Louisiana to Half Moon Bay

Challenged

Challenged

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Challenged
Somewhat considering flying my Sierra all the way from Louisiana to Half Moon Bay in April for a wedding. This is a long flight, probably 13 or 14 hours. If I have the time to make a semi-vacation out of the trip, I'd love any suggestions on places to stop along the way. It may end up just being me going alone, however, and while I love being in the company of myself, 13 hours of flying alone might be a bit much (or could be something neat to say that I've done). Also, I've never flown farther west than central Texas, so I'm not familiar with the airspace and terrain out west and my Sierra has a service ceiling of about 14k which may be a concern. Is this trip even worth considering, or would you just fly commercial?
 
Depends on how much you like to fly. Flew my EZ home to CA from Pensacola and had a blast. I took 3 days for that first trip. But later did an 11.5 hobbs day from Memphis to Boeing Field which was also a gas but long and tiring.
Stay south, along the border, to avoid a lot of military airspace and follow highways over high areas and your ceiling shouldn't be an issue. You will, however, be amazed in areas to be at your ceiling over big, flat desert looking areas and almost be able to read billboards!
Just depends on how much you like sitting in your cockpit and seeing the country roll by... I love it.
Ps: don't miss the crater!
 
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Never plan to go to Half Moon Bay without currency and equipment for a precision GPS approach to minimums. The weather there is often terrible, even when CAVU everywhere else. I'd suggest planning for San Carlos and continuing on if Half Moon Bay happens to be good. Summer is the bad time there, and April is transitional. It's not a very long drive over the mountains. Best time of day is early afternoon.

Avoid high mountains with that service ceiling. You can do Lake Tahoe, but only in perfect conditions. You'll have no margin for moderate turbulence or mountain waves. Consider crossing only on calm clear mornings. Minimum legal crossing at Yosemite is 12000 MSL (2000 AGL), and the DA in April will be close to your service ceiling. Maybe the road there wil be open in April this year, but it usually isn't; without that, it is VERY remote.

Crossing south of the Sierra may be safer, but I've seen a large number of mountain waves from the ground around Palmdale. Watch the winds. IFR over the mountains is almost certainly a no-go; the MEAs will be out of reach.

But the flying is fabulous. It will just take a lot of time.
 
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It will cost you more and take longer to fly yourself than to go commercially, but what an adventure! I flew my Maule from Seattle to Northern Virginia last year by way of Tehachapi Pass in Southern California. It was not the shortest route, but my wife came along so we did a bunch of stops on the CA coast and visited the redwoods. There is a lot to see, but the coast around Half Moon Bay can be fog bound a lot in the summer months. How much time do you have? What kinds of things do you enjoy? There are a bunch of great stops along the Sierras and there are vineyards in the coastal hills. If you take the southern route, you could make a stop at the Mojave Air and Space Port. If you do your flight planning online, the website iflightplanner.com lets you switch the map from sectionals to goggle maps under your route and then you can see attractions that are close. I do a lot of "what if" flight planning just to find interesting things along possible flight paths just for fun. Give it a try!
 
Yeah at any given time, more during the Summer than the Winter, KHAF is low IFR well under minimums for anything less than a precision WAAS approach. In fact as I write, it's under minimums for even that. Pick a close inland destination airport and plan to drive there, and if conditions permit and you can fly, well that's a bonus. I'd pick Napa, Hayward or Oakland.
 
Actually, April tends to be a great month to fly to KHAF - unlike the summer, it isn't typically covered as heavily. In fact, that's when they hold the Dream Machine show every year, partly for this reason. But yeah, don't plan to fly in at nigh or early morning.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Yeah at any given time, more during the Summer than the Winter, KHAF is low IFR well under minimums for anything less than a precision WAAS approach. In fact as I write, it's under minimums for even that. Pick a close inland destination airport and plan to drive there, and if conditions permit and you can fly, well that's a bonus. I'd pick Napa, Hayward or Oakland.
Click to expand...

:yes:
You'll need a rental car anyway. Reid-Hillview is a good option, you can fly day-trips in the area, the things to see in this state, even just this area of the state, are amazing.
 
KHAF right now is hazy and clear, ceilings to 12,000'. I've been flying in there for many years and have had to cancel once or twice while in the air and a few more times when planning but none of this 'IFR only to minimums or nothing' nonsense! As one fellow mentioned summers are the worst and April tends to be nice.

Here's a cool way to keep an eye on it. The camera at the bottom is aimed about at the final approach over the harbor to the prevailing runway:

http://www.samschowderhouse.com/about-sams/samcam.html
 
flyingriki said:
KHAF right now is hazy and clear, ceilings to 12,000'. I've been flying in there for many years and have had to cancel once or twice while in the air and a few more times when planning but none of this 'IFR only to minimums or nothing' nonsense! As one fellow mentioned summers are the worst and April tends to be nice.

Here's a cool way to keep an eye on it. The camera at the bottom is aimed about at the final approach over the harbor to the prevailing runway:

http://www.samschowderhouse.com/about-sams/samcam.html
Click to expand...

Well I think you are right, IFR is generally not an option there to begin with but with the new WAAS approaches you have more flexibility. Not much more but a little more.

But I know the patterns there. If it's clear in the morning, go. If not, it's a crapshoot. Usually it clears up by noon but not always.
 
If you say so....

I did my primary training over a year and found a whopping two days during that time when I could go there VFR from Palo Alto.

It's been light this winter. Maybe he'll get lucky. But I wouldn't plan on it. Especially since there is no usable TAF. SFO may be nearby, but it's totally different.
 
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Aeric said:
:yes:
You'll need a rental car anyway. Reid-Hillview is a good option, you can fly day-trips in the area, the things to see in this state, even just this area of the state, are amazing.
Click to expand...

If you end up at RHV, I recommend Nice Air. They usually have me in a car inside of five or ten minutes and have reasonable prices.
 
There just so happens to be a Zipcar parked at the Half Moon Bay terminal. If you can get in.
 
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