chuckie
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Sea of Cortez Coastline!
I flew out of of Loreto yesterday, on an Alaskan flight. We flew at about 4000 feet up the Sea of Cortez. I was again awed by the fact that so much of
our Baja remains unmessed with....Mile upon mile of seacoast north of Santa Rosalia with no road penetrating to it. The terminus of the SOC remains
much as I remember it, the river delta still brown and barren. A bit north agriculture has crept further south, and seemingly more towns have sprung
up.
An exploration project seems to be glimmmering....A boat trip up the coast.....I'm sure its been done, but I havnt done it.....
Nice to be back in Colorado..pines smell good....
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mtnpop
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Location: Colorado/mulege
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Chuckie,, welcome back to "cool" Colorado.... We have snow on the Sangres now and Sat. morning a cool 20 degrees at 6 am
Enough moisture in the last couple of months to really clean up those pines..
we are starting the pack up to head south in a couple of weeks..
Enjoy your visit. see you In Mulege soon...
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bonanza bucko
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| Quote: | Originally posted by chuckie
I flew out of of Loreto yesterday, on an Alaskan flight. We flew at about 4000 feet up the Sea of Cortez. I was again awed by the fact that so much of
our Baja remains unmessed with....Mile upon mile of seacoast north of Santa Rosalia with no road penetrating to it. The terminus of the SOC remains
much as I remember it, the river delta still brown and barren. A bit north agriculture has crept further south, and seemingly more towns have sprung
up.
An exploration project seems to be glimmmering....A boat trip up the coast.....I'm sure its been done, but I havnt done it.....
Nice to be back in Colorado..pines smell good.... |
That Alaska flight was in a jet; probably a B737. If you flew at 4000 feet all the way up the Sea of Cortez you would have run out of fuel about Bay
of LA. Jets don't like it down low because the air is thick and the airplane goes slow and drinks up all the JetA. I think you were probably at least
25000 feet above the sea (FL250) where the view would have been a lot better.
BB
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Barry A.
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Location: Redding, Northern CA
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bonanza bucko
| Quote: | Originally posted by chuckie
I flew out of of Loreto yesterday, on an Alaskan flight. We flew at about 4000 feet up the Sea of Cortez. I was again awed by the fact that so much of
our Baja remains unmessed with....Mile upon mile of seacoast north of Santa Rosalia with no road penetrating to it. The terminus of the SOC remains
much as I remember it, the river delta still brown and barren. A bit north agriculture has crept further south, and seemingly more towns have sprung
up.
An exploration project seems to be glimmmering....A boat trip up the coast.....I'm sure its been done, but I havnt done it.....
Nice to be back in Colorado..pines smell good.... |
That Alaska flight was in a jet; probably a B737. If you flew at 4000 feet all the way up the Sea of Cortez you would have run out of fuel about Bay
of LA. Jets don't like it down low because the air is thick and the airplane goes slow and drinks up all the JetA. I think you were probably at least
25000 feet above the sea (FL250) where the view would have been a lot better.
BB |
Hmmmmmm----on the, "----view being a lot better at FL 250----" I respectfully disagree. I am always totally frustrated at that level as you really
can't see much detail on the ground. It's the "detail" that I really want to see, and I wish they would vastly slow the airplane down so I could see
it all.  
Barry
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mulegejim
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I believe the plane Chuchie was on is a Bombardier Q-400....a turboprop. Don't know if it makes a difference about altitude or fuel consumption. Jim
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jbcoug
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I know nothing about altitude, fuel consumption, etc., but many of the flights by Alaska into Loreto are now in Turbo props.
John
\"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.\" Andy Rooney
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jbcoug
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I guess Jim and I were thinking the same thing at the same time.
John
\"The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.\" Andy Rooney
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bajaguy
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Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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Altitude and Fuel
You can't have too much of both
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dtbushpilot
Ultra Nomad
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaguy
You can't have too much of both |
Unless you're on fire....at FL 250....
"Life is tough".....It's even tougher if you're stupid.....
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bonanza bucko
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A turboprop is a jet engine with propellers in front of it driven by the jet engine. They perform better at lower altitudes than do pure (or turbo)
jets. But because they are still jet engines the burn less fuel up high. I guess you could fly the length of he Sea of Cortez in a turboprop at 4000
feet but the trip would be slower and the bean counters at Alaska AL Hq would no be happy with the fuel bill.
I agree that you can see a lot more detail at 4000 than at FL250 but you can see more up high so long as you don't care to see the whites of the
burro's eyes. I fly the coast of Baja in a Beech Bonanza pretty regularly. We usually go about 11500 south east bound and 12500 north west bound.
We are up that high for two reasons.....lower fuel consumption and higher true airspeeds. We also like the idea of having a longer glide distance if
the engine gets sick. But the other main ingredient in flying up and down Baja is wind. As you probably know the wind blows like stink there and
especially so in the winter. That is usually out of about 315 (North West). Then the distances between airports where you can buy fuel in Baja are
longer than in the US. So, if you are awake and a decent pilot you will pick the altitude where the wind favors your flight the most....on the tail
as a help or on the nose as a problem. You'd be surprised about how many pilots who are used to the good ole USA get into trouble in Baja because of
winds and long distances between fuel stops. They usually do that because somebody in the back wants to see the waves on the beach and/or because
they are hung over (:-)) from an night in the Serenidad at Mulege.
Bottom line: flying any airplane requires that the pilot first understand and obey the rules of flight, wind, weather and fuel. The desires of
passengers to see stuff come only after those other imperatives are satisfied.
BB
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sancho
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There is a book called 'Wind, Sun, Water', I believe
the writer is Ed Darack, about a solo kayak paddle
from the top of the Cortez to the East Cape, explores
the Cortez Coastline
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bajaguy
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Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
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Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by chuckie
..... An exploration project seems to be glimmmering....A boat trip up the coast.....I'm sure its been done, but I havnt done it.....
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A great read about the Sea of Cortez was written by John Stienbeck "Log from the Sea of Cortez"
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