San Francisco Bay Tour - How To and Tips Guide! (Flight 20)

This has to be one of the most impressive flights you can do in the San Francisco Bay area, maybe in the whole of the USA? A tour of the San Francisco including Downtown, Alcatraz, The Golden Gate Bridge and everything in between. I had a few new challenges on this flight: first time through Class B airspace (SFO airport!), first time in a Cessna 172, and the first time with passengers. If you're planning a similar flight read on for tips.

Navigation and route planning

Planning the route and radio comss was an important part of the pre-flight as we were going to attempt to go through San Francisco International's class Bravo airspace. This is probably the most restrictive and busy airspace you would ever enter as a VFR (Visual Flight Rules) pilot in a small plane like a Cessna. You need permission from SFO Tower to enter the air space, and while you are there you will be given specific instructions on altitude and routing. I say attempt because there is a possibility they will not let you enter, for example if they already have a high workload of passenger jets etc.

The route itself would take us through San Carlos before being handed over to SFO Tower and requesting entry to Bravo. While transitioning SFO's airspace it's likely they will route us west of the 101 freeway at 1500ft to keep us out of the way of other traffic. A few miles north of SFO we would leave class Bravo before being handed on to Norcal Approach while we do the tour around the city. The route back takes us down the west coast for a good view of highway 1 before heading back over the Santa Cruz mountains at Woodside and back into Palo Alto.

Squawk codes and radio comms

To enter Class Bravo you need a squark code, and the easy way to do this is to ask for one from San Carlos Airport (SQL) while in the air. SQL have an arrangement with SFO where they can help manage traffic which plans to do a bay tour or transition Bravo when departing to the north. The squawk code is a unique number which is transmitted to the radar by our airplane's transponder. This allows the air traffic control to know who we are and where we are going rather than just being an unidentified blip on their screen. All of my flights until now have used the code 1200 which represents standard VFR, and is the same as all the other VFR planes not doing anything special.

Radio comms and notes from the tour

1. 125.00 = "Palo Alto Ground, Cessna 734MK, Request taxi with Golf, Straight out departure through San Carlos for Bay tour"
2. 118.60 = "Palo Alto Tower, Cessna 734MK ready at 31". The tower responds back with confirmation of destination and Clear to take off, runway 31
3. 119.0 = "San Carlos Tower, Cessna 734MK, request transition, request squawk code for transition through Bravo for bay tour". SQL responds with clarification questions, and a unique squark code which must be entered into the transponder. "Squawk XXXX". We also had some traffic taking offin parallel from SQL heading out on a bay tour at the same time. This added some extra confusion with the next steps, in fact the SFO tower radio was so busy we had to do a couple of 360's over Bay Meadows race track before we reached the Bravo (we had to have permission to enter before we continued).
4. 120.5 = "San Franciso Tower, Cessna 734MK, Orbiting over Bay Meadows at 2000ft, Squawking XXXX, Request Transition through Bravo for bay tour". The reply included permission to enter and instructions to keep west of the 101 freeway, at or below 1500ft.
5. While transitioning SFO there were a few jets landing from the south each, and another taking off to the north west right through our intended flight path. We had some warnings from SFO to avoid the wake turbulence, so we steered a little around where the jet had been. The challenge with wake turbulence is that you can't see it, and it can last for 2 minutes after the jet has left that particular position.
6. As we left SFO Bravo we were handed over to NorCal approach, and told "resume own navigation".
7. yyy.yy = "NorCal Approach, Cessna 734MK, just left San Francisco Airspace, at 1500ft, on bay tour" or something similar. From here we were being tracked by radar and monitored by NorCal Approach. This would give us traffic warnings if we were close to other planes on a bay tour etc. At this point we could do our own thing, including flying round the city and the major landmarks you associate with San Francisco.
8. On leaving the bay we requested termination of flight following and announced the end of our bay tour. Past of the reply was "Squawk VFR", which meant we needed to change the transponder back to 1200. We left the radio on NorCal approach frequency so we could hear other traffic. This turned out to be a useful decision as there was a large jet taking off from SFO and heading straight over our path as we passed down the west coast - another chance of wake turbulence.
9. 122.80 = CTAF for HAF. Next radio freq was the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency for Half Moon Bay airport. This airport does not have a control tower, instead there is a frequency where everyone can communicate and manage themselves (see Columbia trip).
10. 135.27 = PAO ATIS, for a check of the latest conditions at Palo Alto airport: Wind 340 degrees at 15 knots, few clouds at 10,000ft...
11. 118.60 = "Palo Alto Tower, Cessna 734MK, over Woodside, Request landing with Hotel", reply was "Cessna 734MK, Palo Alto Tower, Ident and make left traffic". The Ident button on the transponder makes us flash on their radar screen. We were warned of some traffic orbiting SLAC, and later we requested a left base entry as PAO was not too busy. Left base entry requires aiming for shoreline ampitheatre and then turning left.

