Flying to Mammoth - Advice Please

I'm planning on making my first trip to Mammoth this Sunday, if the winds die down like they are forcasted to do. Any advice? I'll be taking off from Santa Monica at 8am and plan to basically fly up the Owens Valley at 10,500 reamining clear of the Restricted Area's over Edwards and China Lake. It's a short stop at Mammoth for some skiing with a flight home planned for 4:30 or so.

I've been cleared over Edwards before, but have never flown far enough north to need a clearance over China Lake. Is it possible to get a clearance through R2505 on a Sunday?

Any other advice? At what wind speed would you suggest the winds aloft are to strong and likely to yield a bumpy ride up the valley? 30kts at 15,000? 40 kts at 15,000?

Any and all advice or flying stories are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

No need... you can pass Northbound just to the West of R-2505. Pick up 395 at Little Lake as marked on the sectional. Once you reach Olancha at the S. end of Owens dry lake you are clear of the R areas.

You will be in the Isabella MOA but it is usually inactive on weekends.

That flight up the Owens valley is very scenic. I especially like the view of Mt. Whitney as you pass over Lone Pine.

Expect a bumpy ride back at 4:30 though. The El Mirage "top of lift" number will give you some idea of the thermal strength in the Mojave desert -

http://newweb.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/data/aviation/soar.htm

The area to the North of Mammoth (Minden) is covered here, and I believe these forecasts are updated at 7 am each day.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/getprod.php?wfo=rev&pil=SRG&sid=REV&version=0&banner=off

The ridge just E. of the Walker Pass near Inyokern is sometimes called "boomer ridge" by the glider folk, so expect thermals early there...

John,

Fly high unless the winds aloft are kicking up and its a great flight. You're likely to get through 2505 on a Sunday (based on my few flights over the area - I have never been routed around). If there are any winds on the ground at Mammoth, be sure to land long if you approach headed west. The winds funnel between two hills at the E end of the runway and are VERY squirrelly. And the runway is plenty long to land midfield. It is a bit of a drive into town - I don't recall if they have rental cars there, but there is a taxi service.

Let me know if I can help with more info.

cheers,
greg

I am running a weather forecasting tool on my own computer called a "RASP" for glider pilots that we have found is pretty good for predicting mountain wave activity. You are welcome to check it out.

http://alcald.homelinux.org/RASP/AVENAL2/FCST/RASPtable.html

The forecast area I'm running includes the high desert around Edwards AFB, up through Inyokern, and it cuts off on the North at about Mt. Whitney/Lone Pine, but it should give you a good idea if there will be high winds and wave with rotor turbulence to worry about in the Owens Valley. There has been a lot of wave activity there over the last week or so. A record soaring flight was made in wave last Wednesday that covered 2200 km or 1367
miles in 13 hours and 20 minutes with an average speed of 103 mph. They were flying at very high altitudes in class A airspace under an IFR flight plan!

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=1702056

The RASP forecasts go out 2 days ahead. The current day forecast comes out about 0200 PDT, the +1 day comes out about 0900 PDT and the +2 day comes out in the mid-afternoon about 1500 PDT. For wave activity, check the parameters labeled "vertical velocity at 700mb" and "vertical velocity at 500mb", "VertVelocity slice at VertVelMax" . There are also graphic plots of the surface winds, the winds at the "boundary layer top" and the average wind in the boundary layer. There is also a graph of the amount of wind shear in the boundary layer and many other useful bits of information.

Alex Caldwell
RV-3a N1131T
Tulare, CA

Never had a problem

I flew up there and back a few times from SNA and it was strictly routine. Used the highway up the valley as a reference to stay clear of China Lake. I never use numbers as go/no go criteria, if it is that close to marginally dangerous I don't go. The valley is not very restrictive so you can turn around and return to SMO if you don't like what you experience or see ahead. A talk with the briefer at 1-800-WX-BRIEF with specific questions associated with a standard briefing should be adequate for your flight planning. If things get rough at Mammoth you might consider landing at Bishop and working out a solution from there.

