By Erik McCarthy

It was an ominous start to the day. I thought I had left early enough to get to the airport by the appointed time, but I forgot that every weekend everyone from LA goes to San Diego, and everyone from San Diego goes to LA, and there’s really only one way to get there: the 5 Freeway which, despite its 4 to 6 lanes, can’t adequately handle that much traffic; southbound traffic came to a screeching halt at the Oceanside VOR. 

My gracious host waited patiently by his Cherokee Six for my delayed arrival - “No worries…”The weather, while passable VFR (read: marginal) at Palomar (KCRQ), was improving as my tardiness wore on – an acceptable trade off. 

Bill and I had been discussing Catalina’s Grand Re-Opening following its runway reconstruction by the Marines, when I casually mentioned that I still hadn’t been there yet. A visit to The Airport in the Sky(KAVX) is seen as a “rite of passage” in Southern California – a must-do – and I’ve been here in California for six years now…

“We’ve got to fix that! Wanna go Saturday?”Um, yes I do!

Bill had made a reservation several weeks in advance of the event, which was expected to draw a hundred or so aircraft, and wanted to get there early to beat the crowd. He’d been there several times, including their “soft” re-opening a couple of weeks earlier, and was very familiar with AVX’s notorious mountaintop runway. This would be a great “introduction” for me.