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best airport for Beverly Hills

jjconstant

jjconstant

Well Known Member
I'm hoping for advice on the best place to fly to for easiest access to Beverly Hills. It looks like Van Nuys is where I would go without better advise. Any info on FBOs, courtesy cars, airspace issues, would all be welcome.

I'll be traveling from Livermore, KLVK.

Thanks

Jeremy Constant
 
Hi Jeremy,
Van Nuys or Burbank are the two we use mostly when dealing with that crowd at work.

Burbank is a good field but you are mixing in with the airlines.

Van Nuys is just plain (no pun intended) busy but very GA friendly.

Depending on how excited you are about landing as close as possible you might consider Whiteman (KWHP) or Santa Monica (KSMO). Whiteman is a little more laid back regarding costs to GA airplanes. If you are really not concerned with landing as close as possible then Camarillo (KCMA) is good too.

See you around when you get back,
Sam.
 
I'm based out of Santa Monica so I may be biased but I think it's your best bet. You probably wont get charged the $5 landing fee as the tower only hands those out every now and then when the city council makes a stink. Parking is $15/night on the transient ramp and you can arrange a rental car through Antlantic or American Flyers.

Van Nuys has more services and no threat of landing fees, but you'll pay $50/night to park your plane there. There is no public ramp and the FBO's charge an outrageous amount of money to park, even if you're not staying overnight. I made the mistake of landing there when SMO was fogged in, a mistake I won't make again. Whiteman is a good alternative but you'll have a hard time arranging a car as there are no FBO's on the field.

I wouldn't recommend Burbank for the same reason as Van Nuys, you'll have to mortgage your house to pay the ramp fees.

Hawthorne is a good alternative to Santa Monica but it will cost $15/night to park the plane at Million Air with a fuel purchase, $30/night without. Just like Van Nuys there is no public ramp at HHR. Million Air will arrange a rental car and have it ready when you arrive, a one stop shop if you will.

If you want more info or have more questions feel free to drop me a pm.
And sorry for the typos, I typed this up on the phone.
 
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jtrusso said:
I'm based out of Santa Monica so I may be biased but I think it's your best bet. You probably wont get charged the $5 landing fee as the tower only hands those out every now and then when the city council makes a stink.<snip>
Click to expand...
John,
My Velocity pilot friend was at SMO a week ago, and he told me the fee is now a flat $15, yikes! I can't find any info on this on the web so could you please check into this? Thanks, Rosie
 
jtrusso said:
Hawthorne is a good alternative to Santa Monica but it will cost $15/night to park the plane at Million Air with a fuel purchase, $30/night without. Just lime Van Nuys there ksmo public ramp at HHR. Million Air will arrange a rental car and have it ready when you arrive, a one stop shop if you will.

If you want more info or have more questions feel free to drop me a pm.
And sorry for the typos, I typed this up on the phone.
Click to expand...

Does HHR still have the city run tie-downs outside the FFS station?

It's also a cheap cab ride to all of the off-LAX car rental places. They are as close to HHR as to LAX...:)
 
Rosie said:
John,
My Velocity pilot friend was at SMO a week ago, and he told me the fee is now a flat $15, yikes! I can't find any info on this on the web so could you please check into this? Thanks, Rosie
Click to expand...

Rosie I'll make a call to the airport office and report back here. From the fee list published on the airport website an airplane would have to weigh in at 9,000lbs to get a $15 landing fee.

The overnight fee is $15 a night for singles though...higher than I thought.
 
az_gila said:
Does HHR still have the city run tie-downs outside the FFS station?

It's also a cheap cab ride to all of the off-LAX car rental places. They are as close to HHR as to LAX...:)
Click to expand...

No, that ramp is now owned by Million Air and the FSS is long gone.
 
I just confirmed with Bob Trimborn, the SMO airport manager that the landing fee schedule I linked earlier is still correct. If they get you with a lainding fee, it'll be about $5.

The "un-official" line is you can disregard the fee, if they tag your plane with it. They don't enforce the landing fees for the little guys like us. The overnight fee is $15/night for a single.

