A couple years ago, my brother, father and I rented a C182 and flew all over the western US including the Grand Canyon.
Family Vacation
Learning to fly is rewarding in so many ways. Every summer, my dad has funded a boys trip for him, my brother, and I. On this trip, we went from Seattle to Kalispell to Jackson Hole to Page to Carlsbad to Monterey and then back to Seattle. I built 25 hours of flight time on that trip and more memories than I can even begin to describe.
Here, we went from Page, AZ through the Dragon Corridor over the Grand Canyon. This was my first and only time flying over the canyon. I learned how to put manual waypoints in a G430 so I could appropriately fly the corridor. I also learned a lot about density altitude while in Jackson Hole. I will explain that one later.
One of the biggest things I learned from this trip is the fact that if you let them, your fears become your limits. I was afraid to fly in places I had never flown before and the airspace around the canyon was very intimidating. I also had every male member of my family with me to ratchet up the pressure a bit. You can keep yourself out of a mental prison of limits by simply finding a CFI if you need help, or not, and going to do the things you are afraid of. This was one of the best lessons in pushing past fear.
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