Fyling on NYE at midnight over San Francisco

[Ozan E. Bilgen]

Hi captains, I would like to hear some advises for flying on the NYE. I want to fly over San Francisco (Bay Tour) when the clock hits. I will be in a C172SP G1000, with synthetic vision just in case. What are your experiences with flying on NYE? How busy does it get up there? What are the minimums in regards to the fireworks? I read horror stories about random fireworks (I considered them uneventful given how few it happened), and I'm aware of the general dangers of a night flight in a busy airspace. Thank you! --Ozan

 

[Tarheelpilot]

Pretty much every time I have been flying during a major holiday it has been very quiet

 

[luvflyin]

Up at altitude should be no problem. Landing is another story depending on where you are. Ameriflite, the boxhaulers, used to get a waiver to turn their lights off when landing at BUR. Folk in the neighborhood liked to draw beads on them when firing off their Happy New Years arsenal

 

[John221us]

Fireworks generally fire off between 300 and 600 feet, so they shouldn't be a problem. The Bravo shelf over the bay is 3,000 feet, but over the City, The shelf drops to 2100. You will need to keep a 1,000 foot clearance over the tallest buildings to be legal. If you stay nearer the shore, the shelf is still 3,000 feet, so that will be a bit easier. I would definitely get flight following. Every time I have flown the Bay Tour, there has been a lot of traffic, especially near the City and over the Golden Gate Bridge. I have not tried it on New Year's Eve, though. Flight following will at least give you another set of eyes for traffic.

 

[Twin_Flyer]

I hope you're not doing the flight just to see the fireworks... They are not as impressive from the air... Been there, done that... YMMV!!!

 

[Shawn]

Been up quite a few holiday nights in the Bay Area and often have to ask for a radio check since it is usually so quiet on frequency. SF is doing a NYE fireworks show, but as others mentioned since it is really not all that impressive from the air, I would expect that you will have the skies to yourself since there is no other reason to be up NYE other than to say you did it.

Commercial fireworks top out around 800'

Most other pilots would probably rather be on the ground drinking.