ROBERT TRIMBORN
3223 DONALD DOUGLAS LOOP S.
SANTA MONICA, CA 90405
Phone 310-458-8591

RVMike, or those the tie downs over by the A&E hanger? It's good to know there is a place I can tie it down for the night if I can't get into SMO due to the marine layer and not get hit with a $15/night fee. I didn't know that was "public" space over there.
 
rvmike said:
John, Not at A&E but directly across the runway on the north side by the old t hangers. They are not public but the airport guys don,t care and I have had friends park there for several days.
Click to expand...

So the FBO who used to be on the tower side of the runway is now gone?

Is Millionair in the old Northrop facilities?
 
Million-Aire are by the Crenshaw Blvd airport entrance in the building behind Nat's airport Cafe.

Beach Cities Aviation are near the tower. They're not an FBO, but may be able to accommodate on their ramp.

A&E are on the southwest side. I've got my RV-8 in their hangar space, but they don't have any spare tie-downs unless an aircraft is away. There are some unused tie-downs nearby, but they are nominally $75/month, not transient.

MillionAire are also only a 5 minute walk from the L.A. Metro (green) line, if that's any use.
 
SMO is very much the closest and probably easiest VFR or IFR for Beverly Hills. Driving, you don't have to deal with the 405. Flying, the valley airports will be VFR more hours of the day than anything along the coast if (and likely) an inversion is in place. IFR from OAK is usually a few modest vectors and a right turn to intercept the SMO final. HHR's a mess. VNY will probably be straight in, but now you're on the wrong side of the Santa Monica mountains.

SMO. Park at American Flyers. They arrange (relatively) cheap rental cars. Park on their ramp.

John Siebold
 
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Thanks for the feedback...looks like SMO is a definite possibility. I'll be VFR and will check out American Flyers. The next consideration is the marine layer. I'll be keeping an eye on the weather and leaving around the end of the week. If it looks like the fog will persist I'll look for something in the valley.

Thanks again

Jeremy
 
jjconstant said:
I'll be keeping an eye on the weather and leaving around the end of the week. If it looks like the fog will persist I'll look for something in the valley.

Thanks again

Jeremy
Click to expand...

Jeremy,

I'd highly recommend making a few phone calls to the FBO's at Van Nuys or Burbank before you land there. My experience has been the bill for parking is extremely high, it would be a nasty suprise. Whiteman, just NE of Van Nuys, isn't a bad choice if you want to land in the valley, but as I said before I think you'll have a hard time getting a rental car there.

If the marine layer has SMO fogged in there is a good chance that HHR will be VFR. Even on days when SMO is fogged in well past noon HHR is usually VFR by 11am. VFR it's not a difficult airport to get to from the north side of LAX. Transition through the Special Flight Rules Cooridor at 3,500' and call HHR tower when exiting. They'll most likely instruct you to enter the left downwind for 25. The procedures for the LAX SFR is on the LAX Terminal Chart, something I highly recommend reviewing before heading down. IMHO that is a much better alternate in terms of cost and proximity to BH than anything in the valley.
 
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I am based at Hawthorne, and I don't think it's a mess!

Usually the marine layer hits Santa Monica first. If you have to divert to Van Nuys, I have always been able to park for free at pentastar aviation for days at a time. Didn't have to buy gas or anything. Maybe give them a call.
 
jtrusso said:
.... The procedures for the LAX SFR is on the LAX Terminal Chart, something I highly recommend reviewing before heading down. .....
Click to expand...

The LAX Terminal Chart is not only a good idea, it is an FAR requirement for flight in the SFR..

(c) The pilot shall have a current Los
Angeles Terminal Area Chart in the
aircraft.

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_G...ef49762648f19d77862571650050b188!OpenDocument

And stay below 140kts....:)

The procedures are actually quite easy, and you get a great view of the LAX runways.
 
SMO landing fees

On some occasions I have to land at SMO and they always charge a landing fee by weight. If you don't go into the airport office and pay it on the spot they will send a bill to the address on the registration. I landed there in a Cub and the women in the office asked me the weight, looked in a book and said that will be $2.05 or something like that. Keep your receipt because they later billed me again even though I paid. SMO would rather have no planes land there and may be the most unfriendly GA airport in the country ( but not the controllers, they are a good bunch doing a fine job).
 
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