Flying in California - the followup.
Some of you will know I recently spent three weeks in the US, hour building towards the total I need to go on the UK/JAA CPL(H) modular course. Some of you may have an interest in knowing what I did and how I found things. This is for you. For those who've done more / been further, maybe the "I learnt this" bit at the end might prove useful. Most of the sight-seeing bits around the flying have been omitted in the interests of reducing boredom.
Monday 4th Feb. Go to Long Beach FSDO. Get told I can't get a new FAA licence based on my UK PPL(H) as I already have one from my last trip to the US. I need to ask the FAA to send a confirmatory fax - did that, go back tomorrow. Did 2.5 groundschool and the went and did 1.2 with Eduardo getting checked out solo - standard stuff like general flying, autos, emergencies, and the like.
Tuesday 5th. Go back to the FSDO, with all the paperwork, and the gent says "I don't think you can do that" when I ask to add my UK PPL(H) onto the existing US licence. Turns out I can, as I've not taken a US checkride. Panic over, go flying to French Valley for lunch, back via Fallbrook, overhead Oceanside, then the coast to Long Beach. All on my own, and I don't think I pissed many people off.
Wednesday 6th. Accompanied by Stuart, roomie of instructor at Rainbow. He's a qualified PPL(H), but sits changing freqs, map folding, and ( most important ) passing on much-needed nuggets of advice about the way flying happens round here. Go to Banning, Thermal ( as it's below sea level ), then Palm Springs for lunch. Back to LGB via the 10 ( into Ontario's airspace ) then the 605 - navigation has never been so simple !
Thursday 7th. Off to Rialto for fuel ( with Stuart on board, total to keep in CoG and MAUW is 14 USG ). Then via the Cajon Pass to Apple Valley - stop for late lunch. go to Victorville, get fuel after a long wait, then blat back to LGB just before official sunset. Take off sunnies to discover that it's not quite as dark as it seems with them on !
Friday 8th. Weathered off in the morning. Go to Camarillo via Downtown LA, Burbank and Van Nuys airspace. Return to Long Beach via Point Mugu, and follow the shoreline transition along the coast via LAX airspace at 150' or below !
Sunday 10th. Santa Ana winds blowing, so off to Torrance via Palos Verdes. Light turbulence, occasionally moderate. Quickstops at Torrance, then back to LGB to give up for the day as the wind is making it TOO sporty.
Monday 11th. Taking 139RJ away for the week. Have to go to Thermal ( stopping at Banning to scoff a banana while still running at 75% as I've got the blahs ) to pick up my credit card - only the one with the GBP10,000 credit limit - which I left there last week. Then via Yucca Valley to Hi Desert, ask a nice gent about best routes to Apple Valley and Bakersfield. Get to Bakersfield about 5pm. Long day.
Tuesday 12th. Weather to the north of Merced isn't looking to hot at the moment, so launch for Merced. Manage to track on height, on speed AND on heading ( mostly ), get to Merced and fuel up. Ask a nice US Cavalry pilot about negotiating San Francisco airspace. Then off to Cameron Air Park, which I don't hit first time - go a few miles past and on the left. Get there, meet Gary - a pilot working at the field - get chatting, and have lunch together. Then off to Nut Tree ( Vacaville ) and then San Jose via Buchanan and Livermore airspace. Approach to the Victor helipad is interesting - straight over the 3 runways, visual with a 737 on finals and the bizjet just taxiing clear of the helipad. Another long day.
Wednesday 13th. Slept crap. One and a half hours sleep, in a $100-a-night room next to some plant which switches on and off every five minutes. End up with toilet paper ear plugs, and my headset on, in an attempt to block the noise. Didn't fly - would have been criminal, plus wx is crap anyway.
Thursday 14th. Needed to get out of San Jose. Flew to San Carlos, reasonable weather in the Bay, did some circuits and landed to get an update. Off then to Monterey, following the 101. Cloudbase lowish - 800' to 900' AGL, so wires a concern. Navigating by roads ( and at one point, got low enough to read a confirmatory road sign ). Miss the next road junction, so end up coming at Monterey from the opposite direction, but as I was speaking to the Monterey controller, no real harm done. Discover I've left my wife's camera somewhere over the last few days. Not good.
