O69 Petaluma CA - PIREPS?

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Tedric

Filing Flight Plan
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Tedric
Hi all -

New member here. Heading to the Bay Area this coming weekend from the Seattle area in an RV-6, and looking at somewhere in the Marin area as a destination. Petaluma looks like it has plenty of services, several instrument approaches, and runway orientation much better suited to prevailing winds than KDVO Gnoss Field in Novato, which I was also considering.

Any feedback/suggestions appreciated. I'd be tying down there for 4-5 nights before heading back.
 
Flown into both fine airfields. Petaluma had cheaper fuel and a diner on field (looks like it might be closed,) Novato is closer to SF.
 
Nice airport, busy on the weekends. Some people say it needs a tower. Flown in there dozens of times, can't recall any days 29 was not in use but one. You'll get a nice 45 entry to coming from the north. Napa (APC) is also a pretty good option.
 
Petaluma is a great airport - but I’m biased! ;) Good services, a number of RV guys on the field. Can get a little busy but nothing approaching the Watsonville-type traffic. There are ultralights and micro lights that fly a tight pattern. Feel free to PM with any questions.
 
Both Petaluma and Gnoss Field in Novato are great little airports. I kept my C150 at Gnoss (DVO) for years in the late seventies and early eighties, and never had any concerns about crosswinds. The two cautions at Gnoss are the radio towers just east of the field and salt water flooding during king tides (twice I had to clean and regrease my wheel bearings after flooding).
 
Thanks everyone, helpful info and Petaluma sounds like a good bet. Looks like it will be hot en route, Red Bluff is where I’ve stopped for fuel on past trips and NWS is showing 100 or so there on Saturday. Petaluma looks much more pleasant.
 
It will be hot and most likely smokey in the norcal area. viz has gotten low a few times when the wind shifts to the valley so keep your wits about you.
 
Yes, I’ve been keeping an eye on that. This will be my first IFR flight down there, and it will be nice to have that capability if things get murky. I’ll find out tomorrow :)
 
O69 turned out to be a great destination. Plenty of runway, winds modest and generally aligned (unlike Gnoss Field), friendly staff and plenty of services available. $6/night for a tiedown, which I consider a reasonable (and, in aviation terms, negligible) cost to help keep our GA infrastructure in shape and available for our use.

It sure was a smoky flight from about Grants Pass all the way to Petaluma, though. From south of Medford to Redding at 11,000 feet I was just skimming along the top of the smoke layer, which was very opaque and obscured any ground reference unless you were within about 2,000 feet of same (i.e., the higher mountain ridges on the route), and once I was cleared down to 9,000 it was still IMC all the way until being turned onto the final approach course for Rwy 29. I hadn't expected it to be that bad that far south, but it sure was.

I'll be leaving tomorrow and may opt for the coastal route back to avoid the fires and smoke, although that routing can present its own issues with the frequent LIFR along the coast.....
 
This site shows what air quality is like on the ground in real time. Green is good, and yellow is not too bad.

https://www.purpleair.com/map?opt=1/m/i/mAQI/a10/cC0#5.59/36.387/-121.022

Half Moon Bay Airport (HAF) has been having a rare VFR day today. Contrary to the label, this Web cam is actually looking more or less south. (I think they turned the north camera around after the south camera failed.)

https://publicworks.smcgov.org/half-moon-bay-airport-public-webcams

Sam's Chowder House has Web cams a mile or so southeast of HAF. The airport is just out of frame to the right of the upper picture, so it gives a good view of short final for runway 30 (which is the one most often in use).

https://www.samschowderhouse.com/about-sams/samcam.html
 
Indeed! Handy resources - although now I’m thinking about some fish n chips at Sam’s….:D
 
Tedric said:
Indeed! Handy resources - although now I’m thinking about some fish n chips at Sam’s….:D
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There are restaurants closer to the airport than Sam's. Barbara's Fishtrap is good. I'm not knocking Sam's, though; I haven't tried it, since Barbara's is so convenient to the southeast ramp.
 
Rgbeard said:
topic drift - a group of pilots wanted a west-coast gathering, and one suggested Half Moon Bay.

Yeah, great idea.... for about half of us. ;)
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Yeah, it has good GPS approaches, but that only helps the instrumented rated among us.
 
Captain Sweet T said:
There's not a ton parking there either. At least that I know of.
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There is plenty of parking on the south of the airport at half moon bay. And it’s a quick walk into town. Only beef I have with it is lately the weather reporting has been out.


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