After landing there was one last frequency change required to communicate with Palo Alto ground as we taxied back to the tie down.

Test both radios!

734MK has two sets of radios. This makes things a little easier when switching between so many frequencies, but it's essential to test both radios before take off. We made the mistake of testing one radio but not the second, which had its volume turned right down. Of course this didn't give SQL a very good impression! Next time I'll use one radio for ground, and test the other with Palo Alto Tower, or at least listen briefly to something like the ATIS with each radio to test the volume.

Flying the Cessna 172

How was my first flight in the bigger 172? Actually pretty good. The aircraft felt a lot bigger on the inside than the 152, but as it was from the same year the instruments were pretty much the same, as was the pre-flight procedure. The landing felt quite different, it was clear the extra weight of the 172 meant that it was less affected by the wind etc on the approach. Also the bigger engine had a lot more power than the 152's.

Landing the 172 - on YouTube!

One of the passengers filmed the landing, see below or click here.

My SOLO flight! - PPL flight training (Flight 19)

YouTube Video below and a higher quality video on Vimeo


Preparation for the solo

The Video above tells most of the story, after 18 flying lessons and nearly 100 landings the day finally came for me to fly solo. The night before I did a flight with about 12 landings, and they were going really well. My instructor Patti didn't need to do anything on these landings, in fact she even made me count the landings too :) If it wasn't for the fact that it was windy and the sun was setting then I probably could have done my solo that night.

So I booked the plane for the next day, an early start with an 8am flight. I got up early the next day and was dissapointed to see the sky was overcast with the fog that had moved in from the bay. The forecast was good however, the fog would burn away over the next few hours, in fact by the time I left home the sky was pretty much clear over San Jose and the fog was moving and burning away towards the north. It was just a matter of waiting for the sky to clear up.

On arrival at Palo Alto I pre-flighted Cessna 24351, everything looked good, I added some fuel and I was ready. Just needed to wait for the sky to clear up a little. Patti met me at the airport and while the sky above looked like 'few' clouds, the ATIS was a little out of date and still said scattered at 1100ft. Patti called in a favor at ATC and managed to get a special ATIS with the current weather which represented the few clouds we could actually see.

Time to jump in the plane and go. As I went through the checklist and started the engine something was wrong. The Ammeter was showing a negative current which meant that the battery was discharging. This could only mean one thing. The alternator on the engine was faulty. If we flew the plane like this then the battery would go flat, the lights, flaps and radios would stop working, and this is clearly not an airworthy condition.

At this point I was wondering if today could be the day for my solo. The weather was against me earlier in the day, and now the plane is not working. This plane is the one I have been flying the most during my training and the one plane I knew the most. On further inspection I found a loose bolt on the alternator which meant the unit was falling apart.

The only solution was to swap planes. I went into the office and picked up the keys for Cessna 67398. This light blue plane was the first one I ever flew (see my first blog entry), and I'd only flown it once since then (which was last night). I was lucky I had flown it the night before as it flew very differently to 24351. Firstly the idle is faster, which means it keeps more speed during the landing, and secondly the rudder pedals are much lighter and more sensitive. They may sound like small things, but they make a big difference on takeoff and landing.

The flight
After another pre-flight 67398 was on top form and had enough fuel in for the solo. We got up in the air and went round the pattern a couple of times with my instructor to check I could still land. The weather was good, quite light winds and the sky was now completely clear. First landing was good, safe, smooth, down the middle and maybe a little flat. The second landing was great, a nice nose up flare with the rear wheels touching down first, and holding the nose for a couple of seconds before it dropped. After doing the post landing checks Patti asked me to radio the tower to request a stop at the bench to let the instructor out. This is when the meaning of 'solo' really hit home. Patti jumped out, and I radioed to the tower that I was ready to continue.

