Fly To San Diego

By Ron Blehm (27 February 2010)

Fly To San Diego.

Why do we sim?

Do you train for a career in aviation or practice skills for real-world flying?

Do you fantasize about aircraft that you want to or used to fly?

Are you simply an aviation enthusiast such as myself or a geography nut?

Maybe simming actually isn't your "thing" but you enjoy the community.

For me, I do just love aircraft and flying (and travel too) but I can't afford to do nearly enough of it, so I pretend whenever I can.

I've had to make THREE flights to San Diego over the past year for a specialty certification for work - and I still love flying!

Whatever the reason we sim, the fact is that we do it and sometimes we need a place to do it (fly our sims). That is why I am offering you this article about flying into San Diego, California.

You really should try it, it will be fun - and as you fly from wherever you are flying FROM, here's something to read:

San Diego International Airport, also known as Lindbergh Field, is 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of the central business district of San Diego, California and only 20 miles (32 km) from the Mexico - United States border at Tijuana, Mexico. San Diego International is the busiest single-runway commercial service airport in the United States; second in the world after London Gatwick, with approximately 600 departures and arrivals carrying 50,000 passengers each day (below, left). The airport is located near the site of the old Ryan Airlines factory, but it is not the same as Dutch Flats, the Ryan airstrip where Charles Lindbergh flight tested the Spirit of St. Louis before his historic transatlantic flight. San Diego International Airport occupies the smallest land footprint of any large commercial airport in the United States, occupying only 661 acres (2.67 km2) of land (below, right).

History:

Inspired by Lindbergh's historic flight and excited to have made the plane he flew, the city of San Diego passed a bond issue in 1928 for construction of a two-runway municipal airport to be operated by the city. Lindbergh himself encouraged the building of the airport and agreed to lend his name to it. The new airport, dedicated on August 16, 1928, was given the name San Diego Municipal Airport - Lindbergh Field. This naming occurred because San Diego holds the honor of being the city from which Lindbergh began the journey that would ultimately become the first solo transatlantic flight, in addition to being the place where his aircraft was designed, built, and tested, at Dutch Flats.

The airport holds the distinction of being the first federally certified airfield to serve all aircraft types, including seaplanes (below, left). On June 1, 1930, a regular San Diego-Los Angeles airmail route was initiated. World War II brought significant change to the airfield when the Army Air Corps took it over in 1942 to support the war effort. The infrastructure of the airport was improved to handle the heavy bombers being manufactured in the region during the war. This transformation, including an 8,750 foot (2,670 m) runway, made the airport "jet-ready" long before jet passenger planes came into widespread service (below, right). After the war, commercial air service at Lindbergh Field expanded rapidly. Pacific Southwest Airlines established its headquarters in San Diego and inaugurated service at Lindbergh Field in 1949 to points throughout California. In 1960, Lindbergh Field gained its first jet service, with American Airlines and United Airlines operating the Boeing 720 to Phoenix and San Francisco, respectively.

Flight Ops:

As downtown San Diego developed through the 1960's, one of the airport's two runways was closed leaving only one functional runway. The vast majority of takeoffs and landings at KSAN are from east to west. Landing at the airport from the east (the most common approach) offers dramatic close-up views of skyscrapers, Petco Park (home of the San Diego Padres), and the soaring, curving Coronado Bridge from the left side of the aircraft. On the right, Balboa Park, site of the 1915-1916 Panama-California Exposition, can be seen, along with the world famous San Diego Zoo and several freeways. The approach from the east is steep, necessitated by terrain which drops from 266 feet (81 m) to sea level in less than one nautical mile! Aircraft normally descend at 318 feet per nautical mile but due to terrain in San Diego they must descend at 331 feet per nautical mile, exceeding the FAA standard (below, left)! San Diego's only runway is located at the base of a hill lined with several obstructions, including the I-5 freeway and trees in Balboa Park (below, right). Contrary to local lore, the parking structure off the end of the runway was built long after previous obstructions built up east of the I-5. The parking structure was then built up to this controlling limit. Not to worry, aircraft clear the parking structure by the required 109 feet.

