SAN FSDO


HASE I
Charles Carrillo
William Cleminshaw
Kathleen Felker
Sara Reck
Timothy Sparks
David Yerke

PHASE II
Brandon Walker

PHASE III
Anthony Bucholtz
Howard Hawkins

PHASE V
Byron Ellsworth

PHASE X
F. Nelson Petrey

ARTICLES

LOS ANGELES CLASS B AIRSPACE

On November 22, 1994, the FAA released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which proposed a new configuration of the LAX Class B airspace. On December 9, 1996, the Federal Register published a final rule with response to the comments received and defined the final configuration which was effective July 17, 1997.

This new configuration is a significant change. The following describes some of the features:

1. the new Class B is defined by latitudes and longitudes instead of the familiar radials and DME arcs;
2. three new blocks of airspace were added in the South Coast area, and;
3. the top of the new airspace is 10,000 ft instead of the present 12,500 ft.

In addition, the present 4,000 ft base area west of Torrance and Hawthorne airports is lowered to the surface. In the east a higher extension based at 8,000 and 9,000 ft has been added. One positive change (from the viewpoint of general aviation) is the base of the area over Malibu has been raised to 5,000 ft. Another change allows helicopter traffic to maneuver north of LAX outside of the Class B airspace. In addition, most of the lines which define the airspace have been relocated.

The most significant change is the use of latitudes and longitudes to define the airspace instead of the familiar radials and DME arcs. Over the land mass it is still possible to navigate using visual references so this presents only a minor nuisance. Over the ocean in the South Coast area obviously there are no ground references, therefore the pilot must be creative navigating in that area. Two possibilities are available. Using the many VOR's in the LA area, a pilot could draw the outline of the Class B boundaries on a chart enough to remain clear. The other option is GPS.

The Jeppsen VFR NAV Service providing VFR routes around LAX Class B airspace has been discontinued so that source of navigation is lost. These out-of-date charts should be considered unusable.

Lowering the airspace from 12,500 to 10,000 ft was an operational change allowing the LAX arriving traffic to enter the Class B airspace from the top instead of from the side. However, it does open up two non-oxygen required VFR altitudes over the top of the Class B airspace. But the VFR pilot should be cautioned that loop departures out of LAX will be climbing above 10,000 ft outside the Class B proceeding outbound.

Rasing the base over Malibu to 5,000 ft is very helpful. This allows VFR traffic transiting the shoreline route or Special Flight Rules Area at 4,500 ft to continue at 4,500 ft along the Malibu shoreline outside of the Class B airspace. However, be aware, the boundary of the surface airspace off Santa Monica and Malibu shoreline has been expanded to the north.

The area west of Torrance and Hawthorne airports has been lowered to the surface. Hawthorne or Torrance airport departures southbound along the coastline become very tricky. However, this boundary can be defined by a LAX radial but it must be measured (if it is not indicated on the chart).

All three VFR routes (Shoreline, Special Flight Rules Area, Hollywood Park Route) remain the same configuration with the same rules. To aid the traffic from San Diego who want to use the Hollywood Park Route, a note has been added to the chart in the Dana Point area "To transit the Hollywood Park Route contact SOCAL (on frequency)".

The area immediately north of LAX Airport has been changed to accommodate helicopter traffic in that area. The north boundary of the Class B airspace is not longer at Ballona Creek. This could make transition through the Special Flight Rules Area confusing. SFAR (Special Federal Aviation Regulation) 51-1 defines the boundaries and rules through that area. The north boundary of the Special Flight Rules Area is Ballona Creek. Therefore, depending on direction, a pilot must maintain 3,500 ft or 4,500 ft altitudes between Imperial Highway and Ballona Creek. (Note: Los Angeles airport is pictured out of scale on the chart. The airport is located inside the Class B airspace.)

VFR navigation of this totally new airspace configuration will require some study before flight.

HOW TO FLY GPS AND KEEP YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE COCKPIT

More and more pilots are becoming lost, says the FAA, even though they have the newest, best navigational gadgets money can buy.

