Flight Of Passage (finished)

This tour has ended. But we might do it again in the future, if there is demand.

It’s been almost 30 years since I first read the book „Flight Of Passage“ by Rinker Buck. In it, the author describes a journey he went on with his elder brother Kernahan. The two teenage boys decided to rebuild an old Piper Cub and fly it from New Jersey to California – from coast to coast, during the summer of 1966. The journey took them six days. And then they flew back again. The Buck Boys were at that point in time the youngest pair of pilots to successfully finish a cross country flight like this, and they became – at least for a brief moment – real national celebrities.

I urge all aviation fans (and anyone else who enjoys great adventure stories) to buy this book. It’s a fun and timeless read, including some family drama, weird characters, action, suspense and – above all – a youthful optimism the world is currently desperately lacking.

I also urge you to not buy the book at one of the large online retailers. Instead, please walk into a book store in your neighborhood and order it from them. If you don’t have any book store near you, look one up in the phone book and order it from them. They’ll be glad to oblige.

The Route

In order to recreate the boy’s flight in modern sims I assembled a flight plan which tries to replicate their route as accurately as possible. Sometimes the descriptions in the book are vague and it was impossible to precisely re-plot every mile they flew. In such cases I simply took a guess or did what I’d have done in their stead – try to follow roads or any other kind of landmark.

I dedicate this tour to the memory of Sergio Di Fusco, a pilot and editor for flight sim magazines who passed away in 2018. As far as I know he was the first to recreate the Buck’s adventure in FS and published flight plans for FS2000. The route I chose for the tour is partly based on his findings from more than 20 years ago.

Making this epic adventure accessible in modern flight sims is something I wanted to do for over a decade, but never found the time, until now. I know of at least one other great endeavor in this regard, which is available here from Pontiac51 -> good stuff, thumbs way up. If you want to use a great livery for the Cub, I’d suggest this one, also from Pontiac51.

This tour here is my version, and I hope you’ll enjoy!

For the sake of GDPR compliance, you will have to agree to view this map since it is loading resources from the external platform OpenStreetMap.

Show list of tour legs

Click on a tour leg to highlight it on the map.