Bob Axsom

Mammoth Suggestions

If the Owens does not work for you, try Santa Monica direct Fresno, (Friant) and a short (relatively) hop E/B over the Sierras into KMMH. Unless you need a road underneath you, then of course as the others suggest.

Done it a mess of times when the wave is making trouble. Watch for landing southerly crosswinds, per the broadcast.

Bishop is a great option, but no rental cars available on the weekend.
Enterprise is closed and the Ford dealer no longer rents cars. With
prior arrangements (call Hot Creek Aviation) I believe you can rent
from Enterprise on the weekends at Mammoth Airport.

Thanks everyone!

Everyone, thanks for all the excellent advice, VAF is truly the best!
Alex and Gil, thanks for the links to the website, there's a lot of great information there.

I've driven to Mammoth literally hundreds of times but this will be the first flight. I'm comforatable with the elevation, Big Bear and Mammoth are about the same elevation. The possibility of winds over the Sierra's is what have me a little nervous. I've seen some very big rotor/lenticular clouds out there when driving and always think how glad I am I didn't fly.

The forecast is for calm winds on Sunday so right now everything looks good. I'll report back with some pictures on Monday.

The Eastern Sierra trout opener is this weekend. I was planning on flying
to Bishop tomorrow. Winds forcast to be gusting 40kts at China Lake
and 35kts at Bishop. Will make the decision in the morning. Darn I hate
that 5 hour drive

If you do make the flight please report back with a PIREP on the ride.

A 1 hour flight by RV (2 hours in my spam can) or 5 hours behind the wheel....decisions, decisions .

Just saw a PIREP from an RV6 at 1:40pm, 17,500 over Bishop reporting Moderate to Severe turbulance. Another one from an RV6 at 1:23 and 12,500 over Bishop (same guy?) reporting occosional light turbulance.

Chino Tom said:

The Eastern Sierra trout opener is this weekend. I was planning on flying
to Bishop tomorrow. Winds forcast to be gusting 40kts at China Lake
and 35kts at Bishop. Will make the decision in the morning. Darn I hate
that 5 hour drive

Click to expand...

From Weathermeister:
Loc. Time
(PDT) Altitude Aircraft Sky Weather Temp Wind Turbulence Icing Remarks
PMD 3:46 PM 8000' C525 Moderate
BIH 3:40 PM 16500' COL4 Moderate
NID 2:31 PM 11000' BE36 Moderate
KMAE 1:55 PM 14500' RV6 Negative 14500' to 8500'
BIH 1:40 PM 17500' RV6 Moderate to Severe 10500' to 17500'
BIH 1:40 PM 17500' RV6 Moderate to Severe 10500' to 17500'
KIYK 1:15 PM 15000' HXB Light to Moderate
KIYK 1:15 PM 15000' HXB Light to Moderate Over O26180015
BIH 12:55 PM 17000' HXB Moderate Occasional Extreme 12000' to 17000
BIH 12:55 PM 17000' HXB Occasional 12000' to 17000'

Looks like someone on their way to the formation clinic maybe. Doesn't look
like today was a fun day to fly over Bishop (BIH)

Ask Joshua for an overfly. They usually give you 10,000 ft and above if it is cold. I live in China Lake and fly in the area a lot. I personally would just follow high way 395 on the way up. Gives you more options.

John and any other Mammoth Skiers/snowboarders:
I bought a 2011/2012 season pass for Mammoth. As a bonus to get people to buy them it already became active on May 1 and I'm constantly looking for someone to share the cost of getting from Bishop up to Mammoth. I'd consider partnering on a clunker car stashed at Bishop for next season if any one is interested. I think they charge $30/mo for car storage.

Thanks,
Bill
N84WJ, RV-8 600 hrs
Base at Gillespie In San Diego
rv-8.blogspot.com