Flying into Writing: Amazing Contrast

By Eric McCarthyI recently had the opportunity to fly with a good friend, Rich, in his beautifully maintained C-172. Our flight was to take us from Imperial County Airport (KIPL) to our home base, McClellan-Palomar (KCRQ). The contrast in terrain and weather along our route could not have been greater. Imperial sits 54’ below sea level in the middle of a vast agricultural area south of the Salton Sea, and even though we departed before noon, with clear skies, it was already hot.Departing from IPL, we skirted El Centro Naval Air Facility’s airspace (KNJK) and joined V458 westbound to the KUMBA intersection, where V458 turns northwest bound to the Julian VOR (JLI). Just a few miles west of El Centro, the terrain changes dramatically from the miles and miles of lush greens and dormant browns of agricultural fields, to desolate gray desert, punctuated sporadically with cactus and hardy low bushes. The terrain starts to rise significantly as well, with peaks more than 6,000 feet, just 40 miles west of below-sea-level Imperial Valley.It’s a long climb to 8,500 feet, the altitude we’ll need to comfortably clear Julian on our westerly heading. We reach our cruising altitude somewhere near Agua Caliente Springs Airport (L54), which appears, from 8,500 feet, to be a well-maintained airport in the middle of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It is completely devoid of aircraft and any other signs of life, but remoteness is part of the appeal of this area. Mount Laguna looms nearby, and somewhere below are the namesake natural hot springs that draw visitors.We’re still over desert at this point, but the mountains just to the west and in front of us are beginning to show signs of forestation. By the time we reach Julian, the mountains have been clothed in trees; there are still areas where there are no trees—hillside meadows and grazing land for animals—but we’ve definitely left the desert, and we’re back in familiar territory. Looking west we can now see the marine layer that covers our destination. Earlier in the day, I had seen the blanket of clouds hovering over the last crest of the mountains before they plunged to the desert floor, windmill blades slicing through the thin cloud cover to the sunshine above. The clouds have receded considerably at this point but still linger over the coastal plain.A check of the ATIS at Palomar reveals that the ceiling is 1,700 feet with light winds and visibility of 10 miles, plenty for us to continue VFR. As we descend from Julian, we can see that the clouds have pushed a little further west at the San Pasqual Valley formed by the Santa Ysabel Creek just north of Ramona Airport (KRNM). Conveniently, the valley will allow us extra time and distance to descend below the cloud deck.We’re still in CAVU conditions as we contact Ramona tower to transition their airspace, and it isn’t until we exit the valley over the San Diego Wild Animal Park that we reach the clouds. Descending continuously since passing Julian, we pass under the overcast and turn toward Escondido. We call Palomar tower for our landing instructions, and we we’re told to remain south of the approach course to runway 24 and report Lake San Marcos. With both the airport and the lake in sight from 10+ plus miles away, this is an easy VFR approach, resulting in an uneventful arrival.In a short, on the one-hour flight, covering about 100 miles, we went from below sea level, lush agricultural lands, and hot, dry sunshine, through the barren gray desert landscape over the forested coastal mountain range, and down into the cool overcast of the densely populated coastal plain. There are amazing contrasts here in southern California.I don’t do ‘harrowing.’As a postscript to that flight, along the way, Rich had taken a couple of photos and posted one to Facebook with the coastal cloud deck off the nose (above). In his post, he mentioned that we “had to do some scud running to get home”–a bit of an exaggeration. Well, this prompted one of my friends back east to comment about “…what may have been a harrowing flight.” Just to set the record straight, while we had to transition from clear skies to a relatively low overcast, we evaluated the reported weather and determined that we would be able to conduct our flight safely in VFR conditions. Both Rich and I are instrument rated pilots––I’m not current, but Rich is, so if we had felt the need, we would have requested an IFR clearance and flown the ILS into Palomar. As I related, that was not necessary; Palomar was reporting conditions well above VFR minimums, and we enjoyed an unexciting flight to the airport beneath the clouds—just the way we like it!Have I got a deal for you!A few weeks ago, one of my Civil Air Patrol colleagues asked if I would fly with him as safety pilot while he did his IFR currency flying. Jerry’s a multi-thousand hour CFII and I always like to be able to “look over the shoulder” of proficient pilots to learn their approaches to flying, so of course I said yes. In return, he offered to buy me lunch––I should have suspected something right then. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good lunch, and I would have gone along regardless, but little did I know that he was going to spend a whopping dollar on me! I mean, I felt special––up until then! Seriously, this is a deal pilots all over the southland should take advantage of: Million Air is offering pilots flying into their FBO lunch for a dollar at the terminal’s Jet-a-way Cafe at March Air Reserve Base (KRIV)—can’t beat that!Jerry belongs to, and teaches at, the March Aero Club, and he’d brought me on base before for a flight, but I didn’t realize that general aviation was allowed at the Air Reserve Base. In fact, I thought I’d heard of practice ILS approaches always terminating with a missed approach because GA wasn’t allowed to touch down on the military field. Apparently, I was wrong, but I wonder if others labor under the same misconception.Several years ago, the base was “realigned” by the Air Force, and this created the opportunity to open it up as a joint-use airport, supporting both military and GA traffic. The airport has two runways, one more than 13,000 feet long, the other just over 3,000 feet, plenty long enough for most GA aircraft except the jets. If you decide to fly there, you may be sharing the airspace with our military brethren—KC-135refuelers and C-17 Globemasters call March home, as do F-15 air defense alert aircraft—so make sure you’re in touch with “March GCA” when you enter their Class C airspace.Ground control will direct you around and away from any military activity to the terminal building on the southeast side of the field. The food was good, and the FBO facilities are first-rate, offering a conference room, pilot briefing area, WIFI—even a movie theater! Million Air is trying to get the word out and draw in new customers for their FBO. So go drop in on them, buy some gas, and enjoy a nice lunch.More G1000 PracticeOne of the many benefits of membership in CAP is the opportunity to fly with so many different airmen and check pilots, each with unique experience and insights to offer. In CAP, we re-qualify as pilots each year in a process known as a Form 5. It’s the equivalent of a Flight Review, except we do it annually. It’s a great opportunity to review and expand our skills as pilots.Civil Air Patrol requires a special endorsement to fly G1000-equiped aircraft, something that is becoming more prevalent within our fleet, so our squadron organized a Form 5/G1000 checkout weekend. Several of our own instructor and check pilots needed checkouts, and we were fortunate to be able to enlist the help of a few instructors and check pilots from other squadrons to help with the training—two of them joined us for the weekend from their homes in the Reno, Nev. area––how’s that for dedication?Form 5s, like Flight Reviews, tend to raise the anxiety levels of pilots, myself included. We always wonder if we’ll “measure up” to the instructor or check pilots’ expectations. I have to say, having recently flown with at least four CAP check pilots in the last couple of months, my anxiety was unfounded. I never felt that anyone was trying to “bust” me; an occasional, gentle correction was welcomed as informative instruction. Each of these guys were there to make sure I was capable of flying the airplane safely, and, once satisfied that that was the case, they were delighted in helping me understand how to use the G1000, autopilot and other systems efficiently and effectively. I learned so much from each of them, and I know that I am a better pilot for having flown with them. Thank you, gentlemen!That’s all for now. Until next time, fly safe!