Half Moon Bay, CA

Guest Discussion
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I flew into Half Moon Bay (KHAF)last weekend and I will share some intresting notes for all:

  1. It would appear (without studying the chart) that this uncontrolled airport would use Left Traffic for Runway 30 as right traffic is over land and higher elevation and the left is over the water - however - the sea lions prefer and mandate you fly right traffic for 30.
  2. Now Take off advice - you can not get reception on the runway to open an IFR clearance due to the hill top to the North and the clouds hover the coast at the airport frequently. While taking off RWY 30 there was a strong tailwind on 12 (eliminating the option of departing rwy 12, and clouds at 400 ft. hovering the west - yet leaving a safe VFR passage to stay clear of the clouds with an early cross wind of which I did behind another Cirrus. - Turning early did trigger a Noice Abatement violation which lead to a Ramp Check in San Carlos for this act. I had a IFR clearance on the phone yet unable to open it on the runway ( I am sure I could of shut down and called again - and perhaps opened the plan via cell in 15 minutes). I believe I will get a letter (so I was told) - who knows… I felt I acted safely under the circumstances - however all should keep in mind that this airport has eyes even when no one appears to be around.
  3. Parking - Food, one would think that parking at the airport cafe is the best transisent parking or the obivious parking, however parking 500 yards East of the threshold of rwy 30 is optimal as you can easily walk to the town (saves you 75% of the distance) 8 minute walk to have a great lunch (Airport cafe closes at 2pm Sunday).
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In reply to:

you can not get reception on the runway to open an IFR clearance due to the hill top to the North and the clouds hover the coast at the airport frequently… Turning early did trigger a Noice Abatement violation which lead to a Ramp Check in San Carlos for this act. I had a IFR clearance on the phone yet unable to open it on the runway ( I am sure I could of shut down and called again - and perhaps opened the plan via cell in 15 minutes).

Did you really have a clearance? Or did you have a clearance and exceed the void time? By the sound of it, I am inferring you had a IFR flight plan, but not a clearance. They are different. Yes, to use your flight plan if you cannot remain VFR prior to clearance requires you call on the phone and get a clearance on the ramp. They will typically give you a clearance with a void time - if you have not taken off by then you have to call them back or they will assume your airborne and NORDO (had a radio failure).

You also could consider a power reduction in noise sensitive areas. Pulling back to 2600 or lower will make a huge reduction in your noise profile. When I have a noise sensitive area I climb more aggressively over the runway, then reduce the climb rate and pull back the power.

In reply to:

I believe I will get a letter (so I was told) - who knows… I felt I acted safely under the circumstances - however all should keep in mind that this airport has eyes even when no one appears to be around.

There is safe and then there are the regs. It is not necessarily so that being safe keeps you out of reg trouble. You did the right thing by staying VFR, but that will not help with small minded bureaucrats who expect compliance in all aspects of your operations. The really sad thing is if you had penetrated the clouds (not saying you should) to miss the noise areas and turned on course they probably would not have done anything as they have a hard time knowing if your in IMC (unless they are on the field watching, which CAN happen). In that case you would have done the unsafe thing and not gotten in trouble. Go figure.

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In reply to:

I flew into Half Moon Bay (KHAF)last weekend and I will share some intresting notes for all:

  1. It would appear (without studying the chart) that this uncontrolled airport would use Left Traffic for Runway 30 as right traffic is over land and higher elevation and the left is over the water - however - the sea lions prefer and mandate you fly right traffic for 30.

You could also check maps.google.com and the satellite image shows the segmented circle indicating right traffic for RY30.

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David,

With all due respect you really should know about the traffic pattern as part of your preflight planning.

If you are VFR your sectional chart will have RP30 to indicate that the pattern for RW 30 is right hand.

If you consulted the AFD you would find several restrictions regarding operation at HAF along with the information about the right hand pattern.

Finally, if you use Jepps, the airport diagram for HAF says right traffic for 30.

It is the responsibility of the PIC to know this stuff even if it looks like a left hand pattern makes more sense.

Regarding the departure I don’t have access to the appropriate charts here at work but I assume the airport is in Class G airspace with Class E beginning at 700 ft agl. If that’s the case you can depart VFR as long as you remain clear of clouds. If Class E goes down to the surface then departing VFR is illegal since you can’t maintain vertical distance criteria from the clouds.

As others have said, if you want to depart IFR you need to get your clearance by phone. It always comes with a void time. If you are not off by that time the clearance is no longer valid and you need to call again.

