Landing at Santa Monica Airport - BUSY LAX Bravo Airspace 

Damn, I absolutely love the first Socal controller after your departure in french valley! He sounds so friendly, self-confident (in a good way), and professional! Looks like he has fun doing his job! Thanks for dropping the whole video for us josh! Kind regards from Germany

Anyone getting bored watching this should not be a pilot.. Anyone loving every minute of this should be a pilot. Great video!..

Learn so much looking over your shoulders & listening to ATC. Fun ride! Thanks for a fabulous series!

Took my first flight instruction and soloed at SMO as a Navy ROTC midshipman, at the University of Southern California, in 1975/1976. Haven’t been back since, till now. It was a challenge maintaining visibility back then with all the air pollution, but today you can literally see for miles and miles. Thanks for this special cut of an epic flight.

Hi Josh, great video. I got my PPL at Addison (KADS) in the Early 80's, I thought I was pretty proficient on the radio at that time, listening to this video over SoCal was making my head spin, I realized if I every want to get back into flying I'm going to have to do a lot of studying to learn all the new airspaces and to get proficient on the radio again.

I 'm glad you took the time to share this video and I do hope that you post more videos like this. I've always been interested in the details of flying through an airspace like this.

Love it Josh. More of these series please. I’m a UK ppl holder (easa and faa). I did my check ride at F70 back in 2008 after spending 4 weeks intensive training in San Diego. Brought back some memories seeing the landscape again!! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🛩

Is going to be a real shame to lose KSMO. The airport was there long before the houses.

Love this video. My last flight in 1994 was to Santa Monica from the SF Bay Area in a 172RG. This was pre-RU-vid and pre-GPS, but the action in LA was about the same, with the same extremely competent controllers in both LA and SF. I haven't flown since, but this is certainly giving me the bug again. Thanks for a great video.

Great video and series. Videos like this from a SoCal pilot helped me get back into the aviation communications groove a few years back after being out of it for some time. I never was afraid of the radio and have flown class Bravos before, but I know many who are not comfortable with it. Keep the videos coming. They are great for all...new or experienced.

Josh it was fun to watch you 2 make your way through the busy So Cal corridor to my home airport at KSMO. I've been flying for a little over 2 years and this lunacy is all I've ever known. You guys did a nice job of teaming up to make it nice and smooth. Two heads are definitely better than one. I hope you enjoyed your brief trip to LA. Cheers-Ren

I love your vids and they were inspirational during my training. I recently got my private out of Hawthorne (HHR) right at the edge of the LAX class bravo and a few miles from SMO. I love your XC and hope to one day do a trip like that of my own. I’m bias, but this is my favorite of all your vids, for obvious reasons, lol. Thanks for making flying out of F70 look so easy, every time I fly over there it always crowed. Continue post Josh, you definitely making flying look cool lol

Man that’s exactly what I’m doing and why I watch your videos to learn so many things from other pilots even though I’m not a pilot yet. I appreciate the videos. Keep it up!

Hey josh have to say hats off to both of you once again did an amazing job in the cockpit you know, And its just amazing when you look out over the horizon trying to look for other planes when we see it we just see sky nothing there, but then from no where another plane pops up just amazing how it works, And like that pilot said hats off to the controller to who manage to keep on top of everything telling where all the aircraft to go next, you need skill to do that job for sure so hats off to him

Josh you opened a whole new world for me. Thanks

Omg that socal controller was sooo dang good

I occasionally fly into the airspace east of the LA bravo, the SoCal controllers are always top shelf. I’m always amazed at their patience with those who can’t listen

Well done again Josh. Very educational. Headed for Page and Marble canyon in April.. Keep up the great work

Excellent teamwork you guys--great video and scenery!!

Love your vids! I love the nuts and bolts of flying as much as anything else and I was waiting on the edge of my seat for this video! Keep up the good work.

Awesome video, Josh. I really appreciate you uploading these full-length videos. Thanks!!

Thanks for sharing these. As a new student with a son who is also a student, I love watching these as educational moments. They complement both our ground school and our lessons.

Thanks a bunch for the good videos. I’ve learned a lot from watching your videos on RU-vid. It’s a huge part of what helped me make my private pilot certificate!

Another great v-log Josh. Enjoyed watching you both in this series. Great views, landings and points of interest. See you soon..

Totally awesome series, Josh. Thanks so much for the great videos and super editing job.

Great video. You're right, SoCal controllers are awesome. Learning to fly in LA is challenging, but you get good at comms. Also fun to see French Valley again - my first solo XC was LGB-CRQ-F70-LGB

As a cfi from SoCal, this is a normal flight for students on flight following.

