VFR into North Las Vegas

[arb65912]

Hello,

I was having a great time last night being transferred between different controllers ( I am a bit nervous hearing new controller because of my hearing problem limitations...) while flying VFR to North Las Vegas and I would like to ask a question.

I am describing things the best I remember but it might not be the exact description so please bear with me.

I was flying VFR from Yuma to North Las Vegas, I flew over the Lake Mead, descended to 3000' and when I reached the Northern part of it I turned directly to VGT.

Since I was below class Bravo and 20 miles East, I contacted VGT Tower. I was transferred over to Las Vegas Approach, I was given a squawk code and heading.
I have never flew VFR in this area and I realized ( I should know better than that looking at Sectional ) that I have Frenchman Mountain in front of me.
I was given clearance thru class Bravo and later on clearance for the altitude restrictions so I could fly over the mountain.
Then I was told to contact VGT Tower and I completed the flight.

It was great and I was happy to be able to handle all the interaction with ATC ( my hearing ) but I have a question.

Instead what I was doing, wouldn't it be better not to fly under class B while getting closer to VGT, maintain for example 4500 and contact Las Vegas Approach ahead of time?

This way , I would not have to switch from Tower to Approach.

I hope I described things correctly ( English is my second language ).

I would appreciate your input on above.

Thank you. Andrzej

P.S. Keith, clapping hands again for you and the whole PE team for creating such a great learning environment.

[Mike Sweeney]

Hi Andrzej
You are correct. Normally appropriate to call the Tracon when landing bravo satellites.
The easiest is to request en route traffic advisories from departure while flying VFR (flight following), in which case as you suggest, you could expect (or request otherwise) an ATC clearance through the class bravo. If you are not receiving radar services en route, contact approach (roughly, before the Mode C veil) and expect the Cortez Route for VFR arrival into North Las Vegas. The side panel of the Terminal Area chart specifies the altitude to cross Lava Butte (3500) and also provides the lat/long for the visual checkpoints (which could be added as User Waypoints in a GPS). Coming in from the east (Lake Mead), you can see the VFR route on the TAC from the Wash Marina visual checkpoint.
http://skyvector.com/?ll=36.2106944,-11 ... 113&zoom=2
In any case, approaching from the east, it is not possible to fly below the bravo; the airspace extends to the surface at 10dme LAS vor.
Flew this a few times rw from KFFZ (Falcon Field - Phoenix area), ... not difficult, and an impressive view of the Vegas strip, and McCarran. Hope this helps.
Enjoy!

[arb65912]

Thank you very much, Keith.

The more I look at the Sectional Chart, the more I become addicted to it.....

I will definitely go back to that area and try both VFR transition routes.
The only problem is that I am trying not to ( for now) use GPS and do all navigation by landmarks and navaids.

BTW, last night , I had to change the call sign to N1067Q ( Piper Warrior I was taking lesson in was sold) and I had a terrible time for the first maybe hour since W4333A ( my old sign) was so much embeded in my memory that every time I was ready to make a request or readback,W4333A was automatically coming out .
Surprisingly, at the end of second flight, my mind managed to "convert" to a new call sign and I have a feeling I will not have a problem any more.

Thank you again for responding, you all guys are doing an exceptional job.

Andrzej

[Keith Smith]

AJ, check carefully, it was Mike Sweeney that responded to your message. I've been swamped and haven't been able to get to it.

[arb65912]

I am sorry Mike and thank you for correction, Keith.

When I get Forum notification about post at PE, it says from Keith Smith and I automatically started my response to Keith.

I will pay attention from now on.

Mike, thank you very much for great lesson.

Cheers, Andrzej

[Daddy O]

Andrzej:
You can overcome the callsign problem by renaming your airplane in plane-builder (if you are using Xplanes.) It is a lot easier to just glance down at the placard to double check your call sign, especially if you fly a lot of different planes. All of the stock planes in Xplane should have call-sign placards, or you can add one to any plane that does not.

[arb65912]

Daddy O ( it makes me laugh when I call you Daddy ...lol but I guess it was a reason you picked that user name)

Thank you for the thought, I will try it definitely but I was surprised how quick my mind adapted to N1067Q.
It seems that the "coding" was written somehow and it refers to a new call sign.
Probably occasionally I will still pop out the W4333A but it seems that the transition has taken a place already.

Thank you for the hint.

Cheers, AJ

[Simon Ambrose]

For a great VFR "sightseeing" flight of the Vega Strip, in a small GA aircraft, fly from Henderson, to N. Vegas, and back again.

ATC has little option but to have you fly direct over McCarran VOR, and you come very close to flying up and down the strip. Watch out for the Helicopters !! At night the flight is amazing.

Simon

[arb65912]

Thank you, Simon. Will have to give it a try.

[Simon Ambrose]

However, don't expect to go VFR Sightseeing anywhere near the "HOVER Dam" unless you are buddies with the local controllers