One Six Right

On 8 Dec 2005 04:47:11 -0800, "
wrote:


Interesting. When I visited California about 10 years ago, I wanted to
rent a plane and fly so I went to Van Nuys to be checked out. The
check-pilot made me do so many landings in every configuration, plus
local airspace familiarization, that the checkride was just under 3
hours. I definitely felt he was bleeding me. When I (finally) got
signed off, I was too damn tired to rent and go flying, and I left LA 2
days later.

We used runway one six LEFT the whole time.

I think you were being jerked around too. I learned to fly at VNY
and still fly out of there. In all my training, checkouts, BFR's
etc, I only had one CFI stretch out a BFR beyond reasonable limits.
You just had the bad luck to get one on your first try. If you ever
get out here again, try the people at Van Nuys Flight Center at the
northwest end of the field. They are very professional and won't
jerk you around.

As far as flying off 16 Left, that much is normal for training and
practice landings. 16 Right can get pretty busy at times and with
the jet traffic, you can get delayed and slow your training. That
said, once you get checked out at any FBO on the west side of the
airport, you'll depart from 16 Right. Coming back in from the
North, West, or Southwest, 95% of the time you'll land on 16 Right.
It's only repetitive operations that get shifted over to 16 Left.

Ron

I learned to fly at VNY
and still fly out of there.

Our One Six Right DVD arrived yesterday, and neither of us could wait till
Christmas to open it! We set it up on the big-screen, fired up the Dolby
surround sound, sat back with a beer, and waited to be entertained...

We were not disappointed. The aerial footage in this movie is nothing short
of astounding, with angles and clarity that I've never seen before. I truly
regret not being able to see One Six Right at the theater, because the
experience (even compared with a good-sized 61" TV) would be overwhelming by
comparison.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I got choked up a couple of times, watching
this movie. The beauty and freedom of flight is so wondrous, and the
director managed to strike all the chords *just* right, capturing everything
I feel about flying. Best of all, they managed to deliver an entertaining,
informative package, which makes this video a great tool to use with
potential pilots.

Ron, you are truly blessed to be able to fly out of VNY. Just curious:
With all those big-dollar movie stars and directors hanging out, what has
that done to airport security? It's got to be tight as a drum -- yet they
showed a guy just wandering, unmolested, out to "the red line" with his
hand-held.

How about hangar rent? It must be astronomical...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I learned to fly in the San Fernando Valley in the early 50's. I did stop
the DVD and run to get my first log book to see if I had rented any of the
planes that were shown when they flashed back to some of the earlier times.

When the ANG was flying P-51's out of Van Nuys a group of us would drain the
115-145 left in the hoses of the fuel trucks in the belief that it would
make our cars run faster.

Cheers:

Paul
N1431A

Jay Honeck wrote:


Ron, you are truly blessed to be able to fly out of VNY. Just curious:
With all those big-dollar movie stars and directors hanging out, what has
that done to airport security? It's got to be tight as a drum -- yet they
showed a guy just wandering, unmolested, out to "the red line" with his
hand-held.

How about hangar rent? It must be astronomical...

I know you addressed it to a different Ron, but I will chime in anyhow.

Security is reasonably tight but no different than other busy GA
airports. To
get onto the ramp you just go through one of the FBO's. Out the back
door
and there you are, on the ramp.

Everything in this overgrown lunatic asylum (greater LA in general) is
astronomically expensive, at least from my Texas perspective, so it
would be surprising if hangars were not proportionally high.

Jay Honeck wrote:

Ron, you are truly blessed to be able to fly out of VNY. Just curious:
With all those big-dollar movie stars and directors hanging out, what has
that done to airport security? It's got to be tight as a drum -- yet they
showed a guy just wandering, unmolested, out to "the red line" with his
hand-held.

How about hangar rent? It must be astronomical...

I'm sure.

I've flown into VNY a number of times, and I'm always amazed at how well
the controllers deal with the huge amount of traffic.

A lot of the news and police helicopters are based there, tons of
corporate traffic, and of course a varied lot of spam cans with a great
spread of airspeeds. It all works out.

-jav

On Sat, 10 Dec 2005 15:11:51 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:


Ron, you are truly blessed to be able to fly out of VNY. Just curious:
With all those big-dollar movie stars and directors hanging out, what has
that done to airport security? It's got to be tight as a drum -- yet they
showed a guy just wandering, unmolested, out to "the red line" with his
hand-held.

How about hangar rent? It must be astronomical...

Airport security has changed a little (obviously after 9/11), but
not drastically. Entrance is controlled by the FBO's on field or
any business that fronts on the runways. In the case of Van Nuys
Flight Center, entrance after you leave the FBO is through a coded
gate. The only other change has been at Million Air FBO next door
to VNYFC... they tied solid canvas to the chain link fence that
surrounds their ramp to keep the paparatzi (sp?) from bothering
their "customers".

You can no longer just wander up to the red line. Even if you are
renting or have a plane there, the airport police will ask you
nicely to go back to your FBO/plane. There is however a great
viewing area that is shown in the DVD. That fronts on 16 Left where
most all of the training takes place.

As far as hangars go, I've never even asked. There is a waiting
list as you might imagine... probably measured in years. Judging by
hangar prices a Fullerton where my son keeps his Mooney. I would
venture a guess that rent at Van Nuys probably starts at $750 to
$1,000 a month. Undoubtedly more for hangars big enough for several
airplanes. Of course if you've got a Mustang and a J-3 and a Pitts,
you're not worried about a few thousand in hangar rent. :-)

All in all, VNY is a great place to fly from. The proximity to
mountains, desert and ocean make it ideal for just sightseeing as
well as a good jumping off place for the $100 hamburger.

It's busy to be sure, but the controllers work the field very well.
I encounter virtually no wait for 16 Right during the week, between
10:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Earlier or later, there is an increase in jet
traffic, but departure delays are no more than 5 or 6 minutes even
then. If you're landing, they just switch you to 16 Left and there
is no delay in getting down. You might have to wait a bit to cross
16 Right if your FBO is over there, but that's not too bad.
Weekends get a bit more busy due to an increase in student training.

Ron