West Coast Mooney Fly-in Sat, May 27, 2023

[Skyland]

Let's get together in Hollister (KCVH) for some fun.

Hollister is one of CalFire's 14 air attack bases in California.

https://calfire.blogspot.com/2012/05/cal-fire-hollister-air-attack-base-is.html

Just visited the friendly CalFire folks there and they look forward to giving a facilities and aircraft tour for us Mooney pilots.  Their firefighting aircraft arrive beginning of May for the season along with ongoing training activities.

Hollister Soaring Center is located next to CalFire and they'll also give us a tour.

https://hollistersoaringcenter.com/

And what's a Mooney fly-in without food?  Seabrisa's Eatery is very good and right there as well.

https://savorsanbenito.com/places/seabrisas-eatery/

Tentative schedule:

11am - arrive and tour the glider operation

noon - CalFire tour

1pm - Seabrisa lunch

So mark your calendars for May 27.  As the date approaches it would be good to get a headcount so the venues can get a heads-up on our numbers.  More later.

[katzhome]

2 hours ago, Skyland said:

Let's get together in Hollister (KCVH) for some fun.

Hollister is one of CalFire's 14 air attack bases in California.

https://calfire.blogspot.com/2012/05/cal-fire-hollister-air-attack-base-is.html

Just visited the friendly CalFire folks there and they look forward to giving a facilities and aircraft tour for us Mooney pilots.  Their firefighting aircraft arrive beginning of May for the season along with ongoing training activities.

Hollister Soaring Center is located next to CalFire and they'll also give us a tour.

https://hollistersoaringcenter.com/

And what's a Mooney fly-in without food?  Seabrisa's Eatery is very good and right there as well.

https://savorsanbenito.com/places/seabrisas-eatery/

Tentative schedule:

11am - arrive and tour the glider operation

noon - CalFire tour

1pm - Seabrisa lunch

So mark your calendars for May 27.  As the date approaches it would be good to get a headcount so the venues can get a heads-up on our numbers.  More later.

Our usual fueling stop!  We will plan on being there with N43CA.

[Larry]

Wow!  Have you considered installing long range tanks so you can get further from home with our refueling?        

[katzhome]

3 minutes ago, Larry said:

Wow!  Have you considered installing long range tanks so you can get further from home with our refueling?        

  It’s not the tanks, it’s the fill-up!  KRHV still doesn’t have 100LL so every couple of lessons for my son’s checkout, off to KCVH we go.  But longer range tanks would be cool someday.

[FJC]

Will plan on this as well. 

[M20S Driver]

I will be there flying from Palo Alto and will not need refueling if I fly LOP

[glenn reynolds]

I put it on my calendar 

 

[Skyland]

Weekly ping for the Hollister Mooney get-together May 27

Let's get together in Hollister (KCVH) for some fun.

Hollister is one of CalFire's 14 air attack bases in California.

https://calfire.blogspot.com/2012/05/cal-fire-hollister-air-attack-base-is.html

The friendly CalFire folks look forward to giving a facilities and aircraft tour for us Mooney pilots.  Their firefighting aircraft arrive beginning of May for the season along with ongoing training activities.

Hollister Soaring Center is located next to CalFire and they'll also give us a tour of their glass ships.

https://hollistersoaringcenter.com/

And what's a Mooney fly-in without food?  Seabrisa's Eatery is very good and right there as well.  (The restaurant doesn't appear to have their own web page.  This link didn't seem to work last time but try it again or Google it). 

https://savorsanbenito.com/places/seabrisas-eatery/

Tentative schedule:

11am - arrive and tour the glider operation

noon - CalFire tour

1pm - Seabrisa lunch

Looking forward to seeing you all.

[Jorge0272]

Going to try and see if I can rent a plane for that day. Will give an update in a few days. 

Edited May 4 by Jorge0272

[Skyland]

Reminder for the Hollister fly-in three weeks from now. Look forward to seeing a friendly crowd. 

[SMeestercpa]

• Thank you for putting this together.  Unfortunately, I will be in Charlotte on the 27th.  Hope we can do something else soon after!

