It looks like I'll be moving to the San Fernando Valley.

I don't know exactly where I'll be living but I expect to
have reasonable access to VNY, WHB and BUR. I'm looking for
recommendations, postive or negative, for airports, FBO's,
clubs, etc. I'm a private pilot with no professional aviation
aspirations.

On 19 May 2005 06:51:33 -0700, "xxx" > wrote:

>It looks like I'll be moving to the San Fernando Valley.
>
>I don't know exactly where I'll be living but I expect to
>have reasonable access to VNY, WHB and BUR. I'm looking for
>recommendations, postive or negative, for airports, FBO's,
>clubs, etc. I'm a private pilot with no professional aviation
>aspirations.

All three are flyable for GA aircraft, but Burbank has a lot of
scheduled commercial activity that can delay departures and
arrivals.

Van Nuys has some jet traffic, but it's all corporate or privately
owned. Most of the traffic is piston engine GA.

Whiteman is all piston engine (I think) GA traffic.

If you are IFR rated, VNY is probably your best choice.

I learned to fly at VNY and still fly from there. It's busy, but is
easily handled and ATC personnel there are some of the best in the
business. For FBO's, I fly out of Van Nuys Flight Center. They are
a Cessna dealer so the rental planes are all new or nearly new
Cessnas... 172, 182, 206 and a couple of Trinidads.

Ron

You've got to be ****ting me. The ATC personnel at VNY have to be the dregs
of the keg. I've had more ATC induced near collisions at VNY than anywhere
else I've ever flown. We're talking five thousand hours here, and a lot of
them at high volume airports.

Jim





> I learned to fly at VNY and still fly from there. It's busy, but is
> easily handled and ATC personnel there are some of the best in the
> business.

In article . com>,
"xxx" > wrote:

> It looks like I'll be moving to the San Fernando Valley.

Welcome!

> I don't know exactly where I'll be living but I expect to
> have reasonable access to VNY, WHB and BUR. I'm looking for
> recommendations, postive or negative, for airports, FBO's,
> clubs, etc. I'm a private pilot with no professional aviation
> aspirations.

What's your budget? Socal offers almost unlimited possibilities
depending on how much money you want to spend. Are you looking to rent
a 152 or hangar your BBJ? You can do it all here, and everything in
between.

rg

On Fri, 20 May 2005 03:19:24 GMT, OP > wrote in
>::

>Burbank has a lot of scheduled commercial activity that can
>delay departures and arrivals.

Hey, but think of all the fun LAHSO practice you get. :-)

Ron Garret wrote:


> What's your budget? Socal offers almost unlimited possibilities
> depending on how much money you want to spend. Are you looking to
rent
> a 152 or hangar your BBJ? You can do it all here, and everything in
> between.

Rent a 152.

Maybe eventually hangar something still in the same class (fixed-gear
single) but just a little more capable.

I trained for and received my PPL immediately before moving (as in, I
took my checkride something like 10 hours before starting the long
drive north) and my new town has limited rental options. Various
flavors of Cessna, but no Pipers, Cirrus, etc. There's a tailwheel for
rent as soon as I get my endorsement, but it's given me something to
think about: I miss the variety in LA.

When you move there, if it's something you'd be interested in, take
advantage of the many different types of aircraft available for renters
and get checked out in some different rides. It sounds like a lot of
fun and without a lot of driving, it's not something I can do easilly
(so I immediately desire it, of course).

Just an idea for a fun activity for freetime...

On 20 May 2005 07:07:48 -0700, "xxx" > wrote:

>
>Ron Garret wrote:
>
>
>> What's your budget? Socal offers almost unlimited possibilities
>> depending on how much money you want to spend. Are you looking to
>rent
>> a 152 or hangar your BBJ? You can do it all here, and everything in
>> between.
>
>Rent a 152.
>
>Maybe eventually hangar something still in the same class (fixed-gear
>single) but just a little more capable.

OK, Van Nuys Flight Center does not have any 152's. I believe that
American Aviation at the south end of VNY has some older Cessna's
and may have a 152. There used to be several FBO's at VNY that had
152's for rent. The two that I used to rent 152's from, Green
Hornets and West Winds, no longer exist.

Whiteman may have 152's, but I don't know the name of any FBO's
there. A quick google search on Whiteman should turn up the schools
and maybe a web site with aircraft for rent listings. My advice
would be to move up to at least a 172... you'll find a lot more
aircraft available to rent.

Ron

In article >,
OP > wrote:

> On 19 May 2005 06:51:33 -0700, "xxx" > wrote:
>
> >It looks like I'll be moving to the San Fernando Valley.
> >
> >I don't know exactly where I'll be living but I expect to
> >have reasonable access to VNY, WHB and BUR. I'm looking for
> >recommendations, postive or negative, for airports, FBO's,
> >clubs, etc. I'm a private pilot with no professional aviation
> >aspirations.
>
> All three are flyable for GA aircraft, but Burbank has a lot of
> scheduled commercial activity that can delay departures and
> arrivals.
>
> Van Nuys has some jet traffic, but it's all corporate or privately
> owned. Most of the traffic is piston engine GA.
>
> Whiteman is all piston engine (I think) GA traffic.
>
> If you are IFR rated, VNY is probably your best choice.

I wouldn't list an instrument rating as a prerequisite for flying out of
VNY, just a willingness to put up with being around a lot of jets. All
the Hollywood celebs fly out of VNY (or SMO) so we see a lot of
Gulfstreams there. VNY is the busiest GA airport in the world and it
can be a little intimidating at first.

If you want something a little more low key WHP is definitely the best
bet. A step up from there but more of a shlep is EMT. There are at
least two FBOs there that have a good selection of low-end Cessnas.
It's not quite as sleepy as WHP, but not nearly as hairy as VNY.

Burbank, ironically, is actually less busy than VNY because there's very
little GA on the field. There was a flight school with some smaller
pistons in the southwest corner a while back, but I can't remember what
they are called. Other than that, and the odd training flight that
comes in just for the novelty of landing at a Class C airport, BUR all
jets all the time.

We've also got SMO and Torrance across the hills. SMO is definitely
worth checking out. It has one of the best on-field restaurants
anywhere (the Typhoon -- poor choice of name for an on-field restaurant
IMHO). I've never been to Torrance.

rg

i started at VNY for first 15-20 hours, then moved to colorado and
finished at small non-towered aiport

i'm glad i did it that way and loved it. got thrown right into ATC
experience: ground control, approach, VFR corridors over LAX, etc

got it all down so doing my cross countries and longer flights were a
breeze when it came to ATC and other ground control