I Learned About Flying From That: The Longest Journey

Howard Paul

Monday, April 14, 2014 at 09:33 PM ET

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** To see more of Barry Ross' aviation art, go
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Key Takeaways:

The author undertook a challenging multi-day flight to deliver a Cessna 150M from Arizona to Florida, encountering persistent severe turbulence, strong winds, and variable weather conditions throughout the journey.
The demanding nature of the trip, especially without an autopilot, led to significant pilot fatigue, resulting in impaired judgment, critical errors (such as forgetting chocks and misidentifying a landing strip), and at one point, fear that necessitated an emergency landing request.
Despite meticulous planning, the pilot learned crucial lessons about the dangers of flying beyond personal comfort levels, underestimating the impact of long daily flight hours, and recognizing how vigilance can be critically impaired by fatigue.
Ultimately, the delivery was successfully completed, including an unplanned grass-strip landing, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing safety and acknowledging physical limits on challenging cross-country flights.

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I purchased 3723V, a 1976 Cessna 150M, to help defray the cost of acquiring my instrument rating and to build time. After earning the rating, business took me to Phoenix, and due to the desert heat and the thermals, it soon became apparent that I needed a turbocharged airplane. So I sold 23V to a gentleman in southern Florida under the agreement that I would deliver the airplane to him.

Flight planning put the trip around 18 hours. I would depart Deer Valley heading southeast toward Tucson to remain west of the mountains and then fly almost due east to cross them while following Interstate 10 all the way to Florida before heading south to my final destination, Airport Manatee (48X) in Palmetto.