Inside the Van Nuys Tower...
Peter and I took a tour of the Van Nuys tower a few years back, here's some HD video of KVNY controllers at work...
Flying to Santa Maria
Our original destination was Oceano L52, but it had the usual marine layer over the airport, so we diverted to Santa Maria (KSMX) for lunch instead. Santa Maria is known to get low stratus often in the morning hours and early evening, especially in the summer. When parking at Santa Maria be very careful not to WALK across the RED LINE painted on the ground around the terminal building. It's right next to transient parking. I know from first hand experience the Santa Maria cops will be all over you! You go through the side pedestrian gate to get to the restaurant, and the waiter will let you back out the gate to the tarmac when your finished. Pepper Garcia's is the Mexican restaurant inside the big terminal building. There is a view of the airport from the restaurant, but to be honest, the food was not that great. Next time we will try the restaurant inside the Radisson Hotel. The Santa Maria Museum of Flight is on the opposite end of the airport, at the northwest corner and is a long walk from the terminal building. I would recommend just taxing over there, and they don't mind you parking your plane in front of the museum. The museum has an F-4, A-4, and some other planes, a Norden bombsight, and a huge amount of scale models and dioramas of famous flights and planes housed in 2 hangers, one of which was used for the movie "Rocketeer".
Flight Planning at SkyVector.com
Flying to Kern Valley
This was my first time flying to Kernville. We flew north to Kern Valley airport (L05) via the Gorman VOR at 8500'. We flew on the the west side of Breckenridge Mountain and joined the Kern River and Highway 178 which leads up the canyon to Lake Isabella. You can also enter the valley on the east side of Breckenridge over Walker Basin, maybe next time I'll try that, I was looking for the flattest terrain possible this time. Bakersfield approach handled us on 118.8 Mhz until about 10 miles southwest of L05. The lady on the CTAF (who is also flipping burgers at the restaurant) will give you advisories on 122.8 MHz. Right pattern for runway 17 was in use for calm wind. The down wind has a strange sight picture as you are flying into a canyon, and you are "threading" between some hills close below you as you are turning base. The base leg is pretty much a U-Turn to final. Not difficult though, to me it was similar to the hilly terrain going into Agua Dulce (L70), although I would not recommend place at all on a high winds day. The campground has picnic tables, fire pits, an outhouse, M.A.S.H. style shower, and running water. The grass at the campground is bumpy and full of gopher holes, but there are some flat spots for tents. There is a short walk from the campground down a dirt trail to the Kern River. The burgers and food were decent, pretty average here as far as quality, but to be expected for such a remote place. (The Pilot Burger was too huge for me to finish) thankfully, these folks can stay in business for flyers like us! Another unexpected surprise was seeing a few F-18 Hornets ripping up the skies over the airport, and even a V-22 Osprey went flying northeast up the valley. A unique place to fly into, Kern Valley should be on everyone's Burger Run list.
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| Kern Valley Approach (Bendix/King AV80R GPS Tracklog) |
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