Traveling to San Francisco (Wanting to fly around San Fran)

rkdF250

rkdF250

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Dec 26, 2010
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106
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Waxahachie
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Display name:
Robert
I will attending the Apple WWDC conference next week and want to fly around the San Francisco area one or two nights next week. I have contacted a flight school to see if I can get a plane. I have been flying for over two years and really want to take advantage of being in the San Fran area. If you have any suggestions please let me know.
 
As I'm sure you may have noticed, much of San Francisco is under SFO class B airspace. You can get a clearance and transit if you want, but you can pretty much see everything just by underflying the bravo. The "go to" place to stop in if you're flying around is Half Moon Bay (KHAF.)
 
Now paging Miss Kimberly ...... Please pick up the white customer courtesy telephone...;)
 
He needs concise and too the point, not an Ernest Hemingway novel.
 
I'll be out of town, so I can't fly with you.

There are a number of flying clubs and FBOs all over the bay. There are no airports in the City; the closest with significant general aviation is Oakland. Check the AOPA Airports website. Or airnav.com if you don't have access.

Airspace is fairly nasty, but flight following will get you through almost all of it, even Class B, with a minimum of hassle. Just have alternatives in case KSFO is really stacked up. A transition through Oakland's Class C (at shocking-low altitude -- they will want you below 1500 to get out of the Class C shelf, and will transition you right over the 29 numbers) is often an option when Class B isn't.

Class B transitions are generally not a problem, but landing at KSFO is probably not gonna happen. The local procedure you're looking for is a "Bay Tour," which means a circular route with flight following, generally involving a Class B transition.

KHAF is a great visit, but it has been socked in for weeks. It's really too late in the season. Though, there is a precision GPS approach these days, so it isn't constantly below minimums like it used to be. The scenery isn't so great from inside the marine layer, though.
 
Find KimberleyAnne on this board.

Offer to share the cost of the rental.

She's done it before! And loves to do it! And now, you made a friend!
 
Thanks for information I will try and do just that. I have no problem with class B airspace since every airport I have flown out of is under the DFW umbrella. I fly through this airspace just about every trip in one way or another LOL. Looks like the weather is going cooperate.
 
Keep in mind that most summer mornings involve marine layer until 10AM or so. Unless it's really hot (which it does appear is going to happen over the next few days). Sightseeing over the marine layer is not necessarily boring -- the Golden Gate Bridge towers often poke through it, for instance, as do almost all the mountains around the Bay. But of course an instrument rating will be a must.

The really good stuff, IMO, is the coastline, however.

Unlike DFW, summer afternoons may get a bit of mechanical turbulence below the mountain peaks (around 3000 feet west of the Bay and 4000 east) and some moderate winds, but thunderstorms in summer are exceedingly unlikely west of the Sierra. When it's hot, it's very dry.

While a Class B transition at 1500 is possible and is very scenic over the City (watch terrain -- there are obstructions higher than that!), I don't recommend it in the afternoon due to turbulence. 3500 is much better.
 
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MAKG1 said:
Keep in mind that most summer mornings involve marine layer until 10AM or so. Unless it's really hot (which it does appear is going to happen over the next few days). Sightseeing over the marine layer is not necessarily boring -- the Golden Gate Bridge towers often poke through it, for instance, as do almost all the mountains around the Bay. But of course an instrument rating will be a must.

The really good stuff, IMO, is the coastline, however.

Unlike DFW, summer afternoons may get a bit of mechanical turbulence below the mountain peaks (around 3000 feet west of the Bay and 4000 east) and some moderate winds, but thunderstorms in summer are exceedingly unlikely west of the Sierra. When it's hot, it's very dry.

While a Class B transition at 1500 is possible and is very scenic over the City (watch terrain -- there are obstructions higher than that!), I don't recommend it in the afternoon due to turbulence. 3500 is much better.
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Thanks MAC but I am hoping to do some night flying. I really like flying at night.
 
rkdF250 said:
Thanks MAC but I am hoping to do some night flying. I really like flying at night.
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Then I really don't suggest flying over the mountains (e.g., KHAF), but over the City and the Bay should be really good. Scope out the fog if any before sunset. It's unlikely around the Bay before midnight, but is quite likely coastside and possibly over the ridges.
 
"San Fran"??? My grandmother would be rolling over in her grave. Growing up it was "San Francisco" or "The City". Nothing else.

Ogden Nash made the mistake of calling it "Frisco". He wrote a poem after being "informed" of the error of his ways.

"May I be boiled in oil
Or fried in Crisco
If I ever call San Francisco
Frisco."

:D
 
Yup, Frisco is in Colorado.

You're not likely to get much more than rolled eyes, but trying to abbreviate the city's name instantly labels you a tourist and an outsider.
 
MAKG1 said:
I'll be out of town, so I can't fly with you.

There are a number of flying clubs and FBOs all over the bay. There are no airports in the City; the closest with significant general aviation is Oakland. Check the AOPA Airports website. Or airnav.com if you don't have access.


Class B transitions are generally not a problem, but landing at KSFO is probably not gonna happen. The local procedure you're looking for is a "Bay Tour," which means a circular route with flight following, generally involving a Class B transition.
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Well If you plan on driving at all go into KSQL. That avoids the need to go over the bay bridge plus you can get an easy class B transition for a bay tour right over KSFO. That also sets you up to overfly the golden gate bridge at 1000 agl or 1500 agl depending what atc gives you. There are plenty of services flying out of KSQL to get yourself a pilot and a plane. I could do it but the plane im checked out in currently has a strut through the top of the wing (see my last post :mad2:)
 
Flying in SFO Class B is not too bad. Where do you plan out of flying out of? SQL would probably be the easiest. You can go to HAF (depending on the fog) and fly along the coast or I believe SQL tower can hand you off to SFO tower. You can also do a shoreline transition through OAK Class C.
 
comanchepilot said:
Find KimberleyAnne on this board.

