Trip to San Francisco in a couple of weeks, any tips from locals?

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Gubbins

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So recently in a drunken stupor no doubt, I posted a request for tips in another thread for San Diego and was soundly and deservedly slapped down for hijacking the thread (unintentionally). I mean San Diego, San Francisco what is the difference? So here goes again... :D

I will be doing something totally nonsensical and will be flying myself from Dallas to SF for a conference in my C206. It is about a 9 hour flight not including stops, and makes no sense at all but I will enjoy every minute of it (by myself, my colleagues will be going commercial they think I'm insane). This will be in two weeks time.

So, any tips from locals would be greatly appreciated. The ideal would be to be close enough to SF downtown that I could sneak away two or three times and fly around the area. Any suggestions on an appropriate airport to stop at? How friendly is KSFO for GA? I know it is expensive. Any suggestions/routes for scenic tours? Any places to stay away from? I see there are some nice big fat TFR's there right now, hopefully nothing like that when I'm there.

What is the most scenic route across the Sierra Nevada?

Thanks a lot for any tips, and I'm really looking forward to doing some flying out there.
 
SFO: Not friendly to GA, some here may disagree...
Must see and fly into Half Moon Bay, in these Fall months the fog probably won't be a factor. Continue down the coast over or into Monterey, be mindful of altitude over the marine sanctuary. North coastal areas are nice too, more chance of fog though...
If you have time and avgas money, North Lake Tahoe, Truckee, beautiful airport, the North Shore is fantastic. South Lake Tahoe is ok too.
As for SF itself, it's a great tourist city and you'll be here when the weather starts turning nice with less fog, albeit on the cool side. Enjoy!
And I believe the best option for your business in SF would be to fly into San Carlos (SQL), it's about 25 miles south of downtown SF.
 
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I would bypass SFO too. Maybe San Carlos KSQL?

Fleet week with the Blue Angels is this weekend and there also appears to be a VIP TFR.
 
OAK is pretty convenient, too, if SQL has fog. Business Jet Center is good and they will give you a ride to the BART station. I give another vote for HAF and the Bay Tour as a side trip.
 
John221us said:
OAK is pretty convenient, too, if SQL has fog. Business Jet Center is good and they will give you a ride to the BART station. I give another vote for HAF and the Bay Tour as a side trip.
Click to expand...


Thanks, so what is a typical "Bay Tour"?
 
Do SFO if the conference is there and you don't want to get a rental car. Is GA friendly although they are weird sometimes about non IFR arrivals. Signature at SFO is really friendly and will take care of you. I would go across the Sierras either through Vegas into the LA basin. Or over Reno into NorCal. In between is really nasty if you're in a single engine piston airplane.

I have given hundreds of bay tours and they can consist of many different routes depending on what you want to see. Coming into SFO will be very pretty and show you the east and South Bay. North of SFO is where the bay and golden gate bridges, Alcatraz etc. are at. I usually try tof.y over the golden gate and Alcatraz, then maybe downtown SF.
 
Excellent, thank you. I would definitely come into SFO or any class B airport on an IFR plan.

As for crossing the Sierras I like nasty :D unless there is icing of course. A scenic pass would be great.
 
Be prepared for a hefty landing fee. SFO isn't even convenient for downtown. Oakland is actually closer and far more accommodating to GA. Hayward and Napa are good alternates too but a bit far away.

Most def Half Moon Bay is the shizz but you just can't plan on it. This time of the year the marine layer starts to clear but you just never know. Plan for an afternoon arrival if you go. It has approaches but the minimums are too high to do any good most of the time.
 
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