Help transitioning restricted airspace
 

Hey everyone,
I'm just starting on my commercial heli and I have to do a night x-country with my CFI tomorrow evening. I've planned out my course and identified where I need to make all of my calls. I've called my destination to make sure fuel is available and tried to answer pretty much every question I can think will pose an issue. I've already asked my CFI a bunch of questions and I won't be able to chat with him until the flight tomorrow so I wanted to get a couple more questions answered so I can finish my prep before the flight.

So, my flight goes from Long Beach (LGB) to Montgomery Airfield (MYF) in the San Diego area:

SkyVector: Flight Planning / Aeronautical Charts

Along the way I have a few questions:

First, after leaving Long Beach and heading south, I will need to transition John Wayne's class C airspace (SNA). The terminal chart says to contact SOCAL approach 20nm from the airport, but the heli route chart says to contact John Wayne Advisory on 128.35. So, how far out to do I need to make that call to John Wayne Advisory and when I call them up, do I say "John Wayne Advisory, N####", or do I just say "John Wayne Tower, N####"? Also, how long do I need to stay on with them before I request a frequency change to the basin frequency?

Next, I'm going to need to pass through the Camp Pendleton restricted airspace (R 2503-A). I have never transitioned that airspace so I figured I would be proactive and (attempt to) contact the controlling agency and find out the procedures to do so. Well, looking at the side of the San Diego TAC, it says the controlling agency is LOS ANGELES CNTR. I have spent a good portion of the day calling both Camp Pendleton and trying to figure out how to contact the LOS ANGELES CNTR and have had very little luck (nobody got back to me from Pendleton and I can't find a number for LOS ANGELES CNTR). So what do I do? Is it even an issue transitioning that airspace?

I know these are totally newby questions and I'm probably overthinking a lot of this stuff, but I want to make sure I'm as prepared as possible because I'm sure I'm gonna get overwhelmed in the flight anyways :)

Thanks!
Mike

From the route you have, it looks like you will be passing through R2503 A and D. 2503A only goes up to 2000'. Im not a RW pilot, only have about 10hrs in a R22, and I know you guys like to fly low, but if you can get up above 2000, then you dont have to worry about that one. 2503D is only active 'intermittent by notam' so call a briefer prior to make sure there is no notam for it, and you should be fine. Otherwise, use the frequency provided to call up and ask. Are you getting flight following? If so, center will advise you if its 'Hot' or 'Cold'.

Hope that helps

Ok, so when it says "intermittent by notam", that means it's intermittently HOT when there is a notam... and otherwise it's cold? The language isn't particularly clear.

If it comes down to this, that's what I'll do. What I want to avoid was getting there and then having them tell me I can't go through and then having to turn back. Is there any way to get in touch with LA Center or socal tracon over the phone?


I have never done flight following yet so I was just going to fly it normally on the way there and then try using flight following on the way back just so I start getting accustomed to the ATC services available. I just didn't want to have to rely on flight following should they not be able to accommodate me for one reason or another. In other words, I want to force myself to make these calls and not necessarily rely on a service that might not always be available to me.

Grab an AFD and look up your departure airport. Looks like Socal Departure will be your point of contact for departure/flight following. As soon as tower hands you off or as soon as you are clear their airspace contact Socal app. on 127.2 an request flight following if their workload permits. That will allow you to transition all those airspaces along the way and you will be appropriatly handed off. As for the Restricted areas check the notams and ask the briefer if they are active. Also once you get flying on your way just ask whoever you are talking to to verify its cold and you're set.

Yes. It also says 24 hours in advance, so as long as you get a full Wx brief w/ NOTAMs prior to departure you should be good.


Their phone numbers are in the AFD, but you should just get an outlook brief and pull NOTAMS now. I'm an ex-Long Rifle range safety officer and I can promise you that they will not spontaneously activate R-2503D without plenty of notice. If it's going to be hot tommorrow, there will already be a NOTAM to that effect.

Also note that 2503D has a different controlling agency (SOCAL) than the others.

Even if a restricted area is hot, you might still be able to get permission to transit, but you won't know for sure until you get there.

If you have water-survival gear, you could use V-363...it has that dogleg for a reason.

But odds are that R2503D is cold, in that case the normal routine for local pilots is just fly over the top of R-2503A.


I understand your philosophy, but for a night XC along V-23 (or anywhere in SOCAL) you really just need to get the flight following. Frankly it could save your life...I've been up and down those airways enough times to know that for sure.

This will help with John Wayne too...SOCAL will hand you off to tower at the appropriate time. And they will also let you know if a restricted area is active, although that should not be an issue if you have done your homework.

Professional pilots pretty much always talk to ATC, even out in the middle of nowhere...it's nice to have somebody on freq who knows who and where you are when your engine quits. You'll live longer that way.

Enjoy the flight!

I used to fly the route many years ago. The controlling agency had a call sign of "longrifle" and it was a marine controller. The AFM or some body may be able to dig up a frequency.

http://aeronav.faa.gov/pdfs/sw_59_18NOV2010.pdf

It looks like the freq is 123.2 I'd check to make sure that he has the authority to clear you into R2503

Finding the frequency isn't the problem - talking to someone on the phone beforehand proved to be a bigger challenge...

When you get handed off to the tower (during flight following), do you need to request a transition through their airspace or does John Wayne already know your intentions?

thanks,
Mike

Like I said thats not the norm and should not be necessary. That's what the NOTAMs are for.

SOCAL or LA Center handle that now. I don't think civilian airplanes normally talk to Longrifle anymore.