How I Fly the LA Special Flight Rules Area SFRA: Step by Step 

Glad it's helpful. More to come soon!

I'm glad you found it too. :)

I flew through Houston and landed at KAXH Houston Southwest airport on my way to and from Forida from CA . Nice people there as I had to have a local mechanic file my prop. Thanks for watching!

IIRC this isn’t truly “through” the bravo but rather between two class bravos (IAH and HOU) and under a bravo shelf.

That sounds so amazing. I am in NY a few times a year and have always wanted to fly that route but haven’t had time to find a rental and get checked out in it. One day I’ll make it happen! I bet the views are incredible.

Scrolled through the comments to look for this. Indeed it’s a fun route to fly, very busy with lots helicopter tour traffic. I estimated about 10-12 helicopters were there one morning when I flew it. It’s a tunnel/corridor through the 3 Class B airspaces (JFK, La Guardia and Newark). You fly over and along the river on the right side, like a highway. Call outs I remember are ‘George Washington Bridge’ ‘The Intrepid’ ‘The Lady’ (statue of liberty) and ‘Verrazzano Bridge’. I think I was confusing some of the pilots there at the time, as I was flying my Canadian plane/registration, with all the Canadian radio quirks. As a young mid twenties pilot with only a couple hundred hours it was intimidating as hell. Spent all night preparing.

Go arounds at LAX are supposed to stay out of the transition area.

Where is the bird nesting area?

Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!

glad you find it helpful. Definitely get a current chart and study it before you go and maybe even ask a CFI. Verify all the info is still current and correct. :) Have a great flight and enjoy the views!!!

Glad you enjoyed the video!

Glad it helped!

More to come!

oh man the Hudson river corridor is on my bucket list for sure!!!

Thanks so much! I'm glad the video was useful for you. Make sure to run everything by your CFI as well!

Awesome, thank you!

Thank you!

Nice!!! Definitely the best way to Catalina!

Make sure you ask your CFI about it first. :) Have fun!!!

Glad it was helpful for you!

Awesome, thank you!

It's a super busy airspace to learn in but fun to fly.

fun for sure. great views of LAX

so glad you are back into it. I hope you enjoy all the good things aviation has to offer! Enjoy the SFRA!

I love watching the planes land and takeoff as we fly over

Glad it was helpful!

How did the Catalina flight go?

Sadly, I never got to fly it weather was bad for VFR:(. However, my checkride is this Wednesday!

Update! Although I didn’t get to fly to Catalina, I passed my PPL Checkride this past Wednesday!!

Thank you!

Thanks! That’s a good point about the dedicated frequency. There are also a few other rules printed on the TAC supplement chart, including complying with certain FARs relating to Right of way and transponder equipage which is why i definitely urge anyone who wants to fly in this area to get their own up to date chart and read all the rules. In making the video i realized I hadn’t read the specific rules in quite awhile. It was interesting!

I've been through Houston twice but didn't check out a north of downtown route. Next time I will!

Have to check that out when I start up my training again. I haven't flown since moving to Houston and itching to get back in the air. Recommendations for a good CFI/flight school in/around the JSC/Webster/Clear Lake/Seabrook area?

Thanks for the feedback! Definitely no “fish finder” in my phraseology... :)

That's true. Technically in San Diego you are not flying through Bravo airspace (as depicted on the chart between 3200 and 4700) but in LA you are actually in Bravo without an ATC clearance. Just an interesting subtlety to the airspace management.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey b

Have fun!

