Avalon - Compton - Corona / Cessna 182RG II (N7167V) / VFR

I returned to Compton on my own, and then went on over to Corona—only a few miles from the place where the Martians landed in the original War of the Worlds movie (the good version).

The winds were terrible. They were around 26 knots on the ground and gusting to 10 knots more than that. I kept getting blown back and forth on the taxiways. Take-off wasn't too bad, but landing at Corona was a challenge.

The heavy winds blew me around quite a bit at 3500 feet, and I got disoriented twice, starting my descent prematurely when I misread the DME for the Paradise VOR, and again when I headed towards an airport that I didn't recognize as Chino until I was a few miles away … I made a quick turn to the south and found the correct airport shortly thereafter. I think I probably flew right over the spot where the Martians landed as I mistakenly approached Chino (they landed in Linda Rosa, which was in the Chino Hills).

The clouds and sky were starting to look a bit menacing by the time I landed.