Leg 1: From KMMU to KSMQ - Distance: 16.13 nm, Duration: 00:12 hrs
Leg 2: From KSMQ to RUSSO - Distance: 6.96 nm, Duration: 00:05 hrs
Leg 3: From RUSSO to MACOZ - Distance: 9.36 nm, Duration: 00:07 hrs
Leg 4: From MACOZ to YODAH - Distance: 8.41 nm, Duration: 00:06 hrs
Leg 5: From YODAH to CILDA - Distance: 7.43 nm, Duration: 00:05 hrs
Leg 6: From CILDA to KUKT - Distance: 4.48 nm, Duration: 00:03 hrs
Leg 7: From KUKT to HIKES - Distance: 11.13 nm, Duration: 00:08 hrs
Leg 8: From HIKES to N47 - Distance: 7.75 nm, Duration: 00:06 hrs
Leg 9: From N47 to WP1 - Distance: 12.24 nm, Duration: 00:09 hrs
Leg 10: From WP1 to 9D4 - Distance: 18.37 nm, Duration: 00:14 hrs
Leg 11: From 9D4 to 58N - Distance: 12.04 nm, Duration: 00:09 hrs
Leg 12: From 58N to DAPNY - Distance: 6.93 nm, Duration: 00:05 hrs
Leg 13: From DAPNY to KCXY - Distance: 6.33 nm, Duration: 00:05 hrs
Leg 14: From KCXY to TIHYI - Distance: 10.24 nm, Duration: 00:08 hrs
Leg 15: From TIHYI to N94 - Distance: 4.96 nm, Duration: 00:03 hrs
Leg 16: From N94 to BADDI - Distance: 11.37 nm, Duration: 00:09 hrs
Leg 17: From BADDI to KC60W - Distance: 28.32 nm, Duration: 00:22 hrs
Leg 18: From KC60W to 2G9 - Distance: 46.74 nm, Duration: 00:37 hrs
Leg 19: From 2G9 to KLBE - Distance: 22.87 nm, Duration: 00:18 hrs
Leg 20: From KLBE to 31D - Distance: 17.48 nm, Duration: 00:13 hrs
Leg 21: From 31D to G05 - Distance: 11.9 nm, Duration: 00:09 hrs
Leg 22: From G05 to DECSA - Distance: 5.63 nm, Duration: 00:04 hrs
Leg 23: From DECSA to OSAMY - Distance: 2.65 nm, Duration: 00:02 hrs
Leg 24: From OSAMY to EROCU - Distance: 4.39 nm, Duration: 00:03 hrs
Leg 25: From EROCU to KAFJ - Distance: 10.25 nm, Duration: 00:08 hrs
Leg 26: From KAFJ to ECAYO - Distance: 13.74 nm, Duration: 00:10 hrs
Leg 27: From ECAYO to 2P7 - Distance: 17.58 nm, Duration: 00:14 hrs
Leg 28: From 2P7 to ZUDEV - Distance: 26.38 nm, Duration: 00:21 hrs
Leg 29: From ZUDEV to KZZV - Distance: 17.1 nm, Duration: 00:13 hrs
Leg 30: From KZZV to AMALE - Distance: 11.98 nm, Duration: 00:09 hrs
Leg 31: From AMALE to DNGFB - Distance: 27.13 nm, Duration: 00:21 hrs
Leg 32: From DNGFB to OPOKE - Distance: 15.72 nm, Duration: 00:12 hrs
Leg 33: From OPOKE to 75OA - Distance: 5.86 nm, Duration: 00:04 hrs
Leg 34: From 75OA to KUYF - Distance: 11.83 nm, Duration: 00:09 hrs
Leg 35: From KUYF to FENLU - Distance: 11.7 nm, Duration: 00:09 hrs
Leg 36: From FENLU to ZABEP - Distance: 17.03 nm, Duration: 00:13 hrs
Leg 37: From ZABEP to HUNTU - Distance: 13.45 nm, Duration: 00:10 hrs
Leg 38: From HUNTU to OH46 - Distance: 4.02 nm, Duration: 00:03 hrs
Leg 39: From OH46 to KRID - Distance: 19.37 nm, Duration: 00:15 hrs
Leg 40: From KRID to KGFD - Distance: 41.65 nm, Duration: 00:33 hrs
Leg 41: From KGFD to 7L8 - Distance: 13.04 nm, Duration: 00:10 hrs
Leg 42: From 7L8 to KEYE - Distance: 13.82 nm, Duration: 00:11 hrs
Leg 43: From KEYE to KIND - Distance: 6.81 nm, Duration: 00:05 hrs
Leg 44: From KIND to OFOCO - Distance: 22.48 nm, Duration: 00:17 hrs
Leg 45: From OFOCO to SMUKE - Distance: 15.71 nm, Duration: 00:12 hrs
Leg 46: From SMUKE to 1I3 - Distance: 16.62 nm, Duration: 00:13 hrs
Leg 47: From 1I3 to KAJG - Distance: 42.77 nm, Duration: 00:34 hrs
Leg 48: From KAJG to MAUNI - Distance: 37.73 nm, Duration: 00:30 hrs
Leg 49: From MAUNI to ZETOB - Distance: 42.37 nm, Duration: 00:33 hrs
Leg 50: From ZETOB to KPAH - Distance: 25.62 nm, Duration: 00:20 hrs
Leg 51: From KPAH to SIDOC - Distance: 12.64 nm, Duration: 00:10 hrs
Leg 52: From SIDOC to 1M7 - Distance: 20.4 nm, Duration: 00:16 hrs
Leg 53: From 1M7 to KDYR - Distance: 39.57 nm, Duration: 00:31 hrs
Leg 54: From KDYR to KHKA - Distance: 20.94 nm, Duration: 00:16 hrs
Leg 55: From KHKA to 7M4 - Distance: 17.32 nm, Duration: 00:13 hrs
Leg 56: From 7M4 to BEERT - Distance: 30.86 nm, Duration: 00:24 hrs
Leg 57: From BEERT to ZIKJE - Distance: 28.13 nm, Duration: 00:22 hrs
Leg 58: From ZIKJE to M36 - Distance: 18.8 nm, Duration: 00:15 hrs
Leg 59: From M36 to 4M3 - Distance: 26.9 nm, Duration: 00:21 hrs
Leg 60: From 4M3 to CIVAY - Distance: 11.99 nm, Duration: 00:09 hrs
Leg 61: From CIVAY to KLIT - Distance: 14.14 nm, Duration: 00:11 hrs
Leg 62: From KLIT to BEGAN - Distance: 20.91 nm, Duration: 00:16 hrs
Leg 63: From BEGAN to KADF - Distance: 36.86 nm, Duration: 00:29 hrs
Leg 64: From KADF to M77 - Distance: 38.9 nm, Duration: 00:31 hrs
Leg 65: From M77 to 4O4 - Distance: 51.13 nm, Duration: 00:40 hrs
Leg 66: From 4O4 to KHHW - Distance: 34.82 nm, Duration: 00:27 hrs
Leg 67: From KHHW to KDUA - Distance: 42.82 nm, Duration: 00:34 hrs
Leg 68: From KDUA to KSWI - Distance: 21.36 nm, Duration: 00:17 hrs
Leg 69: From KSWI to MNKEE - Distance: 20.29 nm, Duration: 00:16 hrs
Leg 70: From MNKEE to KDTO - Distance: 19.66 nm, Duration: 00:15 hrs
Leg 71: From KDTO to KLUD - Distance: 19.48 nm, Duration: 00:15 hrs
Leg 72: From KLUD to KXBP - Distance: 13.35 nm, Duration: 00:10 hrs
Leg 73: From KXBP to KF18C - Distance: 13.55 nm, Duration: 00:10 hrs
Leg 74: From KF18C to F35 - Distance: 22.47 nm, Duration: 00:17 hrs
Leg 75: From F35 to KBKD - Distance: 26 nm, Duration: 00:20 hrs
Leg 76: From KBKD to T23 - Distance: 19.04 nm, Duration: 00:15 hrs
Leg 77: From T23 to GOFDO - Distance: 24.96 nm, Duration: 00:19 hrs
Leg 78: From GOFDO to CENOT - Distance: 10.06 nm, Duration: 00:08 hrs
Leg 79: From CENOT to KSWW - Distance: 30.11 nm, Duration: 00:24 hrs
Leg 80: From KSWW to LORAN - Distance: 9.64 nm, Duration: 00:07 hrs
Leg 81: From LORAN to KBPG - Distance: 46.07 nm, Duration: 00:36 hrs
Leg 82: From KBPG to KMDD - Distance: 31.3 nm, Duration: 00:25 hrs
Leg 83: From KMDD to KODO - Distance: 16.15 nm, Duration: 00:12 hrs
Leg 84: From KODO to KINK - Distance: 42.37 nm, Duration: 00:33 hrs
Leg 85: From KINK to KCNM - Distance: 63.57 nm, Duration: 00:50 hrs
Leg 86: From KCNM to 2E5 - Distance: 52.69 nm, Duration: 00:42 hrs
Leg 87: From 2E5 to KDNA - Distance: 77.14 nm, Duration: 01:01 hrs
Leg 88: From KDNA to KLRU - Distance: 26.96 nm, Duration: 00:21 hrs
Leg 89: From KLRU to KDMN - Distance: 40.58 nm, Duration: 00:32 hrs
Leg 90: From KDMN to KLSB - Distance: 49.43 nm, Duration: 00:39 hrs
Leg 91: From KLSB to PHASE - Distance: 23.74 nm, Duration: 00:18 hrs
Leg 92: From PHASE to P33 - Distance: 38.03 nm, Duration: 00:30 hrs
Leg 93: From P33 to E95 - Distance: 27.8 nm, Duration: 00:22 hrs
Leg 94: From E95 to KTUS - Distance: 30.5 nm, Duration: 00:24 hrs
Leg 95: From KTUS to KAVQ - Distance: 22.54 nm, Duration: 00:18 hrs
Leg 96: From KAVQ to E60 - Distance: 30.28 nm, Duration: 00:24 hrs
Leg 97: From E60 to E63 - Distance: 55.77 nm, Duration: 00:44 hrs
Leg 98: From E63 to KNYL - Distance: 98.95 nm, Duration: 01:19 hrs
Leg 99: From KNYL to ISAYA - Distance: 2.18 nm, Duration: 00:01 hrs
Leg 100: From ISAYA to 54AZ - Distance: 2.29 nm, Duration: 00:01 hrs
Leg 101: From 54AZ to ARAZI - Distance: 9.92 nm, Duration: 00:07 hrs
Leg 102: From ARAZI to KIPL - Distance: 44.45 nm, Duration: 00:35 hrs
Leg 103: From KIPL to MXDL - Distance: 35.81 nm, Duration: 00:28 hrs
Leg 104: From MXDL to KSDM - Distance: 36.73 nm, Duration: 00:29 hrs
Leg 105: From KSDM to KMYF - Distance: 16.69 nm, Duration: 00:13 hrs
Leg 106: From KMYF to TOCOD - Distance: 5.43 nm, Duration: 00:04 hrs
Leg 107: From TOCOD to KCRQ - Distance: 15.94 nm, Duration: 00:12 hrs
Leg 108: From KCRQ to KOKB - Distance: 6.48 nm, Duration: 00:05 hrs

