Flying along the coast. Best practices?

bmoeller

bmoeller

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Collegeville, Pa
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RedHeadBarron
After a 10yr hiatus for kids and family, I finally got back in the saddle back this past October and have been making up for lost time. Just crossed the 100hr milestone. Anyway....I finally flew from Reading,PA (KRDG) down to Cape May, NJ (KWWD) yesterday. Was my first beach flight. Also my first interaction with Philly Class B. When asked about my destination, I said I would skirt the Bravo to the south. Was caught off guard when they cleared me into the bravo direct without even asking. Suuuhweet!! Was cool watching the heavies fly over us. I listen to them on LiveATC often, so it felt like I was talking to some celebrities and recognized them instantly. HA!

Back to the question at hand though. When flying the coast line, what personal standards or best practices do you adhere to? I stayed at 2500 VFR heading south and 1500 when departing north. Wanted to stay out of the banner traffic's way, but I did see an aircraft heading south between 500-1000 and close to the shore line opposite direction of the banner traffic. Made me cringe a bit.
 
I personally stay 1000K above gliding distance to the shore line. Otherwise, I like to have flight following or IFR flight in busy traffic areas.

Tim
 
1. Stay within gliding distance of the shore when practical. 2. If not possible, try to fly over flotillas. 3. Big lobsters are to the north, not south.
 
If you have to land on a beach, land on the dark part of the sand. It has been wetted by the previous high tide and is compacted.
 
500 feet off shore, 500 feet high
 
I often cross the Delaware bay and maintain altitude to glide to shore if need be. I see plenty of planes crossing below 3k, not for me. Worst case scenario look for the ferry crossing if you have to ditch.

If you get the chance head on down to ocean city md (KOXB), a nice airport on the coast with good eats and things to do.

Philly and Dover approach are easy to work with and it's always fun watching the C5's shooting approaches at DAFB.

Welcome back to flying!
 
When the air gets fuzzy and/or you need to turn around do not lose sight of land.
 
Groundpounder said:
What are you flying, a space shuttle?
Click to expand...

Nope. But think about how often you are flying along the beach and there is no place to land due to crowds? 1K AGL to make it back to shore gives you maneuvering altitude to avoid crowds.

Tim
 
tspear said:
Nope. But think about how often you are flying along the beach and there is no place to land due to crowds? 1K AGL to make it back to shore gives you maneuvering altitude to avoid crowds.

Tim
Click to expand...

1K is much more reasonable. 1000K is beyond pretty much anything a civilian can fly.
 
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