[PhateX1337]

I will likely be there!

[birdofjoy]

I'm a new owner and still working on my transition but if I'm proficient by then I'll stop by.

Sent from my Pixel 7 using Tapatalk

[Skyland]

Two weeks for the Hollister get-together. I’m out in Georgia now with my Mooney but returning in a week or so. I see several have expressed interest in attending. Kindly reply here or privately to me if you think you may come so I have some idea of the numbers. Thanks 

kenchambers2 at “gee”mail dot com

[DCarlton]

One day to the right and I could have made it.  Maybe next time.  Is Hollister usually clear when Salinas is still overcast?  Never been to Hollister.  

[M20S Driver]

I am in.  See you

[Skyland]

Hollister is in a big open valley clear all the way to San Jose.  A low mountain range to the west between it and Salinas helps keep the summertime coastal fog away. All the California valleys can be shrouded in morning fog at times but usually burns off by noon. 

[ilovecornfields]

This is what the Salinas Valley often looks like in the morning. The weather forecasts usually get it right. I don’t know how people fly around here without instrument ratings.

[DCarlton]

2 hours ago, Skyland said:

Hollister is in a big open valley clear all the way to San Jose.  A low mountain range to the west between it and Salinas helps keep the summertime coastal fog away. All the California valleys can be shrouded in morning fog at times but usually burns off by noon. 

What do you recommend for forecast weather?  Looks like Hollister only has current weather reported.  I like SNS as a stop other than the really low ceilings.  

[DCarlton]

1 hour ago, ilovecornfields said:

This is what the Salinas Valley often looks like in the morning. The weather forecasts usually get it right. I don’t know how people fly around here without instrument ratings.

Yeah I took off from SNS last year with low ceilings and wasn't crazy about the immediate right turn to the departure heading.  Don't get enough real IFR.  Should have asked for the runway with the straight out departure.  

[Skyland]

Hollister in a week - May 27. I confirmed with the Cal Fire folks for our aircraft tour as well as Hollister Soaring Center. I’d like to give the restaurant a heads-up on the number so if you think you may be coming send me a quick note (if you haven’t already) and I’ll let them know beforehand. Thanks and looking forward to seeing you all.

kenchambers2 at “gee”mail dot com

[Tommooney]

Hi all:

Ive been looking forward to the Hollister fly in for weeks. Is there a rough minimum ceiling / vis most people figure for a fly in, as it looks like normal May grey is in the schedule? I fly IFR but LIFR is not fun fly in wx for me.

Thanks

Tom 

[rbp]

On 5/20/2023 at 5:05 PM, Skyland said:

Hollister Soaring Center

I started my glider training there! If Quest is still there, tell him I said hi (if he remembers me). 

[rbp]

8 hours ago, Tommooney said:

Ive been looking forward to the Hollister fly in for weeks. Is there a rough minimum ceiling / vis most people figure for a fly in, as it looks like normal May grey is in the schedule? I fly IFR but LIFR is not fun fly in wx for me.

 

Did a lot of flying in/out of Hollister. Rarely does the marine layer make it over the coastal hills because they are quite tall there. SNS is much more susceptible to marine layer because its west of the coastal hills.  Burns off by midday

about 10nm north of Hollister is a private grass strip called Fraizer Lake which has a parallel dedicated water runway.. very cool to overfly.

and there are a lot of flower farms in that valley, so take your camera

EDIT: I see now that there is an RNAV 31 approach with LPV with 300 DH, which means they now have to have an AWOS 120.425 Tel. 831-636-4394.  Even if  a marine layer, the ceiling will be at least 800-1000'. Its a long flat valley, and there LPV is to the longest runway with prevailing NW winds

 

[Skyland]

Hollister Mooney fly-in tomorrow - Saturday, May 27.  Yes, the all too common IFR in the morning but forecast to burn off around 10 with VFR after that.  Show up when you can, parking near the fuel island.  Glider introduction, Cal Fire aircraft tour and lunch.  Hope to see you.

Ken 408-605-9702