It seems like ages ago, when some of us participated in the monthly FSFORUM Flight Rally to Santa Catalina Island just off the Southern California coast. It was Sunday January 9th, 2000 and the destination airport was KAVX.

The original Rally flight announcement included these comments:
“The airport here is on top of a mountain so the approach can be a little tricky! Don't run off the end of the runway, as the slope can get pretty steep. <g>”

Runway 22/4 is 3240 feet long. Airport elevation is 1602 ft.

First, a bit of history about the original Rally if you don’t mind.

When he first heard about the Rally 30 destination, Kit Spackman, (or “Kaptain Kit” as you might remember him from the old Rally days) did not know where Santa Catalina Island was. But soon, he had the island pinpointed on the map and in very short order; a good flight plan was in the works. Kit managed to do a fine job in the end and flew the first stage from the U.K. in a Lockheed C5-B Galaxy of the 60th Air Mobility Wing. After 5000 miles in the air, the plane landed almost without incident at Travis AFB in California.

Here is a portion of his report in Kit’s own words:

“. . . and we line up for the ILS on the 21L runway and I switch in the Glide Slope Hold. For such a big aircraft the Whale handles beautifully. Great flight model. Good thing it is really, as the Glide Slope Hold decides to
land us about 70% along the length of the main runway!”

“There's no way I can get the speed and height off fast enough, and I'm about to call a missed approach when I notice that the 21R runway is offset to the west about 9000 ft. So I quickly dodge to the right about 50 yards, and make a letdown on the other runway, much to the consternation of the Tower! The crew are thinking about bailing out, but it's a) too low and b) they know a skilled
hand at the controls when they see one, and we are soon taxi-ing to the ramp to offload the 'cargo', and to explain the British approach to faulty ILS systems.....”

Then they unloaded their cargo from the C5-B, which was an Avro Andover C 1. This aircraft is a tactical freighter version of the Avro 748 airliner. After about an hour and a half flying south from Travis AFB, Kit managed to do a beautiful air-drop over KAVX. He dropped palettes by parachute, loaded with beer and burgers for the traditional Rally picnic. Then he came around and landed the Avro Andover C1 and joined the party.

In my case, I flew Spitfire XI PL965 from Burbank (KBUR) down to Catalina for Rally 30. A relatively short flight of less than an hour. To give you an idea of how long ago that Rally was, one set of my spitfire photo reconnaissance passes over the airport was flown in FS98, and the other photo pass was flown in FS2000 when it first became available. The pictures I uploaded to the Forum showed the improvements in the island scenery with the new FS version.

And now, back to the present, and our second visit to KAVX.

Kit Spackman was here in Southern California earlier this year for a visit. While he was here, we toured around to numerous Aviation sites in the area. An opportunity to visit a fondly remembered nearby Rally destination was something we just could not pass up. But this time we revisited KAVX by flying there in a real Cessna 172!

We rented a plane and an instructor at Whiteman field in Pacoima. A small one-runway airport just north of Burbank near the 5 freeway. I considered flying out of Burbank just like in the original Rally, but we decided flying from the smaller field would be better.

Kit sat in front with the Instructor and basically did all of the flying except takeoff and landing on the way to Catalina. On the way back we switched places and I had the same opportunity on the way to Whiteman field.

Briefly, our flight plan was to take off from Runway 12 at Whiteman field, and fly toward Burbank. Once near Burbank, we flew direct to Santa Monica. After reaching Santa Monica, we entered the Los Angeles Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA). We flew south directly over LAX at 3,500 ft and crossed the coastline over the peninsula just west of Long Beach. Then we continued on over the water to Catalina and entered the pattern from the 45 degree position and joined the downwind leg for landing on Runway 22 at Catalina. Our flight time one-way to Catalina was approximately 43 minutes from takeoff to touchdown. On the way back we followed the same route, but transited the SFRA over LAX at the required altitude of 4,500 ft. When we got back to Whiteman field we landed on Runway 12.

They say pictures speak louder than words, so here is the good part!

Here is the first picture of Kit standing beside our plane, with the very appropriate tail number of 737UK.

The next picture is a view of the LA basin on the port side as we head toward Santa Monica.

The next picture is the view of LAX as we pass right overhead transiting the SFRA headed south. Very Cool!!!

The next photo shows Long Beach to the East as we go feet wet on the way to Catalina Island.

Approaching Catalina Island. If you look very carefully, you can see KAVX under the wingtip in the distance.

A great view of the airport while on Downwind Leg for Runway 22.

On Base leg about to turn final for Runway 22. Notice that the flaps are down in preparation for landing.

Safely down and taxiing on Runway 22. A good view of the Tower and airport buildings.

After takeoff, and an aerial tour around the island. That’s me flying the plane , and you can see the island below out the side window.

Home again. On short final for Runway 12 at Whiteman field.

To sum it up in a few words this was an adventure that Kit and I will never forget. Hope you enjoy the pictures half as much as we enjoyed the flight!

Best regards,
Melo
PL965 Spitfire pilot,
Glendale, CA

• RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisited,Stephen, 19:03z, 06-15-03
  • RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisited,PL965Melo, 20:58z, 06-15-03
    • RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisi...,Ben_Chiu, 18:14z, 06-16-03
      • RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisi...,PL965Melo, 23:41z, 06-16-03
        • RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisi...,Ben_Chiu, 18:54z, 06-17-03
• RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisited,AlanParkinson, 19:05z, 06-15-03
  • RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisited,PL965Melo, 21:14z, 06-15-03
• RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisited,SB9DV, 21:46z, 06-15-03
  • RE: FSFORUM Flight Rally #30 Revisited,PL965Melo, 23:58z, 06-16-03

Those are fantastic pictures, Melo, thanks!

