BKlott Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 The "smokey" conditions were probably what the locals refer to as "smog". Sadly, this is the norm for SoCal. Lived in Torrance when I started my flying lessons and used to look out my bedroom window towards the Palos Verdes Peninsula before heading out to Torrance Airport to go flying. If I couldn't make out the outline of the "hills", the field would invariably be below minimums and there was no point in going. If I could see the outline of the "hills", chances were good for flying. Occasionally the desert winds would blow in from the East and clear out all the "smog" by blowing it out of the LA basin and over the ocean. The sky would be crystal clear and the temperature would rise significantly. Usually had windy and bumpy flying conditions to deal with. Other times low level fog would form just off shore and you could see it lingering there just waiting to come rolling in and taking airports near the coast like Santa Monica, Hawthorne and Torrance below minimums. On those days you would need to keep your eye on the blanket of fog so that you could quickly dive back into the field if it started rolling in. One thing that I enjoyed was departing Torrance on a smoggy day and flying up to the San Fernando Valley (up by Van Nuys Airport and Whiteman Airpark) where it would be crystal clear. From there you could see snow capped mountains in the distance in one direction and the desert in another. You could then fly back into the smoggy LA basin, land at Torrance and do all that within a one hour flight in a Tomahawk. Fond memories! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggiepilot04 Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 Till you run into the fast talking East Texas drawl at KCLL. They give you a check in at the Brazos river..... just checking to see i you are a local.. right? Then you get a "fixin to hit the Brazos River" check in In Aggieland, contact the tower with a "howdy, easterwood". They'll assume you're a local. Last time I was there, the tower called us up on departure to confirm that my son had recovered the stuffed animal that was left on the ramp after arrival. Good folks in College Station...but then again, I'm biased.Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 33 minutes ago, aggiepilot04 said: Last time I was there, the tower called us up on departure to confirm that my son had recovered the stuffed animal that was left on the ramp after arrival. Good folks in College Station...but then again, I'm biased. It's always nice to hear the familiar voices in the nearby tower when you're coming home from a trip. Had them call a local field one Sunday morning where several of us ate regularly to warn us to hurry home and beat some weather moving in. Another two things I miss about being out here . . . ATL Approach is my "local controller" . . . . and there's precious few places to fly out to breakfast or lunch, and one of them only serves breakfast during the week! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skates97 Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 1 hour ago, BKlott said: The "smokey" conditions were probably what the locals refer to as "smog". Sadly, this is the norm for SoCal. Most likely. We had some fires here but the smoke was all going south-west so it wouldn't have been a factor. The afternoon haze/smog with the sun at the right angle is miserable. About 10 miles east of there is Chino where I did my PPL training. Coming back from the practice area one late afternoon my CFI and I struggled to find the airport until we were about two miles away despite the hundreds of times that he had made that flight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steingar Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 14 hours ago, Hank said: It's supposed to be . . . NI-NER, right? I wish. Nah, it was more like naaahhhheenn. Mrs. Steingar loved it. I'll have to head back that way sometime, I like Savannah. Looks like only one other place I've ever been, Veracruz Mexico. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris_adams Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 about the 50kt winds...just be glad you weren't subtracting that from a 100kt bird...that would have been even tougher to fly! I've only had those winds once or twice and thankfully they subsided about 1/2 way through the flight. Great story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 2 hours ago, Kris_Adams said: about the 50kt winds...just be glad you weren't subtracting that from a 100kt bird...that would have been even tougher to fly! I've only had those winds once or twice and thankfully they subsided about 1/2 way through the flight. Great story! That's no fun . . . Did that once rerouting to avoid ice over S. WV. Went west across the Carolinas, crossed over to TYS, north to LEX then east to get home. Ground speed bottomed out dodging freezing cloud tops at 10,000 msl right at sunset; I was indicating almost 140 mph [+20% = 168 mph True, ~142 knots], but groundspeed was 68 knots--thankfully when I was able to descend to 6000 msl, groundspeed picked up to just over 100 knots. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Scranton Posted October 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 Yeah, it's embarrassing when cars are passing you on the highway below! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steingar Posted October 17, 2017 Report Share Posted October 17, 2017 If winds are blowing 50 knots I find another altitude or another day to fly. I do recall that less than fondly from my previous aircraft. There's a reason bought a Mooney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark89114 Posted November 13, 2017 Report Share Posted November 13, 2017 On October 16, 2017 at 2:18 PM, Mooneymite said: Don't feel too bad. That same controller asked us to expedite our climb while we were already climbing at 3800+ in a CL350. Perhaps he used to work at the Kennedy space center? I am typed in the CL350.....but it never showed up on the ramp....owner sold,the delivery position for several million dollar profit in 2007...... Anyway in training I remember it climbing like that in the sim and I was thinking this is going to be a fun airplane....was upgrading from 500 series citations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danb Posted November 13, 2017 Report Share Posted November 13, 2017 On 10/17/2017 at 3:29 PM, Brian Scranton said: Yeah, it's embarrassing when cars are passing you on the highway below! Especially when one of the passengers ask why are the cars going faster than us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted November 13, 2017 Report Share Posted November 13, 2017 35 minutes ago, Danb said: Especially when one of the passengers ask why are the cars going faster than us. Once in a champ - there were fierce winds even at about 1-2k. SO we decided to fly the 2 miles from the airport to my house...the kids were little and I phoned my wife and told her we were coming and would be there "soon"...there was plenty of time to call during the 2 mile flight. Then at about 1000ft we slowed down a bit and literally hovered over the house for a couple of minutes, flying into the headwind. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mooneymite Posted November 13, 2017 Report Share Posted November 13, 2017 53 minutes ago, Mark89114 said: I am typed in the CL350.....but it never showed up on the ramp....owner sold,the delivery position for several million dollar profit in 2007...... Anyway in training I remember it climbing like that in the sim and I was thinking this is going to be a fun airplane....was upgrading from 500 series citations. The 350 is a terrific plane. Engine out procedure out of Aspen: "Cimb runway heading". Impressive. In the sim, we took off out of MEM 36C, pulled up to .99 AOA, climbed to 6000' at 4000 fpmm turned back (using rudder), went to idle thrust and easily entered downwind, landed 36C. (Yes, we had to deactivate the stick pusher.) Fun. Impressive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StinkBug Posted November 15, 2017 Report Share Posted November 15, 2017 I fly to KFUL a lot, and I feel for you trying to find it without knowing the area. I've landed at that airport dozens of times and still have a hard time sometimes. It just blends right into the mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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