Monterey

Monterey Peninsula Airport (MRY) sits inside class C airspace, so just after leaving Pt Sur we called Monterey Approach. They heard us fine, but could not see us on radar even though we were some 3500' high. We climbed higher and the mountains got lower so eventually somewhere over Pt Lobos they finally saw us. Quite a relief, as we were planning on lunch on Cannery Row and a walk along the shore for the afternoon.

In the picture below, taken from the South at around 4000', you can see Monterey Peninsula (top center, with Monterey Bay disappearing into the distance). The smaller peninsula in the center is the Point Lobos State Reserve. Point Lobos is one of the position reporting points for Monterey Approach. The very small peninsula just below center is Yankee Point. The airfield can just be seen as a thin horizontal line on the very right of the picture just past the dark green hill - it looks like it is on the ridgeline.

We were cleared to descend and enter left traffic for runway 28L. I had expected to be routed to the West and North of Monterey and to enter right traffic as the book says, but apparently it is common for planes flying in from the South to be told to enter left traffic.

The view above is from the NE looking at the approach end of runways 28. As you can see, the marine stratus layer can be a problem especially on summer mornings.

Pattern altitude at Monterey depends on which direction you are coming from. North of the field it is 1500' MSL, South of field 1800' MSL. If in doubt ask the controllers.

As we entered the downwind leg, we were told to follow a commuter Brasilia on a long straight in approach ahead of us and soon we were lined up on final.

Runway 10R-28L is about a mile and a half long and 150 feet wide. It had been a while since I landed on a large runway and I had the weird feeling of  "am I ever going to reach that thing?". Funny how the mind gets used to a particular picture and then gets confused when the aspect ratio is the same but the runway a lot longer and wider. Eventually we got there, and after a little bounce (oops) were taxiing. The little Cessna felt awfully small on the wide, long runway.

Approaching MRY from the North, the airport will look like an East-West gash in the greenery, just as the fields stop and the low range of hills begins. Even though it is only a couple of miles from the sea, the field is at an elevation of 254 feet, and if you are lower than a couple of thousand feet it will be hard to see. The view below was taken at about 3000' soon after passing Moss Landing. Moss Landing can be distinguished by a huge chimney stack belching steam or smoke, courtesy of PG&E. Even when covered with fog, the smoke plume can be seen easily.

Coming from the North you will usually be told to enter right downwind for runway 28R, which is the shorter of two parallel runways. Frequently there will be airline traffic coming in for 28L, usually a Brasilia or similar, but we did see a 757 arrive one time.

The view above shows the field from the West at around 4000'. The two parallel runways are easily seen.

Control wanted to know where we were going. I said transient parking. He said there are two - Del Monte and Monterey Jet Center. It was tempting to go to the Jet Center, but I said Del Monte. He then asked: "Del Monte East or Del Monte West?". I thought to myself: "Is this like one of those restaurants when whenever you think you are finished the waiter comes up with another question?", but instead said "Whichever is nearer to the bus stop." He said: "Del Monte East, turn left at the next intersection and taxi uphill." And so we did, and there we found Del Monte East. On the picture above it can be seen on the right about two thirds down runway 10R.

A helpful attendant directed us to a parking spot, and helped us tie down, Del Monte have a lot of spaces for transient planes. There's a self service fuel pump too. They have a little shop with pilot supplies, a lounge and a flight planning room with a DUAT terminal. Helpful and friendly people.

Off we went toward the bus stop. Well, we thought we were going towards a bus stop. We must have missed it, went through the main airport terminal and out of the other side, looked around and spotted a taxi. We could have spared ourselves a walk by having the folk at Del Monte call a cab for us! Never mind,  Monterey here we come!

Later we discovered the bus stop is at the eastern end of the terminal building, but in any case the buses don't run on Sundays.

What is there to do at Monterey? Food, history, sea otters, the aquarium, Cannery Row, etc, etc. Have a look at the Official City of Monterey Home Page or Monterey City Guide by Monterey.com for some ideas. For those just flying in for a $100 hamburger, there's a snack bar in the terminal, and upstairs there's the Golden Tee restaurant. Across the street from the airport entrance is the Way Station Inn and Restaurant. Since we haven't eaten at any of them I don't know how good they are - we usually go into town and eat on Fisherman's Wharf or Cannery Row. However I have heard that the restaurant in the terminal is pretty good.

Departures from MRY are a little more complex than average not only because of the Class C airspace but also because of noise abatement procedures. After checking the ATIS, one first calls Clearance to let them know the departure direction and get the squawk code, then ground for taxi clearance to the runup area, and tower for takeoff. Tower cannot see the 28L runup area.

The usual takeoff direction is from rwys 28, and for noise abatement one should fly runway heading till over the freeway, then turn right to 340° (northbound departures) and stay offshore, or left to 120° for eastbound and southeast departures. If rwys 10 are in use, fly runway heading till 900' AGL before turning to desired heading.

A frequent challenge at Monterey is the low stratus layer often blanketing the entire Monterey/Salinas area. Usually enough burns off by noon to allow VFR arrivals. Keep an eye on it as sometimes it can return quickly and prevent VFR departures.

For IFR arrivals or practice approaches, MRY has an ILS to runway 10R. Usually you are in the clear till about 1500' when you descend into the fog over the Monterey Bay. Frequently there is interesting turbulence in and below the fog layer. Excellent for practicing keeping the needles centered.