Dont be afraid of the bravo clearance. I get them all the time. Just be sure to get it if you plan to go through it though. Sometimes you have to ask even when they know your route. Its pretty rad to go over LAX too.

Thank you! These are very helpful! Nice work on these videos!

Kept me enthralled throughout. Keep em coming!!!

I purchased the note pad and love it. Very helpful and keeps things organized. Thanks Mr. Aviation 101.

Wonderful Videos as always TY

Thanks for doing this. Great video and nice to see how you navigated all the airspace. I hope to do that sometime.

Really enjoyed the Bravo video. Thanks!

And also some instruments placed on the top of videos! Thanks again.

Awesome video Josh. This is home territory for me, as I learned how to fly out of Brackett Field and Cable Airport. Thanks for sharing !

I earned my Commercial and Instrument at KSMO and operated in SOCAL for about 10 years total. It was a blast and made me a much better pilot. After a few hours you get very comfortable with the comms and volume of radio calls. One of the coolest things to do is to fly the LAX Mini Route which takes you right over LAX, the view is amazing as you pass over the airport.

Josh I have really enjoyed your coast to coast series. The scenery is beautiful and the editing is great. They are very educational as well. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I got my Instrument Rating at American Flyers at SMO back in 1994. There were the same doom and gloom closure stories back then and before that too. It’s still there though. I used to fly back and forth to Torrance Municipal (TOA) frequently via the Special Flight Rules Area directly over the top of LAX. You could also take a route right along the beach below 1,000. What a life back then.

thank you for Bravo explaination

This is what aviation videos should be. Thanks and fun, educational, and real.

Wonderful video. Appreciate the detailed coverage.

Thanks for sharing this. Bucket list item for sure!!!

Awesome to see french valley. I just did my long XC solo and that was my 2nd stop before heading home.

Love this had an opportunity to do this recently...

Outstanding video and narration. I fly in Class Delta and Charlie Airspace but have zero experience in or around Class Bravo. Practicing on Flight Sim with PilotEdge to get practice with communications.

Wow that was awesome, teamwork there looked great. Just did my 2nd flight into the Bravo into Addison (KADS) in Dallas and it was really busy but super fun. 4 more flights till my PPL checkride!!

Good 👍 video as usual. It seemed to keep both of you busy and I don’t think I would like that much of a workout without a good co-pilot/navigator/radio operator. Good job 👏 to you both. Thanks for sharing guys

That was crazy busy. Good job. Really liked this one too.

I first learned at KSMO about 10 years ago before later switching to KVNY as "home." Love them both. SMOG is by definition partly fog, so yeah, that haze is HAZE tinged with a bit of pollution. We ARE next to an ocean, after all. ATC is generally great around here. Busy airspace, lots of fast movers, and yet they're usually very accommodating and friendly and manage to keep it fun and lighthearted. Never figured it out, but KSMO will sometimes clear you from WAY out and then clear someone else (or several others) in front of you. Happened to me more than once (usually being the one they stuck in front of some jet on a 10 mile final). I got a chuckle from your friend's reaction when that happened. As a student around here, you learn there's no such thing as a "B" game... you bring your "A" game or stay on the ground. You're playing in the big boys' playground here. I'm wondering why, though, you went WAY out of the way instead of taking one of the several VFR routes. As someone else mentioned, the Mini Route has you flying low right over the center of LAX and traveling northbound, basically dumps you into a left downwind for KSMO 21 on the south side. Interesting tidbit... at least when I was flying there, KSMO would generally have you stay in the pattern on the south side doing a left pattern, but planes coming in from the north (and a common practice area was up over Malibu) would be brought in on a RIGHT pattern on the NORTH side. So you'd have one or more planes on downwind on the south side, and one or more planes on downwind on the north side, and base is basically flying a head-on. Of course, KSMO would space it (and extend downwind legs and such) so that never happened, but it is still a little weird knowing someone else is on the other side trying to wind up the exact sample place that you are. As for "threading the needle," take a look at the area over downtown that's under the 25/100 LAX Bravo section. Maximum 2,500' to stay under the Bravo, but with downtown being up to nearly 1,400' tall buildings, keeping 1,000' above (VFR) the congested area means flying no lower than 2,400'. Been there, done that. Haven't seen your videos in a while. Enjoyed this one, particularly since it is in my backyard.

Nice series of videos. Enjoyed them very much.

A VERY educational series!!

Great flight. I fly in the north east KJFK, Newark, Philly and Atlantic City. Very busy also. Great controller in seen.