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David:

As others have said, you need a IFR release void time in order to depart IFR from an uncontrolled field.

Except in those rare instances where you can get the releasee by radio (KAEG comes to mind) you are going to have to get the release by cell phone. It helps to have two cell phones aboard since cell coverage is not necessarily universal on the ramp.

The release is from the controlling agency for that airport and is different from your IFR clearance. You still need to get the clearance. After the clearance, you need a release and a void time if you can’t remain VFR before entering controlled airspace.

I think there is also a central number for NorCal clearance delivery, but I am not certain.

Although you can get various products that will permit the cell phone to interface with the aircraft audio system, I have never had a problem hearing. With the engine at 1,000 rpm. and with my Bose Aviation X on my right ear I just slide up the left side of the headset so I can hear the cell phone. It works fine for me, but YMMV.

When you file the IFR flight plan, that is a good time to discuss getting the phone number to the controlling ATC facility that serves the airport.

I don’t have that number handy, but Flight Service should be able to give it to you.

In SoCal territory, the procedure is get the clearance from the SoCal Clearance number. I always ask for the closest altimeter setting to the airport I am at. I know from experience that I can’t talk to Ontario Tower on the radio from Cable KCCB. I have a number for Ontario Tower and get the IFR release from them.

I remember many years ago getting an IFR release from San Francisco Approach on the phone outside the restaurant at KHAF with a clearance void time. I had already loaded the plane, done the preflight, and gotten all my ducks in a line before I called.

Now, with cell phones it is much easier.

There is no reason to get yourself into a violation situation, either noise abatement or IFR regulations just because you do not have an IFR release and a void time obtained on the ground.

I have been at KHAF a couple of times in the last few months.
The last time conditions were clear and I just flew the visual for 30 right traffic.

You are right about the restaurants. It is better to go to the south end of the field even during the coffee shop hours.

Barbara’s Fishtrap is good for lunch but overpriced for dinner. For dinner we were impressed by Mezza Luna. Mezza Luna is just west from the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. We did not try the Brewing Company due to an extremely long wait time. The Brewing Company was packed with 20-somethings waiting for the live band.

Curiously enough Meza Luna was quiet and had a very short wait. Classy Italian, white table cloths, etc. Reasonable.

I have added KHAF to KWLW as a stop over point on the way back from Oregon. Both have good food and relatively cheap self serve fuel.

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I’m based at HAF.

To pick up clearances: 916.361.0519
To close your IFR flight plan after an approach: 916.361.3829

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In reply to:

You could also check maps.google.com and the satellite image shows the segmented circle indicating right traffic for RY30.

BTW, also carrying a flight guide, see here, with you is a good idea. They are less than 30 bucks and contain a lot of this info (and much more) you can study before you land. Others make them too, but I like these.

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The sectional chart also says “RP 30”.

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In reply to:

… I don’t have access to the appropriate charts here at work but I assume the airport is in Class G airspace with Class E beginning at 700 ft agl.

Jerry,

The sectional available online at Skyvector.com confirms your hypothesis.

-Sanjay

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In reply to:

Jerry,
The sectional available online at Skyvector.com confirms your hypothesis.
-Sanjay

I will double check this, but I seem to recall that airport info on the Garmin 396 also shows traffic pattern directions.

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A few years ago when I was a resident at Stanford, in your neck of the woods, Sanjay, I was dating a lovely and self-confident lady, aged about 23. She was a pilot and a flight instructor, working on her CFII. She taught out of San Jose. My love of flying began with her. We would rent a fairly basic 152 from San Jose, and take it to interesting spots in California. I would have to pay for the airtime, and occasionally a rental car, but I never logged the hours. Let me think. This was 1976-1979. Anyhow, one of our favorite destinations was Half Moon Bay. This was, as I recall, an abandoned SAC or air force base. We would tie down at the north end, walk to a cute little white restaurant nearby, explore the old pill box army installations built into the hillside, then get back to civilization. There was nothing else there, at that time. Several times, she astonished me, by holding a steady attitude, and flying deliberately into IMC; the costal cloud layer, over the ocean, with primitive instruments, and superior pilot skills, without clearance. We would pop out of the clouds, the air to ourselves, climb up, and talk to San Jose tower, then head back. Safe? No. Legal? No. I mention this only because it brings back memories of how it used to be.

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In reply to:

I will double check this, but I seem to recall that airport info on the Garmin 396 also shows traffic pattern directions.

Yes, it does.
Raj