Tag Archives: first

Airport approaches

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Videos below of flying approaches into airports. The goal is to provide context of the surrounding landscape for the benefit of other pilots planning to fly into these airports for their first time.

California

  1. Angwin Airport-Parrett Field, Angwin, CA (2O3) runway 34, November 3, 2018.
  2. Auburn Municipal Airport, Auburn, CA KAUN runway 25, Oct 21, 2018.
  3. Bakersfield Municipal Airport, Bakersfield, CA (L45), October 19, 2024
  4. Bishop Airport, Bishop, CA (KBIH) runway 12, August 9, 2020.
  5. Buchanan Field, Concord, CA (KCCR) runway 19L, September 9, 2024, runway 19R, September 9, 2024
  6. Calaveras County Airport – Mary Rasmussen Field, San Andreas, CA (KCPU) runway 31, June 26, 2020.
  7. Castle Airport, Atwater, CA (KMER) runway 31, June 8, 2018.
  8. Charles M Schulz – Sonoma County Airport, Santa Rosa, CA (KSTS) runway 14, July 14, 2019.
  9. Columbia Airport, Columbia, CA (O22) runway 17, June 8 2018
  10. Daugherty Field, Long Beach, CA (KLGB) runway 26L, October 19, 2024
  11. Firebaugh Airport, Firebaugh, CA, (F34) runway 30, March 26, 2019.
  12. Franklin Field Airport, Franklin, CA, (F72) runway 27, June 26, 2020.
  13. Half Moon Bay Airport, Half Moon Bay, CA
  14. Lake Tahoe Airport, South Lake Tahoe, CA (KTVL) runway 36, August 9, 2020, August 14, 2025.
  15. Lincoln Regional/Karl Harder Field, Lincoln, CA, (KLHM) runway 33, April 13, 2018, runway 33 on March 27, 2018, runway 15 on Apr 30, 2018.
  16. Livermore Municipal Airport, Livermore, CA (KLVK) runway 7L, January 19, 2019, runway 25L on April 7, 2019. Takeoff from runway 25R on Jun 26, 2020. LVK3 (ODP) obstacle departure procedure through IMC conditions on Aug 14, 2025.
  17. Lodi Airport , Lodi, CA (1O3) runway 26, July 2, 2019.
  18. Los Banos Municipal Airport (KLSN) RNAV GPS runway 14 approach, August 21, 2025.
  19. Madera Municipal, Madera, CA (KMAE) runway 30, June 23, 2017.
  20. Mammoth Yosemite Airport, Mammoth Lakes, CA (KMMH) runway 9, August 9, 2020.
  21. Mather
  22. McClellan Airfield, Sacramento, CA (KMCC) runway 16, August 20, 2019.
  23. Merced-Yosemite Regional Airport, Merced, CA (KMCE) ILS approach runway 30, takeoff runway 30, August 21, 2025.
  24. Mesa Del Rey, King City, CA (KKIC) runway 29, June 23, 2017.
  25. Modesto City–County Airport, Modesto, CA (KMOD) runway 28R, June 8, 2019. This used to be a commercial airport and the terminal is still intact but no longer actively used.
  26. Napa County Airport, Napa, CA (KAPC) runway 18L, July 14, 2019.
  27. Nervino Airport, Beckwourth, CA (O02) landing Runway 8, then departing Runway 8. August 14, 2025
  28. New Jerusalem, CA (1Q4) runway 30, Sep 22, 2017.
  29. Nut Tree, Vacaville, CA (KVCB) runway 02, March 11, 2018, runway 20 May 20, 2018.
  30. Oakdale Municipal Airport, Oakdale, CA O27 runway 28 June 8, 2019.
  31. Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, Oakland, CA (KOAK) runway 28R July 14, 2019.
  32. Palo Alto, CA KPAO runway 31, Aug 26, 2018.
  33. Paso Robles, CA KPRB runway 19, Sep 22, 2018.
  34. Petaluma Municipal Airport, Petaluma, CA (O69) runway 29, July 14, 2019.
  35. Rancho Murieta Airport, Rancho Murieta, CA, (KRIU) runway 22, Jun 20, 2020.
  36. Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County, San Jose, CA KRHV runway 31R, Aug 26, 2018.
  37. Rio Linda Airport, Rio Linda, CA (L36) runway 35, April 13, 2018. This runway is very narrow at 2,625′ x 42′, so is the taxiway. You’ll need to back taxi on part of the runway to reach the threshold of runway 35.
  38. Sacramento Executive Airport, Sacramento, CA KSAC runway 20 April 7, 2019.
  39. Sacramento Mather Airport, Sacramento, CA (KMHR) runway 22R, November 3, 2018. Runway 22R, March 18, 2023.
  40. San Luis Obispo, CA KSBP runway 29, May 27, 2018. Takeoff San Luis Obispo, CA KSBP runway 29, May 28, 2018.
  41. Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, Santa Barbara, CA KSBA runway 15R, April 7, 2022
  42. Santa Maria Public Airport Capt G Allan Hancock Field, Santa Maria, CA KSMX runway 30, April 7, 2022
  43. Santa Ynez Airport, Santa Ynez, CA KIZA runway 08, April 7, 2022
  44. Shafter-Minter Field, Bakersfield, CA KMIT runway 30, September 28, 2024
  45. Sierraville Dearwater Airport, Sierraville, CA (O79) landing runway 21, takeoff runway 21. August 14, 2025.
  46. Stockton Metropolitan Airport, Stockton, CA KSCK runway 29R, April 7, 2019.
  47. Tracy Municipal Airport, Tracy, CA (KTCY) runway 12, June 26, 2020.
  48. Truckee-Tahoe Airport, Truckee, CA (KTRK) landing runway 29, takeoff runway 29, August 14, 2025.
  49. Turlock Municipal Airport, Turlock, CA O15 runway 30, January 13, 2019.
  50. University Airport, Davis, CA (KEDU) runway 17, March 17, 2021
  51. Watsonville Municipal Airport, Watsonville, CA (KWVI) runway 20, December 31, 2020
  52. Watts-Woodland Airport, Woodland, CA O41 runway 36, March 19, 2019.
  53. Westover Field Amador County Airport, Jackson, CA (KJAQ) runway 19, Jun 26, 2020.
  54. Whiteman Airport, Pacoima, CA (KWHP) runway 12, September 28, 2024
  55. Yolo County Airport, Davis/Woodland/Winters, CA (KDWA) runway 16, March 17, 2021
  56. Yuba County Airport, Marysville, CA (KMYV) runway 32 and 14, March 18, 2023

