Blah blah poooooof

I completely agree with your decision to land, so no argument with my question. But isn't the 45 minutes reserve at night for fuel planning? As in, as long as you take off with the 45 minute reserve, things like headwinds, vectors, etc, might cause you to land with 30 minutes but you'd still be legal? That being said, my personal minimum is one hour fuel reserve day or night, and if I can't make an approach before reaching that hour, it's time to divert.

Great video with some excellent safety points. One of my favorite GA airports in Southern California.

Hi Josh and Chelsea !! Do you need a flight plan for night VFR in the US ? I m from France and it’s mandatory here. This would have allowed a better transition between airspaces. Thanks a lot for your amazing content

How many hours flight is Catalina from the continental US of A?

I flew there many times in the '90s. Because it's up-sloping for the first half of 22, your flare actually needs to climb a little. And watch out for downdrafts at the threshhold that drop down the cliff. But it's the closest a C-172 will get to landing on a carrier :D

I fly into Camarillo often and I learned something important with this video. I thought that once you were talking to ATC and especially after they have radar identified you, you were free through the next Delta, but in this case the controller probably didn't have time to call Oxnard and so it's still my responsibility to verify with Oxnard to transition. I usually depart downwind from Camarillo or call Point Magu to transition back down the coast to go back to Fullerton through the LA Special Flight Rules Transition. Thanks for the lesson.

Park it. Get a hotel room. Go another day. No flight is worth a life. Is this some kind of Garmin adventure NOIR series?

Whatever happened to dead reckoning and looking out the window? Way too much Glass in a simple 172. A yoke mounted 496 or 696 would more than sufficient and WAY more economical. Geesh.

So much for advanced flight planning.

Aviation 101, where the Sheople are nervous on the radio. Lol.😅

Your videos are always so beautiful! Great job! We say you last year at Oshkosh. You had a line of folks wanting to say hello... Anyway, a friend of mine and his wife went to Catalina and camped there! I didn't think they would let you do that, but I guess I was wrong. Personally, I don't think I'd want to land there if it was windy at all.

There is no decision.

Pretty girl. Getting home safely is any pilot’s sacred duty.

Nice job.

Flew my wife-to-be on our first date to Catalina in 1975. We had Buffalo burgers at the sky restaurant which looked just like the picture in the video. We married 6 months later, had two children and nine grandchildren. The romance lasted for 46 years until she passed from cancer. Catalina was the start of a wonderful life!

Very nice. I used to fly helicopters into there routinely. Then fly around the island to explore. Of course it helps when you’re getting paid to do that and in a government helicopter, burning government Jet-A fuel. Interesting note, there’s actually an instrument approach and departure procedure for IFR certified helicopters, but NOT in/out of the airport. It’s for a helipad located at Pebbly Beach (several miles away from the airport itself) and it’s only for certain government entities and life flight helicopters. 😊. On a side note, another awesome airport to fly into is Kern Valley Airport (L05), in Kernville. But people can get into trouble flying there with some nutty winds, unless they’ve had good mountain flying training.

That is looking at the situation from a Birds Eye. It allows to see the whole block of Swiss cheese and see all the holes. Otherwise you just looking at the individual holes. They can and do line up if you’re not looking at the big picture. When in doubt zoom out. I MUST SAY though. Personally I would not have flown in that area at night. Single engine piston at night I wouldn’t be anywhere near terrain. I thought you were going to stop for the night when you stopped. I feel that would have been the best thing to do, personally.

At 0.30 both younguys look amazing .

was this for the catalina wine mixer?

Such an awesome video. The thing that I like about what you do, Josh, is how transparent you are and some of the mistakes you make yourself. It makes us low time VF our pilots feel that we need to up our game, but at the same time, realize that there’s still so much to learn. Thank you for sharing your journey!

Cool music Josh. Great photography and editing. I do not do SEP at night especially over terrain like that.

Highly appreciated video with plenty of wise comments. Good call for both students and instructors. I just retired and I’m about to restart flying after 45 years of hiatus. Your video is a great guide as to what to look for in a flying instructor. I love flying and respect it equally putting safety as a first priority. Thanks again

Carry a little power on short final and watch out for the pot holes and bison burgers.

Sorry but was the pilot yawning at the beginning of the video. Or is that stress relief?

Great video guys.

Thanks for taking us along

Outstanding insight, as always

I almost saw my house in PV

Flying at night/Hard IFR is the reason I bought and fly a twin. An engine out in those conditions makes for a lot less issue if you have a spare engine..... What happened to the 337 you were thinking about?

I relate a lot to Josh. It gives me a sense of peace and confidence- the way he flies and how safe and responsible he is. It all makes me want to be the same way. I can't wait to finish my PPL and take my girlfriend up to fly. And maybe even make video(s) about it. And I hope that she'll enjoy our flights the same way Josh and his wife do.

Why not divert... and refuel... if safety is a concerned because of high terrain departing at night ... just call it a day and spend the night in the airplane. In US theres an airport every 5 min (kinda) considering how often there are low ceilings and fog at night in the westcoast.. no reason to keep going if fuel is gettin low

Didn't the G3X give notice that the Oxnard Delta was there??

This is why I like to be IFR in busy airspace areas no matter the weather. Don't have to think about airspace quite as much.

Fantastic video. Every word is true, and I'm glad you said it. I agree, there are many fantastic flight instructors out there, both career and those looking to move on. I like what you said about doing the best job that you can even if that job is a temporary stop in a long career. The only way I can see creating an environment where more people will become career or longer-term instructors is to make it a destination, not a pit stop. It needs to pay better and have better benefits. At least in Canada, only the top tier of instructors make decent money, and even that is less than half of what you'd make as an airline pilot. Instructing comes with a huge responsibility and it needs to be compensated as such.

i want a plane, i need it.

The best skill a pilot can have is “humbleness”. And you definitely got that 🙏🏼 I hope you can inspire more and more pilots in being humble when making mistakes (or getting close to) and specially in the decision making during a flight!

you guys are amazing, it's a great pilot who can self-analyse and leave the ego in the back pocket and admit and learn from mistakes, I have to say your lady is so lovely you just make a great couple, legends indeed

Avoid the flight school at Morristown, NJ. Those guys are crooks.

Night. Terrain. Ice. IMC. Pick up just one of it. And me personally won't fly above terrain at night in single engine airplane...

What an awesome and educational video. Great job team.

Always thought flying into Eureka CA as being an order of magnitude harder than Catalina … Cat was never a big deal …

Did my first dual XC night flight this week. It was freaky once we left the city lights. Doing our landings at a non towered airport..oh man. Felt like the darkness was reaching up to get me. After the fifth pattern, I got used to it and really enjoyed it.

I understand that SoCal is a little bit busy, but I'm kind of surprised that you didn't opt for IFR after your fuel stop. That strikes me as the safest way to fly at night, if the option is available to you.

In retrospect do you think you should have just stayed overnight at Camario?

Excellent video quality and message stressing safety decisions. Good stuff all around Josh and Chelsea.

i wanna be a pilot when i grow up thanks to you!

Dude…. Get your IFR ticket and never have to worry about this stuff again. Your plane looks like it’s well equipped for cross country IFR. I did an accelerated IFR course in one week. Get it done!

Do I have to land with you?

KFMN (Farmington, NM) has a big drop off on both ends. The airport is on a mesa. It's a fun place to fly. Not as pretty as Catalina Island though.