Intercepted at Mach 3
On the way home from Long Beach I saw a few dots on the radar approaching me at my altitude. A few minutes later a F16 or F18 looking jet flew in front of me and turned along my right side in the opposite direction. It then flew off. Checking the radar again a minute later the speed was reported at almost 2,000 knots! That was much faster than my 140 knots and approximately 3 times the speed of sound.
My “radar” is actually ground radar sent to an iPad from towers also on the ground. I’m not sure I believe that reported speed. Shouldn’t I have heard a sonic boom?
Also interesting on this trip was crossing Los Angeles airspace.
On the way down ATC cleared us to cross LAX via the “Coastal Route.” Very easy and we had a nice view of the jumbos taking off below us.
On the way back, after taking off from Long Beach, ATC assigned us a west heading but we were not cleared through LAX. Before hitting the edge of the airspace I asked for clearance. Denied. Instead, we stopped talking to ATC and flew the “Special Flight Rules Area” over LAX. This is a narrow path where we talk directly to other pilots and don’t need permission. We made it over LAX and then Santa Monica. A few other pilots were on the radio. Next time I’ll skip talking to ATC and go straight for this nice path.
