By Howard Deevers
Everyone knows the Mississippi River, the longe and most important waterway in the United States. I was born in Cape Girardeau, right on the banks of the Mississippi River in southeast Missouri, and most of my growing up and educational days were in eastern Iowa also on the banks of that river. Thus, I have a natural fascination for that river. Flying east and west we have crossed the Mississippi River many times. From ten thousand feet, you can see the river and towns fairly well. From thirty-five thousand feet in a commercial flight, it is just a long line in the middle of the country, if you want to look down and see it. I have been on the river many times, fishing, and boating, and ice skating in the winter in Iowa. I have also seen the devastating spring floods in many parts of the river. On a local river sightseeing trip out of New Orleans, I was wondering what all of this would look like from low altitude flying. It took several years of thinking and planning to make this flight.
My friend, Marty, and I left Tucson, Ryan, on Sunday morning October 26, 2025, in my Piper Warrior heading east to Houston. After a fuel stop in Fort Stockton, Texas, we realized that we would not make our intended Houston destination before nightfall. We did make it to San Antonio. The next morning it was raining and foggy on SAT so we filed an IFR flight plan to Lake Charles, LA. Again, it looked like we would not make New Orleans flying UP the Mississippi before dark. We can fly in the dark if we need to get somewhere, but the purpose of this trip is to see as much of the River as possible from 1500 feet AGL. We landed at Houma, LA, for the night.
The next morning it was foggy and low overcast from the marine layer that comes in from the Gulf at night. While waiting for the fog to clear up, I was able to visit with some local pilots that fly out of that airport and do low altitude fish finding, to get tips on any hazards or other things we might like to know about. The time was not wasted. Finally, at 11 AM we were able to depart and fly to the coast line at 1500 feet and find the mouth of the Mississippi River and start following the river north toward New Orleans.
The Mississippi River is 2340 miles long from northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico (or America on modern maps). Although it flows from north to south, it does not flow in a straight line, as there are many bends and turns that you will not notice as much from ground level. Flying at 1500 feet you can see the many turns that it makes and see the river traffic and industry and cities on both sides of the river for miles. New Orleans is called “The Crescent City” because of the bend in the river where the city was founded. There are many airports on both sides of the river all the way up to Minneapolis, and beyond. Almost everywhere you land you will find history related to the river and the importance of the river to the communities developed along the way. Long before aviation, the river was a major artery for shipment of goods and materials, and river boat passenger traffic. It still is, but less for passenger travel now.
As we flew up the Mississippi there are 4 Class B airspaces to work with. The first was New Orleans. At 1500 feet following the river was no problem to the New Orleans air traffic. The next Class B is Memphis, and that was easy also. Then St. Louis. All of them were accommodating to our adventure of flying at 1500 feet over the River. Our original plan was to fly to Minneapolis, but weather stopped us again in east central Iowa, and we did not continue up the last 200 nm to St Paul. St Paul is as far north on the river that will take barge traffic. From there north to the beginning of the river it is a very small stream and even hard to see from the air.
Weather factors are always important in aviation. Flying low and slow is no exception. At this time of the year, we missed the big summer thunderstorms, but had to contend with rain, and in the far north, possible freezing rain. Any later in the year the cold and snow could put the trip in jeopardy at any time. Since we had already had some weather delays, we elected to skip the final 200 miles and head back to Arizona.
The views from 1500 feet were stunning. You will see the industry located on both side of the river, and the cities, bridges, and the dams starting at St Louis. The size of the barges in the lower river are impressive, and the designs of the different bridges are interesting to see as well. We did not see any recreational traffic on the river. In the summertime there is a lot of pleasure boating, but not at this time of the year.
The Ohio River joins the Mississippi at the very southern tip of Illinois. The Missouri River joins the Mississippi just north of St. Louis. From those two rivers on south, the river is larger, wider and deeper, and there are no dams across it. From St. Louis north there are dams. Built by the U S Army Corps of Engineers, the dams are to “tame” the river and create navigational channels for river traffic. Locks at each dam location allow river traffic to step up, or step down, from the different pools of water created by the dams. There are 29 locks and dams starting in St Paul, MN, to St Louis/Granite City. The river does freeze over in the coldest part of the winter from about central Iowa/Illinois northward, stopping barge traffic during that time. But ice skating and ice fishing are popular sports on the river during the winter in that part of the country.
I am certain that we are not the first aviators to fly completely up or down the Mississippi, but we enjoyed the adventure, the history and visual impact of seeing this wonder of nature from 1500 feet. I would not recommend flying this solo; take a competent pilot friend along and share the flying. You would need to have a very flexible schedule, and if you wanted to explore all the historic cities along the way you would need many more days to see them all. Living in Arizona, you will cover more than 1000 nm just before getting to the beginning of the adventure, and then more than 1000 nm to get back to Arizona at the end. Be prepared for hot weather in the south and cold in the north. Take your time and enjoy the view; you will never forget it!
The crew: Howard Deevers. CFII, 8000 hours +
Marty Jansen, Private Pilot, Instrument pilot 1638 hours +
The airplane: N8422H PA 28-161, Piper Warrior. Total time 3234 hrs.
The route of flight: KRYN to KSAT, (overnight at San Antonio) to KLCH to KHUM (overnight at Houma) to the Mississippi, New Orleans, KBTR, (2 nights in Baton Rouge), to KAWM (west Memphis), to KCGI (Cape Girardeau, MO). To KCPS (downtown St. Louis, overnight there). To KMLI (Moline IL. Overnight there). To KCWI (Clinton, IA) After Clinton direct to KIXD (New Century, south of Kansas /City). Overnight in Garnder KS, next morning from KIXD to KLBL, (Liberal, KS for fuel,) then on to KABQ, and overnight in Albuquerque, NM. Our final leg back to Tucson was ABQ to TNP, direct to KRYN.
Remember that this trip was following a river, low and slow. That is what made this trip so much fun. Most of our cross-country flying is straight line with a destination in mind to make as soon as possible. We estimate that the full round trip was about 3500 nm, and the flying time was just over 40 hours, including the straight lines to get to and from the Mississippi River.
If you want more information, contact me at 520-241-3382, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.