The Hudson River Exclusion is an interesting bit of airspace for sure. I have never flown it but it is on my list of places I really would like to fly. It’s interesting that the bravo airspace has a cutout for the Hudson River and unique altitudes there so you are technically outside (under) the Bravo airspace. I guess they were not able to draw exclusions on the LA chart for only two specific altitudes of 3500 and 4500 feet so technically in the SFRA you are actually in Bravo airspace and on the Hudson you are under it.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey Truth. The exclusion keeps you technically outside the bravo below 1300'. There's a 'skyline' route over the Hudson that ATC will usually clear you into the bravo for between 1300' and 2000' that I actually prefer - helps you avoid a lot of the lower altitude traffic craziness. Enjoying your videos. I was born and raised in LA, but didn't learn to fly until moving to NY. Now I'm over the Hudson all the time and dreaming about flying over LAX someday...

it still requires clearance- there's a square on the TAC near Port Orchard that says "VFR TRANSITION ROUTES / ATC CLEARANCE REQUIRED / CTC SEATTLE TOWER"

I have seen the depiction of that airspace and flown the area but never actually done the bay tour. looks awesome!

I'm in the Delta row at Whiteman. Usually for the rest of the way to San Diego I am on flight following at 5500 which is just above the Santa Ana/John Wayne Class C. Then they usually clear me through the Bravo in San Diego, and I head toward the Mt Soledad VFR landmark/waypoint and then turn left eastbound to Montgomery or Gillespie. If they dont clear me through the Bravo you can still fly at 3500 or 4500 feet (I think those are the altitudes) through specific parts of the area to Montgomery or Gillespie. It is just a really busy section of airspace right there so head is always on a swivel and always on with ATC as they are very helpful. I love flying to San Diego and Gillespie and Montgomery both have good restaurants!

SoCal Flying Monkey Thanks. I am in Fox trot, away from the runway. I’ll have to check out those airports. Thanks again

Glad you are enjoying them. :)

I've never flown the mini-route but really want to. I need to make a point of doing it while it is open!

Thanks!

Thank you for the feedback! I want to create the kind of videos that I would want to watch as an aviator and aviation enthusiast.

SoCal Flying Monkey doing a great job of it. Just got my PPL and have two girls. They liked watching, too. Now to convince my wife to go. I grew up in a Lance. We used to throw bikes in and go. You’ve got a great platform!

The Lance is a great bird. Nothing beats a day of flying with the whole family!

wow thank you for the very kind words. I hope to one day fly the Hudson Corridor. I love New York City so much but have never had a chance to fly around the area myself.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey You can get a rental from Long Island Aviators out of KFRG. Theres a couple other airports near NYC but this, in my opinion, is the easiest to get to without a car (you still have to take LIRR and a short uber). I'm a recent private pilot and rented out of KFRG and wanted to learn the Hudson corridor before the virus hit. Fingers crossed for later in the summer! Great channel btw, love your camera work and the attention to small details like motion tracked graphics!

Thanks for the tip!

The mini was closed for awhile but I think its back open. Ive never done it and really want to give it a go.

glad it was helpful!

I was thinking about doing a video for Coastal Route and Coliseum route at some point. They are definitely simpler to navigate than SFRA.

It certainly does. So glad ADSB is required in this area!!

The back of the Terminal Chart specifies a couple other ways to transit the area. I have heard the mini route has been reopened. But all of them require talking to ATC or LAX tower.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey I like this way better can't wait to do it!

you'll love my next video then....

Oh yeah it is on my list for sure!!!

I learned to fly in the Los Angeles area and my CFI showed me the route several times. I use it quite a bit since my home airport is so close in to the Bravo and I often need to go south. Especially handy for getting to Catalina.

I usually screen record the iPad. And do animations in Davinci Resolve with color grading windows etc. have evolved the techniques a bit since this video.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey Got it. thank you so much.

Yeah that was craziness.

vfr is better on a clear day. if you go IFR you'll get vectored all over the place and waste a lot of gas and time. Plus controllers prefer if you fly VFR (and talk to them) vs IFR on a perfectly clear day. It is busy airspace and very difficult for them with more IFR aircraft in the air that they have to keep farther separated. Watch my L.A. Sightseeing video for more tips on the airspace...

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey thank you very much; will do!