Terrain east and west of the airport greatly impacts the available runway length. Runway 27 (westbound) has a climb gradient of 317 feet per nautical mile leaving an equivalent takeoff distance of roughly 8,000 feet for twin engine aircraft. Taking off to the east requires a 600 foot per nautical mile climb rate; this leaves an equivalent takeoff distance of only 6,400 feet, enough to force a weight penalty on the 737-800! Because KSAN is located in a highly populated area, a curfew was put in place in 1979. Departures are allowed between 6:30 am and 11:30 pm only - arrivals are permitted 24/7. Several flights are scheduled with departure times around 6:15 am; these times, however, are pushback times - first takeoff roll is at 6:30 am. And having been there recently I can tell you that this is true, there are usually four planes lined up waiting and at 6:30 ... it's like the flood gates are opened!

Aircraft arriving from the east do not land at the end of the runway as at most airports, but land at what is called a displaced threshold, located 1,810 feet from the runway end, effectively shortening the landing distance to 7,591 feet. You'll see evidence of this displaced threshold on the videos:

http://www.youtube.com/pretendpilot#p/u/10/HZzEEp07DkQ
http://www.youtube.com/pretendpilot#p/u/11/cFBsz3ggJMA

(There are more real-world and flightsim videos of San Diego at www.youtube.com/pretendpilot.)

Under Santa Ana wind conditions, operations are reversed with landings and takeoffs to the east but because of the terrain, weight limits are imposed on departing aircraft under these conditions. Under some marginal and IFR conditions, aircraft takeoff toward the west (runway 27) but arrivals also approach from the west (runway 9, the only direction equipped with ILS). This can cause traffic problems and delays both in the air and on the ground. It should also be noted that Lindbergh Field does not have standard runway safety areas (1,000 feet in length) at each runway end. An engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) has been installed at the west end of the runway to catch any aircraft overruns, but its 318 foot length (the normal standard is 600 feet) can only stop aircraft up to 350,000 lb in weight - the east end of the runway does not have such a system. Once through the blast fence you are onto Pacific Boulevard!

As of 2009, San Diego International Airport was served by 23 passenger airlines and four cargo airlines which flew nonstop to 44 destinations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The busiest route in terms of operations is to Los Angeles with 30 weekday round trips split between United Express and American Eagle. The busiest route in terms of available seats per day is to Oakland spread across 14 weekday round trips on Southwest Airlines.

USCG Operations

An interesting feature of the airport is the existence of the U.S. Coast Guard air station. The installation originally supported fixed-wing seaplane operations, with seaplane ramps leading into the bay, as well as conventional land-based fixed-wing aircraft and rotary-wing operations. The air station is physically separated from the rest of the airfield, so that USCG fixed-wing aircraft must cross North Harbor Drive, a busy, 6-lane city street, to reach the runway. Street light activation opens the locked gates to the airfield and the air station, and also stops traffic while aircraft are crossing the street. This was a common occurrence during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s when CGAS San Diego had both HH-3F Pelican and HH-60J Jayhawk helicopters and HU-25 Guardian jets assigned. Today, this is an extremely rare occurrence, as CGAS San Diego's HU-25As have been reassigned and there are no fixed-wing aircraft currently assigned to Coast Guard Air Station San Diego.

Relocation Proposals

The extreme proximity of the airport to San Diego and populous neighborhoods is clearly evident here. Some lawmakers in California State Assembly believe that Lindbergh Field will reach capacity between 2015 and 2022. Currently the airport is operating with 71% of its total gate capacity and soon will add gates taking the airport to 92% of its total gate capacity. Twenty-two studies have been conducted on where to place an airport dating back to 1923. Many have proposed to use Marine Corps Air Station Miramar (north of San Diego) as a preferred site for a replacement airport, despite military objections.

No one knows for sure what the future will hold for San Diego International Airport and Lindbergh Field but for now we can enjoy simming into this challenging and historically significant airport. Happy Landings!

I'd like to specifically thank the following Airliners.net photographers for their help and eager support of this article:

Alex McKnight
Manas Barooah
Michael Arcellana
Tom Edvardsson

Ron Blehm
cubflounder@gmail.com
www.toomuchfs.com