Any of you fly in Calif?

pb172

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pb172
If so, where do you normally fly out of? Any favorite practice locations?
 
Based HWD. I like practicing at TCY to eliminate the airspace distractions. I can usually get some good crosswinds out there too. :)
 
If so, where do you normally fly out of? Any favorite practice locations?
Practice locations for low-altitude maneuvers for the private and commercial? Santa Fe dam works well for KEMT and KPOC, and perhaps KCNO. When I trained there eons ago Santa Fe dam was ours to practice. Fast forward to today and Santa Fe dam has two advisory frequencies.
 
I sometimes fly in/out of Truckee and South Lake Tahoe as I am based in Reno.
 
Even side to side it’s pretty big. My Cherokee just spent 3 hours flying from the coast to Bishop.
 
I'm in/out of San Diego/Brown a lot, and fly to a lot of destinations within the state both North and South.

A little more information from you would be required for a better response.
 
I fly and instruct out of the Santa Maria Public Airport (KSMX) and in my opinion it is a great place to fly. It has a cooperative control tower, a 150 foot wide by 8,004 foot long main runway (12/30) and a 75 foot wide by 5,199 foot long cross wind runway (2/20) and typically has less than a 100 operations per day.
 

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I fly and instruct out of the Santa Maria Public Airport (KSMX) and in my opinion it is a great place to fly. It has a cooperative control tower, a 150 foot wide by 8,004 foot long main runway (12/30) and a 75 foot wide by 5,199 foot long cross wind runway (2/20) and typically has less than a 100 operations per day.
Just flew by SMX Saturday flying CRQ-L52 and back. First time at L52. Cool little airport.
 

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@Vance Breese

I simply need to learn the best way to get from the airport to Jocko's.
Jocko's inside.jpg Jocko's outside.jpg Jocko's.jpg
They have bicycles to loan at the Oceano airport and Jocko’s is about ten miles away.

For those who don’t know Jocko’s sells Barbeque that is delightful.

It is not an elegant restaurant; just good food and usually a wait for a table.
 
I sometimes fly in/out of Truckee and South Lake Tahoe as I am based in Reno.

Nice. been to KTRK a few times myself. beautiful area. looking at a trip to Reno/Stead(KRTS) or KRNO soon. Got a friend in the Reno area.

If anyone is interested, KWLW has a nice little restaurant a short walk from aircraft parking. Check it out.
 
I sometimes fly in/out of Truckee and South Lake Tahoe as I am based in Reno.

I used to rent a beat up old 172 to fly between Fallon (KFLX) and Hanford (KHJO) on the weekends. It'd probably cost a fortune to do that these days.
 
I rent out of riverside (KRAL). We practice over Lake Matthews.
 
If so, where do you normally fly out of? Any favorite practice locations?
I fly out of KMYF

Favorites, no particular order, however of this list Kern is my favorite by far
-Oceano (no gas)
-Catalina (no gas)
-Santa Ynez
-Truckee
-Pine Mountain Lake Airpark
-Kern (no gas)
-Telluride
-Death Valley (no gas)
-Flabob


My approach to Kern 2018. Our group goes every year. This will be my first year in a twin!
upload_2022-3-7_14-26-57.png

I love GA for the access it gives to smaller and less known places to fly to. Which is why I also lean Aztec vs Aerostar. An Aerostar would be tough to bring into many of the places I go.
 
It's a great spot. You can camp, walk to the dunes, etc. You just have to really get it down on the numbers. It's not so bad. 5K runways get boring after a while.
 
2,325 foot runway? Hang on a tic while I pull my undies out from where they just went.
Add to the short runway some peculiar winds, kites flown along the beach a half mile from the runway and fog that can drop the ceiling in minutes.

I don’t want to forget the parachute landing zone across the approach end of runway two niner.

On the other hand are camping, loaner bikes and good food nearby.
 
That's the worst especially when your prospects are either taking off with a 3-5 knot tailwind or straight into the fogbank that likes to sit right on the dunes. It usually burns off, but there are times when you're in the runup area waiting for the sock to go limp and the fog to make a momentary retreat back to the water

I appreciate a place with a challenge. The big boys get to deal with real performance numbers, runway length requirements, etc. Flying out of 5K-10K runways gets boring. When you go into a place like Oceano you need to be on your game, have bail points set, and do things right. You still have plenty of margin per the POH, but you actually have to land the plane somewhere near the beginning.

The actual airport at San Luis Obispo is a stone's throw away with a great brewery/restaurant on field and real services too
 
I've plunked plenty of PA-28s and C172s/152s at L18. But my hard-stop with the P32T is around 2,700.

At sea level? I would have thought that was well within performance parameters for both take off and landing of a PA-32.
 
2,325 foot runway? Hang on a tic while I pull my undies out from where they just went.
It depends on what you're used to. My home field is 2,444 feet. There's even a King Air or two based here.
 
You're making me rethink my list of future planes on "the list". 2,700' paved being iffy makes 3K of grass right out.

it can be done. Simply not by me or most other T-Lance pilots.

I knew a T-Lance pilot that operated regularly from L18 (Fallbrook CA). 2,100 paved, penalty on each end.

I wanted to fly with him but I couldn’t ever coordinate it.
 
I don’t want to forget the parachute landing zone across the approach end of runway two niner.

The parachute guy closed up shop so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. The nearest parachute jumping is at Lompoc.

I’ve been in there lots of times in my Cherokee, C210, and an Arrow. If you know how to land on the centerline and how to do a short field takeoff it’s not all that challenging.
 
Oceano is one of my all time favorite spots. The runway never seemed too short as long as you’re on the numbers. Fast forward to the end of the video to see how much a few RVs and a Comanche use flying out.




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I used to live at kptv. I flew all over the valley. Oceano and Harris ranch where always a favorite.
 
It's a great spot. You can camp, walk to the dunes, etc. You just have to really get it down on the numbers. It's not so bad. 5K runways get boring after a while.
Dunes are closing I believe next year. Apparently the ATVs are destroying the beauty...
 
Dunes are closing I believe next year. Apparently the ATVs are destroying the beauty...
I'm not surprised, it was a little bit anarchistic out there at times
 
Without a doubt ……. Shelter cove (0Q5)hands down the coolest airport I have found in CA. Good food, good view, no one is there …. Ever. Watch out for golfers. Flew there from RTS yesterday, stoped in Red Bluff for lunch talk about a amazing steak sandwich!
 
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