There is the Hudson river corridor. You can fly below the Bravo over the Hudson river. That one is on my bucket list!

Burbank os going to make you fly east and then south of KBUR, puts you over the Hollywood hills or even farther south over griffith park and then hollywood doglegging it over to Santa Monica. I hate flying over Hollywood due to very busy airspace full of helicopters and no good emergency landing options. I only do it occasionally for sightseeing. Transitioning Van Nuys gives more options like Van Nuys, Sepulveda basin, and several golf courses next to the 405 and near the Getty center.

One Bravo Whiskey is a rad call sign for sure! I had the opportunity to pick a new tail number when we painted the plane but I stuck with the one it came with- I couldn't think of one I liked much better!

​@@SoCalFlyingMonkey The best was a Canadian Phenom 300 pilot that chose C-FWTF. He says "whiskey tango fox" every chance he gets

@@RileyTech another flight chops fan

Riley Tech I disagree; the company I work for has a Phenom 300 called “D-CASH and another called “D-CHIC” And let’s not forget the Legacy 650 called “D-ARMY” ;)

@@niklaspilot Wasn't there also D-ASAP, D-AHOI, D-AFUN, D-BEER, D-CEFO, D-CFLY, D-AERO and D-ALOA at Air Hamburg? ;-) And say hi to Barbara 'BRI' if she is still around.

Thanks for the feedback! I absolutely love the Dynon HDX setup. It is really amazing. I am planning on doing a full review video soon now that I have been flying with it for 3 months.

SoCal Flying Monkey Excellent! Looking forward to the video. Happy New Year and fly safe!

Peter, glad you got back into flying! The audio is coming from Foreflight on the iPad. It is wired into the audio panel with a 3.5mm jack. The audio panel has several inputs it can accept. There are also Bluetooth capabilities on some audio panels as well. I made a complete review of the audio panel I have- it might be useful for you. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NbHEots6iYo.html

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey Thanks so much for your reply! It seems like iPads don't have the 1/8" jack anymore, just bluetooth. Pretty amazing audio panel especially compared to my ancient Narco CP-136 the plane came with. ( I also have the GTN-650, 2 G-5's and a S-Tec 30 autopilot.) For now my panel is pretty good but I look with jealousy at your panel! Great videos! What do you use to edit? It looks like a very capable system!

an iMac with Davinci Resolve.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey DaVinci is supposed to be a pretty sophisticated package! Your graphical images are awesome. I use Media Composer at work but that's too much for a home system. I'll look up DaVinci. Thanks!

It’s on the back of the terminal area chart on paper and can be found in the LA TAC download on Foreflight documents. Glad it was helpful for you. Make sure to study the current chart as things can change.

There it was in FF docs, just like you said. I bookmarked it. Thank you, again! Are you no longer active on BT forum? I haven’t seen you for some time. Your posts there is where I learned of your channel.

I head over there occasionally but keeping up with all the forums/FB groups and my IG, Tiktok ,RU-vid, and Patreon is a lot.. haha. Its a great group over there though!!!

We flew the LAX SFRA during our flight from San Diego to VNY, as planned. Easy-Peasy just like you demonstrated in detail for your video. Thanks again! Could’ve used a video of flying Banning Pass. The forums describe it as the “Bermuda Triangle of the West”. TAF forecasted WS, mountain wave, and rotors. They had me scared to death to fly it. Our route home, we stayed high and it was a big nothing burger.

The SFRA is convenient for when you depart a close by airport so you dont have to climb to 5500 or 6500 for the coastal route. The views are nicer down low too. You can also make turns off the SFRA as soon as you exit the SFRA area which is a very short distance from LAX. I think with the Coastal route because you are higher up and in the Bravo there you have to fly longer on the route but ATC may let you deviate from it. I would use the coastal routes when transiting the area but if you want to take off or land from a nearby airport like VNY, SMO HHR, TOA, etc then the SFRA is convenient. SoCal is very adept at handing you off to the SFRA so definitely get FF or keep talking to the towers if youre staying low in their airpspaces....