Dude you were in my area?! (French Valley in Murrieta) It's been a long while since I've seen any of your vids. We had recently moved here from the east coast and you suddenly show up in my area. Thanks for giving me a good idea of the local controllers in the vid, still hoping to get a PPL as I start college later this year

I flight instruct out of F70!! Would’ve been cool to meet you. A tip too in SoCal, the chart supplement for F70 shows March GCA as a departure frequency on 133.5, contacting them initially helps streamline the flow into the ARTCC system when SoCal is a little busy for a lengthy request. And you flew right over my house! 😂 Welcome to SoCal! The traffic here comes in waves as you noticed. Always seems to happen wherever you are though. 🤷‍♂️😂

Haze makes flying in the LA basin not as fun as it could be. After a wind or rain when the skies are clear general aviation has an uptick in activity. Way more fun to see far.

Great video. One useful video tip my be to overlay the VFR chart every now and then with a position update so we can see where you are in relation to your starting point and destination. Or use the map to highlight any POIs along the way. thanks again.

Great job of CRM boys. Lots of busy radio, but I think that makes the length of the video worth it. Glad you made one for the "airplane nerds." Enjoyed it.

I watch a lot of aircraft posts on RU-vid. It is cool to see someone flying from an airport I am familiar with. Love French Valley

I really want to experience this before the airport closes.

Great video and coverage.

I love all your vids

Great video thank you

That Socal controller was certainly working for his pay cheque. Busy, busy, busy!

Wonderful flying videos !

I always watch your vid well, thx for virtual experience

Very professional!

Welcome to my neck of the woods. Yeah, isn't the Los Angeles airspace fun? Never boring. Keep flying safe and yes I saw all the videos.

That is a fun area, I grew up and living in the areas you flew over, only regret didn't get my PPL while in So.Cal, nice job on the Wix web construction

As much as I enjoy the Cinematic videos, its nice to watch one like this it helps me to listen and learn! keep it up!

Nice video. Inspiring.

Thats a beutifull skyhawk!

You guys were flyin around my backyard. I've been to F70 many times for the $100 burger. I think that private airport you were referring to is the one on the south end of Lake Elsinore, its a VERY busy sky diving place. Next time you're out you'll have to fly to Catalina Island. The view from the restaurant is great and they have buffalo burgers.

Great Video!

I just started my PPL flight lessons at French Valley - putting this flight in my must do list :)

You flew right over my house on V186! Started my logbook at Santa Monica.

The first SoCal approach controller was brilliant, learned a lot from him as a controller myself.

Love these “geekier” videos!

Really got attached to 37H during this EPIC flight. I can't believe Arnoldo sold it when he got back to Florida. Kinda like losing a dear friend.

Damn SoCal Approach sounds like an auctioneer

Great video

Great video I watched the whole serious. It was sure interesting for a none pilotlike me to listen to the busy ATC chatter.

Another great video, Josh. Would you be so kind as to clarify what "Red, blue, green: Runway's clean" entails? I'm not sure how the colours come into play here. Thanks for everything.

Lucky too since they're planning to close Santa Monica not to long from now!

So cool! You took off out of my home airport

I get anxiety just watching this. Great video.

Great listening to flight following

Love your checklists, do you have them posted somewhere?

That close traffic was going to Lake Mathews practice area. Very busy practice area

I always said if you can fly in SoCal you can fly anywhere in the world 🌎 ...That was a beautiful zoom camera 🎥 keep up the great videos! 👍

I was lucky enough to stay in California for 6 Months in 1960 - on our way to Tokio from the UK. I was only 20 years old and flew many hours at Santa Monica with my brand new PPL. How I survived I don't know. Santa Monica Flyers; the controllers used to laugh at my English accent with the callsign ending in Sierra Foxtrot :)

That landing was BUTTER

Good job

Nice seeing you transition my stomping grounds. I got my IFR a commercial tickets at KRAL

French Valley is...um...interesting. For SMO, the SFRA works too, and you don't need clearance, but you have to drop down into the airport pretty fast.

Very good

Great video I have been watching the entire series , I enjoy your team work and the check list however I did not see the autopilot check, in my 172 with a kap 140 single axis I have to Make shure I can over ride the auto pilot as part of the preflight or I cannot use the auto pilot, would be nice to actualy school us on the type you have and how it is coupled

Gotta love that LA Smog

Wait... I WAS AT SANTA MONICA AIRPORT DINER WHEN YOU CAME IN! NOW I RECOLECT WHEN I HEARD 991!

Dude!! You flew out of my home airport!