[esco]

I'm visiting Santa Cruz and Oakland in mid-June, and I'd appreciate airport recommendations.

My priorities are:
-very high probability of clear weather,
-RV-friendly environment,
-proximity to either city, and
-freeway access, in that order.

I'm a day VFR pilot, flying with a wet compass, nav radio, and ForeFlight/ADS-B. This trip convinced me of the need for IFR equipment and training, but neither will occur before June.

I'll be in Santa Cruz at the start of the trip, but WVI looks to have marine layer/coastal fog in June.

In the north, historical data shows OAK had 16 cloudy/partly cloudy days in June 2013; HWD had 12; SJC had 7; and LVK had 4. I don't have RHV historical data; anecdotally it sounds good from VAF posts.

Right now my plan is to fly to LVK, drive down to Santa Cruz for three days, drive back to Oakland for a few days, and depart.

1. Do June 2013 records seem a good prediction of June 2014 weather?
2. Am I missing any reasonable alternate airports?

thanks,

 

[krwalsh]

Plenty of Options

On a map all of those places look close. But, they aren't. Driving from Livermore to Santa Cruz will easily take you an hour and a half, without traffic. Make that trip during commute hours and you can count on doubling that time. Why not plan on Watsonville as a destination, and use Monterey and Salinas as alternates? If Watsonville is fogged in, Monterey might be too, but it is very rare for the fog to reach into Salinas. The heat of the Central Valley in June burns the fog off before it can make it that far.

For Oakland, just plan on that, there are plenty of alternates. Hayward to the South, Livermore over the hill. Realistically what happens is the airports on the West side of the Bay (SFO, San Carlos, Palo Alto) tend to stay fogged in a bit longer, and those on the East side (Oakland, Hayward) clear first. But if they are fogged in, you have outs at Livermore and Concord.

As for RV friendly, Oakland has a fine GA section, but the landing/tie down fees are not great. Hayward is better, as are San Carlos and Palo Alto. Livermore has a very active EAA group, lots of RVs out there.

 

[BobTurner]

If good weather is priority #1 then fly up the central valley and land at KLVK, Livermore. Mid June odds are 99% you'll have vfr wx. Tie downs are $6 a night; rental cars, I recommend Avis but I think Hertz will deliver. Heard some poor reviews for Enterprise. There are moderately priced hotels nearby.
As the last post noted, Santa Cruz is not close.
If you are arriving and departing after noon, odds of vfr wx at Watsonville are pretty good; odds of Salinas being vfr are even better. So if you're up for two flights, fly to one of them first, then move up to Livermore. Monterey is expensive, worse wx, compared to KSNS.
Stay off the so called freeways any time near rush hours.

 

[esco]

Good Gouge!

Kevin, Bob:

Thanks for the insights; a hop from one site to the other will leapfrog me over much of the ground traffic I had not considered, and put me closer to my destination at each end.

Got to love VAF- I'll double down on this year's dues to Doug.