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Howdy ! (HAF / Bay Area Flying ... Long)

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gerf(at)gerf.com
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Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject: Howdy ! (HAF / Bay Area Flying ... Long)

Hi Robin and All,



It would be arrogant of me to make any claims about the best flying months

for the Bay Area.  The "weather guessers" spend millions, if not billions,

trying to sound like they have a clue, and from my experience, one would

have more success betting on the gee gees.



Having said that ... I'm not going to pass up a chance to expound when

invited 



Its a beautful place to fly ... "The Bay Tour" over the Golden Gate, the

Mendocino Coast - Shelter Cover Airport, Clear Lake and Lampson Airport,

Grass Valley/Nevada County Airport (gold country), Truckee, Tahoe and all

the way up north to Mount Shasta, Hollister Muni for sail planes,

Watsonville (Dave Saylor/Aircrafters home base and home to several RVs),

Salinas, Monterey and Cannery Row - some of my personal favorites.



And that's not to mention San Francisco itself - if you're a "foodie" you'll

need to double check your weight & balance before departure .  The new De

Young museum, Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of Asian Art, more shopping

than you can shake a stick, SoMa, Twink Peaks, The Castro, Noe Valley, Ocean

Beach.



I love San Francisco .. can you tell ?



HAF is a windy airport, great runway for training, particularly when its a

crosswind.  (Runway 12/30 - 150 x 5,000'.)  Strong, gusty NNW winds are to

be expected in the afternoons from late spring to early fall (15 Knots maybe

gusting to 25 usually straight down 30).  Watch out if strong winds are

blowing out of the east - it will be VERY bumpy in the pattern - give

yourself a good altitude margin on downwind and a good airspeed margin on

short final.  Straight-ins will illicit terse remarks from the locals when

its busy - with good reason - its dangerous and a tad rude.  (Right traffic

for 30 and left traffic for 12 - over the "Ridge" - for some reason pattern

traffic over the water is discouraged.)  I like to fly to the "Golf Ball"

radar station south-west of the field and then enter mid-field overhead.

That way I can see the upwind, downwind and base traffic at my 3 o'clock

with the sun at my 9 o'clock, easy to see what's going on and easy to fly a

360 to the west of the pattern for spacing.  If the weather is good on a

weekend the pattern can get very busy - watch out for the old timers,

warbirds and antiques who either don't have radios or think they're a

distraction.  If you depart straight out to the north for the "Bay Tour"

watch out for incoming traffic from the north who may not have called in

their position yet - you'll be nose high and headed straight for them.

Norcal 135.10 for departures if you want FF on "The Tour" (advisable if they

can accommodate you.)



Three Zero cafe serves good basic fare at decent prices - kitchen closes at

2 pm.  Indoor/outdoor seating overlooking the ramp - kinda cool if the

antiques and warbirds are out strutting their stuff.  Bring a jacket, it can

get decidedly cool on the ground.  Plenty of ramp space and 100LL self

serve.  Park at the south end of the field past the hangars if you're going

to the restaurants close to Mavericks Beach - walking distance.  It don't

get any cheaper than Cafe Capestrano - the Mexican Seafood Gumbo/Soup thingy

is damn tasty as are the fish tacos.  Mezza Luna for upscale Italian - very

popular for dinner.  The others listed on AirNav I haven't eaten at, apart

from the Princeton Seafood Co - I wasn't impressed it was "blah" - but then

I have an experiemental stomach - I want flavor in my food.



Bay Area weather is noted for being changeable - and quickly.  Come with a

flexible plan and due consideration for your alternates and options -

particularly if your destination of choice is on the coast.



The summer is characterized by a marine fog layer that can form in less than

10 minutes and cover the coastal airports like HAF, WVI, MRY, etc. down to

zero RVR - seemingly out of nowhere - monitor the temperature/dewpoint

spread along the coast.



(There are a couple of fine restaurants 5 minutes walk south of HAF which

bring the lunch crowd in most weekends - its a hoot to watch them scrambling

to get out mid-afternoon as the fog rolls in from the north.  If they'd hung

around for dinner, they'd be surprised to see it roll right back out for a

picture perfect sunset ... or NOT as the case may be  )



In the winter, the cloud can hang over HAF at 600' for weeks on end - and

then again we can have weeks of cold, blue skies and light winds - just

perfect for flying the "Bay Tour".  This last year we've been lucky - in

2006 the locals complained bitterly - the cloud just never seemed to shift.



Extreme temperature inversions are common in the summer - from 55 degrees on

the ground at HAF, to 95 degrees at 1,500' just above the pattern - I kid

you not.  Great way to shock cool your engine if you're not paying

attention.



All the inland airports - SQL, PAO, RHV, OAK, HWD, LVK tend to be sky clear

and much warmer on a reliable basis - they are correspondingly busier

airports, and surrounded by Bravo airspace.  If you want to land, park and

go see the city, SQL and PAO are good options - small GA friendly and

reasonably well served with public transportation.  OAK has the advantage

that its easier to get to the BART subway - but, Charlie airspace and you'll

have to cross the often choked bridges into SF if you're renting a car.



Come on down, I'll be glad to take you on "The Tour" 



g

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jchang10

Joined: 05 Jul 2006
Posts: 227

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:55 am Post subject: Howdy ! (HAF / Bay Area Flying ... Long)

Hey Gerry... excellent post! a year ago, when you told me you were going 

to build a -10 (even before finishing the -9), I thought to myself yeah 

right. a few months after your first flight, when you had already put 

over 150 hours in the plane, and you said you were still planning to 

build again, i again thought to myself, yeah right. you're too busy 

flying, as i would be too, to ever think about building anything more 

than a paper airplane.



wow, you truly are crazy, ummm, in a most respectful way!  uhoh, now i 

just have to finish before you do!!!



Jae

40533 - finally, entered the Gates of Fiberglass Hell - credit goes to 

AirMike for coining that phrase

http://www.jline.com/log/aviation/build/airframe/fuselage/photos/sec43/index.html

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_________________
#40533 RV-10
First flight 10/19/2011
Phase 1 Done 11/26/2011

gerf(at)gerf.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 11:40 am Post subject: Howdy ! (HAF / Bay Area Flying ... Long)

Its a long, convoluted journey from ordering the tail kit to "lighting the

fires" as, no doubt, you know.  I'm mindful of the fact that one motivator

is now removed - I already have a plane to fly.



We'll see ...



g



DO NOT ARCHIVE



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