Unfortunately, pilot skills are becoming unused in favor of the Loran and GPS

Maybe you can avoid the accident that YOU were setting yourself up for by using all of the navaids available in your airplane. This includes Loran, GPS, and pilotage. In other words, don't become a statistic by relying on only ONE mode of navigation.

Read on. . .

"WHADDA YA MEAN draw the line on the map? I haven't done that since I made my last cross country flight when I was a student pilot. Beside I got me a brand-new handheld GPS. That will get me there easy like - all I have to do is twist a few knobs."

"So what if it takes a little twiddling. Maybe a minute or so and I'll have that little dude all programmed and ready to take me wherever I wanna go. Besides, it's got all them other bells 'n whistles to play along the way. I tell ya it's like havin' your own little video game right there in the cockpit."

"I can tell time, dial up the nearest airports, see what time the sun rises and sets, and it even tells me what time I will get there. And another thing, if you can't figure that thing out, it comes with a dandy instruction book to look at and I can figure it out right there in the cockpit."

Can you imagine yourself saying any of that? So maybe I've stretched it a bit, but seriously, with all of the features built into the new GPS units, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the new units really take the work out of navigation. The problem is that is that it is so easy that most of the navigation skills you learned in training (and have been using all along) might become obsolete in your mind. Therein lies the problem that may compromise safety.

Certainly, GPS is here to stay and if there is any doubt, look at all the different brands on the market and the steadily falling prices. Most manufacturers offer the standard features: heading, ground speed, distance, ETS, nearest airports, VOR's, NDBs, and so on until you have more information that you can ever use. If you try to figure all of these things out during the flight, you may be in serious trouble.

The problem arises when the pilot spends more time trying to figure out the system than he does looking out of the window.

By now I'm sure you are aware of how GPS works, and how accurate it is. So it is really necessary to draw the line on the map and follow your course with your thumb?

Of course it is. That is, if you are interested in making sure that you are where the GPS says you are.

Let's plan a short cross country flight of 100 miles or so. Remember, safety dictates that we must be aware of all that goes on around us. That simply means keeping our head of the cockpit, and that is easier said than done.

What temptation it is to play with the knobs, while the airplane does what it does the easiest. That is to head for the ground when nobody is flying it.

Draw the line? Yep. . .it only takes a minute, and you already know how to do that. Now, mark off every 20 miles on the line starting from the destination all the way back to the departure point.

Then (and I'm assuming that you are doing this at home), start programming the GPS. If you have a library function in your GPS, start entering most of the airports on your course. This may seem redundant because the nearest airport key will pull up the same airports, but only if they are close by.

Now, with the line and marks every 20 miles, and the aircraft pre-flight complete, are we ready to fly?

Not really. One more consideration: just where is the GPS located? With panel mounted units, you don't have much choice. The closer to the top of the panel the better. With hand-helds, you have a variety of locations available.

The worst possible location is on the floor or between the seats. Trying to look at the GPS (or possibly programming it there) is downright dangerous. Moving your head up and down can make you dizzy, or worse.

Most units come with an antenna and can be placed on the glare shield or on top of the panel. The main concern here is to keep at least 8 inches from the magnetic compass. The GPS will radiate a small amount of electromagnetic energy and, it is too close, the compass will give incorrect readings.

OK. The GPS is on the yoke and programmed for the destination. Seems like a lot of work to get to this point but is only takes a few minutes to do all of that. Now can we fly?

Absolutely. One thing I should mention here is that when you programmed in your destination, you were in effect drawing an imaginary line form departure to destination right in the GPS itself. That line will remain there and, as long as you keep the needle centered on the CDI, you will be right on course.

As you take off and fly upwind you will notice that the CDI is moving. That is because you programmed it using the tie down spot as the departure point. Now it simply is a matter of turning back until the needle is centered again, and you will be on the line in the GPS. You will also be on the line that you drew on the sectional, give or take a slight great circle route correction.

