ORIGINAL: dbcisco
I understand now, I thought LA was the only crowed place in CA. I went to UCLA a couple years ago and one sunny end of July day I decided to walk to La Brea. Thought I was going to have a heart attack. I thought other than the LA area California was all open country (like in the movies). Am I thinking northern CA for that? or is all CA like your area?
No, it isn't. We do have some areas with open land, but usually it's already owned by someone, a company, or some level of government. Northern CA is better in many places. You can go inland from us a little ways and find valleys, but it's so hot there, without facilities or water nearby, that a lot of guys don't go flying there. Most of that is desert anyway. Southern CA without water is a big dry-brush firetrap. Northern CA has more water and a better weather temperament year-round. Central CA isn't that far from me, either. It's not too bad, but it's difficult to figure out there if it is farmland, a park, or open land in areas. We have people coming from the Long Beach area & Simi Valley to fly here just because of noise and flying regs around homes. Simi even has a field! But... it's close to the freeway and flying anything above a .46 size plane (I'm told) can easily violate the highway airspace. LOTS of people living here, even in the depressed economy.