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey I'm looking at flying from Orange County to Camarillo, but I would love the low flight over LAX. Thanks for the advice!! I'll definitely consider the SFRA, seems like a great choice for sightseeing.

yes there are other routes like coastal and mini route... :)

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey:) i learnt this from flight simming around the LA area so i find it very cool to see you flying the area for real and understanding all the atc chatter. Great channel!

Yes it works because it is perpendicular to the runways and doesnt interfere with the approach procedures.

I think they just opeoned the mini route again recently

I usually look at the departure frequencies for Hawthorne and Torrance. I feel like I get it right only half the time. Haha

Yes. Just tell tower you want to climb for Special flight rules. You will probably get right traffic departing Rwy 21 and box climb to 3500 feet. Tower will help you. Also usually no turns before the shoreline so you will be able to climb quite a bit.

GPS is ok and legal as far as I understand. That’s how I do it and sometimes SMO vor is out of service and everyone flies it via GPS

After the SFRA I stay under the 5000 ft Bravo but climbing from 3500' which is above Long Beach airspace...and then once past the Bravo shelf I climb to 5500' on the way down which puts me just above John Wayne airspace. I am always on with SoCal approach because it is very close to the John Wayne airspace.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey no approach to Gillespie? Come on. You should do some anza borrega flights in addition to ne az and all that is southern Utah.

I use this iRig cable from the copilot or passenger headset jack into an iPhone and record the audio in the Voice Memos app and synchronize in post: amzn.to/3amy5SV.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey thank you so much!

You could fly over the grapevine into the Santa Clarita Valley and then descend to 5500 and pick up the coastal route over LAX- it's published with the LA area TAC. Its a simple procedure and you talk to SoCal during it. after LAX they would give you a descent and hand you off to Long Beach. def talk to your CFI and look at that charted procedure.

@@SoCalFlyingMonkey Thanks for the input. I’ll discuss that route with my CFI. I enjoy your videos. Have a fun and safe summer. ☀️😃👍

I believe you can substitute TSO'd certified GPS navigation instead of the VOR but double check the regulations. I always use OBS mode on the GPS and back it up with VOR. I have read FAA guidance on the legality of subbing GPS for VOR navigation both on and off approaches and it is allowed but you should definitely confirm for yourself to understand it fully.

I took off from Whiteman in the Class D and talked to the Whiteman controller and then the Van Nuys controller to transition their Class D. Burbank Class C is above and starts at 3000 feet. If I were to climb up beyond 3000 feet, I would need to talk to SoCal approach and they would put me on flight following which would soon be cancelled as I enter the SFRA. So I just stay under 3000 after talking to Van Nuys because there is not much sense in talking to SoCal for that very brief amount of time and it would be a bit of extra workload. Also, the BUR ILS RWY 8 runs perpendicular to the 405 fwy next to Van Nuys there and that is why they keep you below 1800 until south of Van Nuys airport usually. It's a bit of complicated airspace but there are definitely many ways to fly it.

SoCal Flying Monkey thanks for the reply!

I suppose you are technically out of the area when you cross imperial Hwy if going south or Manchester Blvd if going North. But local pilots usually stay on common frequency and squawk 1201 for a few more miles. I try to stay on until Hawthorne/405 landmark if going south or SMO VOR if going north depending on what I’m doing next.

Thanks for the reply

I’ve never flown the mini route and was hoping to make a video on that one too. Do you know why it hasn’t been available?

SoCal Flying Monkey from what I understand LAX does not have the staff for it (they need someone to sit and actually watch the VFR traffic on the mini route, and that position has not been filled in a long tome). I did it once in training, pretty cool flying at 2500ft over the runways!

Yeah that would be cool. I never had the motivation to try it until now. Maybe one day they will open it again...

Rotorcraft fly the mini