San Francisco Bay Tour

Part of my objective during my stay in San Francisco was to meet up with Jason Miller of The Finer Points and to do some flying together. You know….”fly your best”…We were planning to do a little mountain flying, since the 200ft hill that Richard Downing (I40) sits on is the highest mountain around. Unfortunately, the weather up in the mountains wasn’t very good, and Jason was not feeling well, so we bummed around California Airways at Hayward Executive Airport and went for a Bay Tour with Paul Smythe, a young instructor pursuing his aeronautical degree with Embry-Riddle.

After speaking with Keith Amaro, the proprietor at California Airways, about the choices of flying machines available, we settled on N182BG, a newer 2005 Cessna 182, equipped with the G1000. It was a heavy beast compared to the C172 that I am used to getting in. Kind of like driving a Ford F-350 Super Duty Crew Cab around. Nimble doesn’t exactly describe the 182. Overall, there were a few differences, but nothing too intimidating, sort of a weird combination of my 172 experience and my DA40/G1000 experience in a much heavier aircraft. It was a nice looking airplane, however...3-blade prop!

N182BG ready for departure!

After we left the ground in Hayward, I was SOOOO glad that Paul was along to smoothly handle the radio work. The SF bay area has some seriously complicated airspace! In 15nm, we went through three controlling agencies (Class D, Class C, and Approach, all under a Class B shelf) and had seen about 15-20 aircraft ranging from Cessnas to Boeing 747s. It was REALLY cool. I was really excited – “OOoo! There’s a 777! Look at that! Isn’t that cool? Check out that A320 on final approach! That’s an Emb145 to your 10 o’clock!” I think you get the picture. If not, merely accompany me to any airport and substitute “777” and “737” for “Long-EZ” or “SR20”.

After preflight, we taxied out, took off from Runway 10R, and flew up the bay from Hayward, turning west past the Bay Bridge, and towards the Golden Gate Bridge. We flew over Alcatraz and part of the city of San Francisco. It was really fun, and all the time there was endless radio chatter and Paul kept talking with NORCAL approach and reporting traffic and position. One of the neatest things was to be flying along with ‘heavy’ aircraft crossing overhead with about 1000ft clearance, they just felt SO close, and it was pretty exciting to see that many aircraft in the air at one time. Conditions were beautiful – a slight 7-8kt wind out of the southeast and decent visibility throughout the bay. The Bay is a really beautiful area, and really pretty from the air, plus you don't have to slog through traffic on the ground!

Hayward Executive (HWD) from the air

Bay Bridge & Yerba Buena Island

The Rock and The Bridge

Yerba Buena Island

Looking South over the Presidio towards Lincoln Park

Looking East at the whole country from behind the Golden Gate Bridge

Downtown SF - Can you see the hills?

Alcatraz from 12 o'clock high

Fisherman's Wharf & the Presidio is below, Marin County is ahead

Check out the tank farm on the hill at this oil refinery in Richmond, CA!

Looking east at Mt. Diablo. Rather impressive, don't you think?

Oakland International Airport

After the standard Bay Tour, we flew across the peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose to fly over Half-Moon Bay. Half-Moon Bay is on the coast, and is in a really nice locaion.

Half-Moon Bay

Getting some hang time over the Pacific Ocean

Look at the taxi-ways! HAF takes up a lot of valuable real estate!

After careful consideration, I think that the DA40 was the right choice over the C182. The 182 felt like I was driving a full size truck. It was okay, lots of power, lots of payload, but also lots of weight – I’ll bet that it handles turbulence fairly well, but I can envision a lot of queasy rear passengers because of the limited rear visibility. The sight picture for rear passengers really isn’t that great. MAN are those IO-560’s thirsty! It was sucking about 11-12GPH @ 130kts. The DA40 will still make 115-120kts at 7gph. That’s saving me about $15-$20/hr! Trucks are good for haulin’ stuff. But when I go flying, I’d rather have a lighter-feeling aircraft that really wants to fly. It’s hard to beat the DA40 for sheer flyability (is that a word?). I know, I know....build an RV and I won't be happy with anything else:). I'll think about it, Steve....