Landing at Northrop/Hawthorne (HHR) near LAX

[apr911]

Hi All,

Anyone familiar with landing at Northrop/Hawthorne (HHR)? Looking at the TAC, the approach end of Hawthorne RWY 25 looks awfully close to the LAX surface area... Close enough that an overshoot of your turn to final could bust the Bravo.

Ive never flown in to Hawthorne so dont know how close it actually is... I suppose you could dog-leg your final but just curious on what people who actually fly in and out of HHR do on approach to final.

 

[Brad Z]

Hi All,

Anyone familiar with landing at Northrop/Hawthorne (HHR)? Looking at the TAC, the approach end of Hawthorne RWY 25 looks awfully close to the LAX surface area... Close enough that an overshoot of your turn to final could bust the Bravo.

Ive never flown in to Hawthorne so dont know how close it actually is... I suppose you could dog-leg your final but just curious on what people who actually fly in and out of HHR do on approach to final.

Stay south of the freeway and you'll be fine. Give yourself enough room so you don't overshoot final.

 

[schmookeeg]

The TAC overlaps things and makes the margin exaggerated. You've got at LEAST 50 feet or so

Pull it up on google maps and you'll see the I-105 which is your effective "Class B Boundary", which is really easy to keep in your periphery to the right.

https://goo.gl/maps/n1eRK

Also expect on final to be requested to maintain 1500' until over the "Harbor Freeway" which is the I-110 immediately east of the field.

 

[comanchepilot]

Listen to Mike - he's in and out of there weekly . . .. you coming into the airport from the south?

Because . . . unless you are - you're gonna be doing a long straight in unless you do one of the two SFRA VFR arrivals from over LAX.

Don't plan on an IFR LOC arrival to Runway 25 either. Even with the new LOA its hit or miss - those jets have the right of way.

 

[stratobee]

I maintain my plane there, so go in a lot. It's a great airport and the approach is pretty straightforward. Very often you're side by side with a 747 on final into LAX just off your right wing, which is cool.

 

[apr911]

Im considering a flight from the South out of Palomar (CRQ)... HHR is kind of low on the list though... There are quite a few airports both local and XC that I still want to make trips to.

HHR just looked interesting due to the proximity of the LAX Surface area and was curious if that proximity presented an issue.

Admittedly, my first thought was if I were going to go the 70NM to HHR, Id just as soon as go to AVX or LGB or transit the Surface area and go to SMO, BUR or VNY or any other airport.

Though being on final with a 747 to the right could be cool (at least during the day, at night, its boring... Ive done it in SAT with parallel runways)

 

[Shawn]

On a side note...Jet Center Los Angeles at HHR is awesome even in a single and they have Eureka! Burger in their terminal which has GREAT food!

 

[Fearless Tower]

Don't plan on an IFR LOC arrival to Runway 25 either. Even with the new LOA its hit or miss - those jets have the right of way.

I've only flown in to HHR once (2 years ago) and pretty sure the LOC to 25 is exactly what I got. If it wasn't, they gave me a straight in Visual and I tracked to LOC all the way in.

 

[comanchepilot]

I've only flown in to HHR once (2 years ago) and pretty sure the LOC to 25 is exactly what I got. If it wasn't, they gave me a straight in Visual and I tracked to LOC all the way in.

tracking the LOC in visually and flying it IFR are two completely different animals . . .

 

[Fearless Tower]

tracking the LOC in visually and flying it IFR are two completely different animals . . .

Is the issue doing the simultaneous approach to HHR when conditions are actual IFR and there are simultaneous approaches into LAX?

I was IFR, but in VMC.

 

[schmookeeg]

Is the issue doing the simultaneous approach to HHR when conditions are actual IFR and there are simultaneous approaches into LAX?

I was IFR, but in VMC.

Yep. The only workaround is to take a vector down towards LGB and a descent to 1500, then contact over from the south -- sort of a bogus "IFR" procedure. They say they'll put you in a hold over LIMBO for 45 minutes minimum, trying to give you the "shoo fly" routine, despite filing and being released.

The LOC is a nonstarter when LAX is low.

 

[comanchepilot]

Did they clear you for the visual approach and tell you to track the LOC? That's the more common way to handle it - the chances of actually flying the approach in actual are zero and negative . . . . as Mike notes.

The crazy thing is that you can often see the runways under the cloud decks 20 miles out - but the fields are IFR - but the controllers know you can see the runways! So they are clearing guys for instrument approaches - wink wink nod nod on real tight spacing. . .

 

[Jeff Oslick]

If you fly the LOC, if you're one dot to the right, they'll call you on it.

It's a pretty cool flight VFR though.