BruceAir’s X-C Flights

I often ferry aircraft across the U.S., and my travels in my own aircraft often take me on interesting journeys. This page takes you to the details of some of those flights. You can also find information here about some of the tools that I use to plan, fly, and document my flights.

I'm adding airports that I've visited as places in Google Earth. Details are available at my blog.

I publish reviews of aviation-related products on my Product Reviews page.

Recent Trips

• The Extra 300L flies south for the winter (KBFI-61B September 2007)
• Ferrying a new DA40 from Denver to Las Vegas (June 2007) [trip report coming soon]
• Ferrying a new DA40 XL from London, Ontario to Seattle (March 2007)
• A trip to Alaska

From GPS to Google Earth

Some of my trip logs include GPS track files and routes that you can view in Google Earth (a free download). Here’s more information about how I create and work with those files.

I use the Voyager Flight Software System to plan my flights. That nifty tool lets me dump routes directly into the Garmin 396 and to Google Earth.

Getting the tracks that the GPS records back into Google Earth involves a few simple steps:

1. Connect the GPS to the computer with a USB cable (most late-model portable GPS units include a GPS connector and cable).
2. Download the track files to the computer. I use the free utility EasyGPS to download tracks and the Web-based program at GPS Visualizer to convert track files for use with Google Earth.
3. Open the resulting.kmz (or .kml) files in Google Earth and adjust the color, thickness, and other options. (In Google Earth, choose File » Open, and then use the Open dialog box to find the .kmz or .kml file. Or drag the file into the Google Earth window.)

If you just want to view my track files, start with step 3 above.

For more information about using Google Earth, see the product user guide, especially the topics Importing Vector Data, Setting Line Color and Width and Setting Altitude. You can also find helpful information at the Using Google Earth blog.

You can download planned routes and GPS tracks (.kmz) from my Garmin 396 from one of my Skydrive folders. The files in that folder are (small) .kmz files for use with Google Earth.

If Google Earth is installed on your system, you can open the .kmz files in that application and see both the planned route and track superimposed on the Earth.

You can zoom in and out, tilt the display, etc. to see my meanderings. You can also change the color and thickness of the lines after loading the data files in Google Earth.

Aeronautical Charts and Google Earth

You can overlay aeronautical charts (e.g., Sectionals) on Google Earth and view imported GPS routes and tracks on those charts.

For more information, see:

• Aeronautical Sectional Charts of the United States
• How to Overlay Sectional Aeronautical Charts in Google Earth
• Google Earth Library