Two lines going to the same place, and now you know that you are on at least one of them. Should give you a good feeling right there.

Now comes the fun part. Cruising along, all gauges in the green and the CDI centered, what could possibly o wrong? Probably nothing. You have done everything right so far. The readout says you are eighty miles from your destination, your ground speed is great, and you will arrive at noon, a quick look at the sectional and you find that the little tow or lake at eighty miles is exactly where it is supposed to be. As long as everything is that good, let's try the nearest airport function.

Up to this pint it has not been necessary to do anything to the CDI except glance at it. Just as it should be. After checking outside the window, go ahead and hit the nearest airport button. Most units will allow this with a single key stroke. It's amazing how many airports are within a short distance from your location. That didn't take long and the time away from looking outside was only a few seconds. Isn't it comforting to know that there may be an airport within gliding distance?

Now you are forty miles from your destination. A check at the forty mile marker on the sectional shows the exact check-points. The course has been right on three four zero for the last fifty miles, and that was what it took to keep the needle centered. That little town with the railroad tracks is right below you, and your thumb is right there too. Things are good.

Too good. And then, the worst possible thing that could happen during a flight does happen. Your worst nightmare. The GPS quits. What now?

Not to worry. Keep your present heading and (unless there is a sudden change in the wind) the airplane is oblivious of any problem at all. It's right where it is supposed to be. I will guarantee you that you will reach your next mile marker with no problem as long as you hold your heading.

While you are waiting for this to happen, you remember that you had batteries with only a partial charge when you left home and just happen to have spares with you.

Some hand-helds have battery compartments with slides and with others you must use a screwdriver to open the battery case. This can be a real chore while you are concentrating on flying. The safe way is to load one battery at a time and alternate looking out of the cockpit in turn. One battery, one look.

Well, now you have succeeded in getting the GPS back on line but somewhere in the process you have accidentally strayed off the course a mile or so. With only thirty miles or so left in the strip you might consider resetting the needle for a new course instead of flying to the original one, but resist the temptation. As soon as you do, you have erased all of the information for the trip, your checkpoints are gone forever, and the line has disappeared also. You will have a new course and a new line in the GPS.

But, if you change your mind and want to return to the original line, you can do so. The newer GPS units have this function built in. If you have to do it the hard way, you enter your original departure and destination and will restore the original course. It will not tell you which way to fly and for how far to put yourself back where you started before the battery failure. There is no need to complicate matters with one course and line on the GPS and a different one on the sectional.

OK. We are back on course and in a few minutes you have the airport in sight. Nothing really left to do but wait for the beep or flashing notice that you have arrived at your destination.

The chances of living this scenario are very slight, because you should have loaded new batteries at home or used the optional power source.

Loss of battery power is one thing and can usually be corrected, but inexperience and lack of knowledge of your particular GPS manual will take some time to digest, but certainly is worth the effort. Be thoroughly familiar with all of the functions, and practice at home. While flying, include it is your instrument scan.

The accuracy of GPS is without question, but unless you use it correctly, and keep your head out of the cockpit, it may not prove to be your friend at all. To depart and arrive may be a means to an end. Just make sure that it means the end of a perfect flight, and not the end of you.

P.S. Hand Bruckner, one of our GPS frequent users, advises Hawaii-based pilots that there are still occasional gaps in GPS coverage here that make it even more important to not rely on GPS as the sole means of navigation.

SOCAL Aviation Reviewis published monthly by the Aviation Safety Program of the Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Western-Pacific Region. Stories are submitted by the various Flight Standards District Offices listed in the box on this same page, and by individuals in the aviation community, contributing through those FSDOs. Notices are also contributed by the Air Traffic Control branch of the FAA. Your comments and suggestions regarding this newsletter are welcomed. Please send them to: Kevin Clover, Acting FAA Regional Aviation Safety Program Manager, AWP-204, P.O. Box 92007, World Way Postal Center, Los Angeles, CA 90009-2007