Business, Pseudo-Charter, & Sunset Flight all Wrapped in One

Posted on Jul 17, 2010

N4335K...Archer II. My bird for the afternoon.

N4335K...Archer II. My bird for the afternoon.

Combining Business & Pseudo-Charter

So last week I took my first flight for business purposes and my first flight into Petaluma airport, which is about 10 minutes from the world headquarters of KG Technologies (my client for over a year). Originally, I was scheduled to fly up to Napa Airport yesterday to drop off a lady enroute to watching her son’s amateur baseball game. Low and behold, the game was moved to the Sonoma area and thus our destination changed to Petaluma. It really wasn’t a big deal since the airports are only about 12 miles apart. Since I was flying back into the Petaluma area, I used it as an opportunity to hold a brief meeting with KG to discuss our project and my potential trip to China next month.

I arrived at San Carlos airport (SQL) at 3pm and preflighted the aircraft. I always like arriving about an hour before my scheduled departure with passengers because it gives me enough time to wind down from my hectic day, preflight the plane, check the weather, and have a few minutes to chill before they arrive. Yesterday was no different and given that there weren’t any issues that arose during preflight, I had extra time to spare.

Denise (my passenger) arrived at 4:15p and after quick briefing, runup, and flight following request, we departed out of SQL shortly after 4:30p. Denise had flown previously with my friend Patrick in his Warrior (N2211Z) out of SQL, so I didn’t need to spend alot of time preparing her for flight in general aviation aircraft. I could tell Patrick prepared her well the first time they flew because she knew how to behave as a passenger in the co-pilot seat. She was so amped for the flight that it really made my job easy.

The Flight to Petaluma

We departed SQL on the Belmont Slough Departure, climbed to 1200 ft, and headed NE towards Hayward (HWD). Once I picked up NorCal Approach, they gave me permission to bypass HWD and head direct for Oakland Airport. This helped save maybe a couple of minutes on the flight. At OAK, we were cleared up to 2000ft and beyond OAK, I received clearance through SFO Class B up to 4500ft. The flight was only about 25 minutes and 48nm. So we were only at about 4500ft for about 10 minutes before reaching Gnoss airport (DVO) and beginning our descent down to 2000ft. During our descent, we switched over to Petaluma Traffic (radio) and heard a Cirrus on approach into Petaluma at around the same location as us. He was a bit higher and just a couple of miles behind us, but he was also a Cirrus (i.e. about 20-50kph faster than us). But the beauty of uncontrolled radio communications is that you can really take the time to communicate back and forth with the other pilots to ensure a safe and effective traffic pattern. He didn’t pick us up immediately but decided to extend his approach to allow us to perform a mid-field cross and approach into Petaluma.

On approach, I did better at hitting my speeds and I really focused on making the best approach possible. It was Denise’s first flight with me and, as all pilots know, the landing is the thing people remember the most. It also didn’t help that I mentioned to her that landings were something I’ve received great compliments on; so there was a bit of self-induced pressure. Right before we crossed the threshold, I decided to go with full flaps to allow the aircraft to settle a bit more gently and it worked to perfection. I couldn’t have made a better landing!

Denise beeming with excitement (and relief that we arrived on time).

Denise beaming with excitement (and relief that we arrived on time).

The Sunset Flight Home

After dropping off Denise and spending three hours hanging with Phil (my college roommate and owner/president of KG Technologies), I headed back to the airport at 7:30p. The fog was starting to roll in again similar to my flight 5 days prior. The airport (which does have automated weather reporting…contrary to my original belief) was reporting few clouds at 1000ft. So just like my departure last weekend, I departed probably about 15-20 minutes before the airport would have been shut down to VFR flight. And as I turned downwind and departed south, I outran and climbed above the approaching fog layer.

The fog slowly creeping towards the Petaluma airport.

The fog slowly creeping towards the Petaluma airport.

Peace out pesky Petaluma fog.

Peace out pesky Petaluma fog.

The fog was also pretty thick over the SFO and OAK areas on my arrival back to SQL. Thankfully, NorCal allowed me to stay above the layer and gave me clearance through Class B again. This allowed me to receive vectoring south of OAK and HWD (which also had few clouds) before turning back towards the northwest to SQL.

Flying over the Oakland Hills with Mt. Diablo off in the distance.

Flying over the Oakland Hills with Mt. Diablo off in the distance.

SF was completely blanketed in fog. It was gorgeous from 3200 ft.

SF was completely blanketed in fog. It was gorgeous from 3200 ft.

I had to wait for a Southwest 737 on approach into OAK to pass me on my right side before making my turn into the bay towards SQL. Just as I turned, I spotted the beautiful view of the setting sun over the fog layer covering the entire city of SF. I was a great way to end a fun flight and an amazing day. Luckily, I didn’t have any issues picking up SQL at dusk (which can be difficult for those unfamiliar with the area). But having a Garmin GPS430 helped me flying the right direction until I could pick up the cement plant (visual marker) and then the airport.

Another beautiful SF Sunset.

Another beautiful SF sunset.

After another good approach with stable speeds and a full flap landing, I headed off the runway and to parking. I love arriving into SQL, because unlike Palo Alto Airport, I don’t have to taxi for another 5-7 minutes to parking. The parking at SQL is less then a minute from the main runway. Trust me…it helps save a few bucks.

I concluded yesterday’s flight with an indescrible high. I took another passenger up for the first time, I was able to have a very productive business meeting, and I was able to enjoy my own sunset bay tour flight. It was amazing and even after two years of being a private pilot, I still can’t believe I’m able to do things like these. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully, soon I’ll start taking day and weekend trips to local and regional destinations for business and pleasure. I love it and it’s only just beginning.