The Pacific coastline is littered with aviation gems–some well-known, others not so much. While many general aviation airports in California are located a short drive from the beach, such as Carlsbad, Santa Monica, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Arcata, only a few will take you within walking distance of rubbing your toes in the sand. One such beach airport that I have visited many times is Oceano County Airport (L52), which is located about a 10-minute walk from Pismo Beach. While it’s terrific for a light single-engine airplane such as my Mooney M20C, its 2,325-foot long by 50-foot-wide runway is quite sporty for many privately owned airplanes.
While working on an article about the Epic E1000 in the early summer of 2020, I was introduced to another beachside airport. Epic Aircraft’s CEO, Doug King, recommended a trip to Half Moon Bay Airport (KHAF) to evaluate the single-engine turboprop (see FLYING’s August 2020 issue for the story). I gladly accepted the suggestion. It was a terrific flight, but we didn’t have much time on the ground and, since COVID restrictions were still quite strict, we couldn’t explore the area as much as I would have liked to. A return trip was on my bucket list, and it didn’t disappoint.
