open up IFR traffic yet in Los Angeles ?

[squadronB52]

Hello folks .... does anyone know if SOCAL is open for business yet for IFR in/out of LA ??

 

[WrightAvia]

Ever try www.duats.com or 1 800 WX BRIEF? They tell you about TFR's, ATC traffic delays, NOTAMS and things like that there.

I mean if some schmoe online says, "yes, they are letting IFR flights in that area!" are you going to go jump in your plane, go flying, then crash or get busted...then run off and get a lawyer and sue that schmoe for telling you yes.

Or if the schmoe says "no, they aren't letting IFR flights in that area!" are you going just going to take their word for it also.

 

[avbug]

As of this afternoon, you could get an IFR clearance out, but getting in was tough. Really tough. Traffic going in was twenty minutes in trail out of LAS.

SoCal was still down at 1600 pacific. Center is handling most of the work.

 

[KnowledgeSeeker]

I mean if some schmoe online says, "yes, they are letting IFR flights in that area!" are you going to go jump in your plane, go flying, then crash or get busted...then run off and get a lawyer and sue that schmoe for telling you yes.

Aaaww, come on Wrightavia, you think mabey he doesn't live near the area and is just curious whats going on out there?

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

FSS

 

[squadronB52]

thanks guys ...

Thank you for your kind replies gentleman/woman,

To answer your question, I flew a friend's Piper Aztec out here to Dallas-Fort worth, and am now stuck here because of the delays..... I'm trying to fly commercial bac home, and do not want to get stuck in Arizona or Las Vegas, and am making the most of my time, visiting Simulflite and making friends.

Ofcourse, I would contatct FSS

Paul

 

[msw]

SOCAL back up?

I'm based in SoCal and I heard this morning on the news that SOCAL TRACON is back up. But I have not verified it, not done any flying yet today.

It was pretty interesting flying here yesterday (Mon) with SoCall approach out of business. A few of theSoCal Approach guys were at LA Center helping out and some of the others were working the Tower BRITE scopes at SNA, LAX, and probably a few other smaller aiport towers, doing what they could. I left out of LGB in the morning for Stockton, went VFR, because the outbound IFR delays were pretty long. For the return trip Tues evening, Stockton advised of a whopping 7 minute delay for getting my IFR clearance back to the LA Basin (LGB), which I thought was not bad at all. I did get several clearance changes enroute though, and the ultimate IFR routing we got was unusual, not what we usually get. But it worked out ok, and the controllers did a real nice job considering the limitations. Coming back into the LA area, flying over the Fillmore/Simi Valley blaze area at 15,000 feet at night, we could see clearly how much was aflame, and it was an awesome, horrific sight.

 

[TriStar_drvr]

I live about 15 miles north of the Crestline and Cajon Pass. At night I can see the flames from my front yard. During the day I see the plumes of smoke. I've been lucky in that the winds have been blowing south since the fires started. Tonight the wind direction has changed and the smell of smoke is heavy in the air. My house isn't threatened, but I got a call from one of my fellow crewmembers. He and his wife are living in their RV in the parking lot of the local high school that has been an evacuation center since Saturday.

Nearly 1600 houses have been destroyed and 90,000 people have beeen forced to evacuate. If all we have to endure are a few hours of flight delays, then we are fortunate.

Hopefully the wind shift will aid the firefighting efforts, and help put an end to these fires.

Finally, I hope they catch the bastards that started this mess, and that they receive the penalties they deserve.

 

[avbug]

I hope that next time the government wants to cut firefighting funds in order to bomb a third world country, they'll remember this moment.

Personally, I've never liked standing alert at a tanker base and watching a 40,000' column of smoke build...and never getting the call.

Verdict this morning after making repeated flights down there after the last few days...they don't need the tanker. So it sits, and I'm doing other things. Go figure.

A few years ago I sat at BIL in a 4Y, and watched as 17 lightening fires put out large black columns of smoke to the North. We watched the fires burn all morning and after noon. Nobody wanted to spend the money to put a tanker on it...the firest were still on private land, and nobody was willing to pony the dough. At 1500, 40+ knot winds were pushing the fires, and they merged, and moved through several towns. When we did get the call, fire was everywhere, and we couldn't even find the town. When we did find structures, they were on fire, and we were cleared to begin dropping on bridges, houses, anything that we saw burning. It was rough, dangerous, and they risked our lives in a futile battle because they thought it was too expensive to stop in the early stages.

Isn't this always the case.

It's worth noting in passing that the first fatality of this fire was Tanker 99 with two dedicated crewmembers aboard, dispatched to San Bernadino just before this whole thing blew up.

I wish I was down there in the basin dropping now...but the tanker will sit, and I will work my services elsewhere. I hope those not using the tanker are willing to explain it to the families of the deceased, and the homeless.

Typical.

As an aside, does anybody remember the terrorist alert received this summer regarding the setting of fires? We were notified that credible intel had been produced that large fires were to be set this year, as a terrorist act.

Personally, that's the biggest fire I've ever seen...certainly in Region V (SoCal).

 

[tinman]

For what it's worth, which isn't much compared to being in SoCal, the winds are definately blowing east. This morning blue skies in Utah, by afternoon, vis. less than 10 miles where I live. Here I am complaining about ONLY having 10 miles, when some people wake up and are happy to have a whopping 10 miles.