Friday 15th. Off down the Salinas Valley. manage to get advice from a Marine King air pilot with 3000 hours in helis while at Monterey - plan to go, and have options if it gets nasty out there. Weather at Paso Robles unobtainable, and forecast to be crap so stop at Mesa Del Rey ( King City ) for fuel. Lowest c/base 800' - 900' AGL, but vis was ok. Some kind soul at the airport deigns to speak to me, tells me he's just come from Paso Robles and it's fine, so launch again. Cloud bases raise, then disappear, so straight through to Santa Barbara. Cleared to land on 15L from 5 miles out. Transitioning to the hover just over the numbers, controller says "I thought I cleared you to land on 15L." My plaintive and confused response - "I think that's where I am." Quick lunch, fill with fuel, then off with a decent tailwind via Point Mugu, shoreline transition ( AGAIN. This is getting commonplace ! ). End up back at LGB, glad to get out of the aircraft.
Sunday 17th. Down the coast to Palomar. Lunch. Pop into Civic Helicopters - closed, more or less. Launch back to LGB, wx over the coast crap, so circuits at Palomar. Wx seems to improve, so then off to the north. Over San Onofre restricted area ( up to 2000' ) finishing uip at the north end at 2100'. Phew. Off towards John Wayne airspace, speaking to SoCal approach, end up at 500' with rain and vis down to 3/4 mile. Quick 180 lefdt ( to avoid the land ), back to 900' and 3 miles. Waste 10 minutes by stooging up and down the coast, looks better, so north again. 500' but 3 miles - I'm ok with that, especially since we're over water. End up back at LGB after 2.7 hours for the day.
Monday 18th. Wx in LA basin not nice, if you're looking to go over the Cajon Pass. Discuss with Dave Parsons, decide to have a look and if it's crap, turn round and stop at Rialto. End up crossing the Cajon pass at the top end with 500' terrain clearance, and spotting the opposite direction Bell 222 well in time. Apple Valley ( haven't I been here before ? ) then Las Vegas. Bumpy, uncomfortable, but nav is easy - just follow the 15. Over the top of Mccarran International at 3500' ( about 1300 AGL ) then to North Las Vegas. Overnight at the MGM Grand, and pass a pleasant few ohurs with Bert Sousa talking about flying and drugs - the two are unconnected !!
Tuesday 19th. Off to Death Valley today. 1.5 hours later, there it is, spot on the nose. Land, and the guy from the gas station asks "Where in England are you from ?" I tell him and he says "It's nice there isn't it ?" Turns out he was ex-USAF, stationed at Fairford. Damn, what a small world. Postcards sent to prove my visit, then off again south out of the valley, pick up the 15, and back to Vegas. Get asked if I want to go 3500' or 500' AGL - microsecond's decision, then follow the 15 at 500' AGL past the strip !! Lunch at North Las Vegas, then off to Bullhead City.
Wednesday 20th. Flies swarming me while pre-flighting are told to **** off, but take no notice, which means the checks take longer. Off following the Colorado River southbound, stop at Blythe for fuel. Fueller doesn't seem to want me to ground the aircraft - I'm a tad unhappy with that. Then off towards Thermal, where vis goes from almost unlimited down to 6 or 7 miles. Fuel at Million Air then off to Palm Springs for lunch. Just climbing away from the transition ( i.e. busy ) having been cleared for a left downwind departure and controller asks if I can accept a right downwind departure. "I can, if you're ok with me crossing over the runway centrelines." That's ok with him and still ok with me, so off towards LGB. Ontario controller must recognise me - "Are you going to Long Beach" is asked unprompted ! End up at LGB, don't want to get back in a helicopter, missing home, say "That's it".
So, what did I learn ? My personal limits are 500' AGL and 3 miles - anything less and it's a 180 to better or find a field. Increase the limits if terrain is hilly. Learnt it IS possible to fly a Robbie for more than 10 seconds in a straight line at the same speed and same height. Learnt that my decision making process is very conservative, but I'm happy with that. Learnt that flying in the US is a) cheap and b) is you ask nicely anything's possible. Leanr I need to slow down with my actions - fly the aircraft, and sneak a glance at the map, don';t pick it up and stare at it like it's the lasty naked woman you're ever going to see, because then the speed / height / heading goes out of the window. Don't rush and make big control movements, take your time and make small ones because they're more easily contained. Learn that 50 minute phone call to wife costs $100. EEEEEk. Learnt that Bert Sousa is a nice guy, and enjoyed a good yak and got some good advice off him. Learnt you can get $30 off the Island Express trip to Catalina in a Squirrel if you mention you're a helicopter pilot. Totalled 48.2 hours in 4 pages of log book and under 3 weeks, compared to 85 hours in the last 3 years.
Next stop, modular course !! Only problem, my shares have dived to 30% of their value before I left, so if anyone's got some spare money, it would be most welcome !!!
Postscript. Monday 25th Feb. My birthday. Wifey's not wrapped any presents, got to go back to work ( still jetlagged ), and I can't believe I was actually in the US just 4 days ago !