Her First GA Flight - Class Bravo - San Francisco International - ATC audio - VFR

[@172pilot]

I'm a private pilote, and anytime I go out of town for business, I always find a local airport, and schedule a flight.. Usually my line is "Give me a plane I'm not qualified to fly, and an instructor to take me on a fun flight". One of my favorite memories was flying out of San Jose, and we flew up to the SFO area.. similar experience to that from the video, and as we were approaching the Golden Gate bridge, we hear "Cessna xyz, no hold altitude, no deviation. You have 2 F18 Hornets coming from your 7:00 at your altitude to cross the bridge on a photo flight". It was AMAZING to see two F18 planes in formation pass up our left side at probably a mile clearance... Definitely a flight to remember!

[@markbrown2450]

Your reaction when you saw the 777 was priceless! That was a great video.

[@Cherokee140Pilot]

Fun video, Mr Chops! Having flown the Hudson River through NYC, I think you've given me a new item for my pilot bucket list. Sharing GA is always the best flight!

[@ik04]

I regularly did the "Lap of the Bay" back when I was a noob. I started at RHV and went through every airport's airspace clockwise. Ten airports! It was a good workout on the radio and ATC was very accommodating... Sometimes we would go to San Francisco afterward and sit in what used to be the Equinox restaurant at the top of the Hyatt Regency and view it all from the ground. Long gone now...

[@gveduccio]

awesome tip about the trim...I just took 4 of us all 175 or less in a 182RG with full tanks expected a little more problem but had not issue...I was mentally prepared to abort if needed halfway down

[@Cherokee140Driver]

Another great video! Do you want to know what flying is like? The look on Lauren's face says it all! It's pure joy.

[@FlightChops]

totally

[@steveo1kinevo]

Really enjoyed this video! San Fran looks like such a beautiful city to fly around.

[@FlightChops]

Yeah it's pretty cool - and having the mountains right there is awesome. On that note, I'm looking forward to flying Vancouver which I'll be doing later this month!

[@Concorde707]

+FlightChops British Columbia and Alberta make for awesome flying with the Rockies, enjoy

[@bumpf1]

Brings back great memories of our honeymoon in the US when we took a 172 and instructor for a tour of the bay. Good Times......especially that moment when my wife asked if we were on autopilot because it was so smooth and I got to say "nope, I'm flying" !!

[@alvinlal85]

Bay tour!! I love taking people on a bay tour on a clear day or night. Every person I take talk about it for months.

[@leesummer5256]

took My VFR in NYC ( KCDW) I know what it feels like to be in a 152 with a Heavy looking way to close!!! brought back memories.. EYES UP is the key to survival. Great Video

[@michaeleaton1345]

Great video! I'm a student pilot and San Carlos is my home airport. 458SP is one of the planes I regularly train in -- really cool to see you flying it!

[@macfan999]

Wow non-stop radio communication between you guys and atc. But what beautiful visuals you get for flying over the bay and international airport! And nice video!

[@AFO3310]

Another awesome video! I did/do my flight training at KHND (henderson near las vegas) so I'm right in the 30nm mode C range of KLAS. Bravo transition is a staple for any pilot out here. Also that bird at 3:52 ....holy crap!

[@isac.2h]

I’m in KMSP’s Mode C veil! Home airport is KLVN.

[@TiredTA]

Class bravo airspace was quite daunting to me... but still I kind of jumped right in with my first experience being a touch and go at the local class bravo airport, but to be fair, it's no SFO. I had a fairly close encounter with a 767 that was on a visual approach while I was transitioning through, and I didn't even get a warning about it because it must have been far enough below. However, it was a DHL freighter so a side glance out the window was easily enough to catch sight of a bright yellow heavy that couldn't have passed much more than one thousand feet below. San Francisco looks beautiful from up there Steve!

[@TheTechDivision1]

Amazing video FlightChops! I've never been able to see heavy jets flying in that quality from above!

[@matrixab4356]

I love seeing you guys flying around my airspace, I live in Palo Alto :) I trained in this area, and my instructor and I did more than a few bay tour flights together as well as many Bravo transitions, so flying through bravo isn't a big deal for me. Its great to see how training in busy airspace made me more confident on the radio. Go Sharks !

[@MattDuff8491]

Love the end . . . that moment when you're taking your friend up and the engine doesn't turn over on the first try - "That is normal - trust me!"

[@rnzoli]

and when you say "don't worry!", they'd get even more worried! The look on their faces is priceless :)

[@FlightChops]

+Zoltán Nagy - yup - we've all been there, that's why we thought it was funny to share that.

