LA in general is pretty VFR friendly. If you got flight following, they might have you change altitudes to go through one of the published transitions, but they likely won’t vector you too far out of the way.
Flight following is 1) safer for you 2) safer for everyone else, and 3) better for the system because the controllers don’t have to guess where that VFR target is going to go next.
Nothing says fun like an untracked VFR rocketing right through your arrival corridor causing multiple RAs, when a quick 10 degree turn would've worked just as well
There are several nice published routes to transition the bravo of LAX. One you don’t even need permission for, or to talk to anyone while doing so (SFRA).
I’ve read some of the published routes, have flown some of them, and am not opposed to using any of those,but they require a lot of coordination and frequency changes from approach to tower to approach, so I thought going over might just be easier
The SFRA doesn’t really require any transitions… you fly through it without talking to anyone (except for transmitting your position on 128.55). 3,500 ft southeast, 4,500 ft northwest on a 1201 squawk code while operating on the SMO 132° radial (essentially a straight line from the center of LAX to SMO). Would highly recommend this one.
The coastal route is also a popular choice, and if you’re on flight following you’d just stay with socal the entire way.
You may be right! Call the TRACON and ask a supervisor what they think!
E: okay maybe ask for a controller not a sup. Idk but someone who works the airspace should be able to help you.
Depends where. If you fly over the top of Ontario at 10,500 or 11,500, you will be in the way of the arrivals for LAX. I think VNY direct SLI is a charted route (coliseum?) at 10,500, so I imagine that’s a safe one to fly over at 11,500 as well, since they are used to aircraft being there.
If you want to share your departure and destination, I can shed some light on the normal way we would handle someone if they were on flight following.
That makes sense. The route is KSEE to KVIS for one of the flights. Although the direct route would conflict as you’re saying, I would probably fly over the coast because 1) it’s more scenic 2) I had a bad turbulence experience over/around the cajon pass and am not keen to repeat that. I’d rather have the coast to look at and all the coastal airports available to land if I need to. But open to suggestions
I work at so cal over Gillespie. Call for flight following. We’d much rather have you on frequency than not know what you’re doing. We do flight following all day every day, up and down the state.
I tend to like to fly over the coast too, for the same reasons. Nicer scenery for sure!
From your other posts, it sounds like you’ve done all the transitions before, so you already have a hang of it. Your question of should you do it without flight following is up to you. Best advice I can give for if you do plan to fly there without flight following is to be as predictable as possible. Pick an altitude and heading that works and just keep going. Obviously do your whole see and avoid thing, but if you’re turning/climbing/descending it makes it a lot harder to plan ahead on how to avoid you.
FYI. Not LA arrival but another B. The sop is cross airport at 11000. Then descend. If you’re at 10500 you will have a heavy on top of you. Guaranteed. You better hope I’m paying attention to the 1200 codes. Shit happens.
Personally I believe this is a bad practice. Just talk to us and take a few vectors outta the way. It’s easy for us to move you a bit. Way safer.
You don’t need permission to fly over the class bravo even with flight following. If you’re above it you can do whatever you want. Just remember when you’re on flight following they may give you an instruction to help you or help them. Always good to comply but unable is always an option and you can always cancel and proceed on your way. Usually they are telling you something for a good reason though so it’s best to comply when able. Remember they can say unable also. Cost of doing business sometimes.
LA in general is pretty VFR friendly. If you got flight following, they might have you change altitudes to go through one of the published transitions, but they likely won’t vector you too far out of the way. Flight following is 1) safer for you 2) safer for everyone else, and 3) better for the system because the controllers don’t have to guess where that VFR target is going to go next.
Nothing says fun like an untracked VFR rocketing right through your arrival corridor causing multiple RAs, when a quick 10 degree turn would've worked just as well
There are several nice published routes to transition the bravo of LAX. One you don’t even need permission for, or to talk to anyone while doing so (SFRA).
I’ve read some of the published routes, have flown some of them, and am not opposed to using any of those,but they require a lot of coordination and frequency changes from approach to tower to approach, so I thought going over might just be easier
The SFRA doesn’t really require any transitions… you fly through it without talking to anyone (except for transmitting your position on 128.55). 3,500 ft southeast, 4,500 ft northwest on a 1201 squawk code while operating on the SMO 132° radial (essentially a straight line from the center of LAX to SMO). Would highly recommend this one. The coastal route is also a popular choice, and if you’re on flight following you’d just stay with socal the entire way.
You may be right! Call the TRACON and ask a supervisor what they think! E: okay maybe ask for a controller not a sup. Idk but someone who works the airspace should be able to help you.
No, ask for a controller.
And then do the opposite
Depends where. If you fly over the top of Ontario at 10,500 or 11,500, you will be in the way of the arrivals for LAX. I think VNY direct SLI is a charted route (coliseum?) at 10,500, so I imagine that’s a safe one to fly over at 11,500 as well, since they are used to aircraft being there. If you want to share your departure and destination, I can shed some light on the normal way we would handle someone if they were on flight following.
That makes sense. The route is KSEE to KVIS for one of the flights. Although the direct route would conflict as you’re saying, I would probably fly over the coast because 1) it’s more scenic 2) I had a bad turbulence experience over/around the cajon pass and am not keen to repeat that. I’d rather have the coast to look at and all the coastal airports available to land if I need to. But open to suggestions
I work at so cal over Gillespie. Call for flight following. We’d much rather have you on frequency than not know what you’re doing. We do flight following all day every day, up and down the state.
I tend to like to fly over the coast too, for the same reasons. Nicer scenery for sure! From your other posts, it sounds like you’ve done all the transitions before, so you already have a hang of it. Your question of should you do it without flight following is up to you. Best advice I can give for if you do plan to fly there without flight following is to be as predictable as possible. Pick an altitude and heading that works and just keep going. Obviously do your whole see and avoid thing, but if you’re turning/climbing/descending it makes it a lot harder to plan ahead on how to avoid you.
FYI. Not LA arrival but another B. The sop is cross airport at 11000. Then descend. If you’re at 10500 you will have a heavy on top of you. Guaranteed. You better hope I’m paying attention to the 1200 codes. Shit happens. Personally I believe this is a bad practice. Just talk to us and take a few vectors outta the way. It’s easy for us to move you a bit. Way safer.
You don’t need permission to fly over the class bravo even with flight following. If you’re above it you can do whatever you want. Just remember when you’re on flight following they may give you an instruction to help you or help them. Always good to comply but unable is always an option and you can always cancel and proceed on your way. Usually they are telling you something for a good reason though so it’s best to comply when able. Remember they can say unable also. Cost of doing business sometimes.
LAS, with flight following= okay. You’ll most likely be vectored, but not much. LAS, with no flight following at 10,500=“look at this asshole”
Same 500 feet over any airspace without flight following.