Dumb question about LA airspace

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onwards

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onwards
Am I reading the chart correctly in that coming from the north, one may reach KBUR without physically transitioning through the LAX Bravo? or am I missing something really obvious here?
 
If you approach from the north and never go south of the Ventura Freeway, the LAX Bravo is not a problem. Its northern edge is near the crest of the Hollywood Hills.

But you do have to deal with Burbank Class Charlie.
 
Pilawt said:
If you approach from the north and never go south of the Ventura Freeway, the LAX Bravo is not a problem. Its northern edge is near the crest of the Hollywood Hills.

But you do have to deal with Burbank Class Charlie.
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Understood, I'm comfortable with that (OAK Charlie is my hood). Thank you. I kept hearing about how hard LA airspace is to navigate, but if my goal is KBUR, it looks fairly simple.
 
onwards said:
Understood, I'm comfortable with that (OAK Charlie is my hood). Thank you. I kept hearing about how hard LA airspace is to navigate, but if my goal is KBUR, it looks fairly simple.
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It's easy to navigate. They will just vector you.
 
onwards said:
Understood, I'm comfortable with that (OAK Charlie is my hood). Thank you. I kept hearing about how hard LA airspace is to navigate, but if my goal is KBUR, it looks fairly simple.
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Whiteman is also a nice little field and only about 5 miles from Burbank. I landed there once and took a cab into downtown for a conference. It is a bit cheaper there and has a good pilot community.
 
It's not that hard or scary here - it just looks that way. If you need to transition south, there are numerous corridors through the Bravo. Going to KSMO you don't need to talk to anyone but Santa Monica, as long as you stay under B. And if you go a little bit east of Downtown, you can stay under the approach into LAX below 2000ft and not talk to anyone.

Just a heads up - KBUR not great for GA. There is no transient parking, so you have to use Atlantic or one of the FBO's and they're mainly catering to the bizjet crowd, so it can get a bit pricy ("we waive the ramp fee if you buy 30gal of our $8/gal avgas"-type of thing). As suggested, try Whiteman or Santa Monica or Van Nuys if you want to save some cash.
 
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Thanks for the tips!

Long as parking is around $25 per day I'm ok - that equals the $26 per day I won't be paying in OAK because ill be flying my own from CCR. And BUR has Avis :) it's the fastest way to get to Hollywood I think.
 
onwards said:
Understood, I'm comfortable with that (OAK Charlie is my hood). Thank you. I kept hearing about how hard LA airspace is to navigate, but if my goal is KBUR, it looks fairly simple.
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I deal with the complexity of the airspace through careful planning, and that makes it easy.
 
Palmpilot said:
I deal with the complexity of the airspace through careful planning, and that makes it easy.
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I get that, but this forum is a good resource to double check on things - and I've heard many horror stories about the LA airspace. Careful planning or not, I make mistakes often and have no problem admitting that publicly.
 
onwards said:
I get that, but this forum is a good resource to double check on things - and I've heard many horror stories about the LA airspace. Careful planning or not, I make mistakes often and have no problem admitting that publicly.
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I admit that Southern California airspace still intimidates me a bit, even with a GPS. That's one reason why I like the special flight rules corridor when I go to a destination south of LAX. If I were to choose a route that required contact with ATC, they could give me vectors that differed from my planned route, and since I don't know the airspace intimately, I'm concerned that this could increase my chance of busting airspace once I exit the class B.

Of course, I could just file IFR, and then I wouldn't have to worry about it.
 
onwards said:
Am I reading the chart correctly in that coming from the north, one may reach KBUR without physically transitioning through the LAX Bravo? or am I missing something really obvious here?
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I don't think you could ever ask a dumb question here... If you're coming form the north to BUR you shouldn't have any worries about the Los Angeles Class B Airspace. Get a little to close to the hills off you right wing while flying east and ATC will let you know and may ask if you want a clearance..

If you plan to go South from there, then yes you should be aware and alert... I still use the Golden Eagle software as this will give me a visual flight profile and what airspace I will be encountering during my flight and my little GPS will warm me when I am getting close.

Also, there are the TEC Routs...ATC seems to like it when I use these for VFR flight following.

http://laartcc.org/tecroutes.php..

Have fun in Beautiful Downtown Burbank
 
Palmpilot said:
If I were to choose a route that required contact with ATC, they could give me vectors that differed from my planned route,it.
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Not so...

If you use one of the pre-defined routes such as the Costal Route or the Coliseum Route SoCal will keep you on track.. What may happen is after you clear the Class B they may comeback tell you that services are terminated resume VFR.. If you're using flight following; which I highly recommend, in So Cal you shouldn't worry about busting any other airspace once clearing Class B as you are being handed off from tower to tower.
 
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It just looks intimidating, but if you look closely you'll see it's one of the least complex airspace for such a metropolis. In fact, you can fly all around LA in a Cub without even having a radio! Right up to the Hollywood sign, right across Downtown, close to the Santa Monica Pier, to Malibu, right below the approach at LAX etc. The Bravo is very limited and narrow in LA. You could land at Compton Airport with the same Cub and be inches away from LAX and just a quick cab ride away from Hollywood - without a radio!

Just as a comparison, a couple of miles more south around San Diego it gets a lot hairier and more complex.
 
Palmpilot said:
and since I don't know the airspace intimately, I'm concerned that this could increase my chance of busting airspace once I exit the class B.
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I was under the impression that if you are given a vector by ATC into class B, even without a clearance, you were "complying with instructions", and thus, in the clear. The issue would be being dropped by SoCal and aimed right at a hot batch of B airspace, and not realizing it :D

I've asked SoCal "uh, can I get a bravo clearance with that?" when the vector took me into or near class B -- and they have always coughed one up.

I've also told them I'm unfamiliar with the area, and they play nicely with me and advise me of nearby airspace shelves, etc. I've found them some of the most accommodating controllers around, if you give them the information they need to help you early on :D

$0.02

- Mike
 
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