Assumed Average Speed: 75.00 knots
Total Distance: 2,462.76 nm
Total Duration: 31:54 h

Additional remarks:

Basically you could use any plane you like on this tour. But since the Piper Cub is available both on XP and MSFS I encourage you to use it. Otherwise you won’t experience they same thrill (and horror) trying to bully the poor, underpowered Cub over the Guadeloupe Pass.
The tour replicates as best as possible the legs the boys flew. I have added a flight plan for you to download (see below) which contains these legs and additional waypoints.
The Times They Are A-Changin’: Some of the airports which existed in the 1960s are gone, others have outgrown their original size significantly or have been renamed.
Also, I have inserted additional stopovers, because some of the original legs are very long and many of us can’t just sit at the simulator 3 hours non-stop, especially in aircraft like the Cub which don’t have autopilot 🙂
So there are historical inaccuracies which cannot be avoided.
The Bucks did not have a radio, transponder or any other fancy modern electronics, just charts, wristwatches, a compass and their eyes. So it makes sense to take a look at the map, trying to discover landmarks to find your way around – just like the boys did.
Since you (probably) don’t have a brother sitting in front or behind of you to bother you with endless chatter, the monotonous droning of the engine becomes boring after a while. I love to listen to music while driving or flying, so I made a playlist from songs on Spotify which were played around ’66; not all songs belong to this decade, but for me their spirit matches perfectly the theme of the undertaking.