How to land and depart Sedona KSEZ as a GA Pilot

[@welshchris45]

Good information. Similar to landing on RWY 20 in Truckee (KTRK). Rule of thumb is to aim for 1000 feet after the threshold to allow for a severe downdraft about 500 feet before the numbers.

[@flightlevel1803]

great comment. you can see the terrain at KTRK in the 3D foreflight view. That's gotta be a challenging airport w/ those elevations and the terrain...

[@robhoneycutt]

Flown in to KSEZ only one time but it's probably the coolest airport I've ever had the pleasure to visit.

[@ewersm1]

Super helpful, thank you! I made the mistake of landing here one summer afternoon with my family on board. I'm lucky to still be married :)

[@ASPextra]

I listen to traffic early coming in from Phoenix. If it’s quiet I make straight in on 3. If it’s busier the direct overhead entry to 3 isn’t hard either. You’re right about staying high on final for 3, the upslope makes stopping easy and the extra altitude protects from wind shear. I love the advice to stay away if winds are over 10 knots in small GA airplanes.

[@flightlevel1803]

Love this comment, I think that's the perfect way to deal with landing there. We are lucky to have access to such a cool airport.

[@ryanhimes1751]

This is the exact video I was looking for!

[@user-be5gq5xb3c]

Thank you for this awesome guide! Will be flying there tomorrow with my CFI.

[@flightlevel1803]

awesome! good job doing your homework before you go, smart! please report back on how the trip went, if you remember.

[@user-be5gq5xb3c]

@@flightlevel1803 It was beautiful. We did the midfield crossing followed by a good landing in the morning sun. We took of from 21 with just below 10kt of tailwind and it worked out just fine. I didn‘t take any photos but definitely will remember this one! 🙏🏻

[@flightlevel1803]

@@user-be5gq5xb3cawesome, glad to hear it! When I landed there 2 weeks ago, I had a newbie passenger and we did the route around the spires to the northwest of the airport... definitely a bit higher risk, but not unmanageable if the winds are down. We had a mid-size private jet take off from 21 before we landed, so we had to extend our downwind to give the vortices some time to subside before landing on 3. Really a gorgeous place to fly into.

[@user-be5gq5xb3c]

@@flightlevel1803 I will have to check that one out as well!! Sounds really good! Where are you based?

[@StarvingFlightInstructor]

I'm one of those pilots who has Sedona on my bucket list. Great information/video, thanks!

[@flightlevel1803]

Thanks for the good words!

[@joelmachak4062]

It’s doubly fun landing there at night!

[@pedrodepacas2463]

Don't threaten me with a good time!

[@coelhocointech9841]

Definitely hope to do this someday

[@ClearedApproach24]

Best month to visit Sedona?

[@flightlevel1803]

October/November & February/March. The hot months are very windy and DAs are high. Generally it's ok all year round as long as you go very early to avoid the afternoon winds and the higher DAs. You could get snow or ice in those months though... but it's not very common at that altitude.

[@NILESAPPHIRESDIVINEBEAUT-pb4he]

IVE HEARD MUCH OF SEDONA, BUT I HAD NO IDEA, THAT IT WAS A DANGEROUS LANDING. IT IS A VERY HIGHLY SPIRITUAL PLACE FOR A LOT OF THE NEW AGE PEOPLE.

[@darrenmkrause]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@saminaneen]

@FlightLevel180. X-Plane 11, sucks so BAD, compared, to MSFS 2020, I have x-plane 11, wouldn't waste an hour with that trash.

[@flightlevel1803]

interesting comment. IMO, it depends what your goals are- if you want great graphics and photorealistic scenery, FS2020 is the best bet. But if you want the best flight modeling and the most accurate avionics, X-plane is far better. Personally I use a flight simulator primarily as an instrument training supplement, so x-plane is a better choice for my needs most of the time. Even the FS2020 developers talk about how little effort they made to make their sim be a true representation of reality. X-plane is amazingly accurate when it comes to instrument training. FS2020? not so much!

[@saminaneen]

@@flightlevel1803 The scenery sucks, so bad, in X-Plane, it is worse than the old FSX, believe, me, I have a Honeycomb Yoke & throttle, and have everything tweaked, to achieve the most realistic flights, ever, my x-plane was only used 5 times, completely shitty sim.

[@flightlevel1803]

@@saminaneen you must have some problems with your setup. I have a flying buddy that has similar serious problems with the Honeycomb interface to X-plane, I guess it is a general problem. X-plane is 1000x more realistic than the old FSX. It's all good, the new FS2020 is great if it works for you. I love the honeycomb products, they are so nice! Sounds like you have a good setup.

[@flightlevel1803]

but i agree, the graphics aren't great, especially after you've sampled fs2020! given I am doing primarily instrument training and maneuver practice, it doesn't really matter to me tough- the realism is great w/ my setup.