San Bernardino area

Tyjay30

Tyjay30

Pre-Flight
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Sep 21, 2014
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Tyler
Headed to San Bernardino for 3 weeks and would like to do some flying while there, any suggestions for a flight school or plane rental? Thanks in advance.
 
What sort of plane are you looking to rent, and how many hours?
 
Have approximately 50 hours in a PA-28 and about 15 in a 172 so a plane similar to those and probably just for a few hours to check out the scenery.
 
Grab an instructor and a 172 (not a PA28 unless it's a turbo Arrow), perhaps from Cable or Ontario, and go visit Big Bear. No leads on FBOs, but the destination is nearby and extremely scenic.

A 172 can handle Big Bear unless the winds are nasty or the airplane is loaded to the gills. Especially if you can find a 180 HP N model (but it IS possible in 160 HP). The performance differences can be eye opening.
 
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FlyCorona at KAJO or General Aviation at KFUL are two FBOs I can recommend. DuBois at KCNO may also interest you.

Why not a N/A PA-28? Many times I flew a PA-28-160 into and out of Big Bear with two 200+ lbs guys and full fuel. No problem.
 
DuBois in Chino rents Cherokees. I visited there once and they were very friendly.

Definitely check out Big Bear and Catalina but do your homework on both these places- Big Bear has special VFR approach procedures that they recommend and Catalina (AvX) is a little tricky as the rwy is basically on a cliff and also sloped/has a hump in the middle. Note the landing fee at Catalina and the pricey shuttle to town. Otherwise just flying up the coast over Malibu is beautiful- and you can stop in Santa Barbara. Lot of fun options- enjoy!
 
I've done the PA28-into-Big Bear thing, too. They are quite anemic above 10,000 DA, and not too great below it. Not a whole lot of margin. It requires finding lift to help the airplane out. Not a bad exercise, but that should be the focus of the lesson if that's the point. I would exclude an easterly takeoff in one of those, as descending air will be a problem.
 
Thanks for all the input! I'll get something in place within the next couple of days. Now if American Airlines would find my misplaced bag!! :mad2:
 
Tyjay30 said:
Headed to San Bernardino for 3 weeks and would like to do some flying while there, any suggestions for a flight school or plane rental? Thanks in advance.
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First post.....

Welcome to POA....

:cheers::cheers:
 
Not all PA-28s are the same; if you can rent a PA-28-235 it should be able to do it just fine. I know there's a place here that rents one; I don't know about that area.
 
If you strike out on those ideas, we have a Super Musketeer we can let you use here at RAL :)

Bring your radio-work A-game. SoCal Approach is super-friendly, but the airspace trips up a lot of folks, especially if they trained in a mellower airspace environment.
 
schmookeeg said:
If you strike out on those ideas, we have a Super Musketeer we can let you use here at RAL :)

Bring your radio-work A-game. SoCal Approach is super-friendly, but the airspace trips up a lot of folks, especially if they trained in a mellower airspace environment.
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How is life at RAL these days? Keep meaning to drop in as the "new" airport manager is a good friend of mine.
 
MAKG1 said:
I've done the PA28-into-Big Bear thing, too. They are quite anemic above 10,000 DA, and not too great below it. Not a whole lot of margin. It requires finding lift to help the airplane out. Not a bad exercise, but that should be the focus of the lesson if that's the point. I would exclude an easterly takeoff in one of those, as descending air will be a problem.
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Are you talking about a PA28-180 or 140/160?
 
Old Fart said:
How is life at RAL these days? Keep meaning to drop in as the "new" airport manager is a good friend of mine.
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Seems like things are on the upswing generally, lots of activity (particularly helicopters... yecch)... I didn't think anyone could beat our old airport director, who was laissez-faire and quite pleasant, but Kim really has been improving things left and right -- he's been great to work with so far, and he seems to enjoy it... go figure!

He even helped us brainstorm some expansion plans... at an airport! We were all gobsmacked. Coming from AJO, where saying "expansion" out loud was just like saying "bomb" in the TSA line.... it's been a really great contrast. :D
 
I worked with Kim when he was our OPS manager at ONT, I was the PM for the post 9-11 security projects at ONT and LAX. One hell of a nice guy to work with. I'll pop in and harass him some day, he told me he'd only double the landing fee :)
 
Tyjay30 said:
Headed to San Bernardino for 3 weeks and would like to do some flying while there, any suggestions for a flight school or plane rental? Thanks in advance.
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I'm at Redlands until Xmas... There's a flight school here, and it's the closest airport to SBD. SBD used to be OK, but now their management has delusions of adequacy... I'm happier at REI.


Paul
 
FlyingMonkey said:
Note the landing fee at Catalina and the pricey shuttle to town. Otherwise just flying up the coast over Malibu is beautiful- and you can stop in Santa Barbara. Lot of fun options- enjoy!
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Whilst I agree to coastline around Malibu & Santa Barbara is beautiful, don't think you'll be saving much money by choosing Santa Barbara over Catalina.

There is a $40 facility fee, a $10 security fee & $7.50 per gallon at Santa Barbara airport. The facility fee is waived if you buy fuel, but the fuel is $2.50 per gallon higher than elsewhere.

Also check the shuttle times at Catalina, it's usually every 2 hours or so...
 
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