Oregon

  1. Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport, Klamath Falls, OR KLMT runway 14, August 03, 2019.
  2. McNary Field Airport, Salem, OR KSLE runway 16, August 06, 2019.
  3. Rogue Valley International – Medford Airport, Medford, OR KMFR runway 32, August 06, 2019.

Washington

  1. Renton Municipal Airport, Renton, WA KRNT runway 34, August 03, 2019

 

$100 Hamburger

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A few of us at work decided a couple of weeks ago to plan a fly-in to Sacramento Executive airport (KSAC) and have lunch at the Aviator’s Restaurant in the airport terminal. Earlier in the week, some of us met to discuss routing and other considerations for the fly-in. I was the only student in the mix and the rest were planning to arrive from Tracy, Reid-Hillview, Palo Alto and San Carlos. This would qualify for cross-country time in the logbook since KSAC was 51nm from KLVK.

My route would take me over the east end of Los Vaqueros reservoir, then directly to the Sacramento VOR and turning right to the airport nearby. On the way at Walnut Grove are three tall guyed radio towers which are each over 2000′ tall and one of the tallest structures in the world. Just for comparison, the World Trade Center towers were only 1368′ and the Eiffel Tower is 1063′ tall.

I met my CFI at the airport terminal at 8:30am to get a cross-country endorsement in the logbook. Previously I had briefed via Foreflight on my iPad for the weather and NOTAMS. It was going to get windy in the central valley starting around 11am but the winds were forecast to die down late in the afternoon at KSAC. The winds might still be right around my crosswind maximum of 10kts at KLVK so I discussed with my CFI that I will not takeoff until late in the afternoon and keep an option open to divert to KCCR Concord Buchanan airport.

To beat the winds I took off early and was airborne at 10:15am. Livermore tower now can initiate flight following and I had a squawk code dialed in before takeoff. Runway 34 is closed until Feb 15 and the winds were 320@7 favoring runway 30 and I was parked next to the terminal at 11:04. It took longer than the estimated 36 minutes for two reasons – the headwinds were stiffer than the forecast 335@17 at 5500′ cruising altitude and I forgot to lean the mixture for maximum engine performance.

Food and ambiance were quite good at the restaurant – I ordered a “$10 Pasta”. The seating area overlooks the taxiway and runway 02/20. We had a 13 people show up in 6 planes – one was a Lake and the rest were Cessna 172.

As we were lunching, the winds began howling outside from 320@17-28. Around 3pm the first plane (C172) from our group took off and we could see the wings rocking side to side as the pilot maintained runway course against the stiff crosswind. The rest of us hung out for another 30 minutes and slowly dispersed. I remained at the terminal checking the weather at Concord, Tracy and Livermore. Tracy was another option because the winds were generally lined up with runway 30.

Around 5pm I texted my CFI about my intentions to fly to Concord since the winds were from 360 and runway 01 would have been fine. Livermore had started to look better and he asked me to monitor that as well. I finished pre-flight, fueled up and called up ASOS one more time at both Concord and Livermore. When I took off from KSAC winds were 310@21-27.

