39 Airports, 1 Grand Adventure

Like most pilots, I’ve always dreamed of a grand trip. A shared passion for challenge, adventure, and flying eventually drives all of us avgeeks to leave our comfort zones and explore.

So, to celebrate our graduation from Tufts University and Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts, I decided to fly across the U.S. and parts of Canada in my Cirrus SR22 with one of my best friends and copilot, Dylan Tamaroff. Our goal was to see new places, meet people, discover hidden gems, and most importantly, learn. I wanted to push myself, sharpen my skills, and become a better aviator.

While I had around 500 hours and seven years under my belt, I hadn’t flown much outside of my South Florida and Boston bubble. Most of our landings were at KFXE and KBED. Flying was not really a means of travel for me but rather a hobby. So I embarked on this once-in-a-lifetime flying journey. Dylan and I landed at 39 airports over the course of our 13,000 sm, 74-day, 100-flight-hour trip.

Experiencing each airport’s unique personality was a treasure of the journey. The majority were great, some we wouldn’t rush back to, but none were truly “bad”—each offered lessons worth learning.

Overall Favorites

Clermont County (I69)

This Batavia, Ohio, airport came upon us accidentally. A family friend we visited at Lunken Field’s amazing Waypoint FBO in Cincinnati told us about I69, home of Sporty’s Pilot Shop. We jumped in the Cirrus for a quick 10 nm hop, and it was well worth it. Not only is this home to Sporty’s, it also features a lounge, flight school, viewing area, and history. Everyone was very friendly and clearly shared our passion.

Aspen (KASE)

Aspen, Colorado, is a stunning airport, in every single direction. It’s the only airport that we returned to later during the trip. Seeing the Cirrus on the ramp here provided a huge sense of accomplishment and thankfulness. Though Aspen is known for its skiing, there is an aviation scene as well. We spotted many amazing aircraft, from taildraggers and experimentals to a remarkable Beechcraft Starship.  

Key West (KEYW)

No matter which direction you land or depart, Key West, Florida, will be beautiful—especially during sunset or sunrise. It’s technically an international airport but has the feel of a local field. The type of airport where you would expect the late Jimmy Buffet to enter barefoot and hop in his airplane. It’s no secret that it is a fond destination for a $100 key lime pie. 

Driggs (KDIJ)

Driggs-Reed Memorial is an awesome local airport in Idaho. After a stunning approach over the Rockies, you’ll find a runway settled in a valley west of the Grand Tetons. The approach can be difficult, just like any other high-altitude airport, but rewarding. There’s a strong sense of community at the field. It seemed that everyone knew each other. One of the friendly local pilots even offered to let us hangar there for three nights without cost. The FBO is warbird themed and features an adjacent museum that we toured, and then helped ourselves to Idaho-grown potato fries at the FBO restaurant.

Santa Monica (KSMO)

Santa Monica Airport in California is a living museum piece. I flew into it many times on my simulator and wanted to experience it in real life while I could as the runway has been shortened and the city is unfortunately trying to close it. The airport itself should not be too challenging for most GA planes, but (like always) do your performance calculations. Not only is the runway short, it is surrounded by infrastructure. 

Most Challenging

Campbell River (CYBL)

For us, the flight and landing at Campbell River in Canada was difficult. British Columbia is beautiful, but we were navigating over intimidating terrain—mountains, ocean, and forests. It got our hearts pumping, especially planning for what to do if we had an emergency landing. It’s a choice of grizzly bears in the forest or orcas in the water. 

Aspen (KASE)

As mentioned, this was one of our favorites, but with challenging factors—high, mountainous terrain, one-way in and one-way out, fast-changing weather, high-density altitude, strong winds, a tricky VFR hold, paragliders, and lots of traffic. There is little room for error. You need to overprepare and stay ahead of the airplane. GA planes have an advantage of landing on Runway 33, which is more favorable for go-arounds. I had about 30 hours flying in the Rockies area and knew the terrain and airport procedures well, but I highly recommend going with someone familiar before visiting on your own.

Fort Lauderdale (KFXE)

Fort Lauderdale Executive in Florida is my home base airport, and yet it still made this list. I love it, but it’s busy with jets, student pilots, police helicopters, and has intersecting runways and lots of taxiways. I’ve been flying here for almost eight years now, and it hasn’t gotten easier. Getting sequenced on any given Saturday will turn your hair gray.

Newport (2B3)

Landing here at Parlin Field in New Hampshire was tedious. We came from the east and struggled to get a visual on the field as it is hidden by a hill. Once we spotted it, we had to make a 360 to lose altitude and verify the windsock. Upon landing, I realized that the departure end of the runway may be a steep climb. Fortunately, we met a kind local who
informed us that it is a de-facto, one-way-out airport. 

