Leg 133 KSAN - San Diego (USA) to KLAX - Los Angeles (USA)
KSAN - Airport Info
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ICAO code: KSAN
Airport name: San Diego Intl. Airport
Location: San Diego
Alternate Airport - KNZY - Airport Info
ICAO code: KNZY
Airport name: North Island NAS Airport
Location: San Diego
Useful information
Airport elevation: '
Time zone: UTC-
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length: '
Runway surface : Asphalt
Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):
San Diego Info
San Diego, city in the southwest corner of California and seat of San Diego County. It is the second largest city in California (after Los Angeles) and the seventh largest in the United States. Known for its superb climate and recreational attractions, San Diego also has one of the largest concentrations of military personnel in the nation. The city is located on San Diego Bay, one of the finest natural harbors in the world. Along its shores is the principal West Coast base of operations for the United States Navy and a busy commercial port.
The Pacific Ocean tempers the local climate. The summers are relatively cool and the winters are warm in comparison to other locales at the same general latitude. In fact, a national magazine once called San Diego “the only area in the United States with perfect weather.” Annual precipitation averages just 251 mm (9.9 in), with most of it falling from November through March. In January temperatures average a high of 19°C (66°F) and a low of 9°C (49°F); in July the highs average 25°C (76°F) and lows 19°C (66°F).
The city takes its name from the nearby bay, named by Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602 in honor of a 15th-century Franciscan, San Diego de Alcalá (Saint Didacus). In 1769 a presidio (military fort) and mission were established, the first Spanish settlement in what was to become California.
The city of San Diego covers a land area of 838.9 sq km (323.9 sq mi). The city’s growth has followed the contours of the land, sprawling away from the harbor and encompassing many distinct communities.
The historic heart of the city is a colorful 16-block district known as the Gaslamp Quarter, where restored Victorian-era buildings house shops and restaurants. On the west side of the district is Horton Plaza, a modern shopping and dining complex with six landscaped open-air levels. The plaza marks the spot where San Diego developer Alonzo Horton founded in 1867 what once was called “New Town.” Just to the north of this historic district is the San Diego Concourse, a multipurpose convention and performing arts complex. Along the city’s waterfront is an art deco-style cruise ship terminal, serving the most popular cruise ship port on the West Coast; the San Diego Maritime Museum, showcasing the 18th-century windjammer Star of India; and the architecturally distinguished San Diego Convention Center. North of the downtown area is Balboa Park, home of the world-class San Diego Zoo.
Northwest of the downtown is Old Town, site of the original Spanish settlement. Extending northward along the coast are popular oceanfront communities, including Pacific Beach and Mission Beach. Mission Valley follows the San Diego River, and its rim is lined with luxury homes and condominiums. Farther north is La Jolla, home to the San Diego campus of the University of California, leading research institutes, and an upscale shopping district called the Golden Triangle. On the peninsula forming San Diego Bay is the independent resort city of Coronado, connected to downtown San Diego by a long bridge.
The San Diego metropolitan area, coextensive with San Diego County, covers a land area of 10,889.6 sq km (4,204.5 sq mi). Nearly half of the area’s population lives in the city of San Diego.
KLAX - Airport Info
ICAO code: KLAX
Airport name: Los Angeles Intl. Airport
Location: Los Angeles
Alternate Airport - KSMO - Airport Info
ICAO code: KSMO
Airport name: Santa Monica Municipal Airport
Location: Los Angeles
Useful information
Airport elevation: '
Time zone: UTC-
Lighted runways : Yes
Maximum runway length: '
Runway surface : Asphalt
Instrument approach (ILS, LOC, LDA, and SDF):
Los Angeles Info
Los Angeles, city in southern California, the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city and metropolitan region in the United States, after New York City. Located on the Pacific Ocean near the U.S. border with Mexico, the metropolis is noted for its pleasant climate and scenic setting. It is situated on a hilly coastal plain surrounded by beaches in the west and mountains and deserts in other directions. Referred to casually as “LA,” Los Angeles is one of the major industrial, commercial, and financial centers of the United States. It is known especially for its motion-picture, aeronautics, and aerospace industries. This international, multicultural city is also home to the largest Mexican, Korean, Salvadoran, and Guatemalan populations outside of those countries. Los Angeles has grown at a phenomenal rate since the late 19th century. Since the 1920s it has been the leading city of California as well as the most important metropolis west of the Mississippi River.
Decades of self-promotion and the global reach of the movies and television shows set in the city have broadcast a glorified image of Los Angeles around the world. The city, with its palm trees, beaches, and swimming pools, has been idealized as the ultimate “American Dream” for millions in the United States and abroad. As an immigrant metropolis on the Pacific Rim, it faces the problems and prospects of modern society on a larger scale than almost any other U.S. city. Therefore, Los Angeles is often looked to for important national and global trends.
Los Angeles has a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. This gives the region a year-round growing season suitable for everything from cacti and citrus fruits to walnuts and corn. Temperatures vary widely from the desert regions to the high mountains, but July averages range from highs of 24° C (75° F) and lows of 17° C (63° F). January averages range from highs of 19° C (66° F) to lows of 9° C (48° F). The Pacific Ocean moderates the climate, providing a periodic layer of fog to the coastal areas. Rainfall is greatest in the mountain zones, averaging 760 to 1,020 mm (30 to 40 in) a year, and lowest along the coastal zones, which receive an average of 250 to 381 mm (10 to 15 in) annually. Interaction between these two climatic zones causes hot and dry winds (called Santa Ana winds) to blow downward from the mountains to the coast during the late summer and fall. Sometimes fierce and dangerous, these winds can reach 110 km/h (70 mph) and are often responsible for fanning wildfires.
Los Angeles traces its origins to a tiny, 18th-century colonial settlement at the extreme northern frontier of the colony of New Spain. The Spanish colonial governor Felipe de Neve originally named the settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula (The Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of the River Porciúncula). However, both the town and the river soon became known simply as Los Angeles (The Angels).
The City of Los Angeles is the seat of Los Angeles County, which includes most of the Los Angeles-Long Beach metropolitan area. In turn, Los Angeles County is at the heart of the Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA), a vast metropolitan region that stretches from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the San Gabriel Mountains in the north to the Mohave Desert in the east and to the San Diego Metropolitan Statistical Area in the south.
In many respects the Los Angeles region is highly centralized around its core, the City of Los Angeles. In other respects, Los Angeles is very dispersed and fragmented, often described as “100 suburbs in search of a city.” This observation is especially true of the residential and commercial districts. Although outlying cities once may have been considered suburbs of the City of Los Angeles, today the metropolitan area consists of literally hundreds of central business districts, each surrounded by suburb-like rings, which fade again into adjacent downtowns. Even within the City of Los Angeles proper there are several distinct central business districts marked by clusters of skyscrapers.