Transient pickup at SJC

joycem137

joycem137

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Robin
A friend of mine is celebrating her 40th birthday, and my friends and I are surprising her with a visit to the Exotic Feline Breeding Compound in Rosamond, CA this Saturday.

I'm offering to fly her and another friend down to add to the fun and surprise of it all, but there's a few concerns around time, since we have to be there well before 5pm to get there when the compound opens, but after 2:30pm so that the folks that are driving down arrive before us in time to decorate the hotel room with banners and stuff.

To reduce the possibility of running into an issue with the rental plane not being up for flying, I'm considering the idea of doing my preflight very early in the AM and maybe doing a quick flight to verify that everything is good to go for the longer flight. That way, if there's any issues, we have plenty of time to abort the flight and drive down instead.

The idea popped in my head of flying into an airport that's a little closer to my passengers. Specifically KSJC, since she lives really close to there. Is it actually possible to pick someone up at SJC for GA flight, or is that prohibited? I know I saw one thing saying that transient aircraft are prohibited in GA West for SJC, and things about badges and all that.

I'll look more later, but you folks always have good thoughts and advice. :)

(I'm flying out of KPAO, incidentally)
 
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Reid-Hillview (KRHV) is just south of SJC and has an easy to navigate county terminal building, decent parking, etc. Would be my recommendation for a walk-on GA type pickup.

That said, you might be able to use Atlantic Aviation at KSJC.

'Gimp
 
Not prohibited. You should be able to go to Atlantic. They may charge you a hefty fee for doing it though.
 
Does SJC have a GA terminal? SMF does and it can be accessed by anyone. RHV is pretty close though, and if that will work for you, it's pretty easy to get in and out of.
 
KRHV is actually slightly further away than KPAO. KSJC is only 14 minutes away, while KPAO is 23 minutes and KRHV is about 26 minutes. This is a small improvement on distance. It's more about making things a little more convenient while getting a test flight before our "real" flight, and getting some experience going into a Class C airport. I've only done KOAK before, and that barely counts, since their north tower is practically a GA-focused airport.
 
You can definitely pick someone up at Atlantic, although it will probably cost you. I don't know if they have a no-charge GA terminal.
 
Atlantic is a good FBO, and I've seen single engine pistons go in and out of there before. That said, give them a call and find out what their fees are. It's not a cheap place to park an airplane, even if you're a kerosene burner.
 
I think your passengers may substantially prefer the parking situation at PAO or Reid.

I can't come up with any part of the Bay Area that has drive times like you say. 23 minutes from PAO but 14 from SJC would put them around Lexington Reservoir or maybe Redwood Estates. Except Reid is closer than 26 minutes from there. On a weekend, Reid is a shorter drive than PAO (use Capitol off 680, not Tully off 101). I don't live all that far from there, and do all those drives regularly.
 
MAKG1 said:
I think your passengers may substantially prefer the parking situation at PAO or Reid.

I can't come up with any part of the Bay Area that has drive times like you say. 23 minutes from PAO but 14 from SJC would put them around Lexington Reservoir or maybe Redwood Estates. Except Reid is closer than 26 minutes from there. On a weekend, Reid is a shorter drive than PAO (use Capitol off 680, not Tully off 101). I don't live all that far from there, and do all those drives regularly.
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I live in Santa Clara. I pulled those numbers off of google maps. :dunno:

Sounds like just sticking with KPAO is a good idea. Maybe I'll do a little bit of pattern work to do my best to make sure the flight won't need to be scrubbed.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Does SJC have a GA terminal? SMF does and it can be accessed by anyone. RHV is pretty close though, and if that will work for you, it's pretty easy to get in and out of.
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SMF does not have a GA terminal. The Sacramento Jet Center has an FBO there and they charge you a service fee if you don't buy fuel. Atlantic Aviation at SJC is the same way. Almost all of the larger airports have private FBOs that will receive you for a fee, whereas smaller airports tend to have a public GA terminal that you can (usually) simply walk through.
 
joycem137 said:
Maybe I'll do a little bit of pattern work to do my best to make sure the flight won't need to be scrubbed.
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Seems like overkill.

If your engine is rough taxiing to/from the terminal, you'll still need to scrub it.

Some passengers take comfort seeing you test everything.

You must live in that black hole in western Santa Clara that's far from any highway. I spend more time than I'd like around Wilcox High each winter doing theater work for the city.
 
Check out Atlantic South at sjc... Less busy.
 
My advice, just pick up your friends and leave the transients behind. They might pee in the plane.
 
craigvince said:
SMF does not have a GA terminal. The Sacramento Jet Center has an FBO there and they charge you a service fee if you don't buy fuel. Atlantic Aviation at SJC is the same way. Almost all of the larger airports have private FBOs that will receive you for a fee, whereas smaller airports tend to have a public GA terminal that you can (usually) simply walk through.
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That's the case with most Class C airports. That was what I was referring to. Bottom line is you can drive directly to the FBO and access the GA ramp there. Yes it's often fee or fuel.
 
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