PIREP SCK

Pirep Stockton (SCK)

Thanks for all the recommendations for Harris ranch, but I decided
that I wasn't up to the challenge of that little runway. I made my
fuel and food stop and Stockton, instead.

I'm sure the food wasn't as good. Maybe the gas ($5.76 a gallon) was
less, but I wouldn't count on that either.

Food: there's a restaurant in the terminal building overlooking the
runways. It's a bright and attractive middlebrow sort of place. It has
a full bar, but as PIC, I didn't have anything stronger than Coke.
Service was fine, but the food was at best uninspired. It was
relatively inexpensive, at least. The bill came to less than $10 for a
sandwich, potatoes and soft drink.

SCK is a Class D airport, but busy for Class D, with scheduled airline
service. There was a big jetliner parked there when I arrived, though
no heavies took off or landed while I was there, at least not that I
noticed.

Approaching from the south, I was initially cleared for the small
runway (29L), but while on relatively short final tower asked me to
switch over to the big one when someone else didn't behave as
expected. No problem. The big runway is big: almost 11,000 feet long
by 150 wide. I was easily able to turn off before the short runway
started, thus avoiding having to cross an active runway, and taxied
over to transient parking with ground control.

There was some traffic but getting in and out was quick and easy.
Though the tower does accommodate the heavy iron, they are more than
used to dealing with spam cans.

All in all, it was an efficient stop, but not much of a destination.