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Catalina Island info

Larco

Well Known Member
What is the runway condition at Catalina Please? Might try to go there next month, any negatives? Have heard bad things regarding runway. Thanks
 
It is generally pretty rough. Treat it like a soft surface and keep the nose light. Remember, there is a hump in the middle so during landing it looks like you are out of runway, at the halfway point.
 
Ditto above. A bit rough. Taxi S-L-O-W!! Treat like soft field and you're fine. They charge $25 I think, to land there. That kind of money for a poor field made me not want to come back.
 
Thanks for the replies. Don't want to damage the small tailwheel on the 7 due to ruts so maybe should not go there.
 
I used to fly regularly and payed just an annual membership ($150 IIRC).

I had no problems with a tailwheel RV, but if you have to park outside of the paved area, it's best to push on and off by hand rather than taxy over the loose stones.

I've just noticed that they seem to have google street view on the runway and taxyway. That might give you a good idea of the surface condition.
 
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I was just there 3 weeks ago, and go several times per year. There are cracks in the surface, but nothing as bad as the horror stories we all hear. On this last trip there was a -6 parked right next to me with the stock tailwheel and he had no issues. Agreed with the above that if the paved parking is full, just shut down and push through the gravel.

You'll almost always land on 22 because the first 2k feet are 3* uphill. The final 1k feet are flat. The hump is between these two sections, not in the middle, but as others have said it does look like the runway will end when it doesn't. If winds are at 10kt or more, expect a downdraft on the approach end of the runway so pay extra close attention to your speed, and don't fly a low approach.

Because of incline, I'll usually take off on 04 even with a 5-7kt tailwind. Be careful and get on the radio early as this means landing and departing traffic will often be flying head-on.
 
I visited this July and didn?t find it anywhere near as bad as pilots say it is. All I will say is, don?t land long and axi slow. It?s well worth the visit. The burgers are great. Unfortunately, I didn?t get to visit beyond the airport. I will be back...
 
What is the runway condition at Catalina Please? Might try to go there next month, any negatives? Have heard bad things regarding runway. Thanks

Larry:

It has been almost 5-years since I left SoCAL and maybe the last time at Catalina was within a year of my departure.

Catalina was doable back then in a tailwheel or nose wheel RV. I find it hard to believe that it could have gotten much worse over that period of time.

It was a year or two ago that you visited me in Pennsylvania and we parked your RV in the rental hangar that I had overnight. Catalina airport runway and ramp 6-years ago was no worse than the runway and ramp you landed on when you visited me in PA.

About all I can suggest is to pickup the phone and call one of your RV friends that you may stay with in SoCAL and ask them for a current report.
 
Larry:

It has been almost 5-years since I left SoCAL and maybe the last time at Catalina was within a year of my departure.

Catalina was doable back then in a tailwheel or nose wheel RV. I find it hard to believe that it could have gotten much worse over that period of time.

It was a year or two ago that you visited me in Pennsylvania and we parked your RV in the rental hangar that I had overnight. Catalina airport runway and ramp 6-years ago was no worse than the runway and ramp you landed on when you visited me in PA.

About all I can suggest is to pickup the phone and call one of your RV friends that you may stay with in SoCAL and ask them for a current report.

Thanks Gary. Appreciate your input and will follow your advice. Hope you are doing well.
 
I have the membership and usually go at least every couple of months, although I haven't been there in the past 3 months. It is rough. Probably the roughest paved runway I've landed on. If you have a tail-wheel, and land it soft-field, it should be fine. With a nose-wheel airplane, you would have to be much more careful. An EZ from our field broke his nose gear there last year. I heard that there's plans to repave it - when, I don't know.
 
When I was there the field had a lot of potholes and loose gravel and asphalt nuggets scattered around. Not a deal breaker but certainly worthy of caution. I spoke with the guy in the office who said that the money is sitting in escrow to repave it but only with it?s current grade but there is a battle going on between those who want it just repaved, those who want it totally regraded to modern specs, and those who want it shutdown and removed. One thing for sure, the lawyers will win
 
I go to Catalina all the time. Runway condition is good enough, and there's certainly nothing an RV owner needs to worry about there. Myron is right about the small rocks, keep your head on a swivel. I like to call the mountain bike shop down in Avalon and arrange to have a couple of bikes delivered to the airport. He drops them off before we get there, and I find them parked next to the restaurant. After a quick lunch, we bike the island for the day and end up in Avalon where we deliver the bikes to the shop, go to a hotel, and then catch a van ride back up to the airport in the morning.
 
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My brother's engineering firm is part of the planning to repave that runway.

It's in the works, but i don't have any dates certain at this time.

