California airport comments

The airport authority is proposing a 10pm-6:59am curfew on most take-offs and landings at Bob Hope Airport:

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2008/080508ca.html

The popular general aviation documentary "One Six Right" was shot at Van Nuys in 2005:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Six_Right

The FAA has issued a cease-and-desist order to prevent the large-jet ban:

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2008/080424ca.html

Check out the local Pilot's Association Website http://www.southcountypilots.org/

Includes a couple of webcams.

The Nut Tree shopping center is an easy walk from this airport. The Nut Tree was, in the 40's and 50's, a rest stop half-way between San Francisco to Sacramento on U.S. 40. That was when U.S. 40 was a 2-lane road. The Nut Tree was a "Destination" that boasted its own airport. Nowadays, the Nut Tree is just another shopping mall surrounded by suburbia and the drive from S.F. to Sacramento takes an hour and a half on I-80. Even still, it is a good place to go if you're looking for an easy flight to something more than a just a restaurant.

This airport is about 10 nm S of KSAC. This is where the pilots flying out of KSAC (including me) go to practice touch-and-go's, emergency landings and so forth. It can be quite busy on VFR weekends.

The town of Columbia is a restore Gold Rush town and is a very short walk from the airport. Many restaurants and shops.

Need to be a little careful landing.. it's easy to come in too fast on final.

Two Cessna collided a mile southwest of the Corona airport on Sunday 20 January 2008, killing all four occupants and one person on the ground:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4164728

http://www.aopa.org/flightplanning/articles/2007/071031approaches.html

Since the FBOs are geared mainly towards turbine traffic now, the airport has plans for a "propeller park" to serve light piston aircraft:

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2007/071107vannuys.html

In 2007, a developer attempted to build an office building higher than allowed, cutting in the the approach path, but was forced to tear off two floors:

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2007/071126sunroad.html

In fall 2007, Santa Monica city council introduced a law to ban large aircraft from the airport:

http://www.aopa.org/advocacy/articles/2007/071203ca.html

A simple paved strip adjacent to I-10 just east of Palm Springs. We met a few other Cherokee drivers there for a burger. Decent little cafe, good burger/shake.

My first longer XC after getting my PPL, and the first XC with my wife.

Nice airport and easy to find. The FBO is run by a couple retired guys who are easy enough to get along with. $5 ramp fee if you stay overnight. They'll waive it if you buy fuel. Enterprise rental is a couple blocks away and they'll pick you up at the airport. Lassen Volcanic National Park is about an hour's drive away and a great destination for backpacking or even a day trip. It can get HOT in the afternoon so check density altitude and your performance charts.

Here, here - well said! Brackett is a place for friendly fliers... Everyone is there to help out. Great location - check out ballard aviation inc for flight training. Great instructors and atmosphere for recreational or career training.

POC is a great airport. There are many students that fly there from the local college. The controllers are great as well. (they would be better if they got a new tower manager...)

If you stop, the line guys are GREAT, however they could use a new boss as well. i think i see a trend.

all things considered POC is great, i miss flying out of POC.

The approaches are quite fun and it is nice and close to a variety of airports. CCB- non-towered, CNO- large class D with very cool war birds, and ONT- class C with lots of big jets and a busy radio.

take a flight for lunch and enjoy my favorite airport!

This airport was long the home of Douglas Aircraft, later merged into McDonnell-Douglas, later acquired by Boeing. There's not much manufacturing going on here now, but this is where classic planes like the DC-9 and DC-10 launched.

I'm back in the U.S.S.R Cherette Jojo.

A nice GA-friendly airport with a steady stream of visiting and local traffic, and competent tower controllers and a reasonable set of IFR approaches for those endless summer stretches when the coastal stratus covers everything within 25 miles of the coast. Lots of training flights in the pattern and around the area due to the Japan Airlines ab initio training facility there and the other local FBO's. The airport restaurant "Jonesy's" is fairly famous, but I'm not sure why -- it's really just a rather average steak house. But hey, it's a steak house right next to the ramp, so it's a lot better than nothing.

Transient parking on the main ramp is usually easy for small GA aircraft, but when the nearby Sears Point raceway is hosting a big event, or there's something else in the area (a wine fly-in :-)), parking can be very difficult. Call ahead and ask...

