Up the coast

[John Clark]

Taking advantage of some great weather, Sunshine, Ms Lee and I flew from KSBA to KSTS (Santa Rosa, CA) this week. In smooth air with a 20+ knot head wind the California coast was spectacular. A little negotiation with NorCal Approach and we transited the San Francisco Class B at 6500 feet. Returning the next day we were greeted by 31 knots on the tail with the only bumps occurring in the decent into Santa Barbara.

Downtown San Francisco and the bay

Golden Gate Bridge

Home again...

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAA FAAST Team Member
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

 

[Bob Axsom]

Nice

That area never fails to stir emotions in me. Not far off of the west end of the long runway there used to be a company called AEC Able (may still be there) that built and tested the 60 meter extended (approx. 5 to 6 feet collapsed) mast that extended the large outboard X and C band antenna out of the cargo bay for the Shuttle RADAR Topography Mission (SRTM) that flew in Endeavour on STS-99. I used to fly my Archer into SBA (not allowed by the company I worked for), go through the gate by The Elephant Bar and walk along the road parallel to highway 101 to the company for tests and reviews. http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/index.html Thanks for stirring the memories.

Favorite destination north of there was Monterey. Often looked at the Hearst Castle runway along the way but my better judgement prevailed every time.

Bob Axsom

 

[Jerry Cochran]

Lucky Us

Because our daughter and her family live in Santa Rosa and we fly down there at least twice a year from NW Oregon. Gorgeous all the way down there, the Siskyous, Mt. Shasta, The Geysers. That's the inland route, sometimes take the coast. About 2.6 hrs by RV...

 

[Ironflight]

Beautiful John - I keep thinking how nice it will be in a couple of years to be based out of the Carson City area, and have so many neat places within a tank of gas.

Paul

 

[sahrens]

Perfect

You went right by my home base about 15 miles south of Santa Rosa. The Bay Area is a beautiful place to fly. Great photos.

 

[jtrusso]

SBA, good memories

Good old 15R. I learned to fly out of SBA in the mid 90s's and a picture of that approach or doing it myself never fails to make me smile.

Even though I'm based out of Santa Monica now when ever I turn final at SBA I feel like I'm coming home.

 

[Lars]

Likewise, graduate of Above All Aviation at KSBA, 1992. Looking forward to making that trip in reverse before too long. Thanks for the trip report!

 

[mikefox]

Nice!

It is beautiful weather in the Bay Area lately with breathtaking views. I fly out of KRHV and am lucky to have good weather most of the year.

 

[John Clark]

Thanks!

I'm glad you enjoyed the shot of SBA. The comment about learning to fly here in the "mid 90s" makes me feel rather old, I soloed off of 15 Left in January of 1965

Good old 15R. I learned to fly out of SBA in the mid 90s's and a picture of that approach or doing it myself never fails to make me smile.

Even though I'm based out of Santa Monica now when ever I turn final at SBA I feel like I'm coming home.

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAA FAAST Team Member
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

 

[Lars]

(patting self on back)... Once, after being asked by the tower to "expedite landing", I managed to drop the C150 I was flying onto the numbers on 15R and made the first turnoff, at taxiway Hotel. Still not sure how I pulled that off. Very satisfying, though.

 

[John Clark]

SBA

(patting self on back)... Once, after being asked by the tower to "expedite landing", I managed to drop the C150 I was flying onto the numbers on 15R and made the first turnoff, at taxiway Hotel. Still not sure how I pulled that off. Very satisfying, though.

Good work! My favorite was landing a DHC-6 Twin Otter on 25 and turning off on Bravo onto the terminal ramp. The Otter had about the same approach speed as the 150. Oh, yeah, and reversing props.

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAA FAAST Team Member
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

 

[Lars]

Good work! My favorite was landing a DHC-6 Twin Otter on 25 and turning off on Bravo onto the terminal ramp. The Otter had about the same approach speed as the 150. Oh, yeah, and reversing props.

John Clark ATP, CFI
FAA FAAST Team Member
EAA Flight Advisor
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

The best part was having the controller clear me to cross 25 and then realize that I didn't need to He was surprised. Almost as surprised as I was. But then a C150 with the black knob pulled back can slow down amazingly fast.

That said, I am thrilled about the prospect of landing at my old home base for the first time in my RV-7. Soon, I hope.