[@texasgooneybird]

Another great production! The tip about looking at your W/B sheet to see where to set your trim was awesome. I've always just blindly set it in the middle of "Takeoff" no matter what.

[@FlightChops]

+Texas Gooney Bird - I know right? Nothing like real world experience to make the technical training more understandable.

[@p1pem]

Amazing work. Love the outtake at the end. It's always funny to take new pax in a light aircraft during the startup - most people expect it to fire like a modern car and the look on their face when it takes three attempts and a bunch of cranking! I imagine they are thinking "what? Is this thing reliable?" So I do try to tell them beforehand what to expect. Probably you do too? Love your videos, love the takeaways and learning points but equally the sheer production and cinematography. Top job.

[@paullessard4549]

Sweet video, I was in the SFO Class B a few days ago and NorCal ATC is the really great.

[@astrogirl1usa]

This was a really fun video to watch. The scenery and seeing the larger planes taking off, was amazing. I think this is one of your best videos yet! Thank you for making my day more fun. I love what you do!

[@FlightChops]

Awesome thanks! Happy to share!

[@bremms1]

Great video. Lauren was so excited! Y'all flew right over SFO! That airspace is no joke.

[@whiteribbonman1]

I am always impressed by the professionalism of aviators like you folks, MrAviation101 and a few others. Too bad many ground travelers are not the same. I am a ground traveler that hopes eventually to gain a pilot's license & fly more than drive. When I am up there I always wish there was a way to stay there, kind of like The Jetson's cartoon from my childhood. Thank you for flying around my childhood playground, the San Francisco Bay Area.

[@cmeGordy]

I have to say that would be an interesting flight to take I frankly cannot wait until I can go back up

[@kramerdc9]

Great video and she is the cutest thing. I love her excitement and real love for this opportunity.

[@salto1994]

Every time i go flying with my aunt, i have a huge smile on my face when we lift off

[@egravelfl]

Steve, very cool video! I always love seeing stuff about going thru Bravo or even Charlie, and even more so when there's explanation of how it's accomplished. Well done!

[@MarkZacharias]

I love seeing the big jets land underneath me! You guys got a great shot on that one!

[@juancho420]

Amazing footage of traffic around SFO. Lauren was great.

[@jayzenitram9621]

I got my ticket at KCCR just east of SFO. I flew this very route many times. It brings back really good memories.

[@Zeldafan223]

Eyy I love concord

[@christopherolsen113]

I fly over LAX when going from San Diego to Santa Monica--so cool to fly over that Bravo watching the heavies take off and land underneath. No close calls yet. (Knock on wood!)

[@danm6665]

You fly through the LA special flight rules area?

[@christopherolsen113]

Yep, to get to Santa Monica I take the Mini Route going North, then use the same route going South on return.

[@danm6665]

+Christopher Olsen: but you have to contact tower when using the mini route. Too much of a hassle. I usually take the LA special flight rules area, where you can fly right through the Bravo without clearance. You follow a very specific route (132 degrees to SMO) at 3500 or 4500 (depending on your heading) and make occasional position reports on 128.55.

[@jezwilde2376]

Sweet. So cool to share with folks who have little GA experience, that flight looked like a buzz. Dunno if you'll remember me but I got my PPL in the Czech Republic last year and have moved onto the joys of a Cessna 182Q with constant speed prop, have taken a few friends for local flights (from Bristol UK - busy class D - half my hours in a hold!!) including over Stonehenge, and even taken my whole family (talk about eggs in one basket, the kids love it!) It's even spurred on at least 3 other friends to want to get licences! England just unpredictable for VFR! Still loving your increasingly professional videos, keep up the great work!

[@flightTime123]

I'm loving these new episodes! Great stuff that stays interesting.

[@woodennickel7330]

You picked a great day to fly in SF. Some days the whole area is covered in fog.

[@cencalmatt]

Looked like some beautiful SFO weather. You're lucky, it isn't always gorgeous :-) Nice video.

[@iesikhaty]

Great video man; sharing airspace with a Triple 7 now eh? Gotta be both terrifying and a privilege (before and after you have the traffic, respectively). Thanks to those Patreon gurus making stuff happen!

[@freerange2417]

I have some time in a 172 with tail number N459SP. Pretty cool.

