Departing from SMO

[arb65912]

I was departing from Santa Monica last night, VFR departing West.
I was not given a squawk code nor direction of flying, I was cleared for VFR departure to the West.

LAX class Bravo is surface to 10,000' and 5000' to 10,000 at that area I was departing.

My question is how high I could legally climb in booth areas respectively being given the clearance described above?

My guess would be:

1. In the surface to 10,000' area - probably any altitude that is correct for Westbound flight like 2500, 4500, 6500 ..

2. In the 5000' to 10, 000' area - actually probably the same ....2500,4500,6500 ...

Please, explain it to me in more details.

Thank you, AJ

[Keith Smith]

Smo is class D airspace. A squawk would only be given for ifr departures, or aircraft that have requested flight following.

Smo is not in the surface based bravo of lax, nor was your direction of flight, so that discussion is not relevant.

You requested vfr to the west and were issued a right crosswind departure from rwy 21.

Approaching the end of the class D, you were issued a frequency change.

For westbound vfr flight above 3000 agl, you should cruise at an even altitude plus 500ft.

For eastbound vfr flight above 3k agl, it should be at an odd alt plus 500ft.

Note: vfr cruise alts only apply above 3000' agl.

[arb65912]

Keith, thank you for explanation.

All is clear but one thing that still bugs me...

After I was issued frequency change leaving class D, what should I do if I climbed to 6,500' still in class Bravo area 100/50?

Should I contact Socal App on 134.9 ?

I realize that if I was climbing to that altitude in P28A, there would be a small chance of climbing above 5000' and entering class Bravo and if I did , it would be for a very short time but I would like to know what if....

[Keith Smith]

From your experience doing the V-3 rating, what are the requirements for entering Class B airspace?

[arb65912]

Contact Socal Approach and obtain clearance to enter class Bravo.

[Keith Smith]

Correct. So, you can cruise at 3000 or below, or 4500, and in either case, you don't need to talk to anyone. If you'd like to cruise at 6500, you _must_ obtain a clearance prior to passing 5k.

[arb65912]

Now I understand it all ( not all in general but that subject we were talking about ), another puzzle piece in place to understand the US airspace, thank you very much, Keith.

[Roger Wigfield]

Dig up an LA TAC. It has some good explainations of operating in the LA basin. I use the mini route quite often. All within thirty miles you have LAX Class "D" Burbank class "C", Santa Monica, Van nuys, Hawthorne, Whiteman Class "D" and to the west Point Mugu, Camarillo, Oxnard Class "D" and Santa Paula. Our local organizations hold frequent classes on Basin Operations .