AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2019 - 99

planned my eastward turn toward LGB, with
no problem. There was no cloud, per se, in the
area. Still, that sight became slightly haunting. I was going to keep an eye on it, for sure.
More blind broadcasts: "L.A. VFR
Corridor traffic, Cherokee One-TwoThree-Four-Bravo, over the creek,
southeast-bound, 3,500 level." Ballona
Creek was a frequently-called-out reporting
point near the northern boundary of LAX.
I heard no other airplanes' broadcasts
during this flight, so I assumed I was alone
in the corridor. It was comforting.
Now, time to have another look at that
mist. It seemed OK. No change, easy to
see Torrance.
As I reached LAX's north boundary,
the mist started to become solid very fast.
What? From no cloud and easy translucence, all of a sudden there were instrument
meteorological conditions at my 12 o'clock.
I'm a VFR-only pilot in a VFR-only piece of
airspace and I'm about to hit a cloud wall?
Not good.
I decided immediately that the legendary 180-degree turn was my only option.
But I was in a highly regulated piece of airspace. If I were to head back toward VNY,
I'd need to climb from 3,500 feet to 4,500
feet in a thin box of airspace where only
straight-and-level flight was permitted. I
could not tolerate flight into a solid wall of
cloud that had appeared with, it seemed to
me, no warning.
At least there weren't any other aircraft in the corridor. Thank heaven for
small favors.
Visibility was dropping rapidly as I
began my 1,000-foot, climbing left turn. I
twisted the VOR for the SMO 312-degree
radial. Although I had heard that instrument
flight operations limit turns to standard rate
(3 degree per second, which would take a
full minute to complete my U-turn), I knew
that I could not take that long. After all, I
was flying over LAX, and a turn radius like
that would take me way out of the corridor
and closer to big, fast, mean jets not expecting to see me in their windscreens.
I decided to make the turn much faster
than standard rate. I had the airmanship
under my belt to do it.
After just a few degrees of turn, I saw
him. A V-tail Bonanza coming toward my

flight path from the opposite direction at
what I estimate to have been below 4,000
feet. The pilot had not made any blind
broadcasts. He wasn't on altitude. I saw him
(he had dark hair and was wearing glasses)
for only perhaps two to three seconds, total.
We came to within about 50 feet of each
other. Then, he was gone. Whoosh. The
Phantom of the Corridor was on his merry
way, heading approximately where he was
supposed to head, apparently oblivious to
his errant ways and my presence.
I continued my turn to 312 degrees,
completed my climb to 4,500, and felt pretty
safe. Finally.
The Three Stooges used to moan that
they were "A victim of circumstance." I
joined the ranks of Victims of Circumstance
that day. Did I have culpability? I'm not sure.
But I did learn from the experience:
I will never again assume that a very
light mist-even one through which I can
see over 10 miles slant-range and with
no associated visible, thicker cloud-will
remain light for the next three minutes. Any
such impediment to visibility is grounds
for an instant 180 while I request a pop-up
instrument clearance.
Also, I will always assume that other airplanes are lurking out there, in the places
they shouldn't be, with broken com radios
and useless ADS-B transmitters. Randy
Newman's song, It's a Jungle Out There,
comes to mind.
Capt. Edward A . Murphy, after
whom Murphy's Law was named, was a
researcher who studied crashes at Edwards
Air Force Base. His work applies to aviation
as well as other fields. Let's keep that in
mind and stay safe.
AOPA
DR. STEVEN MARK SACHS is a private pilot

who lives in Washougal, Washington.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2019

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