerned about that, we can pick our way through just about anything other than a major multi-state storm system. Preplanning a point-to-point route is obviously a useless exercise in futility without knowing what the weather is going to throw at us, I'm figuring we'll have to plan the entire trip leg-by-leg while looking at a weather depiction, and generally trying to keep heading "that-a-way" with some deviations.

Any thoughts?

[captain_john]

Yah, I got some thoughts... Stop in at PLYMOUTH and check out Hangar # on your way through town!!! You have GOTTA SEE Bill's -6 in my hangar before you go back home!

Also, I was just up in SFM last weekend. They have ripped up one runway so heads up on the NOTAMS. Also, get a lobster rollup at the gas station just outside the gate. They are WICKED GOOD!

Transitioning Boston's Class B isn't bad. Give it a try and you will be glad you did. I often get routed right over the city. Lat weekend they gave me 2,500 feet over Fenway Park! Yaaaah... not too hard to take.

I have flown your intended route out to Cleveland and out to OSH. Penn State is pretty remote. Stop in DuBois, PA for fuel and food. It is a good stop.

I would do longer legs, but that is me. You will be able to see your weather as it approaches and you can always turn around.

We did our fair share of "finger on the map" navigating when we made it out to the flat states.

Long XC's are FUN!

CJ

[airguy]

The trip went about as expected - plan A went out the window 4 hours before scheduled departure. We spent the entire trip (3 days, about 18 hours airborne) deviating in and around weather, generally "heading that-a-way" with flight following, and planning our next leg at each fuel stop based on current weather developments.

I hear a lot of complaining about controllers and ATC, but my experience on this trip was excellent, especially Kansas City Center on Sunday evening with the big boomers rolling through Oklahoma. Major kudos to those guys, it was a nasty situation and they were very helpful to everyone on the frequency.

It was a helluva lotta fun travelling from Maine to Texas in a 172, but I *really* want to get my 9A in the air now...