KLVK 110053Z 01008KT 10SM CLR 19/M08 A2991 RMK AO2 SLP126 T01891078

The crosswind at Livermore was within my limits so I headed direct with the option to divert to Concord if needed. Climb out of Sacramento was bumpy but once I reached 4500′ cruise altitude, it was smooth air with a healthy tailwind. My airspeed was around 105 and at one point my ground speed was 138kts! En route, I saw the sun set in the west and in 25 minutes I was over Las Vaqueros reservoir. As I began my descent the winds picked up once again over the Livermore hills and tower first reported winds 340@8-21 and then 320@5-21 when I was on short final. The cross winds were quite stiff requiring full left rudder and right aileron to stay aligned with the runway on a forward slip. The landing was challenging but I was able to stick the landing. I was glad to be back safely on the ground, parked at 6:09pm, just within the 30-minute window after sunset at 5:41pm that my CFI had set as the limit.

In retrospect if I had had to divert from Livermore to Concord, it would have been a night solo for which I wasn’t endorsed. Departing 30 minutes earlier from Sacramento or heading only for Concord would have been safer options.

First solo cross-country

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I flew my first solo cross country to Merced (KMCE) and back. After left downwind departure and shortly after Livermore tower approved a frequency change, my first order of business was to establish contact with Norcal and request flight following. Per frequencies published, I tried 123.85 but no response. My instructor had mentioned that this frequency doesn’t work and to try 125.1 instead. But when Srinath flew last year, he had established contact with 123.85. Not only was there no response but there was no chatter on this frequency contrary to what I had expected from Norcal. Next I tuned into Oakland Center at 126.85 but again no chatter and neither was there a response to my request. I waited a while, was already climbing over the hills at 4000′ and was anxious to get in touch with Norcal. So I tuned back to Livermore tower and got the frequency as 125.1. Successfully established contact with Norcal on that frequency and got a squawk code for flight following. Why the charts do not list 125.1 is a mystery to me.

 

 

The course was to fly heading 84 (after wind correction at altitude) out of Livermore. That would have me skirting along the south end of restricted area R-2531 all the way to where I-5 meets I-580. At that point I turn to heading 121 to Gustine (3O1). I was doing 100kts airspeed with 128kts ground speed with a healthy tailwind at 5500′. My estimate was 110kts with an airspeed with 100 kts.

Along the way, I would pass Crows Landing airport when I cross radial 191 from Modesto VOR 114.6. Gustine is then along radial 328 from Panoche VOR 112.6.

After passing Gustine with the airport directly below me, I turned to a heading of 69 that would have put me straight into Merced. About 8 miles from the airport, I spotted the airport in the distance and set myself to enter on the 45 degrees for left downwind into runway 30. Winds were from 320@11kts, it was already warm at 27c and density altitude was 1600′ at the airport whose elevation was only 155′ MSL. It turned out that the airport I spotted was Castle (KMER) which is just a few miles to the north of Merced. I was growing suspicious because I didn’t see any traffic or aircraft at the airport and was beginning to wonder if it was even an airport at which point I realized it was not my destination.

Glancing at the GPS, I found Merced off to my right at which point I cross referenced with my notes that Merced was to the west of Hwy 99 whereas the airport I initially saw was on the east side of Hwy 99. The runway at Merced is 5914′ x 150′ which is plenty for a C172. The airport has a tower but it is no longer operational. I pulled into the transient parking area and reset my notes and instruments for the return trip.
Confusion at KMCE

On the way back from Merced, Norcal transferred me to 123.85. Not sure how the frequency is working now when I had trouble connecting on the way out of LVK. There was some aerobatic activity over Tracy about which the controller alerted me and requested I stay above 4200′. It was getting quite hot and turbulent over the Altamont pass. The controller at LVK was clearly overloaded with the traffic. He ignored my first call and asked me to stay outside Class D airspace on my second call before clearing me for landing on 25L. Another aircraft was asked to stay on downwind and it reported approaching Altamont when the controller turned them base!

The course I had planned had a 144nm (72nm distance each way). The actual course I flew was 164nm (85nm + 79nm).

Solo x-country KLVK-KMCE-KLVK

Solo stalls

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Today I set out to practice solo stalls for the first time. I had 737GM reserved and it was mostly a smooth ride as I flew over Byron airport at 2500′ heading to the practice area. At 3000′ I started practicing slow flight and making shallow turns at slow flight. But first, by making clearing turns.

After slow flight, in the landing configuration I tried a stall first and then dropped the nose before the stall was achieved. Tried it again and this time the stall was achieved with quick recovery. Very quickly I decided that was enough and proceed for a couple of touch and go’s at Tracy airport before heading back to Livermore. By the time I returned, winds had shifted and I landed on 7L as tower switched the traffic around to make up for a northeasterly wind.