[@scottfw7169]

There after 2:07 where Lauren says "I didn't know what kind of airplane it was going to be" it would have been a hoot to have her walking up to a Curtiss Pusher. :D

[@Zeldafan223]

SAN CARLOS!!! AND OH MY GOD THIS VIDEO IS AMAZING!!! It's so cool seeing you take off on 30 at San Carlos! I watch all of your videos and HEAR everything you where talking about but I could relate to just about everything in the video! Also the exact same thing happened to me when I was flying with the 777 except it was a 767 and it was amazing! Also I HAD THE EXACT REACTION he when with the thing that "ifr clearence" I even think it was the same controller and he was like advice when ready to copy and I was REALLY nervous to read it back but then they just said to do a low bravo transition, also I'm not sure how they would handle it if traffic had to go around on 28l or 28r because you flying right behind it, I didn't know they would't climb to your alltitude but sometimes like when I flew it they said maintain vfr at or below 1500 but if there are planes landing on the runways what would happen if they went around? Also GREAT views of half moon bay and the resevoir! ALso I so wish I or somebody else could circle around my house but it's just on the edge of the surface bravo and san carlos airspace but technically in the bravo like literally I know were the line is seperating the airspaces horizontally! Also if you depart out of san carlos with a belmont slough departure I will be able to see it! ALso I can literally hear planes landing at sfo on 28l and r as i'm typing this! so I had the same experiance with seeing the golden gate, it was incredible definitally a key takeaway. again absoulutaly AMAZING video I have to look into that patreon thing!

[@jakeellis6496]

How could anyone give this awesomeness a thumbs down?

[@FlightChops]

the internet. :P

[@GSOaviator]

One of my favorite episodes yet!

[@mx1man]

Wow I think I would love to fly the west coast. Great video thanks for the view.

[@averagejoepilot6201]

only 14 and have my student pilot licence for Civil Air Patrol. I record all my Orientation flights, lol unfortunately I only sit roght seat but i still get lots of s5ick time. I plan to become a pilot for united when I grow up. im also going to glider academy this summer have a chance to solo, so excited! Your channel has taught me many things about aviation. you are one of few inspirations for me.

[@BelowMinimums]

Word of advice: don't just stick to one company. You wont be able to even qualify for the ATP for 9 more years and who knows what airlines will be out there in 9 years. Keep your options open. Also expect your options to change. When I was 14 I wanted to be a Southwest pilot. Then a couple years later I wanted to be a corporate jet pilot and now I'm in the NROTC with hopes of being a Navy Pilot.

[@averagejoepilot6201]

+BelowMinimums I plan to go grow with every step I take in aviation I always keep my options open, just prefer united, but thanks for your advise and information.

[@Zeldafan223]

Wow props for being in the Civil Air Patrol, I was in it but I had to quit because of physical limitations. I was in cap at san carlos (The airport in the video they fly out of) And I ended up throwing up all over the taxyways on the first day of physical training. I started when I was 11 but I've never heard of a student pilots liscence, is it a cap thing? i'm 15 now and going to solo soon but haven't heard of this. I waqs also planning on doing the glider program at cap but quit before I could.

[@averagejoepilot6201]

+Zelda fan you need a student licence to solo

[@Greg1976NZ]

Steve. Just catching up on some back catalog vids which I seem to have missed as a study break, Done ground courses for 3 Pipistrel aircraft ( currently free courses with them), and before I get back into a Sporty's CFI renewal Course which they are offering for free, some interesting content from that course, got a huge download folder with resources. just enjoying seeing some of the different takes on instructing they have. As Mike Patey says , Back to work! Keep ya flightchops sharp!

[@dandrums2654]

Great production! I'm really proud...

[@shanedt8673]

4:32 Air France A380 -861

[@rnzoli]

Thanks for the info! That shot took my breath away for a moment.

[@calmargarita]

Howdy, Sky guy. great flick. Very cool how the 2 of you worked together to stay sharp. my training is creeping along. too much time away from the club.

[@MrThuggery]

What a beautiful smile! Great job boys!

[@45631063]

it is with pleasure we viewing your video. thank you very much !

[@baseballhero777]

Great video! I love flying in Class B airspace, and I'm sure many of your viewers have never really had the opportunity to experience it properly! This was a fantastic idea for a video and it was executed perfectly. You should do a video in Phoenix (the busiest GA area in the nation) and tie in G-1000, TIS and ADS-Bs explanations. They come in handy every day when I fly.

[@specsaloft9029]

Great work man! I was expecting another "here's a terrified new passenger that needs new underwear" video and it turned into one of the nicest shot, and well narrated videos you've done! Loved it.

[@FlightChops]

thanks!

[@AlexFeldstein]

Very nice Steve! Loved the video.

[@anonharingenamn]

The airspace around SF has got to be a REALLY busy one. I bet if you fly somewhere less populous you don't have to be on the lookout for other aircraft and change direction by orders of the ATC all the time.

