Leg 130 MMPE - Punta Penasco (Mexico) to KPHX - Phoenix (USA)
MMPE - Airport Info
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ICAO code: MMPE
Airport name: Punta Penasco Airport
Location: Punta Penasco
Useful information
Airport elevation: '
Time zone: UTC-
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length: '
Runway surface : Asphalt
Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):
Punta Penasco Info
Punta Penasco is located in Sonora, state in northwestern Mexico. Sonora is one of the largest and most economically diversified states in Mexico. It shares its northern boundary with the United States—bordering Arizona and a tiny section of New Mexico—and is bordered by the Mexican state of Chihuahua on the east, by the state of Sinaloa on the south, by the state of Baja California on the northwest, and by the Gulf of California on the west.
Sonora is the second largest of the 31 Mexican states, after Chihuahua. Much of the state is covered by a coastal plain extending eastward to the Sierra Madre Occidental range. Rainfall and temperatures vary considerably between the mountainous regions and the plains, but the state is generally hot and dry. Its northern territory has major desert regions, including a portion of the Sonoran Desert known as the Gran Desierto (Great Desert) along the upper Gulf of California. Many major rivers cross the state, beginning deep in the Sierra Madre and running southwest to the coast. Some of the most important rivers have been dammed for irrigation and hydroelectric power, including the Sonora, which is dammed near the state capital of Hermosillo; the Yaqui, which forms a reservoir behind the Alvaro Obregón dam; and the Mayo, which has been dammed to form the Mocuzari reservoir. The state has an area of 180,833 sq km (69,820 sq mi).
Sonora has long been home to a number of indigenous peoples, many of whom are also native to the southwestern United States. These include the Tohono O’Odham (or Papago), the Akimel O’Odham (or Pima), and the Seri. Two of the state’s largest communities—Nogales and Agua Prieta—border cities in the U.S. state of Arizona and are important points of entry into Mexico. Other major communities include Ciudad Obregón, a commercial center at the southern end of the state; Guaymas, a port on the Gulf of California; Navojoa, a farming and ranching hub just south of Ciudad Obregón; and San Luis Río Colorado, a fishing center in the northwest corner of the state. The state’s population in 2000 was 2,213,370.
Economically, Sonora is a leading producer of cotton and grains, as well as winter vegetables for export to the United States. A number of food processing and assembly plants are located along the border with Arizona. The state’s fishing industry is one of the most developed in the country, with a fleet of more than 3000 vessels that harvests large volumes of shrimp, sardine, sea bass, sole, and tuna. Sonora is also Mexico’s most important copper-mining center and produces a significant amount of other minerals, including silver, graphite, zinc, gold, and tungsten. Major highways and railroads cross the entire state running north to south, connecting Mexicali, in the neighboring state of Baja California, with Mexico City, far to the south. In the mid-1990s Sonora’s literacy rate and standard of living ranked among the highest in the country.
During the colonial era, Sonora was part of the northern frontier of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and played an important role in Spanish military conquests. The region was also a center for Spanish missionary activities, the most famous being those of the Jesuit priest Francisco Eusebio Kino. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Native Americans known as the Yaqui rebelled against exploitation by mestizos (Mexicans of mixed European and Native American descent) and were suppressed violently. The Cananea mining strike in 1906, at a copper mine near the U.S. border, was a precursor to the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). Sonora played a leading role in the revolution, producing many of the prominent figures collectively known as the Sonoran Dynasty, who dominated national politics in the 1920s. Among the state’s most important native sons are Alvaro Obregón, a notable revolutionary general and Mexico’s first postrevolutionary president (1920-1924), and Plutarco Elías Calles, a president (1924-1928) and major architect of Mexico’s political and public financial institutions.
KPHX - Airport Info
ICAO code: KPHX
Airport name: Phoenix Sky Harbour Intl. Airport
Location: Phoenix
Alternate Airport - KDVT - Airport Info
ICAO code: KDVT
Airport name: Phoenix Deer Valley Airport
Location: Phoenix
Useful information
Airport elevation: '
Time zone: UTC-
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length: '
Runway surface : Asphalt
Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):
Phoenix Info
Phoenix (city, Arizona), capital city of Arizona and seat of Maricopa County, located on the Salt River in the south central part of the state. Phoenix sits on the eastern edge of the Sonoran Desert. A commercial, manufacturing, financial, tourist, and retirement center, Phoenix serves as a distribution point for the agricultural products of the irrigated Salt River Valley. It is the hub of a vast metropolitan region that includes Avondale, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Scottsdale, Sun City, and Tempe. Phoenix has become one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing cities. Several factors have contributed to the city’s spectacular growth, including its temperate, dry, sunny climate during much of the year, its recreational opportunities, and its diversified industries.
Phoenix’s population grew from 789,704 in 1980 to 1,321,045 in 2000; in the 1990s it was second in total population growth among the country’s large cities, behind only New York City. According to the 2000 census, whites constitute 71.1 percent of the city’s population; blacks, 5.1 percent; Native Americans, 2 percent; Asians, 2 percent; and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, 0.1 percent. People of mixed heritage or not reporting race are 19.7 percent. Hispanics, who may be of any race, make up 34.1 percent of the population.
Almost two-thirds of Arizona’s population lives in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The regional population increased from 1,600,000 in 1980 to 3,252,000 in 2000. Three Native American reservations in the area cover a total of more than 1,800 sq km (more than 700 sq mi); these are the Fort McDowell, Salt River, and Gila River reservations, with a total population of almost 19,000.
Points of interest in Phoenix include Civic Plaza, which comprises Symphony Hall and a convention center; and America West Arena, the home of the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team and the Phoenix Coyotes professional hockey team. The Arizona Cardinals, a professional football team, plays its home games at Sun Devil Stadium in nearby Tempe. The Arizona Diamondbacks, a professional baseball team, began playing in the new Bank One Ballpark in 1998. Annual events in Phoenix include the National Livestock Show, the Agricultural Trade Fair, the Arizona State Fair, and the Cowboy Artists of America Exhibition.