4th of July night flight BAD IDEA??

amoel

amoel

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amoel
Anyone familiar with the San Diego airspace here thinks its a bad idea to fly tonight along the shoreline from Montgomery Field up to Oceanside back and forth to see the fireworks??

There is a TFR over downtown due to a PADRES game so that is out of the question and that is the area with most fireworks, but do anyone here thinks its a bad idea to fly, say 0.5 mile into the ocean along the coast due to the fireworks in the area?

Thanks!

AM.
 
Fireworks don't go high enough that they are a threat to you as long as you're not violating either a TFR for the event or 91.119.
 
What altitude are you planning on doing this? If you go above the class B layer west of Miramar, you'll be at 4500-5500- too high to see anything decent.

Alternatively, if you go below the layer, 1500' or lower, I'd be pretty concerned with traffic. Let's just say, if I were flying that route, I wouldn't be watching the fireworks.
 
I'm considering 1500 feet that keeps me under B for Miramar. Monitoring 122.750 for traffic and pretty much flying the airplane 100%. Leaving the sightseeing for my two daughters.
 
Not familiar with your area but have flown around Fourth fireworks in several locations and it's a great show. Just be very vigilant as the other pilot(s) may not be.
 
I know the idea sounds appealing but I think you'll find that seeing fireworks from 1500 feet and a few miles distance to be pretty underwhelming. At least that's how I saw it. Still, everyone seems compelled to at least do it once.
 
amoel said:
I'm considering 1500 feet that keeps me under B for Miramar. Monitoring 122.750 for traffic and pretty much flying the airplane 100%. Leaving the sightseeing for my two daughters.
Click to expand...

IMHO 122.75 is good for exchanging ideas for food and/or gas with other pilots, not worth a darn for traffic.

Why not get flight following? I have never been turned down when I told the Seattle Approach controller that I would be orbiting (landmark), maintaining (altitude) and monitoring his/her frequency. I would get a squawk and away we go!!!

Bob Gardner
 
OK guys, so I did the flight and it was amazing! I flew west of the KSAN Bravo to see the fireworks in the Mission Bay and Coronado area, but the best was the flight around the Del Mar Race Track (Del Mar Fair is currently going on), please take a look at this 30 second video. My wife and two girls were very happy we did this. Thanks to all for your replays.

By the way, 122.75 was VERY VERY useful tonight, there were at least 5-7 airplanes in the area and communication was great for position reporting and we even took turns around the Race Track, worked just perfect.

Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uLBCADqZyw
 
amoel said:
OK guys, so I did the flight and it was amazing! I flew west of the KSAN Bravo to see the fireworks in the Mission Bay and Coronado area, but the best was the flight around the Del Mar Race Track (Del Mar Fair is currently going on), please take a look at this 30 second video. My wife and two girls were very happy we did this. Thanks to all for your replays.

By the way, 122.75 was VERY VERY useful tonight, there were at least 5-7 airplanes in the area and communication was great for position reporting and we even took turns around the Race Track, worked just perfect.

Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uLBCADqZyw
Click to expand...


Well done sir! :yes: Whast a great memory for the entire family! The kids will remember that 4th of July flight for the rest of their lives! A great night flight with the family.
 
Thank you guys... Have a nice rest of your weekend.
 
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