I will agree it is over due.
 
Catalina

I used to have an annual pass when we lived in Long Beach. I remember weaving around potholes in the 'ol Cherokee there. The runway used to get paved from time to time but wouldn't last long after each paving. This was probably because of the daily DC3 ops there to supply the island with groceries. The DC3's have since been retired, so hopefully the runway should last a bit longer after the next repair.
 
The U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy to the rescue!

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/10/30/marines-to-help-repair-catalina-airport-runway/

"In January about 100 Marines, part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, are expected to come ashore and establish a base on the top of a mountain in the island?s interior. There they will set up a camp, including places to sleep and eat, and from there will work to repair the runway at Catalina?s Airport in the Sky. The $5 million project is expected to take three months and will be used as a training exercise for the Marines.

The project is a collaboration between the Catalina Island Conservancy and U.S. military. It will restore the 77-year-old runway that has become cracked and decayed. Presently, there are about 7,000 flights onto Catalina Island each year."​

We asked the airport staff about this yesterday. They think the published timeline (both starting and finishing) are optimistic. No final details about the temporary runway yet, but it might end up being the taxiway, and be restricted to commercial freight flights only.
 
The U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy to the rescue!

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/10/30/marines-to-help-repair-catalina-airport-runway/

"In January about 100 Marines, part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, are expected to come ashore and establish a base on the top of a mountain in the island?s interior. There they will set up a camp, including places to sleep and eat, and from there will work to repair the runway at Catalina?s Airport in the Sky. The $5 million project is expected to take three months and will be used as a training exercise for the Marines.

The project is a collaboration between the Catalina Island Conservancy and U.S. military. It will restore the 77-year-old runway that has become cracked and decayed. Presently, there are about 7,000 flights onto Catalina Island each year."​

Just yesterday I was talking with a buddy of mine who is still active duty. Catalina airport came up and he told me about the Marine Corps doing the work. He knows the chief engineer in charge of the whole deal. Pretty cool.
 
My brother's engineering firm has been involved in this project. He first told me about in August.

Long over due.
 
Sierra Hotel....

I go to Catalina all the time. Runway condition is good enough, and there's certainly nothing an RV owner needs to worry about there. Myron is right about the small rocks, keep your head on a swivel. I like to call the mountain bike shop down in Avalon and arrange to have a couple of bikes delivered to the airport. He drops them off before we get there, and I find them parked next to the restaurant. After a quick lunch, we bike the island for the day and end up in Avalon where we deliver the bikes to the shop, go to a hotel, and then catch a van ride back up to the airport in the morning.

Gash,
My sentiments exactly and good call on the bikes. My first trip there was in my RV4 and later in my HR2 which have 380X150X5 tires with API/Flyboy tailwheels but neither was required there.
My first two thoughts were:
A. The Catalina horror stories must have come from dudes who never get "off road", this is way nicer than my home strip!"
B. How did all these Buffalo get here?

All depends on what you're used to...:)
Shack two!
Smokey

PS: Will be dialed in when the USMC gets done...
 
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RV-6A

Took my RV6A there several times about 5 years ago. Remember it being a little rough but no issues. The buffalo burgers were tasty.
 
B. How did all these Buffalo get here?

I was told they got put there back in the 30s to film westerns, but decided that they liked it and stayed. They've done so well that they have used some to re-populate other heards. Apparently their DNA is about 20% wild Bison but mainly domestic Buffalo.
 
Speaking of buffaloes, my family owned a bull stud ranch when I was a kid (where you collect from bulls for AI breeding in registered herds). My dad got the crazy idea to buy the biggest, meanest buffalo in the country to try some buffalo breeding. I've seen a lot of mean cattle before, but I have NEVER seen anything as homicidal, savage, bloodthirsty and mean spirited as that buffalo. It hated my guts and seriously wanted me dead. That's all the thanks I got for feeding it alfalfa.

Back to Catalina Island...

When we were out mountain biking the island, some other bikers were pulled off the road and tried to walk over to a wild buffalo in a field. I kindly talked them out of it.

I do like to eat buffalo burgers at the restaurant! :D
 
Speaking of buffaloes, my family owned a bull stud ranch when I was a kid (where you collect from bulls for AI breeding in registered herds). My dad got the crazy idea to buy the biggest, meanest buffalo in the country to try some buffalo breeding. I've seen a lot of mean cattle before, but I have NEVER seen anything as homicidal, savage, bloodthirsty and mean spirited as that buffalo. It hated my guts and seriously wanted me dead. That's all the thanks I got for feeding it alfalfa.

Back to Catalina Island...

When we were out mountain biking the island, some other bikers were pulled off the road and tried to walk over to a wild buffalo in a field. I kindly talked them out of it.

