How to get to Oakland from Palo Alto
Oakland International Airport runway 27L is a good training resource for landing exercises. The runway is 6,200 feet long by 150 feet wide. Pattern altitude is only 650 feet and the left traffic pattern is flown nice and close to the runway.
From PAO request a right Dumbarton departure. After crossing the Dumbarton bridge head for the sunken ship; i.e. direct to OAK. Maintain at or below 1,200 feet to avoid Bravo and Charlie airspace. Upon leaving PAO airspace (or as soon as permission to change frequency is received) listen to OAK ATIS on 133.77. Contact OAK south tower on 127.2 and ask for pattern work on runway 27L.
OAK south tower will issue a squawk code and instructions to proceed to the runway 29 numbers or to the San Leandro marina which is located approximately one mile southeast of the approach end of runway 29. About two miles from OAK the south tower will hand you off to the north tower on 118.3.
OAK north tower will say, “make a left base entry to runway 27 left, remain north of runway 29 at all times, squawk standby; cleared for the option on runway 27 left.” From then on you are free to go around the pattern. Always acknowledge the specific runway (e.g. “27 LEFT”) when reading back landing clearances.
Departure instructions are likely to be, “make a right turn to the runway 29 numbers, proceed from there to the mid-span of the San Mateo bridge, maintain at or below 1,400 feet, contact the south tower on 127.2.”
Until next time, FLY MORE.