ATC Behind the Scenes: Flying to SoCal TRACON for a private tour in a Grumman Tiger

[@daviddean9116]

I was a controller there from May 94-Sept 14, when I retired. Best job ever!

[@cherylkirkpatrick8105]

Was a controller here, worked mostly LAX Arrivals; now retired. I set up the Operation Raincheck at SCT, back in the day. Loved the job!

[@user-uj2og5mf7w]

Hey Cheryl… JP from area B. Retired from NCT

[@cherylkirkpatrick8105]

@@user-uj2og5mf7w Hi Jay! How are you? When did you go to NCT? It was a challenging transition for me at first to change from Center controller to Approach at first. But once I adapted, I loved controlling there. I worked mostly the LA Approach Area, later split in to Arrivals and Departures Areas. I stayed in Arrivals. How is retirement? Are you living up in N Cal?

[@Gio-ue8ps]

Very busy at lax. You can see all the planes lined up in the sky

[@NarbonneGauchoBoingo]

great job, I've done that tour, they used to call it "operation rain check". It was great to plug in and sit next to the controllers working the sectors I flew and see the faces of the familiar voices I always talked to. Every pilot should do this. We've had them come up and talk with our flying club too.

[@jerseyshoredroneservices225]

Very interesting and informational. Thank you!

[@nicksaffari4412]

This video is so underrated

[@russperkins4054]

Great video, thanks for bringing us along on the tour! Those folks in ATC are great around here in the Salt Lake area as well, professional and helpful. Really enjoying your channel.

[@Wolficorntv]

Thx Russ. Yes, those guys/girls are a great resource for us!!

[@Dan007UT]

Hey Russ, I'm in SLC too.. new pilot out of U42. Have you done a tour at ATC here? Haven't talked to them yet on the radio since I'm just doing sport. but will be doing my atc/class b,c,d endorsement soon

[@semperoccultus1969]

Great video! Loved the tour and seeing how the screens look and really good questions too. Interesting how they mark a declared emergency with all the options they have on screen. I loved the Oshkosh series as well. Hope you keep up the content.

[@Wolficorntv]

Sorry I just saw this comment! I'm glad you like this and the Oshkosh videos!

[@viewerad]

Yes! I have been waiting for a video like this for a long time. Great video, great info. Thanks for sharing. 👊👊👊

[@Wolficorntv]

Glad you liked it!

[@nate7803]

I wish there was more of these videos. Absolutely fascinating. I'm going to OKC on enroute track in a month!! Who knows maybe I'll hand these planes off to SCT in a year or so.

[@Wolficorntv]

Good luck with your training!

[@par5eagles]

You make the best videos, great stuff, thanks!

[@Wolficorntv]

par5eagles glad you dig ‘em

[@HectorWPadilla]

Highly educational- I didn’t know they could show freeways on their screen. Thank you

[@Wolficorntv]

glad you enjoyed it Hector!

[@derekkoopowitz]

Norcal TRACON did a presentation at the Oakland airport about a month ago... very informative. I plan to visit their building in Rancho Cordova in the next month or so - 3rd busiest TRACON in the country.

[@avocadoflight]

Do you have any info on how to contact them for a visit? Im pretty local just outside Sac..

[@derekkoopowitz]

Call the admin at NorCal Tracon 916-366-4001

[@airbusthreethirty3416]

@Wolficorn Great video! I remember seeing that TRACON bldg under construction while staying at the nearby Holiday Inn for business years ago. Not sure if the Holiday Inn is still there or not. One cool benefit of staying at the HI was watching the F14’s and, later, the F18’s launching from/RTB Miramar! Stay safe. 🛫🛬📡

[@johnfowler1627]

I've spent some time in that room. Brings back memories.

[@benderaviation]

Cool Video. I pass by that facility every-time I take the Kearney Mesa Rd exit.

[@Wolficorntv]

Thx!!

[@garyshiflett9010]

@wolficorn, I have been the NATCA pilot/controller liaison for Potomac TRACON for the last two years. I’ve given countless tours for local pilots. Jason did an excellent job in this video. I would be interested in making a connection with him. Just to talk ATC and maybe expand our outreach initiatives. Maybe even present something to NATCA national. Either way, great video!!

[@billr8667]

Thanks for posting. I was fortunate to be able to attend a pilot open house at the DC TRACON several years ago. It was a really meaningful experience. BTW, I'll bet the screens there are a lot less busy during this virus mess, even for busy airspace around SOCAL.