First solo take off
After getting "Cleared to takeoff" I opened the throttle, accelerated down the runway and pulled back like the 98 times I'd done it before. Everything was going well until I got in the air, at that point there's no going back! I had the sudden realisation that I was completely on my own, and there was no one there to help me with the landing. It sounds obvious I know, but you can't describe the feeling unless you experience it for yourself. Even if I radioed the tower to ask them to help me land, there's nothing they could do! I was more nervous than I expected I would be.

I continued the upwind, turned 10 degrees right for noise abatement, turned crosswind at 500ft etc etc. I'd done this so many times now that I was on autopilot. The plane felt strangely quiet, almost lonely in fact. The weight balance of the plane was different, heavier on my side of the plane and a little quicker to accelerate and climb.

At key position it was time to reduce the throttle to 1700, add carb heat, drop the first flaps. During the rest of the downwind, base and approach my concentration level was high and everything was going to plan. My approach was probably a little on the fast side, closer to 70 kts than 65 (I was being cautious). As I reached the runway I eased the power back and patiency levelled off before pulling back to a flare and a nice landing. I did it! I'd done my first solo take off and landing. You should have seen the smile on my face, it was as big as it had been the first time I flew :) All that was left to do was to wave at the audience (Patti my instructor, and Julia another student who luckily was there to take photos), and continue on to the next two take offs and landings.

The next couple of times round the pattern were easier. I was less nervous, I was getting used to how the plane felt, and I was busy concentrating on the other aircraft in the pattern. Unfortunately I picked a day with a lot of helicopter activity, and this can be quite distracting for two reasons. Firstly I like helicopters, and secondly they fly a different pattern which makes them difficult to look out for. Also I had to extend my downwind on one or two of the other landings due to other traffic. This is normal for a pattern at Palo Alto, but it distracts a little from the landing. The next two landings were reasonable, again I was going a little fast, and I probably didn't flare enough which meant they were quite flat. The extra speed and the faster idle on '398 meant that I used more of the runway and went pretty much to the end each time.

Solo complete
With the third landing done, the tower reminded me to terminate my flight and taxi back to west valley. I did it! After all the practice practice practice I flew my own pattern at Palo Alto, and landed the plane myself. I taxied back to the tie down and west valley and met with Patti and Julia for some photos!

Next steps

The next task on the learning to fly is to do a Phase Check with another instructor. This will check out my skills and knowledge to confirm I am suitably trained to do my solo flights. Beyond that I need to learn cross-country flying and night flying and get 20 hours of solo time before I take the FAA written exam and the FAA Check Ride to get my Private Pilots License.

Post flight briefing

Part of the celebration of a first solo includes a new t-shirt from West Valley Flying club with "Solo" on the back, and your name on the white board. All in all even though there were a few challenges at the start of the day, the solo went really well and I was on a high for the rest of the day!

Mountain Flying Training and Fly-Camping - Columbia, CA Weekend (Flight 17)

A camping weekend in the mountains!

My flying instructor Patti suggested it would be good if she could get her current students and other flying friends up to Columbia for a weekend of camping, flying, oh and her birthday celebration.

I'm pretty new to flying but so far Columbia is the only place I know where they have a campsite right next to one of the runways. Specifically it's next to the grass runway (which is less used) and the only campers permitted are those that fly in. Check out this aerial picture on google maps, the campsite is the area north of the grass runway.

I flew in as a passenger in a Cessna 182 Skylane, N2463S, which is a significantly different plane to the Cessna 152 I've been learning in. It's much bigger (4 leather seats!), much newer (2005 vs 1978), and much much more high tech with its computerized G1000 Glass Panel cockpit. This glass panel tells you everything, maps, weather, traffic, GPS, engine data, you name it! Oh, and it's also got autopilot :)

The plan for the weekend was to fly in on Friday night, have a BBQ, do a flying lesson on Saturday, then head back some time Sunday. In between we'd spend some time exploring Columbia State Historic park which is a downtown area that has hardly changed since the gold rush in the 1860's.

