Our flight plan includes Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell, Monument Valley, and Sedona.
We take care of every detail so you can maximize your flight adventure.
This destination flight includes trip planning, hotels, meals, and excursions.
You'll fly with up to six other Cirrus SR22T Aircraft each with two participants.
The flight will be led by JATO Flight Instructor Thomas Daniel, who is one of the most experienced destination Cirrus instructors available.
Each aircraft will have a qualified JATO Cirrus Flight Instructor so that you can expand your flying skills, gain valuable cross country flight experience, and fly in a variety of new and challenging destinations.
Program Details
Flight Details
This Southwest trip is planned so that your longest flights will be on the first and last days. You'll have opportunities to customize your flight to include excursions to see even more of this amazingly beautiful landscape.
Friday
We will depart on Friday 9/13 late afternoon from San Carlos for a direct flight to Kanab, Ut, overflying the Sierra Nevada Mountains by Mono Lake. In an SR22T, the 480 nm flight will only take 2.5 hours, and we will arrive at our destination before dark. We will stay overnight in the Canyon Boutique Hotel and have the first group dinner in the excellent Sego restaurant.
Our day will start early on Saturday morning. We'll drive to Peek-a-Boo Gulch trailhead and follow a backcountry sand trail, race over dunes and zip over hills in four-person ATVs.
As our convoy progresses along the trail towards the Canyon, we will be surrounded by breathtaking views of Navajo Sandstone, native plants and if we are lucky, maybe even some local wildlife. Once we arrive at the Canyon, be prepared to be floored by its beauty and tranquil presence, it has been described by many as a sanctuary in stone.
Together with our guide, we will freely explore the wonders of the canyon and discover its slender passages with their spectrum of dusty reds, earthy browns, and burnt orange colors. All meticulously layered by Mother Nature into the sandstone walls; mesmerizing for any photographer, hiker or adventurer!
When we are done exploring, we will head back to our ATVs for more fun and thrills over the sand trails and back to the Kanab airport, where we will board our airplanes for a short, but scenic flight to Bryce Canyon airport.
Upon arrival, we will drive to Ruby Inn for a well-merited lunch
Afternoon
After lunch, we will join a guide for the exploration of Bryce Canyon, home to the world-famous hoodoos! Thousands of limestone rock formations that jut up from the ground in spiral-shaped pillars and stretch as far as the eye can see, it’s truly a sight to behold! Our afternoon tour will include an unforgettable scenic drive with several short hikes to the best viewpoints within the park including Sunrise, Sunset, Natural Bridge, and Inspiration Points.
We will finish the day by another short flight from Bryce Canyon to Page at the shores of Lake Powell and dinner at a local restaurant.
Sunday
Morning
We will again start the day early in the morning with a short ride to Antelope Canyon. Few geological formations are as picturesque and awe-inspiring as Antelope Canyon, a magnificent slot canyon just east of Page in Northern Arizona. With tall winding walls, it’s a monumental sandstone sculpture. A photographer’s dream, the canyon is known for its wave-like structure and the light beams that shine directly down into the openings of the canyon, creating a supernatural appearance. The sunlight filtering down the curved sandstone walls makes magical, constantly changing patterns and shadows in many subtle shades of color. Some sections of the canyon are wide and bright, while others are narrower and more cave-like, with no light reaching the sandy floor.
Afternoon
After lunch, we will head to Lake Powell for a boat trip on the lake and to see Rainbow Bridge National Monument. Lake Powell is the second largest man-made lake in the US and without a doubt the most scenic, stretching 186 miles across the red rock desert from Page, Arizona to Hite, Utah. It began filling in 1963 following the completion of a dam across the Colorado River near the south end of Glen Canyon and was not completely full until 1980. What makes the lake so memorable is the contrast between the deep clear blue waters and the surrounding landscape - stark red sandstone rocks with little or no vegetation, the innumerable steep remote side canyons, and the spires, ridges, and buttes that once stood high above the Colorado River, but now form cliffs at the lakeside or are semi-submerged as small islands.
