Bay Area airport to use for new home base?

P

Phil Verghese

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
12
Location
Boise, ID
Display Name
Display name:
Phil Verghese
We're moving to the San Francisco Bay Area next month, so we need to figure out where we want to base our Mooney 201. I'll be working in Mountain View, and we'll be living somewhere near there. Not sure exactly where yet -- the house hunting trip is in a few weeks.

I'd like to get opinions and advice on which airport to base our airplane. We've got a great set up at our current home airport of Nampa, ID (S67) with a hangar that's about $150/month and an excellent mechanic on the field. I have a feeling the prices are going to be higher in the Bay Area.
:hairraise:

I'd really like to find an airport where we could rent a hangar spot, but we'll tie down outside if we have to. It would also be ideal to have a good mechanic with Mooney experience on the field.

We've flown into Palo Alto several times, so that airport is pretty high on the list.

What are your thoughts?
 
PAO always seems busy to me.

What field are you in? If you could weasel your way into a spot at Moffett that would be the best of all worlds. Moffett is generally closed, but there have been several GA businesses that have moved in the past few years as well as a few private aircraft. But, 9200 ft of concrete and no one to bother you (except the Ames Research Center).

RHV is a bit south.

If you don't mind a little drive Hayward and Livermore are to the east.

~ Christopher
 
You'll be happy with PAO or RHV.

I'm over at RHV, and the parallel runways pretty nice. They've got more Ops/Day than SJC but they are pretty efficient.

Getting in to / out of PAO you'll dodge more airspace and you're inside the 30nm Mode C veil for SFO.

Tiedowns are open at RHV and run about 120/month. Hangars have a 2 year waiting list with the cheapest going for ~$400.

Not sure about Mooney specific mechanics, but there are some good ones on the field there.

Moffett would be AWESOME IMO. They're right off 101/237. But unless you're GOOGLE or Military, good luck getting in. ;)
 
Or slightly up the penninsula, is San Carlos (SQL) still operating? Or if you end up over the hills on the open water side, there is Half Moon Bay (HAF), but the fog will limit ops there on a regular basis.
 
Phil,

it's unlikely that you'll find a hangar around here without a 2+ year waiting list. Some airports have 10 year waiting lists...

Palo Alto is ok, except that it's REALLY busy sometimes and, as far as I know, definitely doesn't have any hangar space. I'd check out RHV - bigger runways and a pretty good location. If you really don't mind parking outside, PAO is a good alternative, especially since it's so close to Mountain View.

The drive to Hayward can take a while (20 or 60 minutes, depending on Traffic). Livermore is a great airport, but it's way out there.

-Felix
 
SQL is still around. I took a Waco ride there about 2 years ago on an ash-scattering mission. It didn't seem to be much of a problem getting out of there even though it is close to SFO.
 
I think SQL is where Air-West is, for repair work. They did our OH and we felt they were fair and responsive. No idea about hangar space though.
 
The night approach to SQL is a little scary. The runway is a little on the short side, but otherwise it's ok.

~ Christopher
 
Thanks everyone! The local advice is much appreciated. Part of our house hunting trip during the first of the year will also be airport hunting too. I'll definitely check out SQL, PAO, RHV, and HWD. Lots of folks recommended RHV, so that's now the first airport on our short list.

I think Half Moon Bay and Livermore may be a bit too far away from where we'll live (although we don't know exactly where that will be yet). I want to have the airport close enough that I can drive out for a quick flight after work or something.

Thanks again!
 
RHV is a much better choice than PAO or SQL.
2 runways and controllers that know how to utilize both.
Longest wait I've had was less than 5 minutes... most of the time, less
RHV is south (better/clearer weather when the bay is socked in).
RHV is outside of SF Class Bravo... easier to get outta Dodge.
Just my $.02

Phil
 
Phil,

Good luck on the house and airport hunting. Pass along a Merry Christmas to Nancy and I hope to soon be reading about your next flights.
 
don't forget to look across the Bay: Hayward would be close to Mt.View. Plus, if you're generally flying East (where most of the land is...) you've driven under most of SFO's Bravo. Oakland's a bit further north & not crowded from a GA perspective. Good weather, expensive 100LL :D
 
GMascelli said:
Phil,

Good luck on the house and airport hunting. Pass along a Merry Christmas to Nancy and I hope to soon be reading about your next flights.
Click to expand...

Thanks Gary. Hope you and Mary have a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.
 
You didn't say exactly where in the SF Bay area. No one yet has mentioned South County, Byron, or Gnoss. Or Concord.
 
Richard said:
You didn't say exactly where in the SF Bay area. No one yet has mentioned South County, Byron, or Gnoss. Or Concord.
Click to expand...

Well he said he'd be working/living near Mountain View. Some more good fields, but none near by.

Its 15-20 minutes on average for me to get to RHV and I get frustrated with traffic. :)
 
AirBaker said:
Well he said he'd be working/living near Mountain View. Some more good fields, but none near by.
Click to expand...
Yup, don't want to base the airplane too far away from Mountain View. It looks like RHV is going to be our new home base, and we're going to try to find a place to live that's in the neighborhood of Mountain View and RHV.

We're planning to rent for a while, and there's a couple of places in north San Jose that look really good (at least on the web). We'll be checking them out in person in the next few weeks.
AirBaker said:
Its 15-20 minutes on average for me to get to RHV and I get frustrated with traffic. :)
Click to expand...
Now that sounds pretty good to me. My current commute to our home airport in Idaho is about 20 minutes, and believe it or not, sometimes there's traffic here too.
 
Phil Verghese said:
My current commute to our home airport in Idaho is about 20 minutes, and believe it or not, sometimes there's traffic here too.
Click to expand...
I just noticed you are moving from Boise. Having lived in both Boise and San Francisco I can say that's quite a switch!
 
Everskyward said:
I just noticed you are moving from Boise. Having lived in both Boise and San Francisco I can say that's quite a switch!
Click to expand...
Yeah there's going to be a lot of things that are different. Some will be good changes, some maybe not so good, but that's all part of the adventure.
 
Phil Verghese said:
Some will be good changes, some maybe not so good, but that's all part of the adventure.
Click to expand...
Exactly! I have to say that I thought there were a lot of nice things about both places, just not the same things. Good luck on your adventure!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top