One thing to remember here is that although it's "Napa" airport, it's actually quite some distance from the main vineyards and wineries you think of when you hear "Napa Valley" -- and some wineries are probably quite a long drive away in a rental car through really heavy traffic; if your winery is actually in Sonoma County, you're probably better off with Healdsburg airport. But this is still the main Napa Valley airport, and it's a good place to start...

Not my favorite place...

Must have been due to rush hour with all the transpacific flights landing pretty much at the same time, after a very long flight from Sydney, took over an hour to go thru immigration, almost missed connecting flight to ATL... how stressful and frustrating.

Another time on the way back to Sydney from Atlanta, flying with UA via O'Hare, the connection was missed due to weather delays. Stuck there for 24 hours, UA wouldn't give me my luggage back (so I had to wear the same stinky clothes for 48hrs), only got a lousy hotel room, no compensation or apology. Compare that to SQ when in a similar ordeal I was given a pack with some clothes and toiletry, plus about US$100 cash equivalent.... Shall I also mention that I was flying business on UA and economy on SQ when this occured. I understand the operational constraints, no worries there, but when it comes to customer service UA, DL and AA have a lot to learn from asian carriers like SQ, CX or TG.

Oh well other than that I never been to LA before so I went to see the Getty museum, quite interesting really.

Visited here many times when my son was stationed at the )verY0 nearby MCRD, San Diego. Very crowed airport, runways is too short and approaches cluttered but it is quick and convenient to the downtown and the bay and if you have to go to California this is one of the better places.

Let me count the times I've been through here ... let me count the ways the airport has disappointed me. A great case study in how _not_ to build an airport.

One bright spot for me, this is where my wife first entered the US back in 2001 so it will always hold a warm spot in our hearts as the true beginning of our life together.

Watch out for the deer when landing early in the morning, especially on runway 05.

Try Ketch Joanne near the fishing boats past downtown from the airport. It's where the locals eat.

I'm based here and at Oakland (KOAK, just up the freeway), and Hayward's not a bad alternative to Oakland for GA visits. But note that it's not a 24 hour operation like Oakland; public transport (e.g. BART) is not nearly as easy to get to from here; transient parking has been problematic lately; and there are fewer IFR options, even with the new RNAV LPV approach.

I did a large part of my tailwheel training here, for good reason: this field has some notorious crosswinds, often enough varying 180 degrees sharply from one part of the runway to the next. Good for practice and for keeping current, but not so much fun when you're not expecting it....

Arcata airport is plagued year-round by coastal stratus, even sometimes going below ILS minimums for relatively long stretches. But the airport cafe -- Silver Lining, in the main terminal building -- is pretty good for an airport cafe (their fish and chips worked for me, and I'm British), and the Arcata / Eureka area is a lovely place to stay (there's a good selection of Bed and Breakfast places in Arcata).

Note that smaller GA planes might find Eureka (Murray Field) just down the coast cheaper and more convenient if the weather's VFR or above Eureka's approach minimums, but Arcata's a good all-round choice in any case.

A nice towered airport that's an almost perfect fuel / food / exercise break for GA flights between the San Francisco Bay Area and the LA area. You can get pretty good American Diner fare at the airport cafe, the Spirit Of San Luis (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and there are scheduled commuter airline connections from here to the usual LA, SF, and Central Valley destinations. The area itself is growing rapdily and getting something of a name as a new wine country destination.

Note that like most of coastal California, the coastal stratus can come in quickly in the evenings, so if you're flying VFR, keep a good eye out for the weather.

A great GA alternative to LAX or Van Nuys, convenient to the Westside, Santa Monica / Venice, Pacific Pallisades, Malibu, and (at a stretch) Downtown.

If you arrive IFR, note that the VOR / GPS approach (the only approach) is sometimes nicknamed the "Santa Monica Slam" with good reason: SoCal Approach will often vector you inside DARTS (the IAF) at 6,000' to keep you above opposing traffic going into Van Nuys, meaning you are some 4,000' above the minimum altitude for that segment with only a few miles to lose it at the inevitable "best forward speed" with a bunch of business jets in trail...

