Looking at charts, I was curious if it would be easy to predict the routing. Why? Because I am curious if they will be heading north which would take them over my neighborhood (near Oceano Airport), fingers crossed.
So typically runway 30 is in use, so departing to the NW, would they go up to MQO then out to AUDIA? That is opposite direction of the preferred direction.
So, can you fly the opposite direction as the preferred single direction route, or would they still take off 30, fly the left turning BUELT ONE Dep, to RZS, make the hard right and then out over the Pacific? The take off mins. posted can get you to MQO.
Take off mins:
SANTA MARIA, CA
SANTA MARIA PUB/CAPT G ALLAN HANCOCK FLD (SMX)
AMDT 6 12124 (FAA)
TAKE-OFF MINIMUMS: Rwy 20, NA-obstacles.Rwy 12, 400-2¼ w/min. climb of 287’ per NM to 1500 or std. w/min. climb of 388’ per NM to 1200.
DEPARTURE PROCEDURE: Rwy 2, climbing left turn; Rwy 12, climbing left turn (do not exceed 230 KIAS until established northwestbound to GLJ VOR). Rwy 30, climb
heading 294°. All aircraft: climb direct GLJ VOR, then continue climb to airway MEA via GLJ R-300 to intercept MQO R-137 to MQO VORTAC. Cross MQO VORTAC at or above MEA/MCA for assigned route of flight.
Interesting that they’d pick KSMX out of all places… KBLI I could see, or even KSCK, to take some of the commuters out of driving the 2 hours into the Bay or the hour up to KSMF to take HAL out… but KSMX?
Anyway… to your question… There are two main routes they could take. One would be, as you mentioned, out to DINTY to join the stream that left LAX on R576 to join DENNS.MAGGI3. The other way would be to fly up further north and join the stream from KSFO that leaves the ADIZ at BAART on R464 to BITTA for the MAGGI3.
Allegiant’s modus operandi is to operate out of smaller cities with limited services. They fly to dozens of cities that many would consider small cities such as Laredo, Bellingham, Billings, and Bozeman. Many of these cities are served no more than 3 or 4 times a week to their hubs such as Las Vegas and Phoenix (Williams Airport).
Looking at their web page, the first flights to Honolulu will be from Bellingham (which they list as Bellingham/Vancouver BC), Eugene, Fresno, Las Vegas, Monterey, Santa Maria, and Stockton.
SMX looks like it will be one flight a week and not starting until later in the year and after the runway extension is finished. Whenever that is.
Winds aloft and the status of the various warning areas is the correct answer. All or your routes are possible, DINTY and AUDIA being the most common due to prevailing winds, although I doubt they would actually fly all the way to RZS, more likely GVO and a heading to intercept C1176 to DINTY for that route. BAART is possible when the winds are being really weird.
You do realize a departing 757 will likely be at 7 or 8000 feet high going by Oceano, right? On arrival if they are doing the ILS from MQO they might be at 4000 but most likely you will be fogged in anyway. I grew up 3 miles from L52 so it would be cool to see a 757 going by.
Keep checking here for the route.
SMX serves not only Santa Maria/Orcutt but will probably attract people from Santa Barbara, Lompoc and San Luis Obispo and all the smaller towns in between. That is a fairly affluent 300,000ish population base. They have been flying SMX-LAS for a while so people are used to having them.
FAA Flightcheck was out doing testing all last week while I was ripping up my back yard. They came over the house on the course reversal for 12. Odd to see the jet that low, knowing it is getting set up the the ILS 12, when it was 78 dec. and crystal clear.
As I understand it the flight check airplanes not only fly the approaches but on new approaches they run an arc at low altitudes checking whatever it is they check, I suppose signal strength and terrain separation at lower altitudes than the procedure calls for.
Must have been a slow day at KSBY, flight checks take place something like once a quarter.