[@RTOutdoors]

Thanks for sharing. We love the San Francisco Bay Area.

[@kingcoreyair]

I just did that last weekend to overly my mom's house. Told her to go outside and wait. But ATC gave me right traffic for 9R when I needed left traffic for 9L to overfly the house. My mom lives on the downwind leg of KOPF so I simply asked ATC if I could switch runways because my mom wanted to see me fly over the house and they granted it easily.

[@MerryfaceAviation]

Awesome as always Steve! Really impressive

[@maplebacon__]

Great video. Informative as always. Looked like a blast!

[@MrMuppetbaby]

This is so much fun and impressive to ride along thank you!

[@FlightChops]

happy to share - glad you liked it!

[@JNeuel]

My wife and I flew with a company that does the same thing out of San Carlos. (KQSL) (Cessna 182) I had hands and feet on the controls for about 40 minutes. My wife took some of the most amazing pictures. We with Jim (our PIC) cruised around at about 1700 to 2000. That experience has me seriously thinking about flight school. I will say that in reference to your video when I had control of the plane, being only a sim pilot, I found it a bit unnerving the amount of traffic that was in that area. I was constantly looking for traffic. Beautiful day however perfect VFR conditions, and lots of boats out on the bay. I hope you enjoyed your time in the Bay Area.

[@calypsoairfpv8655]

good work! look forward to your Vancouver flights!

[@Cpsvids]

Another great one Steve. Can't wait to meet Jason later this month!

[@FlightChops]

Thanks Chris! You're gonna love the mountain flying course!

[@goatflieg]

Hey Steve... getting to the recent videos late because - are you ready for this - I was on a 15 day vacation in CA, which included 3 days in the Burlingame Hilton (perfect views of SFO - 10th floor); 2 days Pleasanton Doubletree; 3 days Pollock Pines at my brother's house; 2 days Lake Tahoe (my nephews vacation home) 3 days Folsom/Redding (Amy & I split destinations); and 2 days back in Burlingame Doubletree (even more perfect views of SFO - 7th floor). In fact, on the day you published this, Amy and I took an hour-long helicopter tour of the City and Peninsula out of San Carlos! So it would seem, on some cosmic level, we manage to remain in the same circles. Thanks again for sharing... and hope to see you in OSH. (P.S. had to laugh when you shared the A-380... that was my most photographically hunted aircraft when I was watching SFO from the hotels and the bayshore walkways! Good stuff. Oh... and that Sutro Tower waypoint? I've been to the TOP of it...)

[@FlightChops]

+goatflieg - awesome! And the day I posted this, the guys departed for the 2016 June trip!

[@tbone6924]

Hey Mr. Fight Chops man...your videos have become must watch youtubing for me...keep up the amazing work! I LOVE aviation videos, and unfortunately because I have extremely bad vision I will never be a pilot myself, so I can live vicariously through these videos!

[@FlightChops]

+tbone6924 - Thanks! But how bad is "extremely bad" vision? I ask because my instructor Dennis has a fairly ridiculous prescription - I just helped get him a pair of flip of Scheydens, and I couldn't believe how thick the edges of his lenses where. He also thought at a young age he'd not be able to fly because of that... Thankfully he didn't let it stop him, and he is now one of the best pilots I know - and I know a lot of pilots :)

[@tbone6924]

Thanks for the encouragement, but alas I am legally blind...I see reasonably well at a range of about 2 feet and beyond about 3 feet I am totally blind. I guess I could try to become a IFR only pilot. LOL.

[@scottgolden9860]

Absolutely great and inspiring video.

[@FlightChops]

Thanks Scott!

[@M4xBD]

id like to see the full flight vid to see all atc coms and stuff soo cool

[@Sam-w9des]

she is so pretty congrats on your win

[@Rjtoth12]

I like that Blackhawks shirt Jason was wearing!

[@Kaipeternicolas]

Another fantastic video! Greetings from a Socal Pilot ;) - Used to busy Class B Airspace haha

[@gcollinz07]

Fantastic as always!

[@rodneybuckland4140]

so my friend and I are both pilots in training, and we both have flight Sims. he got into this thing called PilotEdge, which is real atc controllers online and they provide garunteed coverage around the SoCal area. so he wanted to introduce me to it, and we set up a formation flight from Apple valley, to Catalina island. so we take off out of Apple valley, form up, and wait h over to 123.45 to talk while monitoring Socal Approach (I think). turns out, back then there was a bit where you couldn't monitor frequencies, and we didn't know about it. me, being in the faster plane, was ahead., but I didn't know what the class bravo circles ment at that time. so I'm just chatting, and I end up flying into one, and I got this feeling of, why arnt I hearing the other traffic on Approach talking anymore, so I switched cover real quick, and made contact. oh man did I get an earful of, I've been trying to contact you, your violating the class bravo, turn and descend immediately! I ended up staying I. contact with approach, and texting my friend to switch over as well. we have since got team speak so this dosnt happen, but it was a valuable learning experience

[@stevenarango2929]

another great video i love it . You Guys ROCK

[@motorcopjoe]

Extremely cool vid!

