Half Moon Bay Airport Q

Rgbeard

Rgbeard

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rgbeard
I should know this one - and believe I do - but I'm gonna ask the collective knowledge base here, anyway.

Planning to fly to Half Moon Bay with friends on Saturday late-morning. Touchdown say at 11:30AM.

I'm pretty sure, based on the weather trends, it'll be overcast, IFR and consider it likely I'll be using the GPS Rwy 12 approach.

a) They don't report METARs on aviationweather.gov. What the heck? I have to call their tel# to get the recorded ASOS. Annoying.
b) They have noise sensitive areas all around. I get it, and I want to be a good pilot. Arriving, I won't make much noise. But they also say "No straight-in arrivals". Ummmm. If I'm coming in "real IFR", with a genuine overcast, no VFR traffic conflicting, and the GPS approach is lining me up for the runway, and I see the runway environment, I'm not circling. I'm landing.
Source: https://publicworks.smcgov.org/noise-abatement-procedures-half-moon-bay-airport

Questions.

1. What's the deal with the ASOS? Anyone know if it's just temporary, or if it never reports?
2. Am I going to get scolded by someone when I land straight-in on the GPS approach?
 
They must have included a typo:

  • Use common sense and be considerate to airport neighbors.
 
Not sure if there is anyone there to scold you... Before they built that giant runway for jets, the old 2,500 foot runway kept the noisy airplanes away...
 
I can't imagine that anyone would object to a straight-in from an instrument approach when the weather is IFR.
 
Palmpilot said:
Sorry, that's the site I meant. I'll correct my post.
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When I read your first - I thought you actually said weather.com. Haha.

I'm NOT trying to be pedantic, and really appreciate you (and Stan and IK04) providing helpful information. It rocks!

That said..... We're now ten posts in and the thread isn't derailed into the weeds yet?? What the heck?
 
Rgbeard said:
When I read your first - I thought you actually said weather.com. Haha.

I'm NOT trying to be pedantic, and really appreciate you (and Stan and IK04) providing helpful information. It rocks!
Click to expand...
No worries; I take spelling, etc. seriously and appreciate corrections when I screw it up.
 
Rgbeard said:
When I read your first - I thought you actually said weather.com. Haha.

I'm NOT trying to be pedantic, and really appreciate you (and Stan and IK04) providing helpful information. It rocks!

That said..... We're now ten posts in and the thread isn't derailed into the weeds yet?? What the heck?
Click to expand...

Sorry, my posts were not intended to be helpful. Stealth derailment perhaps...
 
Half Moon bay is pretty much fogged in 8-9 months of the year. Exaggerating, but not by much. September to December is great KHAF flying weather. The traffic pattern is between the mountain and the runway. Couldn't imaging flying IFR in the pattern there. A lot of pilots flying direct in. Both approaches are over the water.
 
Traffic permitting...never understood the no straight in thing there arriving 3-0 with all of the noise restrictions since a lot of traffic comes from straight in heading up the coast and being sandwiched between the mountains and marine sanctuary.

If not familiar already take a look at Google Maps satellite view to see where the south transient parking is which you can walk to the restaurants to though a coded man gate at the end of the field. Terminal is not near squat at that airport.
 
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NordicDave said:
Couldn't imaging flying IFR in the pattern there.
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Neither can the FAA. IFR circling approaches are required to be flown on the non-pattern side of the airport (i.e., the side away from the mountains).
 
Palmpilot said:
Neither can the FAA. IFR circling approaches are required to be flown on the non-pattern side of the airport (i.e., the side away from the mountains).
Click to expand...

There is no Circling there. I think maybe that’s as of today. The Charts are Amdt 1A 18JUL19. They’ve been doing away with Circling Minimums at a lot of places lately.
 
luvflyin said:
There is no Circling there. I think maybe that’s as of today. The Charts are Amdt 1A 18JUL19. They’ve been doing away with Circling Minimums at a lot of places lately.
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Good catch! The circling minimums were on the charts yesterday, and they're gone today. (The change actually took effect May 29th by NOTAM.)

So in reality, the FAA is mandating straight-ins for IFR aircraft, since published instrument approaches are regulatory, and therefore presumably trump A/FD remarks.
 
Some notes:

1. Field is only 5,000 feet. That's pushing your minimums.

2. Princeton Seafood Company is -the- place to eat.
 
I don't get the no straight in thing for "noise" reduction. Rather than coming in at very reduced power from altitude, and quietly putting down on the runway, they want you to keep the engine noise going while you fly upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, and final. Yeah, that *really* reduces the noise footprint. What ****tard came up with that request?
 
Rgbeard said:
^^WOW Great Catch.

I've not yet gone through Notams, and the charts I had reviewed still had circling minimums.
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Check the dates on those Charts. If your planning your flight during one Chart cycle but won't be flying it until the next cycle starts be sure and check.
 
EdFred said:
I don't get the no straight in thing for "noise" reduction. Rather than coming in at very reduced power from altitude, and quietly putting down on the runway, they want you to keep the engine noise going while you fly upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, and final. Yeah, that *really* reduces the noise footprint. What ****tard came up with that request?
Click to expand...

Yeah. Things don't seem to pass the 'logic check' there. Like they want the pattern on the North side over the houses instead of the South side over the water.
 
EdFred said:
I don't get the no straight in thing for "noise" reduction. Rather than coming in at very reduced power from altitude, and quietly putting down on the runway, they want you to keep the engine noise going while you fly upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, and final. Yeah, that *really* reduces the noise footprint. What ****tard came up with that request?
Click to expand...
The no-straight-ins thing may not be for noise abatement. The pattern gets busy when the weather is nice, so maybe they just didn't want people disrupting the pattern.
 
luvflyin said:
Yeah. Things don't seem to pass the 'logic check' there. Like they want the pattern on the North side over the houses instead of the South side over the water.
Click to expand...
I have long wondered about that, and the only thing I've been able to come up with is maybe they didn't want the pattern over the Air Force radar station.
 
Both instrument approaches are LPV straight ins. There's no "no straight in" if you are on that.

If they can get approaches to low enough minimums, there's no need for circling minimums.

Garmin Pilot (I'm assuming FF too) shows both the current weather and the MOS for HAF
 
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