Monday
Morning
After seeing Lake Powell from the water level, we will jump back in our airplanes to see it from the air. A low altitude sight-seeing flight over Horseshoe Bend and Rainbow Bridge will continue towards Monument Valley. Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Director John Ford used the location for a number of his best-known films and thus, in the words of critic Keith Phipps, "its five square miles have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West.". Flying a few hundred feet AGL between the famous rock formations is an unforgettable experience. We will land at the Monument Valley airport, a one way in, one way out private airport and have lunch at Goulding lodge.
Afternoon
Our afternoon flight to Sedona will be extended by a short detour to Winslow, to see the famous Meteor Crater from the air. Landing at the Sedona airport is often compared to landing on an air carrier. Situated on a 500-foot tall mesa in the Upper Sonoran Desert of Northern Arizona, the airport is one of the most challenging and scenic airports in the United States. High elevation, terrain, cliffs, and unique wind patterns give you simultaneous challenges that you won't face at many airports around the country. After landing, we will transfer to the Enchantment Resort.
Monday
Morning
On Tuesday morning, you will have the option of relaxing at the Enchantment Resort, perhaps visiting the resort spa or participating in yet another thrilling adventure - a Jeep tour of Sonora desert. Driving yourself through terrain, you never thought a vehicle could pass; you will see new vistas and perspectives on the famous Sedona red rocks.
Afternoon
It is time to finish our trip with another scenic flight - overflying Las Vegas and Sierra mountains by Mount Whitney; we will be heading home back to San Carlos airport.
Cost
The cost of the program is $6,500/person assuming two participants per airplane and sharing a hotel room, and it includes
Lodging and meals, including house wine, beer and cocktails
All activities and ground transportation
Ten hours of aircraft rental (Cirrus SR22T G5) Hobbs rental dry (without fuel)
One instructor for four and half days
The following expenses are not included:
Aircraft fuel cost.
Hobbs time beyond 10 hours, which will be charged at $375/hour dry for G5 SR22T.
Any activities not described in the trip program
Premium alcoholic drinks
Please note the following requirements
The primary participant must hold at minimum a private pilot license. Instrument rating or familiarity with Cirrus airplanes is encouraged but not required.
A JATO instructor must be present in the airplane during all operations.
Participants must sign the standard JATO rental agreement.
The Cirrus Aircraft will be provided with full oxygen and TKS tanks (for the SR22T models), but it is the participant's responsibility to provide oxygen cannulas or masks, oximeters, any desired survival gear, and PLBs.
Aircraft and participant options
Depending on availability, you may request to fly a different model of aircraft and the trip cost will be adjusted accordingly
The standard aircraft model is a G5 SR22T at the dry rate of $375/hour.
You may request a G6 SR22T at the dry rate of $415/hour.
You may request a G6 SR22 NA (normally aspirated) at the dry rate of $340/hour
Please contact us if you are interested in flying as a single participant in the airplane (with an instructor) or if you require a single room.
Payments Schedule
A $1000/airplane non-refundable fee is required to confirm the registration. A 50% deposit will be due by July 31st and the remaining balance by August 31st. Assuming SR22T aircraft and two participants, the payment schedule is:
$1,000 registration fee due at registration
$6,500 deposit due on 7/31/2019
$5,500 balance due on 8/31/2019
Cancellation policy
You can cancel the trip until 9/11/2019 for any reason. The $1,000 registration fee is non-refundable. The $6,500 deposit and $5,500 balance are refundable until 9/11/2019, minus a 10% administrative fee. As an example, if you cancel on 9/10/2019, you will be refunded $10,800 ($5850 of deposit and $4950 of balance). Past 9/11/2019, no refunds will be provided.
We reserve the right to cancel or modify the trip due to weather or natural disasters, for example fires. In the case of cancellation before departure, you will receive a refund minus any actual fees paid or due to third parties, such as hotels or guides.
We may cancel your registration due to airplane mechanical issues or instructor unavailability. In that case, you will receive a full refund of all money paid.
Please note that no refunds will be provided after the trip starts.
Reserve your spot today. This event is expected to sell our quickly!
