pmccoy
Well Known Member
This last Saturday my wife and I decided to fly up to Big Bear, from our home base of Chino. The sky was a mix of clouds, haze and several very large openings where I could easily fly up and over the clouds and haze. At least that was the plan. I called FSS and got a weather briefing. My route of flight (all 25 minutes of it) was listed as partly cloudy. Chino, Ontario and San Bernardino all had partly cloudy skies, VFR conditions with haze and visibility of 6 to 10 miles. Big Bear was clear with unlimited visibility. Driving to the airport I had noticed several areas where the sky was overcast, but plenty of large gaps in the clouds to climb on up. When I arrived at Chino, the sky was hazy but clear above and to the North East. My assumption was a direct routing to Big Bear, which would allow me to climb up through the clear sky I could see heading North East. The sky directly North looked worse, and had a overcast layer around 3,000 feet.
The go decision was made and we headed out to the end of the runway for take off. I asked the tower for a downwind, North East departure direct to Big Bear. The tower gave me a squak code and I was cleared for take off. Turning downwind the Chino tower passed me off to Ontario's tower (Class C). At this point I had a nice large area of clear sky directly ahead of me. Ontario advised me to maintain VFR and turn North. They wanted me to fly directly over the top of the field, to avoid traffic. This was not what I wanted to do, but as I was in Class Charlie airspace I made the turn to the North. The sky was partly cloudy, but the areas of clear sky were smaller heading North. As I progressed North over the field, Ontario handed me off to SoCal Approach. The frequency was as busy as I have ever heard it, and I was having trouble finding a break in the chatter to check in. Meanwhile, as I am still heading North, the sky is becoming fully overcast and the visibility is dropping quickly. At this point I have just crossed directly over the top of Ontario, and have not made contact yet with SoCal. The sky was closing in, and the visibility was dropping. The clouds in the basin were collecting in front of the San Gabriel mountain range, which was making my flight path very difficult. I knew the mountains were directly in front of me, but I could not see them at all. Time to make a decision.
I made the decision to make a 180 degree turn, and headed directly back to the Ontario airport. SoCal called me and I let them know I had to return to Chino. They passed me back to Ontario's tower and I was cleared to overfly the airport again. Back past Ontario I called Chino and proceeded to land safe at my home airport.
Looking back on this, the entire flight was maybe 10 minutes. I was passed off to multiple controllers, who were routing me based on other traffic in the area. The routing took me away from where I wanted to go, and put me smack dab in the middle of sky conditions that I was not comfortable flying in. I suppose I could have kept scud running under the clouds and waited for another patch of clear, but being in controlled airspace was not allowing me to follow the exact routing I wanted. I pulled the trigger and made the turn for home.
Back at Chino, my wife and I got in the car and made the long drive up to Big Bear. I kept looking out the window as we drove, overcast, sunny, hazy, overcast, sunny.... each nice big patch of clear sky made me think about should I have pressed on. Once we started up the mountain road we found beautiful clear sky at about 5,500 feet. In the end, we were safe and sound. It was not a big deal to drive, and we were never really in any danger. I maintained proper VFR clearance at all times in the flight, I just didn't like the direction I was heading. Bailing out and heading back was the call that made me feel good at the time.
The go decision was made and we headed out to the end of the runway for take off. I asked the tower for a downwind, North East departure direct to Big Bear. The tower gave me a squak code and I was cleared for take off. Turning downwind the Chino tower passed me off to Ontario's tower (Class C). At this point I had a nice large area of clear sky directly ahead of me. Ontario advised me to maintain VFR and turn North. They wanted me to fly directly over the top of the field, to avoid traffic. This was not what I wanted to do, but as I was in Class Charlie airspace I made the turn to the North. The sky was partly cloudy, but the areas of clear sky were smaller heading North. As I progressed North over the field, Ontario handed me off to SoCal Approach. The frequency was as busy as I have ever heard it, and I was having trouble finding a break in the chatter to check in. Meanwhile, as I am still heading North, the sky is becoming fully overcast and the visibility is dropping quickly. At this point I have just crossed directly over the top of Ontario, and have not made contact yet with SoCal. The sky was closing in, and the visibility was dropping. The clouds in the basin were collecting in front of the San Gabriel mountain range, which was making my flight path very difficult. I knew the mountains were directly in front of me, but I could not see them at all. Time to make a decision.
I made the decision to make a 180 degree turn, and headed directly back to the Ontario airport. SoCal called me and I let them know I had to return to Chino. They passed me back to Ontario's tower and I was cleared to overfly the airport again. Back past Ontario I called Chino and proceeded to land safe at my home airport.
Looking back on this, the entire flight was maybe 10 minutes. I was passed off to multiple controllers, who were routing me based on other traffic in the area. The routing took me away from where I wanted to go, and put me smack dab in the middle of sky conditions that I was not comfortable flying in. I suppose I could have kept scud running under the clouds and waited for another patch of clear, but being in controlled airspace was not allowing me to follow the exact routing I wanted. I pulled the trigger and made the turn for home.
Back at Chino, my wife and I got in the car and made the long drive up to Big Bear. I kept looking out the window as we drove, overcast, sunny, hazy, overcast, sunny.... each nice big patch of clear sky made me think about should I have pressed on. Once we started up the mountain road we found beautiful clear sky at about 5,500 feet. In the end, we were safe and sound. It was not a big deal to drive, and we were never really in any danger. I maintained proper VFR clearance at all times in the flight, I just didn't like the direction I was heading. Bailing out and heading back was the call that made me feel good at the time.