Landing at Catalina Island

"Nick drives Stick (not Stig)" (NickR) 03/02/2016 at 19:44 • Filed to: Planelopnik

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Flying into Catalina Island is every private pilot’s wet dream, especially at sunset. But it’s also one of the most challenging runways in the world. The Airport in the Sky gets more than its fair share of incidents and accidents, and as we departed the airport again we could see the wreck of another aircraft that had met its demise on the bumpy uphill runway with steep cliffs at each end. We landed on Runway 22 almost exactly at sunset and departed a few days later, going back to Montgomery Field, San Diego.

Music by Lukas Graham: Seven Years

PorkchoPlissken > Nick drives Stick (not Stig) 03/02/2016 at 20:22

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SteveLehto > Nick drives Stick (not Stig) 03/02/2016 at 20:24

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I’ve done that back during law school. My brother flew out of Santa Monica and that was a little trip he liked to take from time to time.

Aren’t there also bison grazing in and around the airport?

Flavien Vidal > Nick drives Stick (not Stig) 03/02/2016 at 20:34

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In the weird airport type of landing, you have Peyresourde that gets you to Peyragudes ski resort in France...

You might recognize it as being used in “Tomorrow Never Dies” for the intro scene :)

Nick drives Stick (not Stig) > SteveLehto 03/02/2016 at 20:55

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Yes, they have about 180 wild Bison on the island. Another interesting fact about Catalina is that the Island is mostly run by the Island Company which, in part, is still owned by the Wrigley (chewing gum) family.

Nick drives Stick (not Stig) > Flavien Vidal 03/02/2016 at 21:02

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Courchevel is another interesting one in the French Alps.

And so is St. Barts in the Caribbean (watch out for that ground effect.

911e46z06 > Nick drives Stick (not Stig) 03/02/2016 at 22:03

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I’ve been to Cat probably 30 times, but never flown in. Didn’t know it was that intense. I’ll have to put it on the list.