-Stephen.

>> Those are fantastic pictures, Melo, thanks! <<

Glad you liked them. I had a lot of fun taking the pictures. Almost as much fun as flying the plane!!!

BTW, Ben did a bit of work to adjust contrast and brightness to make the pictures I sent him for posting better for viewing. It was very bright up in the aircraft that day and it was tough to avoid glare in some of the pictures. Thanks, Ben.

Regards,
Melo
PL965 spitfire pilot,
Glendale, CA

Hi Melo:

> BTW, Ben did a bit of work to adjust contrast and brightness to make the
> pictures I sent him for posting better for viewing. It was very bright
> up in the aircraft that day and it was tough to avoid glare in some of
> the pictures. Thanks, Ben.

My pleasure. Thanks for the pictures! I'm still sorting through the hundreds of other pictures you sent me and will get with you when I have them ready.

Thanks again, Melo!

Ben

-= VPC OffLine Reader 2.1 =-
Registered to: Ben Chiu
-OLR.PL v1.80-

Hi Ben,

>Thanks for the pictures! I'm still sorting
>through the hundreds of other pictures you sent me and
>will get with you when I have them ready.

Glad to share them. What did you think of the Yeager pictures?

>Thanks again, Melo!

No problem. Glad you liked the pictures.

Regards,
Melo
PL965 Spitfire pilot,
Glendale, CA

Greetings Melo:

> Glad to share them. What did you think of the Yeager pictures?

They're great too. You've captured a moment in history!

Ben

-= VPC OffLine Reader 2.1 =-
Registered to: Ben Chiu
-OLR.PL v1.80-

Hi Melo,

I can only think of one way to describe that: "Wow"

After taking part in one of your UK trip's events, I am now totally envious!

BTW I've still not seen any of the UK trip pictures (other than the few I took)

Alan

Hi Alan,

>I can only think of one way to describe that: "Wow"

My sentiments exactly!

>After taking part in one of your UK trip's events, I am
>now totally envious!

When Kit came over here to visit we went to Chino Planes of Fame, March AFB Museum in Riverside, Palm Springs Air Museum, Western Museum of Flight in Hawthorne, Camarillo Air Museum, The Proud Bird Restuarant near LAX to watch the planes on final approach, Edwards AFB Flight Test Museum, Mojave Airport where the Rutan Scaled Composites company is, and of course Catalina Island.

Only put 841 miles on my car that week.

BTW, we were at Scaled Composites just one day before they unveiled the Spaceship One project to the public. Almost perfect timing.

>BTW I've still not seen any of the UK trip pictures (other
>than the few I took)

Easily remedied. Just send me your current mailing address and I would be happy to send you a CD of both the UK and USA trip pictures.

I will send you a message with my private email address. Had to upgrade Compuserve to ver 7.0 when I upgraded my PC from Windows Me to Windows XP, so my Compuserve email address is different now.

Regards,
Melo
PL965 Spitfire pilot,
Glendale, CA

Hi Melo

Awesome pictures! Looks like the usual great weather in the LA basin.

Interesting how good the FSGenesis scenery looks when compared with the real thing seen in your photos!

We are coming out to Las Vegas again, next month with new baby (Tyler is now 7 months and Holly is 4) for a short vacation in the sun.

Might be able to get to see you - we'll be in touch mate.

Take great care of yourself.

regards,

Lee James

..alias SPEEDBIRD 9 DELTA VICTOR (SB9DV)

Training Captain
Boeing 747-400
British Airways Virtual

Member of the World Flight Team

West Sussex, UK

Hi Lee

>Awesome pictures! Looks like the usual great weather in
>the LA basin.

Thanks! Actually we almost didn't make the flight that day. We had to postpone the flight one day from the original planned date because of a torrential downpour! Kit said it was worse than in the U.K.

The instructor called me at home that morning to cancel the flight. Luckily Kit and I were already out on the road at Camarillo Air Museum. When we got to the airfield at 14:55 for the 15:00 flight the instructor still wanted to cancel. We convinced/begged him to check the weather one more time and after calling Catalina weather he finally decided to give it a try. There were heavy clouds around Pacoima and to the north in their normal flying practice area, but to the south where we were headed the weather was Ok. Actually it improved as the flight progressed.

>Interesting how good the FSGenesis scenery looks when
>compared with the real thing seen in your photos!

Have not seen the FSGenesis scenery, but that's great if it looks as good as the real thing.

>We are coming out to Las Vegas again, next month with new
>baby (Tyler is now 7 months and Holly is 4) for a short
>vacation in the sun.

Sounds great! I should be around except for the last week in July.

>Might be able to get to see you - we'll be in touch mate.

That would be awesome! Would love to see your growing family. Now you have caught up to us with 4 in the family.

I will send some contact info privately. If we can meet up, I will give you a set of the U.K. trip and U.S.A. trip pictures on CD.

>Take great care of yourself.

Will do, same to you Mate. BTW one day when Kit and I were travelling around over here we spotted a sporty little yellow forklift. He had to hold me back from jumping in and zooming off searching for a 747 . . . .

Regards,
Melo
PL965 Spitfire pilot,
Glendale, CA