eetrojan
Pattern Altitude
I made a fun flight today to Big Bear (L35), a little mountain airport in Southern California.
It’s located generally to the northeast of my home airport, John Wayne (SNA). The peaks are 1-2,000 feet higher on either side, but Big Bear valley is about 7,000 feet, so the eastbound altitude on the way in is 9,500, and the westbound altitude on the way out is 8,500.
In either direction, I also need to fly over a small mountain range that rises up to about 6,000 feet at its highest point, the so-called Santa Ana Mountains. The highest point is “Santiago Peak” at about 6,000 feet. My intended flight path had me crossing over this ridge in between “Pleasant's Peak” (4,000 ft) and “Santiago Peak.” (6,000).
In order to have some distance above the ridge line, my preferred crossing altitude is 7,500 or 8,500. This was true even more so today, because the winds were strong.
So, I planned to stay at 8,500 all the way until I crossed that ridge, and then descend for landing at John Wayne. 6,500 is too tight. 4,500 is not happening.
The flight -TO- Big Bear went great. On the way back, though, I had a mildly weird experience.
I established flight following with SoCal Approach on 134.0 as soon as I was out of the Big Bear mountain area - Near Redlands Airport. Then, about 10 minutes later, the first controller on 134.0 handed me to 135.4 and, when I checked in, the new approach controller immediately instructed me to descend to 4,000.
When I told him that I needed to stay high because of the ridge, he replied with a great deal of attitude, “If you want flight following, descend to 4,000.” So, after a moment of thought, I said, “OK, I’d like to cancel,” and he said “Squawk VFR, change approved.”
So, there you go. See ya.
I don’t always use flight following, but I "usually" do – probably about 80% of the time. Plus, this is only one day after the mid-air collision 15-20 miles to the southwest near Torrance, CA.
Now squawking VFR, I went ahead and stayed at 8,500 until I passed the ridgeline (colored in orange below), and then cold-called a third approach controller in the next sector on 124.1. He was pleasant as can be. He got me sequenced into John Wayne like normal, and all ended well.
This the very first time I have ever had attitude from ATC in SoCal. They are usually awesome.
Any idea what this was about?
Did I do something wrong? Should I have done something different?
Joe
Diagram (click for larger version):
Bigger Version
It’s located generally to the northeast of my home airport, John Wayne (SNA). The peaks are 1-2,000 feet higher on either side, but Big Bear valley is about 7,000 feet, so the eastbound altitude on the way in is 9,500, and the westbound altitude on the way out is 8,500.
In either direction, I also need to fly over a small mountain range that rises up to about 6,000 feet at its highest point, the so-called Santa Ana Mountains. The highest point is “Santiago Peak” at about 6,000 feet. My intended flight path had me crossing over this ridge in between “Pleasant's Peak” (4,000 ft) and “Santiago Peak.” (6,000).
In order to have some distance above the ridge line, my preferred crossing altitude is 7,500 or 8,500. This was true even more so today, because the winds were strong.
So, I planned to stay at 8,500 all the way until I crossed that ridge, and then descend for landing at John Wayne. 6,500 is too tight. 4,500 is not happening.
The flight -TO- Big Bear went great. On the way back, though, I had a mildly weird experience.
I established flight following with SoCal Approach on 134.0 as soon as I was out of the Big Bear mountain area - Near Redlands Airport. Then, about 10 minutes later, the first controller on 134.0 handed me to 135.4 and, when I checked in, the new approach controller immediately instructed me to descend to 4,000.
When I told him that I needed to stay high because of the ridge, he replied with a great deal of attitude, “If you want flight following, descend to 4,000.” So, after a moment of thought, I said, “OK, I’d like to cancel,” and he said “Squawk VFR, change approved.”
So, there you go. See ya.
I don’t always use flight following, but I "usually" do – probably about 80% of the time. Plus, this is only one day after the mid-air collision 15-20 miles to the southwest near Torrance, CA.
Now squawking VFR, I went ahead and stayed at 8,500 until I passed the ridgeline (colored in orange below), and then cold-called a third approach controller in the next sector on 124.1. He was pleasant as can be. He got me sequenced into John Wayne like normal, and all ended well.
This the very first time I have ever had attitude from ATC in SoCal. They are usually awesome.
Any idea what this was about?
Did I do something wrong? Should I have done something different?
Joe
Diagram (click for larger version):
Bigger Version
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