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"The Californian Kai Tak" San Francisco Circle to land 1R

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"The Californian Kai Tak" San Francisco Circle to land 1R

Postby Delta5142 » Sun Sep 05, 2021 8:28 pm

A cool thing that I found a couple weeks ago that I didn't know existed. When the winds are in a specific heading at San Francisco, ATC will tell you to land on runway 1R at KSFO, which is usually used for takeoffs. The landing at 1R goes like this: You have to break off from the traditional ILS 28R/L approach, which most aircraft use when landing, and take a left hand direction of about 270 degrees. After, the pilot has to go on a short base leg then take a sharp turn to the right to land on Runway 1R. This is how the approach looks on an aerial view:
Image

The reason the pilot can't do a straight in approach to 1R is because of sweeney ridge, which is right next to the approach path of 1R. (See map above) The approach is so rare that there is no official approach plate for it, however some have created fictional arrival plates:
Image

A Swiss 777 performing the Circle to land
Image

A United 757 landing
Image

The approach shares a strong resemblance to the good old Kai Tak approach in Hong Kong, since aircraft arriving have to take a sharp turn extremely low to the ground over the city of Millbrae. This is why some call the approach "The Californian Kai Tak". Planes as big as the A380 and 747 have been seen performing this approach.



All in all, this is a super cool approach not many people know about.

Kind Regards,
Delta5142
Last edited by Delta5142 on Sun Sep 05, 2021 11:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: "The Californian Kai Tak" San Francisco Circle to land 1

Postby tikibar » Sun Sep 05, 2021 10:53 pm

Thanks Delta5142 for posting this. I was not aware of this approach, but it looks really exciting, especially for the 777s in the video. I'm going to have to try it out in the 747-8.

SFO has some interesting approach challenges all around. Apparently, because of the heavy air traffic in the area with KOAK and KSJC pretty nearby, ATC keeps approaching aircraft pretty high until they turn to final, then they have to get down in a hurry. They call it the slam dunk approach.

There's also the PRM/SOIA approaches for 28L/R that allow aircraft to approach and land parallel and in close proximity to each other. Captain Joe covers that one pretty well here:
Boeing 747-8 (rename folder to 747-8i)
Boeing 757-200/300 (rename folder to 757-200)
Boeing 767-300/ER (rename folder to 767-300)
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Re: "The Californian Kai Tak" San Francisco Circle to land 1

Postby Delta5142 » Mon Sep 06, 2021 3:37 pm

Thanks Delta5142 for posting this. I was not aware of this approach, but it looks really exciting, especially for the 777s in the video. I'm going to have to try it out in the 747-8.


I am actually yet to try this approach as well. I plan to do it in an A320 or a 757. It's gonna be pretty cool. :D

SFO has some interesting approach challenges all around. Apparently, because of the heavy air traffic in the area with KOAK and KSJC pretty nearby, ATC keeps approaching aircraft pretty high until they turn to final, then they have to get down in a hurry. They call it the slam dunk approach.


Absolutely, the parallel approaches on the 28's can get pretty interesting as well. When I went planespotting at KSFO a couple of years ago, I saw an A380 land at the same time as a tiny E175.

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