[@Wolficorntv]

I agree. It's a great learning experience for a pilot. Thx for watching!

[@rorosky7599]

Great Video. I am sure a lot of work went into making this and I appreciate the efforts. I work on the communications ATC equipment at SCT and wish I knew you were coming. I could have shown you the equipment room, radios and the voice switch. Next time!

[@Wolficorntv]

Thx! Wish I would have know at the time!

[@MaxRay16]

The wonders of the voice switch are usually over shadowed by the cool STARS displays lol

[@OriensFlight]

“Don’t fly through approach and departure courses” is perhaps the most important ATC advice in this video for pilots. On the face of it, super simple concept, and how could any pilot have a problem with this, right? Now overlay the SoCal airport departures and arrivals and notice how the Riverside 27 departure puts you into the middle of the Chino 26 approaches (unless you turn early). This unfortunately happened to this poor NorCal pilot during the spring of 2020 and I feel bad about not mitigating the conflict ahead of time, but the TAC chart is quite busy in SoCal. A tip for aspiring / low-time pilots, sometimes things get stressful at the TRACON and you might get a controller who decides to ‘advise you’ of what you’re doing wrong, on frequency. Keep you wits about you and keep flying the airplane. I had done everything I could planning for the RIV to VNY flight, including switching from tower to departure quickly to get flight following, but at the time the TRACONs were being downsized due to Covid, and certain controllers were clearly overworked. We’re all human, so I didn’t take it personally, but if any controllers are reading this, please know sometimes what may look like a boneheaded move may simply be an accidental stepping on the radios a split second too soon, or after a lot of planning a misunderstanding of what it going on in a given unfamiliar airspace. Best course of action is to vector us VFR guys in the direction of where you want us to be without venting. If you have time to ask if we’re local or transient and then want to pass on advice, that’s great, but remember things get busy in the single-pilot cockpits too.

[@10star9]

I see you have a Camera on the wing Beautiful Plane Very cool job those guys have to guild the Planes & Jets around.

[@Wolficorntv]

Yes I sometimes mount a GoPro on my wing :)

[@smacmoyle]

great video, thanks. glad to know they would rather talk to me than not talk to me. Also confirmed my thoughts that they will not be using the $4000 ADS B feature the FAA made me buy.

[@Wolficorntv]

Thx. Yeah it's a little curious how the FAA rolled out this mandate but won't have anybody to enforce it...at least for now around here, it seems. That said, I love the benefits that it provides.

[@fishhisy]

@@Wolficorntv I heard Obama signed the ADSB in because he didn't like the idea of free citizens being able to take their plane anywhere they want. The Europeans use ADSB as a toll road.

[@prestonmiller9552]

I used to fly out of Montgomery Field when I lived in San Diego. You should have had lunch at the greatest Mexican Restaurant in the area. "Casa Machado". It's right atop the Terminal Building for Montgomery Field at 3750 John J. Montgomery Dr. Mexican Food at it's finest and great aviation décor as well as good view of the ramp and runways. On the North side of the field, just north of the numbers on Runway 23 is the 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant. 8885 Balboa Ave. It too has an aviation theme and a view of the field. A bit more pricey but also good food. Check it out next time you get to San Diego's Montgomery Field.

[@Wolficorntv]

I actually did have some lunch there before I left, I just didn't include that in the edit. It's certainly one of the better airport restaurants out there!

[@fredm.9474]

I love you all guys have a safe flight central out

[@alexicna92]

Thanks for that great video ! I’m air traffic controller at Paris CDG and should be in San Diego in August 2020. I plan to rent an aircraft at KMYF for a 2 week x-country as I did last year from KLGB. It would be fantastic for me to have a visit of SoCal Tracon to meet American ATC. So if you have any contact to share with me , it would be great !

[@Wolficorntv]

That sounds like an awesome x-country trip. I would love to hear about your route. Gimme your email and I can get you in touch with the right people for that visit.

[@alexicna92]

Wolficorn great ! [e-mail]

[@fltof2]

@@alexicna92 I’m guessing that 2020 trip didn’t quite work out how everyone thought? How are things at CDG? I was lucky enough to visit France last month (Sept. ‘21) and fly with a friend at the Cessna club at LFPT and we flew over the amazing castles north of CDG’s airspace. The U.S. opens up soon, will you try to reschedule your trip?

