On Mar 18, 7:03 am, "Cecil Chapman"
wrote:
Question for those of you that live in the So Calif area. As early a
morning crossing as possible (taking account winds are low at the 'top')
would seem warranted, but for crossing back to Nor Calif, when is the best
time to head back over the pass for max passenger comfort, on the way back?
Most of the pilots up here that I ask, generally tell me to avoid it if the
winds at the pass are 20 knots plus and the other caveat they include is to
avoid early afternoons over the pass.
I've flown over and back the Donner Pass and early as possible seems to be
way to go there, so I was just trying to transfer the same rationale to the
pass (although much lower than Donner) at Gorman.
Ideas?
--
=-----
Good Flights!
Cecil E. Chapman
CFI-A, CP-ASEL-IA
Reid-Hillview Airport, San Jose, California
Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the
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Complete with pictures and text at:www.bayareapilot.com
"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -
"We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with
this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"
- Cecil Day Lewis -
Cecil
Having flown the Gorman area hundreds of times, the only time I recall
any real roughness was during high winds as in Santana winds. Probably
the best idea is to go over as high as you are comfortable. Depending
on where you are going you can stay high to avoid the turbulence and
still make a decent approach while avoiding the class B airspace out
of LAX. I based out of SNA and VNY for nearly 20 years.
As a general rule of thumb though, early/late is the best time to
avoid turbulence in the mountains anywhere.
BTW, some of the most dangerous ice I ever picked up was just east of
Gorman at Lake Hughes on a return from Fresno. It had me sweating
bullets while the boots were fighting to keep ice
reasonable....wheeeew! Not much room for fooling around in that area
when you are IFR. Of more concern is the crappy visibility that
usually hangs around the LA basin and the high density traffic.
OS&B