Doing the best to fly as real as it gets, I wanted to experiment the last approved way in April 2026 to make the San Diego Bay tour. FAA has closed the at-or-below-500-feet below Lindberg departure, so the VFR corridor + 1'000 feet with North Islands tower + 180° at Point Loma seems to be our last chance. I picked MSFS2024 (Beta SU5 1.7.22.0), the Carenado Dakota, my Foreflight iPad app and let's go!

The VFR Corridor available on the San Diego TAC Supplemental:

Zoom on the track log of the Bay tour as seen from Foreflight (and some slight deviation 😉 )

Departing from San Diego Mongtomery Field (KMYF):

Today, the runway 23 is active at KMYF:

First leg over San Diego downtown at 3'500 ft. The (MSFS2024 Real Time) weather wasn't much cooperative for this flight:

The (real time MSFS2024) weather is at the limit for this exercise:

After the 180° in the south of the San Diego Bay to reach 1'000 feet, let's head north west bound to target Coronado Bridge:

Over Coronado Bridge 1'000 feet:

Slightly overshooting my turn when close to San Diego Lindberg (KSAN). Was attracted by liners 😉

The full track log (Foreflight with aerial map) and traffic injected by Say Intentions

180 at Point Loma to flight the Bay Tour at 1000 ft North East bound:

Heading back towards San Diego Lindberg (KSAN):

Three carriers at the Naval Station today:

The famous Manchester Grand Hyatt, Marriot and the Convention Center. Omni is on the back, the Westin... I think I've done all of these (in real life)!

Our destination today, Brown Field. Joining the (left assigned by Say Intentions) downwind runway 26L:

Turning final runway 26L (approximately 😉 ) at Brown KSDM

End of this discovery flight at Brown (KSDM):

 

Interesting tour. Some tight spaces to maneuver.

I forgot to share the (real) video that inspired me for this flight.

... and some pictures I took years ago during a bay tour.

 

Edited April 26Apr 26 by vbazillio

Holy smoke! Some of your shots from your simulated flight look like they're real photos! Well done.

BTW, where can I get this plane?

51 minutes ago, Jack_Sawyer said:

BTW, where can I get this plane?

Thanks! It's the free Carenado Piper PA28 Dakota 236. It was offered by Microsoft among the fourth Famous Flyers. Livery is free at https://flightsim.to/addon/94526/n9181w-for-carenado-piper-dakota-2024-only

Very nice, fine and cool shots - thanks for sharing 👍

I particularly like shots 2 and 5 – superb !

cheers 😉

6 hours ago, vbazillio said:

San Diego Bay Tour 

I always wondered about this flight.  Grew up in San Diego over by Mission Bay, the Clairmont area.  If one wanted to tour downtown from the air what would that flight look like with KSAN and North Island right there.  Considering the PSA crash I didn't think it was no longer allowed until I visited out there last year and saw a Cessna flying over the bay when I was at Point Carillo (Point Loma).  Thanks so much for this as it clears allot of things up for how it's done.💯

I'm shocked after the PSA crash no ATC communications are required transitioning the VFR corridor...🫤  

Edited April 26Apr 26 by Dillon

As far as I understand, the recent major change is the closure of the portion named "Offshore Transition" or "Shoreline transition". It was great flying at or below 500 ft directly below the departure end of San Diego Lindberg (did once in a formation flight at sunset 16 years ago). FAA had run a safety review - for months - of these low altitude VFR procedures in busy Class B. The decision seems to have been accelerated by the Washington D.C in 2025 (one military helicopter and liner).

Another portion of this old-good San Diego Bay Tour was the Delta Transition : https://personalwings.com/taxiway-delta-transition-san-diego-bay-tour/ I don't know exactly when it was canceled but it seems unrelated to the PSA and FAA survey.

Example of the former San Diego Bay Tour: 

  

11 hours ago, Dillon said:

I'm shocked after the PSA crash no ATC communications are required transitioning the VFR corridor...🫤  

Different area: I'm still amazed to be on a A/A frequency when exactly over LAX with the Special Flight Rules over LAX VFR Corridor 😉

Edited April 27Apr 27 by vbazillio

Great flying, Vincent! That was certainly serious VFR - well done! And I really love the livery of your Dakota! I have also installed this livery and it's my favourite GA livery. 

Great pics Vincent!  Do you miss SoCal flying irl now that you are back home?

Thanks. I’ve been fortunate to have had so many amazing trips back and forth for these last 10 years, with friends and family for long Cessna's flight trips. Nothing beats the skies there, not only SOCAL but also the diversity departing from SOCAL. But France will always be home.