Flying Lesson

The flying lesson part of the weekend was short but very eventful. My first taste of an untowered airport (yep, no control tower to tell you and the other planes who's turn it is on the radio), first time flying in the mountains (well at least the foot hills), first time landing on a runway that's not flat, and first time to land on a grass runway.

There were three things that affected the way the plane few in the mountains, firstly Columbia Airport (O22) is at an elevation of 2118 ft above mean sea level, secondly the weather was hot, and thirdly there was quite a lot of turbulance around mid day. The extra elevation and hot both impact the air density and make it thinner. For example, 90F would increase the Density Altitude from the 2118ft elevation to 4546ft! As you can probably guess, the high density altitude (thinner air) means the plane doesn't fly as well as it would at sea level on a cooler day because: 1) There is less air molecules for the engine to combust with fuel and hence lower power, 2) There are less air molecules to react with the wings to create lift.

From Columbia we flew to Pine Mountain Lake (E45) which is a tiny little airport in the mountains south east of Columbia. This small town is just north of Groveland which is on the 120 highway a number of miles outside of Yosemite. The are a number of interesting views including this canyon with a river a long way down at the bottom. At the airport itself there is little to see except some of the neighbours that live around the airport have a few hangers with an interesting collection of planes and cars.

Radio Comms at Non-towered airports

For radio communications at a non-towered airport you need to announce every turn you make in the pattern, as well as your arrivals, departures and sometimes ground manaevers (especially if they involve crossing runways). The standard phrase would be something like: "Columbia Traffic, Cessna xxxxx, where I am or what I'm doing, Columbia". You need to mention the airport name at the start and end so as it's possilbe there are nearby airports with the same frequency! Approaching and landing at an airport would be something like the following for runway 17 ("one seven"), right pattern. Note it's recommended to fly over the airport at 1000ft above the pattern altitude to get a view of the airport and check for any traffic in the pattern before a standard 45 degree entry into the downwind.

• Columbia Traffic, Cessna X, inbound from 10 miles south, Columbia
• Columbia Traffic, Cessna X, flying overhead at 4200ft, Columbia
• Columbia Traffic, Cessna X, on right 45, runway one seven, Columbia
• Columbia Traffic, Cessna X, turning right downwind, runway one seven, Columbia
• Columbia Traffic, Cessna X, turning right base, runway one seven, Columbia
• Columbia Traffic, Cessna X, turning final, runway one seven, Columbia
• Columbia Traffic, Cessna X, clear of runway one seven, Columbia

It sounds simple, but for my first time landing at an unfamiliar airport and with turbulence I already had enough to concentrate on without the extra radio calls and I found it difficult to remember everything in the moment.

AOPA have a good guide to non-towered airports here.

Landing on a grass runway

Patti said if my landings at Pine Mountain were good and straight down the center line then my prize would be to land on the grass runway on return to Columbia. Luckily I did a good job on the landings and I was rewarded! The grass had been recently cut and actually the landing was much smoother than I expected. The difference between this and a normal runway is that you keep the nose in the air for as long as possible so that you can steer with the rudder, and you don't have issues with the nose sticking into the mud.

Night time lighting adventures

As we were so close to the runway we went and explored later that evening. It was interesting to see just how big the runway numbers are. Also it was possible to remotely turn on the lights with three clicks of the transmit button on a portable aviation radio. Quite an experience!

Heading home

On the way back Robert and I took a little detour and flew over Yosemite Valley before returning to the bay area. It turned out to be a great choice, the weather and views were stunning - subject for another post!

Flight 16 - LOTS of landings - 14 in fact!!!

Ready for solo?

Tonight was the night for more pattern work and landing practice. It was one of those nights where everything was going really well. Patti sat and read through my pilot log, making notes and giving me some verbal review questions while I flew. I was doing all the flying and I was scared Patti was going to get out of the plane each time I landed.

The picture to the right is our way of counting landings. It's actually a navigation instrument, but it makes a great manual counter.

The perfect landing?

One of the landings was just perfect. It was so smooth I didn't know if I had touched the ground. Of course I couldn't repeat it, I must have got lucky :)

Next time?

Post lesson we plan an early morning flight - calm winds, low traffic, great for a solo... fingers crossed the weather holds out.