The air in the Los Angeles Basin gets dirty — during the summer months a high-pressure area stabilizes due west of central California and blocks low-pressure weather systems from sweeping away the airborne muck generated by the 10 million inhabitants of Los Angeles County. The positioning of the high creates a semipermanent marine inversion layer that's caused by sinking, warm, high-pressure air aloft interacting with the much cooler marine-layer air near the surface. The result is haze and limited visibilities.
L.A.-area pilots don't have to contend with tropical storms that southeastern U.S. pilots have to contend with, or the towering thunder bumpers that move through the Midwest — but it's common to get a METAR that reports clear below 12,000 feet and 3-mile visibility in haze. Compounding the problem of limited visibilities for VFR pilots is the volume of jet traffic that flies into and out of the Basin on a round-the-clock basis. What are the strategies that a VFR pilot should use to survive and thrive in the Basin?
Learn the routes
The first tool that every pilot flying in the Basin, or planning a flight through Basin airspace, must have is a current Los Angeles area chart. Unfold it and take a look on the back. An orderly thatch of blue lines crisscrosses the Basin — these mark suggested VFR flyways and altitudes. The sentence on the back of the chart says it all: "VFR flyways are designed to help VFR pilots avoid major controlled traffic flows."
These flyways are intended to provide routings that are alternatives to flight within Class B and Class C airspace. In other words, pilots utilizing flyway routings are not required to obtain air traffic control (ATC) clearances for these routings — following the altitudes and flyways keeps pilots clear of airspace that requires a clearance. Of course, establishing contact with ATC for traffic advisories and flight following is always advisable, especially during periods of reduced visibility.
The flyway planning chart, which AOPA helped in its conception, shows five-letter identifiers scattered throughout the Basin and at almost every turn on every flyway. These identifiers — such as VPLDL over Disneyland — identify VFR checkpoints and define flyway checkpoints. This is especially valuable when haze thickens, preventing the visual identification of landmarks. The Disneyland identifier enables pilots to steer clear of the temporary flight restriction (TFR) that has been in place over the park for years. Each five-letter identifier is a GPS waypoint. Combining VFR flyways with airport GPS identifiers simplifies flying to and finding destination airports during flights in low visibility.
As an example, a flight across the Basin from the Northwest to Palm Springs is easy. Simply create a GPS flight plan by entering the waypoints that correspond to each turn in the flyway — in this case the sequence would be VPLMM (Magic Mountain); VPLTW (Tujunga Wash and Foothill); VPLRT (Santa Anita Race Track); VPLCC (Chaffey College); and L12 (Redlands Municipal Airport) to BNG (Banning Municipal Airport), which is the eastern exit to the Basin. If these waypoints aren't in the GPS database, then it's time for an update.
Each VFR flyway also is marked with a preferred altitude. These vary from "above 5,000" to "above 4,500" in the vicinity of Ontario International Airport to "above 5,500" east of that same airport. In this case, the pilot's magnetic course would dictate a cruising altitude of any odd-thousand feet msl plus 500 feet for magnetic courses from zero to 179 degrees — 5,500, 7,500, or 9,500 feet msl are all options for this flight.
Flip it over
On the front side of the chart are five VFR transition routes across the western part of the L.A. Basin (the fifth, called the Coliseum route, has just been added). The routes are varied enough so that there is one to fit every airplane and every pilot's whims.
Let's look at the two low-altitude routes first. There's one called the Mini route, which connects Santa Monica Municipal Airport and the airport at Hawthorne. When flying northwestbound (toward Santa Monica) pilots must stay clear of Class B airspace (the floor is at the surface in the vicinity of Los Angeles International Airport [LAX]) until an ATC clearance is received. Clearances are obtained by speaking with Hawthorne Tower when northwestbound and Santa Monica Tower when southeastbound. When a clearance is required and those towers are closed, contact Los Angeles Tower on 119.1 MHz. This route is flown at 2,500 feet msl.
The next transition route is the Los Angeles Special Flight Rules Area. This route is flown on the Santa Monica Municipal 132-degree radial and crosses Los Angeles at 3,500 feet when proceeding southeast and 4,500 feet when flying northeast. An ATC clearance is not required to fly this route — but all airplanes flying this route must switch their transponders to 1201 when they are within the Los Angeles Class B airspace. Pilots must provide their own traffic avoidance by maintaining the correct altitude and by making position announcements on 128.55. A typical announcement might sound like this: "Los Angeles Special Flight Rules Area traffic, Cessna 1234, over LAX at 4,500 feet."
The third transition route is the Shoreline route that is flown at an ATC-assigned altitude between 5,500 and 6,500 feet msl. This route requires ATC clearance to enter Class B airspace. Contact SOCAL Approach on 134.2 in the vicinity of Van Nuys VOR for clearance when arriving from the north, and in the vicinity of the Seal Beach VOR on 127.2 when arriving from the south. This applies to all traffic except airplanes departing from Long Beach, Torrance, Hawthorne, or Santa Monica airports — they need to contact SOCAL Tracon on 134.9 to use the Shoreline route.
This procedure requires southbound users to enter the Class B airspace abeam the Sepulveda Pass on the LAX 323 radial, proceed to the LAX VOR, and then fly south to the Vincent Thomas Bridge (VPLVT) on the LAX 123 radial. Northbound users reverse the process.
The high-transition routes
There are two transition routes through the LAX Class B airspace that are flown at ATC-assigned altitudes between 8,500 and 10,000 feet msl. The Coliseum route — the newest route, which appeared for the first time on the July 7, 2005, edition of the L.A. VFR terminal area chart — requires that users be established on V23 south of the Seal Beach VOR if flying northwestbound before contacting SOCAL Approach on 124.1, or the 125-degree radial off the Van Nuys VOR before contacting SOCAL Approach on 124.6 when flying southeastbound. After an ATC clearance and altitude are obtained, navigate via the Seal Beach 306 radial and Van Nuys 125 radial, depending on direction of flight, until clear of Class B airspace.
The last transition route — the Hollywood Park route — is very similar to the Coliseum route except that altitudes up to 10,000 feet may be assigned, and the route is defined by the 140-degree radial off Van Nuys. The route goes directly over Hollywood Park racetrack — located approximately three miles off and directly in line with the long runways at LAX — before ending at the Queen Mary (VPLQM) in Long Beach. ATC will issue a clearance to enter Class B airspace and assign an altitude. Contact SOCAL Approach on 134.9 for clearance at both ends of the Hollywood Park route.
Flying in the L.A. Basin doesn't have to be intimidating. The terminal area chart is the key. Study it to determine the most efficient route, use a GPS to locate flyways and airports, and take some time with a flight instructor to review special VFR requirements. Then the report of "clear below 12,000, 3-mile visibility in haze" won't stop your flying enjoyment.
E-mail the author at [email protected].
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