Flying a Piper PA-18 Super Cub into San Francisco International Airport

Runway Requirements

Approach Considerations

• iCoastal weather: Expect marine layer fog, low ceilings, and rapid weather changes. Brief alternates carefully and verify approach minimums.
• →Approach plates: Reference current Jeppesen or FAA charts before each flight. ILS, RNAV (GPS), and visual approaches typically available depending on runway. Check NOTAMs for outages.
• →Wake turbulence: Stay alert for wake turbulence from preceding heavy aircraft, especially at major airports like KSFO.

Common Considerations

Major West Coast gateway known for frequent fog and low-visibility approaches with closely spaced parallel runways. For the Piper PA-18 Super Cub, the most relevant factors are runway length sufficiency, density altitude impact at field elevation 13 ft, and traffic complexity at this multi-runway airport.

Fuel Availability

100LL avgas is typically available at KSFO via on-field FBOs. The Piper PA-18 Super Cub burns approximately 6 gph at cruise — verify pricing through ForeFlight or AirNav before arrival.