[@jondoef]

That twisted seatbelt drove me crazy! :-)

[@Nick1011]

great video

[@gbigsangle3044]

Getting clearance to transition a Class Bravo is usually not an issue. SFO gets more resistant if you want to land at SFO and oh yea, STEEP ramp fees for the privilege. And they really don't want you flying near the approach or departure part of the airport. The airspace over and near SFO is some of the busiest in the country not typical of almost anywhere except New York and DC. And if you are passing over a Class Bravo above the top shelf it's wise to let ATC know you plan a midfield cross before doing it despite it being legal to do it so they don't freak out and worry you will descend on them.

[@peterellison2220]

I loved it!

[@fed8925]

If you guys are here, come visit KCNO and see Planes of Fame as well as KRIR. Home of EAA Chapter 1...

[@Heetcat6]

wow this is amazing!

[@Lordlayton100]

Great Flight! TY!

[@TeemarkConvair]

awesome

That bird at 3:51...close one hahaha

[@gaflying3448]

With all that traffic where was your stratus and Foreflight? Another great video. I love watching these.

[@FlightChops]

Thanks! And yeah, I could have used the Stratus on this one :P we came straight from the Patreon office shoot to meet Jason and I was in full "film maker mode" so I didn't have my flying stuff beyond a headset.

[@ThomasLeNinja]

Ok wow! Is it just me or the intercom sounds really really good?

[@FlightChops]

+Thomas Zottos - yeah, it turned out really well that time. Some planes are more tricky - especially warbirds with older intercoms.

[@ThomasLeNinja]

Yea, in my 172 its all crackly and stuff. I should probably try bluetooth. My headset can do that

[@heyitsaph]

is it bad that i almost always take off with some nose trim in already? i do it even without passengers, it just makes maintaining Vy easier to me

[@FlightChops]

no, I'd say you're doing it right. what ever feels good and works for you is fine if you ask me (disclaimer, I'm not an instructor :P)

[@dpacini]

Love San Carlos airport

[@joshuadrabble5891]

A incredible video! This was absolutely awesome! I have one question, Where does Jason do his instructing? I am a pilot from the UK out here in Phoenix Arizona doing my CPL soon, I would love to have a flight or two with him after I've completed my training here!

[@joshuapalacios8675]

great video. keep up the good work

[@tlt1]

Great video! Just curious, you guys ever think about using a prop filter on your forward facing cameras?

[@MagicBiscuitShow]

For serious pilot nerds ... I think that you should have Jason's "seasoned" cap as a prize to your peeps.

[@AlecFlying]

You're a legend

[@alexanderyoung1993]

Jason! A Black Hawks shirt?! What about those Sharks!

[@NachoSotoBustos]

This video was epic, thank you! I'm pretty sure I spotted you when you came to SF, now I regret not saying hello 😅

[@FlightChops]

I'll be back later this summer! where do you fly out of?

[@NachoSotoBustos]

+FlightChops KOAK :)

[@FlightChops]

Nacho Soto awesome! We'll be flying out of San Carlos again likely but will probably fly to half moon bay for lunch during a training flight - maybe we could meet up? It'll be the weened of August 12th I think.

[@NachoSotoBustos]

+FlightChops I'll definitely be here (hopefully with my certificate by then 😇), so I'd love to join!

[@pinkdispatcher]

That was great, also to see the Patreon guys. I had forgotten that it was Jack Conte who was one of the founders, I really love his and Nataly's stuff too. I think they just got married. :)

[@FlightChops]

+pinkdispatcher thanks, and yes! They just got married - love those two!

[@rebelyell22]

When did they start putting static wicks on Cessnas?

[@ChloeDunIT]

Awesome stuff! But man this video had my blood pressure rising, so I can't imagine you and Jason felt! Lol

[@pauloxavier158]

i love plane i love flight

[@BRUHSAURUSREXX]

How you guys do, when you start recording your videos and you can hear atc?

[@gonavy2255]

where do you fly from and to like airport code?

[@BunnyHairedKid]

awesome vid, still something i need to do

[@ericbob04]

Would have been interesting to watch a radar tube during this flight.