[@ricsha91]

Great video!

[@Wolficorntv]

thx!

[@socalpilotjin3720]

Thank you for this video.

[@Wolficorntv]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jerseyshoredroneservices225]

7:13 "outside of regulated airspace" What part of the navigable airspace is unregulated?

[@jerseyshoredroneservices225]

19:40

[@jerseyshoredroneservices225]

20:06 This should be a drinking game LOL 😂

[@pabloro5a5]

Great video! I fly to KLAX frequently and I want to meet the TRACON, how can I do that?

[@Wolficorntv]

They occasionally (at least they used to) do public tours that you can register for. I would try searching here from time to time until one pops up: www.faasafety.gov/WINGS/pub/accreditedactivities/activitySearch.aspx

[@jonathanmoore9661]

Really fascinating.

[@dinosofialinda]

@wolficorn Hi, I am learning to fly at WHP, and I would love to visit the SoCal TRACON; I can not find a way to schedule a visit. Would you happen to have any information? Thank you!

[@Wolficorntv]

They occasionally (at least they used to) do public tours that you can register for. I would try searching here from time to time until one pops up: www.faasafety.gov/WINGS/pub/accreditedactivities/activitySearch.aspx

[@jakemorgan5427]

I would love to get in contact with any ATC's you know, thank you so much!

[@yaanimani2666]

Can you please help me get in touch to do something like this?

[@Wolficorntv]

Hey! I was invited personally by my friend, but I believe if you sign up for the FAA WINGS program you can find out when public tours of the facility are given. Definitely worth it! www.faasafety.gov/WINGS/pub/accreditedactivities/activitySearch.aspx

[@samanmahdiabadi]

Srsly WTF ????!!!!! only 10K views and 350!!! likes??????? I would like to give this video and all the efforts gone to make it a hundred million likes ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Wolficorntv]

I like your enthusiasm! The YT algorithm can be a strange beast.

[@mikeleckliter5501]

I’m out of F70 and would like to take the tour

[@Wolficorntv]

reach out to SoCal TRACON. It's cool. I have no idea if they are doing post_covid tours yet.

[@tzadiko]

I can't make out where you took off from

[@Wolficorntv]

Tzadik Vanderhoof I started from Whiteman (WHP) my home airport

[@gbigsangle3044]

One takeaway is how crude and old tech they are still are. Their displays look like old green-screens before graphical screens came out for computing. Their emphasis is still on VORs, airways, text tickers (laying on a desk!) and non-graphical symbols and lines.

[@Wolficorntv]

Thanks for watching! I was surprised they still use paper flight strips, but I guess old-school techniques are genuinely the most efficient. I'm purely speculating, but I think the digital displays are like that to remove clutter and unnecessary info. I will admit, upon first glance from an outsider, some of those map screens look straight outta the 80s.

[@andersonrodriguez8258]

@@Wolficorntvsome facilities use electronic digital flight strips but most controllers prefer the strips

[@habibmehraban1779]

I like all your clip. I am the owner of a Grumman Tiger at SMO. I would like to meet you one day. Whenever near the Santa Monica airport let me know please.

[@Wolficorntv]

Cool! My Tiger was based at SMO before I bought it 3 years ago.

[@atcdude067]

CTI=Collegiate Training Initiative CTI=/= Controller Training Initiative that is all.

[@gorgly123]

ADSB = Government Boondoggle.

[@Wolficorntv]

I don't think it's a waste. I LOVE all the benefits of ADSB and think it makes GA flying safer. I do, however, think they misrepresented the reason behind the 2020 mandate. ATC doesn't care one way or another if we're compliant.

[@gorgly123]

@@Wolficorntv I have it in my planes too and like the traffic info and weather. However, I don't see any ATC benefit yet. Technically the FAA requires ADSB out but it doesn't require you to have ADSB in which is to the Pilot's benefit. So, if ATC isn't using then it then it seems more of a "Big Brother" tool for the government. It may come into play in the event of a missing plane being able to track it better for search and rescue if the plane doesn't have the 406 ELT.

[@kc2uew]

@@gorgly123 ADS-B out is required for the benefit of the pilots who choose to equip with ADS-B in. You're not required to use the data, but you're required to be visible to those who do. Additionally, TRACON systems are being outfitted with FUSION, which adds ADS-B data to the radar scope, and updates once per second rather than once every 4.8 seconds. Not every facility gets it right away.