ET's Info-Stew

Today Jenny and I did an impromptu flight, planning to go to Salinas (KSNS) then Watsonville (KWVI), then back. This is the flight that we were going to take at night a couple weeks ago, but scrubbed due to lack of proper planning. I learned my lesson and last week came up with a good plan for the flight. Today the weather was forecast to be great, and I was much better prepared, so this was an excellent day. I would be testing myself because it was my first ever attempt to transition some of the complex Bay Area airspace.

Checking out the plane, I noticed that N4658G looked to be overdue for its 100-hour inspection. The person at the desk doing the checkout didn't even know what I was talking about. The person who flew the plane previously said he had just taken it out an it was fine. The right thing to do would have been to ask for another plane, or at least look at the aircraft maintenance to see if the required inspections had been done. But I decided to fly that plane anyway. Bad Eric!

After the preflight I got the ATIS then tuned in the Clearance Delivery frequency. I called twice and never received an answer. So I knew I had to go to ground, but I was a bit out of sorts, so I sorta rambled my way through my request. I eventually got out that I was flying VFR to Salinas with intentions to transition San Jose class C airspace. I neglected to give my desired altitude, like I had practiced. They gave me my squawk code and asked if I was ready to taxi. Uh....no. When we were I called back and we taxied to 28R, took-off and headed south.

We were getting out away from Hayward and I was starting to get worried that I wasn't getting handed off. I had to level off below 2,500 feet because we were near the corner of class B airspace that goes down to 2,500 feet. What if the tower forgot to hand me off to NORCAL Approach? I'd have to find the frequency myself. Fortunately within a minute of me starting to get worried the tower finally handed me off. Interestingly, my communications with NORCAL were as if they hadn't even heard of me and had no idea where I was and where I was going. So I had to stumble my way again through the communication unprepared.

They told me to fly mid-field over Moffet Field at 2,500 feet. Uh...okay. Where's Moffet Field? I started heading for the one big airport that I saw and thankfully recognized the huge hangars on the field shortly after doing so. I proceeded this way and then altered course back toward Salinas, climbing as approved. On the way up I got a lecture from a NORCAL approach controller telling me that I wasn't responding correctly to requests. At the time I thought that they were complaining that I wasn't referring to the controller as NORCAL Approach. So I started doing so a little better. But now that I look back on it, I think they were also upset that I wasn't referring to my full callsign even though they were. So these are some things I need to work on better. I need to pay better attention to the use of my callsign, and I need to learn proper radio phraseology.

After we got over the tall mountains I saw that the entire Monterey Bay seemed to be covered in fog. I told the controller that I would just like to overfly Salinas, the return back north toward Hayward. It was interesting to fly VFR on top. The Monterey airport looked like it was probably clear, but I was a bit overwhelmed, so I wasn't ready to make any deviations yet. It turned out the Salinas airport was still sky clear, though the fog back was only a couple miles away. I decided not to land because we weren't guaranteed to be able to get back off again before the fog rolled in.

So we headed north to South County airport (E16). Off the right we saw Hollister (KCVH). Actually Jenny pointed it out. It was a subtle hint that she wasn't satisfied just flying back to Hayward. I felt less overwhelmed and decided to challenge myself again and make the diversion. It was a small diversion as the field was already in site. I told NORCAL approach my intentions, turned toward the field, and took my time to get the information correct, select the correct runway, and decide upon my approach. I flew over the field at about 4,000 ft. then turned south to make an extended right 270 to enter the downwind leg. I flew south for a few miles to descend and give myself plenty of time to situate in the pattern. There weren't too many people in the pattern yet, but just then plane after plane started calling in.

As I entered the downwind leg, there was another plane who let me sneak in. I executed a pretty good approach and landed well, just a little hard. I felt a little pressure because the guy two planes behind kept emphasizing "extended" downwind and "extended" final. I thought we were about right. Anyway we taxied toward the nearest buildings and there was a sign for visitor parking, saying to follow the green lines. Well these faded green lines went all around the parking area, so I picked a spot hoping it wasn't taken. I never heard any complaints so I guess it was okay. We got out to pee but couldn't dink around because we were already on schedule to land after sunset.

We took off and headed north. We reached 4,500 feet before reaching South County airport, so I called up NORCAL approach. The flight back was way easier. My only direction and altitude changes were necessary to get me off the Oakland approach path. We descended and were handed off to Hayward tower. I made a straight in approach which started off high. But I got on the glideslope and made a very stable approach down to the field. The sun had set 15 or so minutes earlier, so it was starting to get dark...the lights were on. I made another slightly hard landing, but still well within acceptable tolerances. We cleaned up and I left the plane unfueled with the binder in the lock box.

This instructive flight gave me the confidence I need to fly in more complex airspace and to make diversions. It also showed me that I should get better with my radio communication.