Cedar City (KCDC)

This is a lovely airport in Utah with an extraordinary GA scene. Unfortunately, it’s the only airport I would not like to return to. This uncontrolled field has intersecting runways, and when we arrived, there were many training planes in the pattern (some of which were not making radio calls), helicopters practicing autorotations, and a heavy fire tanker on the approach behind us. It felt like flying into a beehive. As much planning as we put into this location, the traffic caught us by surprise. 

Most Beautiful

Erie-Ottawa (KPCW)

Absolutely underrated. The approach to this Ohio airport took us over Lake Erie. The sunset was spectacular. You can see for miles and even catch a glimpse of the famous amusement park at Cedar Point. 

Bar Harbor (KBHB)

This Maine getaway feels like you are taking off into a galaxy of floating islands. It was very scenic.

Aspen (KASE)

Yes, Aspen made every list. But it’s truly a gorgeous airport from the ground. No bad angles. So nice, we had to visit twice.

Monterey (KMRY)

True to many California coastal towns, Monterey offers a stunning approach and departure. Over the water, you can see the entire bay and even spot wildlife if you’re lucky. Use caution with the marine layer.

Moab (KCNY)

Utah’s Canyonlands features the most vibrant of all airports. The terrain is a remarkable red, orange, and yellow. It looks as if the ground were fluid, and we could view the national parks with ease on our approach. 

What We’d Do Differently

While we started our trip with a fixed itinerary of destinations and specific dates, nothing went to plan. Going off script and seeing unplanned places made things more adventurous and fun, but I wish we’d been more realistic and flexible with our initial planning. A better approach would be to set dates for regions—Northeast, Midwest, Rockies, etc.—not specific airports. 

After a few legs, we realized that within a region it was better to select a base airport and launch from there on day trips to other nearby places. 

For example, we spent four nights in Detroit and launched for day trips from Oakland Country International (KPTK) in Pontiac, Michigan. This allowed a day at Traverse City and another day at Cedar Point amusement park without the hassle of moving hotels or arranging new rental cars. While much of our itinerary did not go to plan, having at least a rough expectation of the costs per stop would have been helpful. 

Advanced hotel bookings aren’t realistic for a trip that’s flown on a day-to-day basis and subject to weather, maintenance, and other delays, but budgeting more intentionally from the start would have made things easier and less costly. We’re grateful to our families and friends who supported us and opened their homes as pit stops along the way. Next time, meal prep would absolutely be part of the plan.

Fueled by Support

Having the support of a great team was the biggest key to our success. Dylan and I are not mechanics by any means, and many pilots are more proficient in preventative maintenance than we are. But we were fortunate to have what we called our “guardian angel” A&P on standby 24/7. Tom Cooper, who we’ve known for many years, saved the day, time and time again. 

Between his extensive knowledge of Cirrus aircraft and large network of colleagues around the country, we’d pick up the phone and he’d bail us out of major headaches. Most importantly, he’d notify us if any issue we saw was truly dangerous. Tom could help us troubleshoot and even did so via FaceTime during our preventive maintenance. 

We were in constant communication with other experts—airline pilots, an F-16 instructor, mountain pilots, and CFIs—who made our trip possible. 

Spreading Our Wings

This trip was everything—seeing family and friends, visiting landmarks, going places we never thought we would, finding hidden gems, learning about the aviation industry, and so much more. But perhaps the greatest takeaway was how much we improved as aviators. 

When the trip began, I had 500 hours, seven years of experience, and had even taught a class on aviation safety at Tufts. Following the trip, I’m a better pilot, with the experience of navigating an entire country and flying intwo Canadian coasts. We encountered all kinds of terrain, airspace, weather, and anomalies. I’m not one for cliches, but it’s safe to say I felt like the proverbial baby bird that left the nest. 

I’ve always felt that the best way to learn something is to dive into it and figure it out. Dylan and I were careful not to put ourselves into questionable situations, but we went outside our comfort zones. Each leg presented something new. Even the simplest flight was unfamiliar and required extensive planning. I’m not saying that the flight from Chicago to Sioux City was necessarily challenging, but it was still brand new. 

We could feel our proficiency expand in real time throughout the trip. Intercepting an ILS at Campbell River in IMC would have never occurred to us at the beginning of the trip. We were
almost strictly VMC for the first few legs, yet even this was second nature by the end of the trip. 

Did our tolerance for risk increase? Absolutely not. What grew was our proficiency, confidence, and skill. Dealing with the variety of challenges sharpened our abilities and mentality to be prepared for almost anything. We put an incredible amount of detail into each flight plan—a practice that we continue to implement. Long after the trip, the lessons we gained will keep shaping us into safer, more capable, and more aware pilots.

Trip Statistics

Aircraft: Cirrus SR22 (N73WT)

Distance: 13,000 sm

Duration: 74 days

Flight Time: ~100 hours

Airports Visited: 39

Longest Leg: 657 nm (KASE to KMCI)

Shortest Leg: 12 nm (KLUK to I69)

Highest Cruising Altitude: 15,000 ft.

This feature first appeared in the March Issue 968 of the FLYING print edition.