Best West Coast fly-in spots

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Colin
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First Name: Colin
Aircraft Type: DA42
Aircraft Registration: N972RD
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Re: Best West Coast fly-in spots

Post by Colin »

I have dozens of landings at KAVX, which is like landing on an aircraft carrier. I love it. There is a two mile hike around the airport, which is wonderful.

There are two things to be alert two when landing: the runway was constructed by lopping off the tops of two hills and pushing the debris between them. It's possible they were a little lazy about leveling out the whole mess. There's a hump midway down the runway, which means the instant you *land* you cannot see the far end. Don't panic. If you landed on speed and in the first quarter of the runway you'll be fine.

The other is the warning usually issue in articles and notes about the airport: Because it has a steep drop off at either end, a stiff breeze down the runway will create a downdraft right at the approach end. When I was first flew out I was terrified, but it just wasn't a big deal. After one of my trips I sat down and considered the speed of the wind down the runway and realized that if it was significant you could aim for a spot further down the runway and increase your angle of descent, since your ground speed would be lower. That way you'd fly through the downdraft at a higher AGL, less risk. Gusty winds are more of a problem.

On takeoff don't let the ground dropping away freak you out. Apparently that has been the root of a couple accidents where pilots yanked back on the yoke and mushed into the field past the runway end.

I've only done one IFR departure from there. It was uneventful.
Colin Summers, PP Multi-Engine IFR, ~3,000hrs
colin@mightycheese.com * send email rather than PM
http://www.flyingsummers.com
N972RD DA42 G1000 2.0 s/n 42.AC100 (sold!)
N971RD DA40 G1000 s/n 40.508 (traded)
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