I do like to eat buffalo burgers at the restaurant! :D


Ha Ha Ha that brought a chuckle. I grew up on a ranch in South Dakota where my parents raised a small herd of bison as a side to a large herd of beef cattle. I recall this exact temperament of the resident herd. They are truly not afraid of anything, especially when they have calves. As a kid it took very little time to develop a real respect for them.
 
What's the most dangerous animal in Yellowstone NP? Nope, not bears or wolves or the occasional moose.

Bison. More tourists injured by bison than any other animal there.

Nasty attitude on those boogers.
 
Wow!

That's great news! I'll be willing to take my RV to AVX now, which is something I refused to do when the runway was all chucked up.

-Marc
 
LET?s GO!!!!!!!!

We are flying out for breakfast *somewhere*, If we can get into AVX we'll go in the morning. Supposed to be some low clouds though so we may have to go somewhere with a decent approach. The GPS Bravo approach only gets you down to 2220, and that usually won't make it on the island.

-Marc
 
We are flying out for breakfast *somewhere*, If we can get into AVX we'll go in the morning. Supposed to be some low clouds though so we may have to go somewhere with a decent approach. The GPS Bravo approach only gets you down to 2220, and that usually won't make it on the island.

-Marc
I have about another year on my plane, but thinking of making this trip in the near future in a spam can. Any PIREP would be appreciated.
 
I landed my -6 there yesterday. I'd love to say it was an awesome experience, but the surface is so uneven that I was being launched airborne between concrete slab joints and other imperfections. They seriously need to run a highway grinder over the surface, which will then make it perfect.
 
I landed my -6 there yesterday. I'd love to say it was an awesome experience, but the surface is so uneven that I was being launched airborne between concrete slab joints and other imperfections. They seriously need to run a highway grinder over the surface, which will then make it perfect.

Well that's disappointing! Guess I don't really need to pay landing fees/club membership after all!

-Marc
 
I was there last week. Runway looks good, but as reported by others, very uneven and bumpy. Same with the asphalt taxiway. It's not bad enough to keep me away, but it's definitely one of the roughest paved runways I've been on.
 
I'm planning on paying a visit for the fly-in on Saturday.

They're asking for registration on the web page and I believe normal landing fees apply ($25 IIRC).

Not in the RV but the Red Machine!

Anyone else?
 
a lot of work

After all that work, still don't know why they didn't take the bump out of the middle. oh well, maybe in 50 years, when they redo it again, they will fix the bump.
 
I paid for my yearly membership in July of last year. I only flew there a couple of times before they closed for the runway reconstruction. I just got notice to renew my membership in the mail. Does anyone know if they'll at least give us a partial credit for all that time the airport was closed?? There's no phone numbers on the notice for me to call and talk to someone.
 
I paid for my yearly membership in July of last year. I only flew there a couple of times before they closed for the runway reconstruction. I just got notice to renew my membership in the mail. Does anyone know if they'll at least give us a partial credit for all that time the airport was closed?? There's no phone numbers on the notice for me to call and talk to someone.

I talked with Dennis in the tower a few weeks ago and was told that existing memberships were extended by I think 6 months.

Also, that open house tomorrow is allegedly free from landing fee.
 
So the person to talk to is Gina Dart. They're supposed to extend the membership by 4 months automatically. For me, apparently that didn't happen, so she took care of it for me. Call her at: 562-437-8555 if you didn't get an automatic extension.
 
Catalina Island Conservancy

Well I just dunno about the Conservancy. On one hand I see the need to protect the island, but for me they've reached the point of diminishing returns.

Now that the runway has been "rebuilt" at no cost to the Conservancy, they have raised the daily landing fee 40% to $35. The annual plan is a better deal as it *only* went up $25 to $175.

For me, that's bordering on greed. I just don't feel the need to fly to an airport with a rough runway, pay the highest landing fee of any airport, just to stand there and look at the shoreline where I live.

-Marc
 
Tax payers

The runway was rebuilt with taxpayers funds. I really dont like them taking advantage of our good graces to collect more money. If they want i would rather see no change in landing fee and a collection box in the cafe for a needed project. Really am miffed at this.
 
The runway was rebuilt with taxpayers funds. I really dont like them taking advantage of our good graces to collect more money. If they want i would rather see no change in landing fee and a collection box in the cafe for a needed project. Really am miffed at this.

Sounds like California does it not?

I haven?t had much time to do some fun flying lately but soon I will. I love flying around Catalina but haven?t landed for a long time. Rather burn up to Camarillo, the milk shakes are to die for. Little expensive but I just saved a landing fee :D
 
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