Bi g Bear
Our m ission th is l at e September d ay
was t o pho tog raph a site in C at hed ral
City , just a few m il es so uth o f the P al m
Sprin gs air por t. I t was ano th er ty pically
bea utiful d ay in Sout hern Cali fo rni a, an d
this wo uld be a short mis sion fo r u s. I was
flyin g wi th my f ri end and aircraft own er,
Ric h.When app roa chin g t he Coac hel la
Va ll ey f rom th e w est, t he re ar e tw o w ays
to ge t t he re: y ou ca n circle a rou nd Mount
Sa n J acin to t o t he no rt h by g oing t hrou gh
the of te n t ur bu le nt w in d fun nel kn own as
the B ann in g P ass ( th er e’s a rea son all
tho se win dmi ll s a re th ere... ), or you c an
fl y t hr ou gh th e Pi nyo n Pi nes “s addl e”
tha t lie s a fe w m il es so ut h o f the 10, 800-
foot mo un ta in. We o pted for the l atte r.
Depa rti ng Palom ar (KC RQ) to the
no rthe ast , we be ga n our cli mb to 7,50 0fee t t o c lea r b oth Pa loma r Moun tai n a t
6,100 fe et and the 5, 500- foo t pa ss at
Pi nyon Pines. I t w as a w arm mo rni ng a t
the coa st, and we ’d be he ading int o th e
dese rt whe re it ’s ofte n 15 -20 de gr ee s
war mer still , gene ra ting winds and tur bu -
lenc e w her e the air mas ses meet. Al l
thing s c onsi de red, I’ d usua lly like to ha ve
more gro und c lea ran ce, bu t th e f or ec ast
wind s we re l igh t, and w e w ould alr eady
have to chop the po wer an d des ce nd
abou t 6,5 00 fe et w ithin abou t fi ve m ile sof clearing the pass, a precipitous
de sc ent.
The ri de wa s surpri sin gl y s mo oth.
We had a c ouple o f m ino r bu mp s o n t he
way dow n but no thi ng uncomfor tabl e. I
spot ted our ta rget site a few miles out; we
were st ill to o hi gh, bu t by the time we got
into po sitio n, we wo uld be ne ar our target
al titud e of a bou t 1,0 00 fee t AGL. It was
quiet at Palm Springs International
(K PSP ), and the t ower c on tr ollers r eadi ly
ac commodate d o ur r equ est s. A f ew t urns
la ter an d we we re done. W e d eparte d
nor thw es t, passi ng Bob H op e’s i conic
moun tai nside ho me , t hen a long H ighway
111 at t he ba se o f Mou nt San Jacint o.
We we re at a bout 3 ,0 00 fe et a nd ju st
cleari ng Pal m Sprin gs’ a irs pa ce w he n w e
recei ved t he only turb ul ent “ jo lt ” of th e
day – ou t o f now he re, we were h it wi th a
“wh ack” t ha t r ea lly cau gh t ou r att ent io n,
strai nin g ou r sea tbel ts and jost lin g ou r
heads et s. I quic kly che cke d our a irsp eed to
make sur e w e wer e be low maneu ve ri ng18 In Flight USA Celebrating 34 Years December 20 17Best-Selling Aircraft Checklists
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Beechcraft Bonanza C/D 35 1951
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Cessna 150 1959
Cessna 152 1978
Cessna 172 Universal Universal
Cessna 172M 1973
Cessna 172N 1977
Cessna 172P 1981
Cessna 172R 1998
Cessna 172RG 1980
Cessna 172S 1998
Cessna 172S G1000 2005+
Cessna 177RG 1971
Cessna 182P 1972
Cessna 182R 1981
Cessna R182 Skylane RG 1978
Cessna 182RG Turbo 1979
Cessna 182T Analog Gauges 2001+
Cessna 182T/G1000 2004+Cessna 210N Centurion 1979
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Cessna Turbo 210M Centurion 1977
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Diamond DA20 C1 1998+
Diamond Star DA40 2001+
Piper Archer II PA28181 1976
Piper Archer III PA28181 1995
Piper Arrow 180 PA28R180 1967
Piper Arrow II PA28R200 1969
Piper Arrow III PA28R201 1977+
Piper Arrow III Turbo PA28R201T 1977Piper Arrow IV PA28RT201 1979
Piper Arrow IV Turbo PA28RT201T 1979
Piper Cherokee 140 PA28140 1964
Piper Cherokee 150 PA28150 1961
Piper Cherokee 160 PA28160 1961
Piper Cherokee 180 PA28180 1963
Piper Dakota PA28236 1979
Piper Cherokee Lance PA32R300 1976
Piper Navajo PA31310 B/C 1972
Piper Navajo Chieftain PA31350 1973
Piper Saratoga SP PA32R301 1980
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Piper Tomahawk PA38112 1978
Piper Warrior 151 PA28151 1973
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Continue d f rom Page 17
Co nt inued on Page 19Appr oac hin g Be ar Lake.
(Eric McCar thy)Bea utifu l d ay at Big Bear.
(Er ic McCarthy)Density altitu de 8,380' at Big Bear
(Er ic McCarthy)