Note that transient parking here is minimal, and sometimes non-existent: if you're planning an overnight stay, best book it with one of the FBO's (I used Supermarine, who were friendly and competent, even though I was in a lowly 172 surrounded by the Citations and Hawkers to the stars, etc.).

Note also that with a few exceptions there are no defined runway exit points here -- you get off the runway wherever you can on the continuous apron (try not to hit a runway light...), and taxi past the continuous hold short line as fast as you can (otherwise tower will get rather unpleasant).

Oh, and this is a busy airport, with a very diverse mixture of aircraft and pilots. (there's a lot of training being done here), and some stringent noise abatement procedures.

Home of the excellent Castle Air Museum (http://www.castleairmuseum.org), and previously Catsle AFB (so it has the sort of runway you can almost land a 172 *across*...). Castle's got a good ILS approach and recently got a part-time tower, so it's also becoming something of a Central Valley training destination -- watch out for the students in the (huge) pattern!

A surprisingly large and busy towered airport, Camarillo's location (basically Oxnard) is good for Outer LA destinations like Simi Valley, and it's an interesting destination in its own right, with the SoCal Commemorative Air Force hangars and museum on-field.

The airport cafe -- Waypoints -- is kinda famous for its tri-tip (look it up -- I didn't know what it was either) Wednesdays, and ain't bad for other standard fare either. The transient parking area is right in front of the cafe, which is only open until 6pm, unfortunately.

I've dealt with both Channel Islands Aviation and Skyblue Air at Camarillo, and have been pleased by both businesses. There's currently (7/07) relatively cheap fuel available at the self-serve pumps, but I don't know how long that will last...

Ruth's a nice little airport in the middle of nowhere. There's really nothing next to or at the airport itself -- no services, no stores or shops, just a few huts and sheds and a (mostly-closed) ranch off to the side. And in summer it gets HOT, so bring a lot of water...

But it's a good place for a BBQ or a picnic on the tables next to the "ramp", and then for a long hike in the hills or along the river (but it's rugged and sparsely-inhabited country around here).

The airport itself quite a challenge to get into and back out of -- it's at the bottom of a long(ish) narrow valley, and the runway is out of sight for a significant segment of final approaches from either end. There is no easy way to do a normal pattern (you have to keep high and pretty much over the runway itself on downwind), and the downdrafts from the surrounding ridges can be fierce. The turns to base and final if you're landing to the northwest are done within a few hundred metres -- and at a lower altitude -- than the surrounding ridges. And then you dogleg up over the Mad River and finally see the runway.... The runway itself is long and wide enough, and it's a nice location.

MCC Jet Services is great and friendly to small aircraft and has crew cars. The hotel on the airport is the Lion's Gate Hotel, which was the BOQ when MCC was an AFB. Their restaurant has very good food.

Nice GA airport. It can get busy during the weekends.

Sheter Cove's a great fly-in destination, either for lunch or for the weekend. The airport is close to the shoreline, right in the middle of the village (it's part of the local golf course...), and there are beaches, walking trails, picnic tables, cheap camping, reasonable food, and OK hotels within easy walking distance. The location is beautiful -- part of the rugged Lost Coast, it's surrounded by mountains and cliffs on one side, the Pacific on the other -- and while it's a long, arduous, and unpleasant drive from almost anywhere else in California, it's an easy flight up the coast from the San Francisco Bay Area.

But watch out for the fog, which can close in almost without notice and make VFR flying impossible for hours if not days at a time (and there's no IFR approaches here...), and be aware that there are no aviation services (fuel, repairs, etc.) here at all.

Oakland's a good choice for GA visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area -- it's actually almost as close to downtown San Francisco as KSFO but it's usually quite a bit cheaper, it has a good selection of IFR approaches and a well-controlled airspace, it has a very large GA base with a 24 hour FBO (Kaiser), and it's close to BART and other transport options. I've been based here for years...

I think Long Beach (LGB) has better facilities, but I'm not sure of the costs. I have a friend who did flight training there a while ago, so it at least used to be GA-friendly, but things might have changed.

I'm interested whether this is the best GA airport for a day trip to Disneyland. Comments?

You can take the BART (light commuter rail) directly into downtown San Francisco, Oakland, Berkley, etc. for a few dollars. Don't bother renting a car unless you need to drive around the burbs.