Offer to share the cost of the rental.

She's done it before! And loves to do it! And now, you made a friend!
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Kimberly just hopped on a plane this morning and is headed to the Gaston's Flyin. The bay tour is nice, if the weather cooperates. You really won't know until the day you want to fly, though.
 
MAKG1 said:
Then I really don't suggest flying over the mountains (e.g., KHAF), but over the City and the Bay should be really good. Scope out the fog if any before sunset. It's unlikely around the Bay before midnight, but is quite likely coastside and possibly over the ridges.
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I have done KHAF as a night flight. Just cross over the Golden Gate and fly the coast to KHAF. It is a ver memorable flight. You are probably best renting in North Bay for that flight, like Petaluma.
 
N801BH said:
Now paging Miss Kimberly ...... Please pick up the white customer courtesy telephone...;)
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Kimberly in transit to DFW and then on to Gastons... I'll pass the word.
 
Right now it looks like Oakland may be the closest to where I will be. I am hoping at the very least the flight school there will check me out or at least go up with me for a flight. I have insurance and I am current.
 
Actually I was just in Frisco (TX) this morning LOL
 
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By the way, people in the City don't actually eat Rice a Roni.
 
CaptLabrador said:
Well If you plan on driving at all go into KSQL. That avoids the need to go over the bay bridge plus you can get an easy class B transition for a bay tour right over KSFO. That also sets you up to overfly the golden gate bridge at 1000 agl or 1500 agl depending what atc gives you. There are plenty of services flying out of KSQL to get yourself a pilot and a plane. I could do it but the plane im checked out in currently has a strut through the top of the wing (see my last post :mad2:)
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And the REAL bonus is that you get to flip the bird to Larry Ellison as you take off. He deserves it for building his headquarters right under the right crosswind (or left base if the wind is calm).

There is also an unusually good air museum at KSQL.

Flying over the Golden Gate Bridge at 1000 AGL ( = 1000 MSL -- it's over ocean!) is not recommended, as the towers are 800 feet high. 14 CFR 91.119.
 
Which days will you be around and when will you be free? I am based at OAK, might be able to arrange a flight in either my VariEze or a club spamcan.
 
pericynthion said:
Which days will you be around and when will you be free? I am based at OAK, might be able to arrange a flight in either my VariEze or a club spamcan.
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I will have Monday, Wednesday, Friday after 6:00PM free.....
I can probably cut out early on one of those days probably Friday is necessary.
 
Thanks for the info... I have been to San Francisco before but never really had a chance to explore it.
 
pericynthion said:
...might be able to arrange a flight in either my VariEze or a club spamcan.
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Would you be able to actually see San Francisco from the back seat of a VariEze? I recall the view being mostly wing and the back of the pilot's head ;)
 
Silvaire said:
Would you be able to actually see San Francisco from the back seat of a VariEze? I recall the view being mostly wing and the back of the pilot's head ;)
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Are they approved for inverted flight? :D
 
I was just getting back into flying the last time I was out there, so I didn't feel comfortable with trying a rental and navigating the complex airspace. Instead, I booked a helicopter tour for an evening flight and it turned out great. We even flew *under* the Golden Gate bridge.
 
So it's time for this year's big announcement? Lemmee guess. iPhone 6.
 
MAKG1 said:
Flying over the Golden Gate Bridge at 1000 AGL ( = 1000 MSL -- it's over ocean!) is not recommended, as the towers are 800 feet high. 14 CFR 91.119.
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Hey If ATC puts me there im flying it. Some days they are so busy they have to stack you at 500 ft increments. Ive been put at 1,500 but I know people that have been put at 1,000 before.
 
CaptLabrador said:
Hey If ATC puts me there im flying it. Some days they are so busy they have to stack you at 500 ft increments. Ive been put at 1,500 but I know people that have been put at 1,000 before.
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Even if ATC "put" you there, which they won't, it's your violation, not theirs.

Try not to BS. The bridge is not in class B, it's not under an airway, and it's a relatively high traffic area.
 
I don't overfly the bridge. I normally transit over Golden Gate park about 1,700 or so so I can clear the 2,000 foot Bravo ring. Or I go out over the coast North of the SAU VOR.
 
I have overflown the bridge a zillion times. It is perfectly ok to do so.
 
Bravo floor over the bridge is 3000, plenty of room. The only place you need to drop down to 1000 is Pacifica/Rockaway Beach because of those heavily laden 47's coming over San Bruno Mountain headed for Asia.
 
Silvaire said:
Bravo floor over the bridge is 3000, plenty of room. The only place you need to drop down to 1000 is Pacifica/Rockaway Beach because of those heavily laden 47's coming over San Bruno Mountain headed for Asia.
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And even that only happens when there is a significant westerly wind requiring using 28 for takeoff. Normally, 1 is used for takeoff, 28 for landing, leaving most of Class B pretty empty.

There is nothing wrong with transiting the bridge. Just not at 1000. And of course see & avoid. Flight following is strongly recommended.
 
MAKG1 said:
And even that only happens when there is a significant westerly wind requiring using 28 for takeoff. Normally, 1 is used for takeoff, 28 for landing, leaving most of Class B pretty empty.
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I work there and believe me they take off on 28 all day long, every day except when it's raining and they use 10 for departure.
 
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